,,practical ,,education3 ,,by ,,maria ,,edgeworth1 ,,author ,,of ,,letters ,,for ,,literary ,,ladies1 ,,and ,,the ,,parent',s ,,assistant1 c4 c4 ,,and1 ,,by ,,richard ,,lovell ,,edgeworth1 ,f4 ,r4 ,s4 ,,and ,m4 ,r4 ,i4 ,a4 ,,in ,,two ,,volumes 444 ,,vol4 ,,ii4 ,,second ,,american ,,edition4 ,,published ,,by ,j4 ,,francis ,,lippitt1 ,,providence1 7,r4 ,i47 ,,and ,t4 ,b4 ,,wait ,,sons1 ,,boston4 ,t4 ,b4 ,wait and ,sons1 ,printers4 #ahae4 ,,contents4 ,chapter ,page ,,xiii4 ,on ,grammar and ,classical ,literature #e ,,xiv4 ,on ,geography and ,chronology #ca ,,xv4 ,on ,arithmetic #cg ,,xvi4 ,geometry #ed ,,xvii4 ,on ,mechanics #eg ,,xviii4 ,chemistry #he ,,xix4 ,on ,public and ,private ,education #ib ,,xx4 ,on ,female ,accomplishments1 c4 #aji ,,xxi4 ,memory and ,invention #ach ,,xxii4 ,taste and ,imagination #agh ,,xxiii4 ,wit and ,judgment #bad ,,xxiv4 ,prudence and ,economy #bdh ,,xxv4 ,summary #bfg ,,appendix4 ,notes1 containing ,conversations and ,anecdotes of ,children #bhc ,,practical ,,education4 ,,chapter ,,xiii4 ,,on ,,grammar1 ,,and ,,classical ,,literature4 ,as long as gentlemen feel a deficiency in their own education1 when they have not a competent knowledge of the learned languages1 so long must a parent be anxious1 that his son should not be exposed to the mortification of appearing inferiour to others of his own rank4 ,it is in vain to urge1 that language is only the key to science2 that the names of things are not the things themselves2 that many of the words in our own language convey scarcely any1 or at best but imperfect1 ideas2 that the true genius1 pronunciation1 melody1 and idiom of ,greek1 are unknown to the best scholars1 and that it cannot reasonably be doubted1 that if ,homer or ,xenophon were to hear their works read by a professor of ,greek1 they would mistake them for the sounds of an unknown language4 ,all this is true2 but it is not the ambition of a gentleman to read ,greek like an ancient ,grecian1 but to understand it as well as the generality of his contemporaries2 to know whence the terms of most sciences are derived1 and to be able1 in some degree1 to trace the progress of mankind in knowledge and refinement1 by examining the extent and combination of their different vocabularies4 ,in some professions1 ,greek is necessary2 in all1 a certain proficiency of ,latin is indispensable2 how1 therefore1 to acquire this proficiency in the one1 and a sufficient knowledge of the other1 with the least labour1 the least waste of time1 and the least danger to the understanding1 is the material question4 ,some school-masters would add1 that we must expedite the business as much as possible3 of this we may be permitted to doubt4 ,festina lente is one of the most judicious maxims in education1 and those who have sufficient strength of mind to adhere to it1 will find themselves at the goal1 when their competitors1 after all their bustle1 are panting for breath1 or lashing their restive steeds4 ,we see some untutored children start forward in learning with rapidity3 they seem to acquire knowledge at the very time it is wanted1 as if by intuition2 whilst others1 with whom infinite pains have been taken1 continue in dull ignorance2 or1 having accumulated a mass of learning1 are utterly at a loss how to display1 or how to use their treasures4 ,what is the reason of this phenomenon8 and to which class of children would a parent wish his son to belong8 ,in a certain number of years1 after having spent eight hours a day in durance vile1 by the influence of bodily fear1 or by the infliction of bodily punishment1 a regiment of boys may be drilled by an indefatigable usher into what are called scholars2 but1 perhaps1 in the whole regiment not one shall ever distinguish himself1 or ever emerge from the ranks4 ,can it be necessary to spend so many years1 so many of the best years of life1 in toil and misery8 ,we shall calculate the waste of time which arises from the study of ill written1 absurd grammar1 and exercise-books2 from the habits of idleness contracted by school-boys1 and from the custom of allowing holydays to young students2 and we shall compare the result of this calculation with the time really necessary for the attainment of the same quantity of classical knowledge by rational methods4 ,we do not enter into this comparison with any invidious intention1 but simply to quiet the apprehensions of parents2 to show them the possibility of their children's attaining a certain portion of learning within a given number of years1 without the sacrifice of health1 happiness1 or the general powers of the understanding4 ,at all events1 may we not begin by imploring the assistance of some able and friendly hand to reform the present generation of grammars and school-books8 ,for instance1 is it indispensably necessary that a boy of seven years old should learn by rote1 that relative sentences are independent1 i4 e4 no word in a relative sentence is governed either of verb1 or adjective1 that stands in another sentence1 or depends upon any appurtenances of the relative2 and that the ,english word ',that' is always a relative when it may be turned into which in good sense1 which must be tried by reading over the ,english sentence warily1 and judging how the sentence will bear it1 but when it cannot be altered1 salvo sensu1 it is a conjunction8 ,cannot we1 for pity's sake1 to assist the learner's memory1 and to improve his intellect1 substitute some sentences a little more connected1 and perhaps a little more useful1 than the following8 ,i have been a soldier--,you have babbled--,has the crow ever looked white8--,ye have exercised--,flowers have withered--,we were in a passion--,ye lay down--,peas were parched--,the lions did roar a while ago4 ,in a book of ,latin exercises1#a the preface to which informs us1 that it is intended to contain such precepts of morality and religion1 as ought most industriously to be inculcated into the heads of all learners1 contrived so as that children may1 as it were1 insensibly suck in such principles as will be of use to them afterwards in the manly conduct and ordering of their lives1 we might expect somewhat more of pure morality and sense1 with rather more elegance of style1 than appear in the following sentences3 ,i struck my sister with a stick1 and was forced to flee into the woods2 but when ,i had tarried there awhile1 ,i returned to my parents1 and submitted myself to their mercy1 and they forgave me my offence4 ,when my dear mother1 unknown to my father1 shall send me money1 ,i will pay my creditors their debts1 and provide a supper for all my friends in my chamber1 without my brother's consent1 and will make presents to all my relations4 ,so the measure of maternal tenderness is the sum of money1 which the dear mother1 unknown to her husband1 shall send to her son2 the measure of the son's generosity is the supper he is to give to all his friends in his chamber1 exclusive of his poor brother1 of whose offence we are ignorant4 ,his munificence is to be displayed in making presents to all his relations1 but in the mean time he might possibly forget to pay his debts1 for justice is a slow-paced virtue1 and cannot keep pace with generosity4 ,a reasonable notion of punishment1 and a disinterested love of truth1 is well introduced by the following picture4 ,my master's countenance was greatly changed when he found his beloved son guilty of a lie4 ,sometimes he was pale with anger2 sometimes he was red with rage2 and in the mean time1 he1 poor boy1 was trembling1 7for what87 for fear of punishment4 ,could the ideas of punishment and vengeance be more effectually joined1 than in this portrait of the master red with rage8 ,after truth has been thus happily recommended1 comes honesty4 ,many were fellow-soldiers with valiant ,jason when he stole the golden fleece3 many were companions with him1 but he bore away the glory of the enterprise4 ,valour1 theft1 and glory1 are here happily combined4 ,it will avail us nothing to observe1 that the golden fleece has an allegorical meaning1 unless we can explain satisfactorily the nature of an allegorical theft2 though to our classical taste this valiant ,jason may appear a glorious hero1 yet to the simple judgment of children1 he will appear a robber4 ,it is fastidious1 however1 to object to ,jason in the exercise-book1 when we consider what children are to hear1 and to hear with admiration1 as they advance in their study of poetry and mythology4 ,lessons of worldly wisdom1 are not forgotten in our manual1 which professes to teach the manly conduct and ordering of life to the rising generation4 ,those men1 we are told1 who have the most money1 obtain the greatest honour amongst men4 ,but then again1 a poor man is as happy without riches1 if he can enjoy contentedness of mind1 as the richest earl that coveteth greater honour4 ,it may be useful to put young men upon their guard against hypocrites and knaves2 but is it necessary to tell school-boys1 that it concerneth me1 and all men1 to look to ourselves1 for the world is so full of knaves and hypocrites1 that he is hard to be found who may be trusted8 ,that they who behave themselves the most warily of all men1 and live more watchfully than others1 may happen to do something1 which 7if it be divulged7 may very much damnify their reputation8 ,a knowledge of the world may be early requisite2 but is it not going too far1 to assure young people1 that the nations of the world are at this time come to that pass of wickedness1 that the earth is like hell1 and many men have degenerated into devils8 ,a greater variety of ridiculous passages from this tenth edition of ,garretson's ,exercise-book1 might be selected for the reader's entertainment2 but the following specimens will be sufficient to satisfy him1 that by this original writer1 natural history is as well taught as morality3 ,man4 ,man is a creature of an upright body2 he walketh upright when he is on a journey2 and when night approaches1 he lieth flat1 and sleepeth4 ,horses4 ,a journey an hundred and fifty miles long1 tireth an horse that hath not had a moderate feed of corn4 ,air1 ,earth1 ,fire1 and ,water4 ,the air is nearer the earth than the fire2 but the water is placed nearest to the earth1 because these two elements compose but one body4 ,it is an easy task1 it will be observed1 to ridicule absurdity4 ,it is easy to pull down what has been ill built2 but if we leave the ruins for others to stumble over1 we do little good to society4 ,parents may reasonably say1 if you take away from our children the books they have1 give them better4 ,they are not yet to be had1 but if a demand for them be once excited1 they will soon appear4 ,parents are now convinced1 that the first books which children read1 make a lasting impression upon them2 but they do not seem to consider spelling-books1 and grammars1 and exercise-books1 as books1 but only as tools for different purposes3 these tools are often very mischievous2 if we could improve them1 we should get our work much better done4 ,the barbarous translations1 which are put as models for imitation into the hands of school-boys1 teach them bad habits of speaking and writing1 which are sometimes incurable4 ,for instance1 in the fourteenth edition of ,clarke's ,cornelius ,nepos1 which the preface informs us was written by a man full of indignation for the common practices of grammar-schools1 by a man who laments that youth should spend their time in tossing over the leaves of a dictionary1 and hammering out such a language as the ,latin1 we might expect some better translation than the following1 to form the young student's style3 ,no body ever heard any other entertainment for the ears at his 7,atticus's7 meals than a reader1 which we truly think very pleasant4 ,nor was there ever a supper at his house without some reading1 that their guests might be entertained in their minds as well as their stomachs2 for he invited those whose manners were not different from his own4 ,he 7,atticus7 likewise had a touch at poetry1 that he might not be unacquainted with this pleasure1 we suppose4 ,for he has related in verses the lives of those who excelled the ,roman people in honour1 and the greatness of their exploits4 ,so that he has described under each of their images1 their actions and offices in no more than four or five verses1 which is scarcely to be believed that such great things could be so briefly delivered4 ,those who1 in reading these quotations1 have perhaps exclaimed1 ,why must we go through this farrago of nonsense8 should reflect1 that they have now wasted but a few minutes of their time upon what children are doomed to study for hours and years4 ,if a few pages disgust1 what must be the effect of volumes in the same style6 and what sort of writing can we expect from pupils who are condemned to such reading8 ,the analogy of ancient and modern languages1 differs so materially1 that a literal translation of any ancient author1 can scarcely be tolerated4 ,yet1 in general1 young scholars are under a necessity of rendering their ,latin lessons into ,english word for word1 faithful to the taste of their dictionaries1 or the notes in their translations4 ,this is not likely to improve the freedom of their ,english style2 or1 what is of much more consequence1 is it likely to preserve in the pupil's mind a taste for literature8 ,it is not the time that is spent in pouring over lexicons1 it is not the multiplicity of rules learnt by rote1 nor yet is it the quantity of ,latin words crammed into the memory1 which can give the habit of attention or the power of voluntary exertion3 without these1 you will never have time enough to teach2 with them1 there will always be time enough to learn4--,one half hour's vigorous application1 is worth a whole day's constrained and yawning study4 ,if we compare what from experience we know can be done by a child of ordinary capacity in a given time1 with what he actually does in school-hours1 we shall be convinced of the enormous waste of time incident to the common methods of instruction4 ,tutors are sensible of this2 but they throw the blame upon their pupils--,you might have learned your lesson in half the time1 if you had chosen it4 ,the children also are sensible of this2 but they are not able or willing to prevent the repetition of the reproach4 ,but exertion does not always depend upon the will of the boy2 it depends upon his previous habits1 and upon the strength of the immediate motive which acts upon him4 ,some children of quick abilities1 who have too much time allotted for their classical studies1 are so fully sensible themselves of the pernicious effect this has upon their activity of mind1 that they frequently defer getting their lessons to the last moment1 that they may be forced by a sufficient motive to exert themselves4 ,in classes at public schools1 the quick and the slow1 the active and indolent1 the stumbling and sure-footed1 are all yoked together1 and are forced to keep pace with one another3 stupidity may sometimes be dragged along by the vigour of genius2 but genius is more frequently chained down by the weight of stupidity4 ,we are well aware of the difficulties with which the public preceptor has to contend2 he is often compelled by his situation to follow ancient usage1 and to continue many customs which he wishes to see reformed4 ,any reformation in the manner of instruction in these public seminaries1 must be gradual1 and will necessarily follow the conviction that parents may feel of its utility4 ,perhaps nothing can be immediately done1 more practicably useful1 than to simplify grammar1 and to lighten as much as possible the load that is laid upon the memory4 ,without a multiplicity of masters1 it would be impossible to suit instruction to the different capacities1 and previous acquirements1 of a variety of pupils2 but in a private education1 undoubtedly the task may be rendered much easier to the scholar and to the teacher2 much jargon may be omitted2 and what appears from want of explanation to be jargon1 may be rendered intelligible by proper skill and attention4 ,during the first lessons in grammar1 and in ,latin1 the pupil need not be disgusted with literature1 and we may apply all the principles which we find on other occasions successful in the management of the attention4#b ,instead of keeping the attention feebly obedient for an idle length of time1 we should fix if decidedly by some sufficient motive for as short a period as may be requisite to complete the work that we would have done4 ,as we apprehend1 that even where children are to be sent to school1 it will be a great advantage to them to have some general notions of grammar1 to lead them through the labyrinth of common school books1 we think that we shall do the public preceptor an acceptable service1 if we point out the means by which parents may1 without much labour to themselves1 render the first principles of grammar intelligible and familiar to their children4 ,we may observe1 that children pay the strictest attention to the analogies of the language that they speak4 ,where verbs are defective or irregular1 they supply the parts that are wanting with wonderful facility1 according to the common form of other verbs4 ,they make all verbs regular4 ,i goed1 ,i readed1 ,i writed1 c4 ,by a proper application of this faculty1 much time may be saved in teaching children grammar1 much perplexity1 and much of that ineffectual labour which stupifies and dispirits the understanding4 ,by gentle degrees1 a child may be taught the relations of words to each other in common conversation1 before he is presented with the first sample of grammatical eloquence in ,lilly's ,accidence4 ,there be eight parts of speech4 ,a phrase which in some parts of this kingdom would perhaps be understood1 but which to the generality of boys who go to school1 conveys no meaning1 and is got by heart without reflection1 and without advantage4 ,a child can1 however1 be made to understand these formidable parts of speech1 if they are properly introduced to his acquaintance3 he can comprehend1 that some of the words which he hears express that something is done2 he will readily perceive1 that if something is done1 somebody1 or something must do it3 he will distinguish with much facility the word in any common sentence which expresses an action1 and that which denotes the agent4 ,let the reader try the experiment immediately upon any child of six or seven years old who has not learned grammar1 and he may easily ascertain the fact4 ,a few months ago1 ,mr4 ---- gave his little daughter ,h----1 a child of five years old1 her first lesson in ,english grammar2 but no alarming book of grammar was produced upon the occasion1 nor did the father put on an unpropitious gravity of countenance4 ,he explained to the smiling child the nature of a verb1 a pronoun1 and a substantive4 ,then he spoke a short familiar sentence1 and asked ,h----1 to try if she could find out which word in it was a verb1 which a pronoun1 and which a substantive4 ,the little girl found them all out most successfully1 and formed no painful associations with her first grammatical lesson4 ,but though our pupil may easily understand1 he will easily forget our first explanations2 but provided he understands them at the moment1 we should pardon his forgetfulness1 and we should patiently repeat the same exercise several days successively2 a few minutes at each lesson will be sufficient1 and the simplest sentences1 such as children speak themselves1 will be the best examples4 ,mr4 ----1 after having talked four or five times1 for a few minutes at a time1 with his son ,s----1 when ,s---- was between five and six years old1 about grammar1 asked him if he knew what a pronoun meant8 ,the boy answered1 ,a word that is said instead of a substantive4 ,as these words might have been merely remembered by rote1 the father questioned his pupil further1 and asked him to name any pronoun that he recollected4 ,s----immediately said1 ,i a pronoun4 ,name another1 said his father4 ,the boy answered after some pause1 as if he doubted whether it was or was not a pronoun1 ,a4 ,now it would have been very imprudent to have made a sudden exclamation at the child's mistake4 ,the father1 without showing any surprise1 gently answered1 ,no1 my dear1 a does not stand in the place of any substantive4 ,we say a man1 but the word a does not mean a man1 when it is said by itself--,does it8 ,s----4 ,no4 ,father4 ,then try if you can find out a word that does4 ,s----4 ,he1 and ,sir4 ,sir does stand1 in conversation1 in the place of a man1 or gentleman2 therefore the boy1 even by this mistake1 showed that he had formed1 from the definition that had been given to him1 a general idea of the nature of a pronoun1 and at all events he exercised his understanding upon the affair1 which is the principal point we ought to have in view4 ,an interjection is a part of speech familiar to children4 ,mr4 ,horne ,tooke is bitter in his contempt for it1 and will scarcely admit it into civilized company4 ,the brutish inarticulate interjection1 which has nothing to do with speech1 and is only the miserable refuge of the speechless1 has been permitted to usurp a place amongst words1 c4--,the neighing of a horse1 the lowing of a cow1 the barking of a dog1 the purring of a cat2 sneezing1 coughing1 groaning1 shrieking1 and every other involuntary convulsion with oral sound1 have almost as good a title to be called parts of speech1 as interjections have4 ,mr4 ,horne ,tooke would have been pleased with the sagacity of a child of five years old 7,s----7 who called laughing an interjection4 ,mr4 ---- gave ,s----a slight pinch1 in order to produce an involuntary convulsion with oral sound4 ,and when the interjection ,oh6 was uttered by the boy1 he was told by his father1 that the word was an interjection2 and1 that any word or noise1 that expresses a sudden feeling of the mind1 may be called an interjection4 ,s----immediately said1 is laughing an interjection1 then8 ,we hope that the candid reader will not imagine1 that we produce these sayings of children of four or five years old1 without some sense of the danger of ridicule2 but we wish to give some idea of the sort of simple answers which children are likely to make in their first grammatical lessons4 ,if too much is expected from them1 the disappointment1 which must be quickly felt1 and will be quickly shown by the preceptor1 will discourage the pupil4 ,we must repeat1 that the first steps should be frequently retraced3 a child should be for some weeks accustomed to distinguish an active verb1 and its agent1 or nominative case1 from every other word in a sentence1 before we attempt to advance4 ,the objects of actions are the next class of words that should be selected4 ,the fanciful1 or at least what appears to the moderns fanciful1 arrangement of the cases amongst grammarians1 may be dispensed with for the present4 ,the idea1 that the nominative is a direct1 upright case1 and that the genitive declines with the smallest obliquity from it2 the dative1 accusative1 and ablative1 falling further and further from the perpendicularity of speech1 is a species of metaphysics not very edifying to a child4 ,into what absurdity men of abilities may be led by the desire of explaining what they do not sufficiently understand1 is fully exemplified in other sciences as well as grammar4 ,the discoveries made by the author of ,epea ,pteroenta1 show the difference between a vain attempt to substitute analogy and rhetoric in the place of demonstration and common sense4 ,when a child has been patiently taught in conversation to analyze what he says1 he will take great pleasure in the exercise of his new talent2 he will soon discover1 that the cause of the action does not always come before the verb in a sentence1 that sometimes it follows the verb4 ,john beats ,thomas1 and ,thomas is beaten by ,john1 he will perceive mean the same thing2 he may1 with very little difficulty1 be taught the difference between a verb active and a verb passive2 that one brings first before the mind the person or thing which performs the action1 and the other represents in the first place the person or thing upon whom the action is performed4 ,a child of moderate capacity1 after he has been familiarized to this general idea of a verb active and passive1 and after he has been taught the names of the cases1 will probably1 without much difficulty1 discover that the nominative case to a passive verb becomes the accusative case to a verb active4 ,school-masters are plagued by boys4 ,a child sees plainly1 that school-masters are the persons upon whom the action of plaguing is performed1 and he will convert the sentence readily into boys plague school-masters4 ,we need not1 however1 be in any hurry to teach our pupil the names of the cases2 technical grammar may be easily learned1 after a general idea of rational grammar has been obtained4 ,for instance1 the verb means only the word1 or the principal word in a sentence2 a child can easily learn this after he has learnt what is meant by a sentence2 but it would be extremely difficult to make him comprehend it before he could distinguish a verb from a noun1 and before he had any idea of the structure of a common sentence4 ,from easy1 we should proceed to more complicated1 sentences4 ,the grammatical construction of the following lines1 for example1 may not be immediately apparent to a child3 ,what modes of sight between each vast extreme1 ,the mole's dim curtain1 and the lynx's beam2 ,of smell the headlong lioness between1 ,and hound sagacious on the tainted green4 ,of ,smell4 ,a girl of ten years old 7,c----7 was asked if she could tell what substantive the word of relates to2 she readily answered1 modes4 ,c----had learned a general idea of grammar in conversation1 in the manner which we have described4 ,it is asserted from experience1 that this method of instructing children in grammar by conversation1 is not only practicable1 but perfectly easy1 and that the minds of children are adapted to this species of knowledge4 ,during life1 we learn with eagerness whatever is congenial with our present pursuits1 and the acquisition of language is one of the most earnest occupations of childhood4 ,after distinct and ready knowledge of the verb and nominative case has been acquired1 the pupil should be taught to distinguish the object of an action1 or1 in other words1 the objective or accusative case4 ,he should be exercised in this1 as in the former lessons1 repeatedly1 until it becomes perfectly familiar2 and he should be encouraged to converse about these lessons1 and to make his own observations concerning grammar1 without fear of the preceptor's peremptory frown1 or positive reference to his rules4 ,a child of five years old1 was asked what the word ,here6 meant2 he answered1 ,it means to give a thing4 ,when ,i call a person1 as1 ,john6 ,john6 it seems to me1 said a boy of nine years old 7,s----7 it seems to me1 that the vocative case is both the verb and its accusative case4 ,a boy who had ever been checked by his tutor for making his own observations upon the mysterious subject of grammar1 would never have dared to have thought1 or to have uttered a new thought1 so freely4--,forcing children to learn any art or science by rote1 without permitting the exercise of the understanding1 must materially injure their powers both of reasoning and of invention4 ,we acknowledge that ,wilkins and ,tooke have shown masters how to teach grammar a little better than it was formerly taught4 ,fortunately for the rising generation1 all the words under the denomination of adverbs1 prepositions1 and conjunctions1 which were absolute nonsense to us1 may be easily explained to them1 and the commencement of instruction need no longer lay the foundation of implicit acquiescence in nonsense4 ,we refer to ,mr4 ,horne ,tooke's ,epea ,pteroenta1 forbearing to dilate upon the principles of his work1 lest we should appear in the invidious light of authors who rob the works of others to adorn their own4 ,we cannot help expressing a wish1 that ,mr4 ,horne ,tooke would have the philanthropic patience to write an elementary work in a simple style1 unfolding his grammatical discoveries to the rising generation4 ,when children have thus by gentle degrees1 and by short and clear conversations1 been initiated in general grammar1 and familiarized to its technical terms1 the first page of tremendous ,lilly will lose much of its horror4 ,it has been taken for granted1 that at the age of which we have been speaking1 a child can read ,english tolerably well1 and that he has been used to employ a dictionary4 ,he may now proceed to translate from some easy books a few short sentences3 the first word will probably be an adverb or conjunction2 either of them may readily be found in the ,latin dictionary1 and the young scholar will exult in having translated one word of ,latin2 but the next word1 a substantive or verb1 perhaps will elude his search4 ,now the grammar may be produced1 and something of the various terminations of a noun may be explained4 ,if musam be searched for in the dictionary1 it cannot be found1 but musa catches the eye1 and1 with the assistance of the grammar1 it may be shown1 that the meaning of words may be discovered by the united helps of the dictionary and grammar4 ,after some days patient continuation of this exercise1 the use of the grammar1 and of its uncouth collection of words and syllables1 will be apparent to the pupil3 he will perceive that the grammar is a sort of appendix to the dictionary4 ,the grammatical formul may then1 by gentle degrees1 be committed to memory1 and when once got by heart1 should be assiduously preserved in the recollection4 ,after the preparation which we have recommended1 the singular number of a declension will be learnt in a few minutes by a child of ordinary capacity1 and after two or three days repetition1 the plural number may be added4 ,the whole of the first declension should be well fixed in the memory before a second is attempted4 ,during this process1 a few words at every lesson may be translated from ,latin to ,english1 and such nouns as are of the first declension1 may be compared with musa1 and may be declined according to the same form4 ,tedious as this method may appear1 it will in the end be found expeditious4 ,omitting some of the theoretic or didactic part of the grammar1 which should only be read1 and which may be explained with care and patience1 the whole of the declensions1 pronouns1 conjugations1 the list of prepositions and conjunctions1 interjections1 some adverbs1 the concords1 and common rules of syntax1 may be comprised with sufficient repetitions in about two or three hundred lessons of ten minutes each2 that is to say1 ten minutes application of the scholar in the presence of the teacher4 ,a young boy should never be set to learn a lesson by heart when alone4 ,forty hours6 ,is this tedious8 ,if you are afraid of losing time1 begin a few months earlier2 but begin when you will1 forty hours is surely no great waste of time3 the whole1 or even half of this short time1 is not spent in the labour of getting jargon by rote2 each day some slight advance is made in the knowledge of words1 and in the knowledge of their combinations4 ,what we insist upon is1 that nothing should be done to disgust the pupil3 steady perseverance1 with uniform gentleness1 will induce habit1 and nothing should ever interrupt the regular return of the daily lesson4 ,if absence1 business1 illness1 or any other cause1 prevent the attendance of the teacher1 a substitute must be appointed2 the idea of relaxation on ,sunday1 or a holyday1 should never be permitted4 ,in most public seminaries above one third1 in some nearly one half1 of the year is permitted to idleness3 it is the comparison between severe labour and dissipation1 that renders learning hateful4 ,johnson is made to say by one of his female biographers1#c that no child loves the person who teaches him ,latin2 yet the author of this chapter would not take all the doctor's fame1 and all the lady's wit and riches1 in exchange for the hourly1 unfeigned1 unremitting friendship1 which he enjoys with a son who had no other master than his father4 ,so far from being laborious or troublesome1 he has found it an agreeable employment to instruct his children in grammar and the learned languages4 ,in the midst of a variety of other occupations1 half an hour every morning for many years1 during the time of dressing1 has been allotted to the instruction of boys of different ages in languages1 and no other time has been spent in this employment4 ,were it asserted that these boys made a reasonable progress1 the expression would convey no distinct meaning to the reader2 we shall1 therefore1 mention an experiment tried this morning1 ,november #hth1 #agif1 to ascertain the progress of one of these pupils4 ,without previous study1 he translated twenty lines of the story of ,ceyx and ,alcyone1 from ,ovid1 consulting the dictionary only twice3 he was then desired to translate the passage which he had read into ,english verse2 and in two or three hours he produced the following version4 ,much of the time was spent in copying the lines fairly1 as this opportunity was taken of exciting his attention to writing and spelling1 to associate the habit of application with the pleasure of voluntary exertion4 ,the curious may1 if they think it worth their while1 see the various readings and corrections of the translation 7,v4 ,chapter on ,conversation1 and ,anecdotes of ,children7 which were carefully preserved1 not as ,curiosities of ,literature1 but for the sake of truth1 and with a desire to show1 that the pupil had the patience to correct4 ,a genius may hit off a few tolerable lines2 but if a child is willing and able to criticise and correct what he writes1 he shows that he selects his expressions from choice1 and not from chance or imitation2 and he gives to a judicious tutor the certain promise of future improvement4 ,far in a vale there lies a cave forlorn1 ,which ,phoebus never enters eve or morn1 ,the misty clouds inhale the pitchy ground1 ,and twilight lingers all the vale around4 ,no watchful cocks ,aurora's beams invite2 ,no dogs nor geese1 the guardians of the night3 ,no flocks nor herds disturb the silent plains2 ,within the sacred walls mute quiet reigns1 ,and murmuring ,lethe soothing sleep invites2 ,in dreams again the flying past delights3 ,from milky flowers that near the cavern grow1 ,night scatters the collected sleep below4 ,s----1 the boy who made this translation1 was just ten years old2 he had made but three previous attempts in versification2 his reading in poetry had been some of ,gay's fables1 parts of the ,minstrel1 three odes of ,gray1 the ,elegy in a ,country ,church-yard1 the ,tears of ,old ,may-day1 and parts of the second volume of ,dr4 ,darwin's ,botannic ,garden2 ,dryden's translations of the fable of ,ceyx and ,alcyone he had never seen2 the book had always been locked up4 ,phdrus and ,ovid's ,metamorphoses were the whole of his ,latin erudition4 ,these circumstances are mentioned thus minutely1 to afford the inquisitive teacher materials for an accurate estimate of the progress made by our method of instruction4 ,perhaps most boys of ,s----'s age1 in our great public seminaries1 would1 upon a similar trial1 be found superior4 ,competition in the art of translation is not our object2 our object is to show1 that half an hour a day1 steadily appropriated to grammar and ,latin1 would be sufficient to secure a boy of this age1 from any danger of ignorance in classical learning2 and that the ease and shortness of his labour will prevent that disgust1 which is too often induced by forced and incessant application4 ,we may add1 that some attention to the manner in which the pupils repeat their ,latin lessons1 has been found advantageous3 as they were never put in bodily fear1 by the impatience of a pedagogue1 they had leisure and inclination to read and recite1 without awkward gestures and discordant tones4 ,the whining tones and convulsive gestures often contracted by boys during the agony of repeating their long lessons1 are not likely to be advantageous to the rising generation of orators4 ,practice1 and the strong motive of emulation1 may1 in a public seminary1 conquer these bad habits4 ,after the pupil has learned to speak ill1 he may be taught to speak well2 but the chances are against him3 and why should we have the trouble of breaking bad habits8 ,it is much easier to prevent them4 ,in private education1 as the preceptor has less chance of curing his pupil of the habit of speaking ill1 he should be peculiarly attentive to give the child constant habits of speaking and reading well4 ,it is astonishing1 that parents1 who are extremely intent upon the education of their children1 should overlook some of the essential means of success4 ,a young man with his head full of ,latin and law1 will make but a poor figure at the bar1 or in parliament1 if he cannot enunciate distinctly1 and if he cannot speak good ,english extempore1 or produce his learning and arguments with grace and propriety4 ,it is in vain to expect that a boy should speak well in public1 who cannot1 in common conversation1 utter three connected sentences without a false concord or a provincial idiom2 he may be taught with much care and cost to speak tripod sentences2#d but bring the young orator to the test1 bring him to actual business1 rouse any of his passions1 throw him off his guard1 and then listen to his language2 he will forget instantly his reading master1 and all his rules of pronunciation and rhetoric1 and he will speak the language to which he has been most accustomed4 ,no master will then be near him to regulate the pitch and tones of his voice4 ,we cannot believe that even ,caius ,gracchus could1 when he was warmed by passion1 have listened to ,licinius's pitch-pipe4#e ,example1 and constant attention to their manner of speaking in common conversation1 we apprehend to be the most certain methods of preparing young men for public speakers4 ,much of the time that is spent in teaching boys to walk upon stilts1 might be more advantageously employed in teaching them to walk well without them4 ,it is all very well whilst the pupil is under the protection of his preceptor4 ,the actor on the stage is admired whilst he is elevated by the cothurnus2 but young men are not to exhibit their oratorical talents always with the advantages of stage effect and decorations4 ,we should imagine1 that much of the diffidence felt by young men of abilities1 when they first rise to speak in public1 may be attributed to their immediate perception of the difference between scholastic exhibitions and the real business of life2 they feel that they have learned to speak two languages1 which must not1 on any account1 be mixed together2 the one1 the vulgar language of common conversation2 the other1 the refined language of oratorical composition3 the first they are most inclined to use when they are agitated2 and they are agitated when they rise to speak before numbers3 consequently there is an immediate struggle between custom and institution4 ,now1 a young man1 who in common conversation in his own family has never been accustomed to hear or to speak vulgar or ungrammatical language1 cannot possibly apprehend that he shall suddenly utter ridiculous expressions2 he knows1 that1 if he speaks at all1 he shall at least speak good ,english2 and he is not afraid1 that1 if he is pursued1 he shall be obliged to throw away his cumbrous stilts4 ,the practice of speaking in public1 we are sensible1 is a great advantage2 but the habit of speaking accurately in private1 is of still greater consequence3 this habit depends upon the early and persevering care of the parent and the preceptor4 ,there is no reason why children should not be made at the same time good scholars and good speakers2 nor is there any reason why boys1 whilst they learn to write ,latin1 should be suffered to forget how to write ,english4 ,it would be a great advantage to the young classical scholar1 if his ,latin and ,english literature were mixed2 the taste for ancient authors and for modern literature1 ought to be cultivated at the same time2 and the beauties of composition1 characteristic of different languages1 should be familiarized to the student4 ,classical knowledge and taste afford such continual and innocent sources of amusement1 that we should be extremely sorry that any of our pupils should not enjoy them in their fullest extent2 but we do not include a talent for ,latin composition amongst the necessary accomplishments of a gentleman4 ,there are situations in life1 where facility and elegance in writing ,latin may be useful1 but such situations are not common2 when a young man is intended for them1 he may be trained with more particular assiduity to this art2 perhaps for this purpose the true ,busbyean method is the best4 ,the great ,latin and ,greek scholars of the age1 have no reason to be displeased by the assertion1 that classical proficiency equal to their own1 is not a necessary accomplishment in a gentleman2 if their learning become more rare1 it may thence become more valuable4 ,we see no reason why there should not be ,latinists as well as special pleaders4 ,we have not laid down any course of classical study2 those who consider the order in which certain authors are read1 as of material consequence in the education of scholars1 may consult ,milton1 ,mrs4 ,macaulay1 ,milne's ,well-bred ,scholar1 c4 where they will find precise directions4 ,we have lately seen a collection of exercises for boys1#f which in some measure supplies the defect of ,mr4 ,garretson's curious performance4 ,we wish most earnestly that dictionaries were improved4 ,the author of ,stemmata ,latinitatis1 has conferred an essential service on the public2 but still there is wanting a dictionary for schools1 in which elegant and proper ,english might be substituted for the barbarous translations now in use4 ,such a dictionary could not be compiled1 we should think1 without an attention to the course of books that are most commonly used in schools4 ,the first meanings given in the dictionary1 should suit the first authors that a boy reads2 this may probably be a remote or metaphoric meaning3 then the radical word should be mentioned1 and it would not cost a master any great trouble to trace the genealogy of words to the parent stock4 ,cordery is a collection of such mean sentences1 and uninstructive dialogue1 as to be totally unfit for boys4 ,commenius's ,visible ,world displayed1 is far superior1 and might1 with proper alterations and better prints1 become a valuable ,english school-book4 ,both these books were intended for countries where the ,latin language was commonly spoken1 and consequently they are filled with the terms necessary for domestic life and conversation3 for this very reason they are not good introductions to the classics4 ,selections from ,bailey's ,phdrus1 will be proper for young beginners1 upon account of the glossary4 ,we prefer this mode of assisting them with glossaries to the use of translations1 because they do not induce indolent habits1 and yet they prevent the pupil from having unnecessary labour4 ,translations always give the pupil more trouble in the end1 than they save in the beginning4 ,the glossary to ,bailey's ,phdrus1 which we have just mentioned1 wants much to be modernized1 and the language requires to be improved4 ,mr4 ,valpy's ,select ,sentences1 would be much more useful if they had a glossary annexed4 ,as they are1 they will1 however1 be useful after ,phdrus4 ,ovid's ,metamorphoses1 with all its monstrous faults1 appears to be the best introduction to the ,latin classics1 and to heathen mythology4 ,norris's ,ovid may be safely put into the hands of children1 as it is a selection of the least exceptionable fables4 ,to accustom boys to read poetry and prose nearly at the same period1 is advantageous4 ,cornelius ,nepos1 a crabbed book1 but useful from its brevity1 and from its being a proper introduction to ,grecian and ,roman history1 may be read nearly at the same time with ,ovid's ,metamorphoses4 ,after ,ovid1 the pupil may begin ,virgil1 postponing some of the ,eclogues1 and all the ,georgics4 ,we recommend that some ,english books should be put into the hands of boys whilst they are going through ,phdrus1 ,ovid1 and ,cornelius ,nepos1 which may suit with the ideas they acquire from these ,latin authors4 ,plutarch's ,lives1 for instance1 will be useful and interesting4 ,when we mention ,plutarch's ,lives1 we cannot help recollecting how many great people have acknowledged the effect of this book in their early education4 ,charles the ,twelfth1 ,rousseau1 ,madame ,roland1 ,gibbon1 we immediately remember1 and we are sure we have noticed many others4 ,an abridgment of ,plutarch1 by ,mrs4 ,helme1 which we have looked into1 appears 7the preface excepted7 to be well written2 and we see another abridgment of ,plutarch advertised1 which we hope may prove serviceable3 good prints to a ,plutarch for children1 would be very desirable4 ,as an ,english introduction to mythology1 we recommend the first volume of ,lord ,chesterfield's ,letters1 as a most elegant view of heathen mythology4 ,but if there be any danger that the first volume should introduce the remainder of ,lord ,chesterfield's work to the inexperienced reader1 we should certainly forbear the experiment3 it would be far better for a young man never to be acquainted with a single heathen deity1 than to purchase ,lord ,chesterfield's classical knowledge at the hazard of contamination from his detestable system of morals4 ,without his ,lordship's assistance1 ,mrs4 ,monsigny's ,mythology can properly initiate the young pupil of either sex into the mysteries of ancient fables4 ,the notes to ,potter's schylus1 are also well suited to our purpose4 ,in ,dr4 ,darwin's ,botanic ,garden1 there are some beautiful poetic allusions to ancient gems and ancient fables1 which must fix themselves in the memory or in the imagination of the pupil4 ,the sooner they are read1 the better2 we have felt the advantage of putting them into the hands of a boy of nine or ten years old4 ,the ear should be formed to ,english as well as to ,latin poetry4 ,classical poetry1 without the knowledge of mythology1 is unintelligible3 if children study the one1 they must learn the other4 ,divested of the charms of poetry1 and considered without classical prepossession1 mythology presents a system of crimes and absurdities1 which no allegorical1 metaphysical1 or literal interpreters of modern times1 can perfectly reconcile to common sense1 or common morality2 but our poets have naturalized ancient fables1 so that mythology is become essential even to modern literature4 ,the associations of taste1 though arbitrary1 are not easily changed in a nation whose literature has attained to a certain pitch of refinement1 and whose critical judgments must consequently have been for some generations traditional4 ,there are subjects of popular allusion1 which poets and orators regard as common property2 to dispossess them of these1 seems impracticable1 after time has sanctioned the prescriptive right4 ,but new knowledge1 and the cultivation of new sciences1 present objects of poetic allusion which1 skilfully managed by men of inventive genius1 will oppose to the habitual reverence for antiquity1 the charms of novelty united to the voice of philosophy4#g ,in education we must1 however1 consider the actual state of manners in that world in which our pupils are to live1 as well as our wishes or our hopes of its gradual improvement4#h ,with a little care1 preceptors may manage so as to teach mythology without in the least injuring their pupils4 ,children may be familiarized to the strange manners and strange personages of ancient fable1 and may consider them as a set of beings who are not to be judged by any rules of morality1 and who have nothing in common with ourselves4 ,the caricatura of some of the passions1 perhaps1 will not shock children who are not used to their natural appearance2 they will pass over the stories of love and jealousy1 merely because they do not understand them4 ,we should rather leave them completely unintelligible1 than attempt1 like ,mr4 ,riley1 in his mythological pocket dictionary for youth1 to elucidate the whole at once1 by assuring children that ,saturn was ,adam1 that ,atlas is ,moses1 and his brother ,hesperus1 ,aaron2 that ,vertumnus and ,pomona were ,boaz and ,ruth2 that ,mars corresponds with ,joshua2 that ,apollo accords with ,david1 since they both played upon the harp2 that ,mercury can be no other than our ,archangel ,michael1 since they both have wings on their arms and feet2 that1 in short1 to complete the concordance1 ,momus is a striking likeness of ,satan4 ,the ancients1 ,mr4 ,riley allows1 have so much disfigured these personages1 that it is hard to know many of the portraits again at first sight2 however1 he is persuaded that the young student will find a peculiar gratification in tracing the likeness1 and he has kindly furnished us with a catalogue to explain the exhibition1 and to guide us through his new pantheon4 ,as books of reference1 the convenient size1 and compressed information1 of pocket mythological dictionaries1 will recommend them to general use2 but we object to the miserable prints with which they are sometimes disgraced4 ,the first impression made upon the imagination#i of children1 is of the utmost consequence to their future taste4 ,the beautiful engravings#aj in ,spence's ,polymetis1 will introduce the heathen deities in their most graceful and picturesque forms to the fancy4 ,the language of ,spence1 though classical1 is not entirely free from pedantic affectation1 and his dialogues are1 perhaps1 too stiff and long winded for our young pupils4 ,but a parent or preceptor can easily select the useful explanations2 and in turning over the prints1 they can easily associate some general notion of the history and attributes of the gods and goddesses with their forms3 the little eager spectators will1 as they crowd round the book1 acquire imperceptibly all the necessary knowledge of mythology1 imbibe the first pleasing ideas of taste1 and store their imagination with classic imagery4 ,the same precautions that are necessary to educate the eye1 are also necessary to form the ear and understanding of taste4 ,the first mythological descriptions which our pupils read1 should be the best in their kind4 ,compare the following account of ,europa in a pocket dictionary1 with her figure in a poetical gem--,europa1 the daughter of ,agenor1 king of the ,phoenicians1 and sister of ,cadmus4 ,this princess was so beautiful1 that1 they say1 one of the companions of ,juno had robbed her of a pot of paint to bestow on this lady1 which rendered her so handsome4 ,she was beloved of ,jupiter1 who assumed the shape of a bull to run away with her1 swam over the sea with her on his back1 and carried her into that part of the world now called ,europe1 from her name4 ,so far the dictionary2 now for the poet4 ,now lows a milk-white bull on ,afric's strand1 ,and crops with dancing head the daisy'd land2 ,with rosy wreathes ,europa's hand adorns ,his fringed forehead and his pearly horns2 ,light on his back the sportive damsel bounds1 ,and1 pleas'd1 he moves along the flowery grounds2 ,bears with slow step his beauteous prize aloof1 ,dips in the lucid flood his ivory hoof2 ,then wets his velvet knees1 and wading laves ,his silky sides1 amid the dimpling waves4 ,while her fond train with beckoning hands deplore1 ,strain their blue eyes1 and shriek along the shore3 ,beneath her robe she draws her snowy feet1 ,and1 half reclining on her ermine seat1 ,round his rais'd neck her radiant arms she throws1 ,and rests her fair cheek on his curled brows2 ,her yellow tresses wave on wanton gales1 ,and high in air her azure mantle sails4#aa ,,footnotes3 #a ,garretson's ,exercises1 the tenth edition4 #b ,v4 ,chapter on ,attention4 #c ,mrs4 ,piozzi4 #d ,v4 ,blair4 #e ,v4 ,plutarch4 #f ,valpy's ,exercises4 #g ,v4 ,darwin's ,poetry4 #h ,since the above was written1 we have seen a letter from ,dr4 ,aikin to his son on the morality and poetic merit of the fable of ,circe1 which convinces us that the observations that we have hazarded are not premature4 #i ,chapter on ,imagination4 #aj ,we speak of these engravings as beautiful1 for the times in which they were done2 modern artists have arrived at higher perfection4 #aa ,darwin4 ,v4 ,botanic ,garden4 ,,chapter ,,xiv4 ,,on ,,geography ,,and ,,chronology4 ,the usual manner of teaching ,geography and ,chronology1 may1 perhaps1 be necessary in public seminaries1 where a number of boys are to learn the same thing at the same time2 but what is learned in this manner1 is not permanent2 something besides merely committing names and dates to the memory1 is requisite to make a useful impression upon the memory4 ,for the truth of this observation1 an appeal is made to the reader4 ,let him recollect1 whether the ,geography and ,chronology which he learned whilst a boy1 are what he now remembers--,whether he has not obtained his present knowledge from other sources than the tasks of early years4 ,when business1 or conversation1 calls upon us to furnish facts accurate as to place and time1 we retrace our former heterogeneous acquirements1 and select those circumstances which are connected with our present pursuit1 and thus we form1 as it were1 a nucleus round which other facts insensibly arrange themselves4 ,perhaps no two men in the world1 who are well versed in these studies1 connect their knowledge in the same manner4 ,relation to some particular country1 some favourite history1 some distinguished person1 forms the connection which guides our recollection1 and which arranges our increasing nomenclature4 ,by attending to what passes in our own minds1 we may learn an effectual method of teaching without pain1 and without any extraordinary burden to the memory1 all that is useful of these sciences4 ,the details of history should be marked by a few chronological ras1 and by a few general ideas of geography4 ,when these have been once completely associated in the mind1 there is little danger of their being ever disunited3 the sight of any country will recall its history1 and even from representations in a map1 or on the globe1 when the mind is wakened by any recent event1 a long train of concomitant ideas will recur4 ,the use of technical helps to the memory1 has been condemned by many1 and certainly1 when they are employed as artifices to supply the place of real knowledge1 they are contemptible2 but when they are used as indexes to facts that have been really collected in the mind2 when they serve to arrange the materials of knowledge in appropriate classes1 and to give a sure and rapid clue to recollection1 they are of real advantage to the understanding4 ,indeed1 they are now so common1 that pretenders cannot build the slightest reputation upon their foundation4 ,were an orator to attempt a display of long chronological accuracy1 he might be wofully confounded by his opponent's applying at the first pause1 #ab;,elsluk he would have said6 ,ample materials are furnished in ,gray's ,memoria ,technica1 from which a short and useful selection may be made1 according to the purposes which are in view4 ,for children1 the little ballad of the ,chapter of ,kings1 will not be found beneath the notice of mothers who attend to education4 ,if the technical terminations of ,gray are inserted1 they will never be forgotten1 or may be easily recalled4#ac ,we scarcely ever forget a ballad if the tune is popular4 ,for pupils at a more advanced age1 it will be found advantageous to employ technical helps of a more scientific construction4 ,priestley's ,chart of ,biography may1 from time to time1 be hung in their view4 ,smaller charts1 upon the same plan1 might be provided with a few names as land-marks2 these may be filled up by the pupil with such names as he selects from history2 they may be bound in octavo1 like maps1 by the middle1 so as to unfold both ways--,thirty-nine inches by nine will be a convenient size4 ,prints1 maps1 and medals1 which are part of the constant furniture of a room1 are seldom attended to by young people2 but when circumstances excite an interest upon any particular subject1 then is the moment to produce the symbols which record and communicate knowledge4 ,mrs4 ,radcliffe1 in her judicious and picturesque ,tour through ,germany1 tells us1 that in passing through the apartments of a palace which the archduchess ,maria ,christiana1 the sister of the late unfortunate queen of ,france1 had left a few hours before1 she saw spread upon a table a map of all the countries then included in the seat of the war4 ,the positions of the several corps of the allied armies were marked upon this chart with small pieces of various coloured wax4 ,can it be doubted1 that the strong interest which this princess must have taken in the subject1 would for ever impress upon her memory the geography of this part of the world8 ,how many people are there who have become geographers since the beginning of the present war4 ,even the common newspapers disseminate this species of knowledge1 and those who scarcely knew the situation of ,brest harbour a few years ago1 have consulted the map with that eagerness which approaching danger excites2 they consequently will tenaciously remember all the geographical knowledge they have thus acquired4 ,the art of creating an interest in the study of geography1 depends upon the dexterity with which passing circumstances are seized by a preceptor in conversation4 ,what are maps or medals1 statues or pictures1 but technical helps to memory8 ,if a mother possess good prints1 or casts of ancient gems1 let them be shown to any persons of taste and knowledge who visit her2 their attention leads that of our pupils2 imitation and sympathy are the parents of taste1 and taste reads in the monuments of art whatever history has recorded4 ,in the ,adele and ,theodore of ,madame de ,silleri1 a number of adventitious helps are described for teaching history and chronology4 ,there can be no doubt that these are useful2 and although such an apparatus cannot be procured by private families1 fortunately the print-shops of every provincial town1 and of the capital in particular1 furnish even to the passenger a continual succession of instruction4 ,might not prints1 assorted for the purposes which we have mentioned1 be lent at circulating libraries8 ,to assist our pupils in geography1 we prefer a globe to common maps4 ,might not a cheap1 portable1 and convenient globe1 be made of oiled silk1 to be inflated by a common pair of bellows8 ,mathematical exactness is not requisite for our purpose1 and though we could not pretend to the precision of our best globes1 yet a balloon of this sort would compensate by its size and convenience for its inaccuracy4 ,it might be hung by a line from its north pole1 to a hook screwed into the horizontal architrave of a door or window2 and another string from its south pole might be fastened at a proper angle to the floor1 to give the requisite elevation to the axis of the globe4 ,an idea of the different projections of the sphere1 may be easily acquired from this globe in its flaccid state1 and any part of it might be consulted as a map1 if it were laid upon a convex board of a convenient size4 ,impressions from the plates which are used for common globes1 might be taken to try this idea without any great trouble or expense2 but we wish to employ a much larger scale1 and to have them five or six feet diameter4 ,the inside of a globe of this sort might be easily illuminated1 and this would add much to the novelty and beauty of its appearance4 ,in the country1 with the assistance of a common carpenter and plasterer1 a large globe of lath and plaster may be made for the instruction and entertainment of a numerous family of children4 ,upon this they should leisurely delineate from time to time1 by their given latitudes and longitudes1 such places as they become acquainted with in reading or conversation4 ,the capital city1 for instance1 of the different countries of ,europe1 the rivers1 and the neighbouring towns1 until at last the outline might be added3 for the sake of convenience1 the lines1 c4 may be first delineated upon a piece of paper1 from which they may be accurately transferred to their proper places on the globe1 by the intervention of black-leaded paper1 or by pricking the lines through the paper1 and pouncing powdered blue through the holes upon the surface of the globe4 ,we enter into this detail because we are convinced1 that every addition to the active manual employment of children1 is of consequence1 not only to their improvement1 but to their happiness4 ,another invention has occurred to us for teaching geography and history together4 ,priestley's ,chart of ,history1 though constructed with great ingenuity1 does not invite the attention of young people3 there is an intricacy in the detail which is not obvious at first4 ,to remedy what appears to us a difficulty1 we propose that eight and twenty1 or perhaps thirty1 octavo maps of the globe should be engraved2 upon these should be traced1 in succession1 the different situations of the different countries of the world1 as to power and extent1 during each respective century3 different colours might denote the principal divisions of the world in each of these maps2 the same colour always denoting the same country1 with the addition of one strong colour2 red1 for instance1 to distinguish that country which had at each period the principal dominion4 ,on the upper and lower margin in these maps1 the names of illustrious persons might be engraven in the manner of the biographical chart2 and the reigning opinions of each century should also be inserted4 ,thus history1 chronology1 and geography1 would appear at once to the eye in their proper order1 and regular succession1 divided into centuries and periods1 which easily occur to recollection4 ,we forbear to expatiate upon this subject1 as it has not been actually submitted to experiment2 carefully avoiding in the whole of this work to recommend any mode of instruction which we have not actually put in practice4 ,for this reason1 we have not spoken of the abb ,gaultier's method of teaching geography1 as we have only been able to obtain accounts of it from the public papers1 and from reviews2 we are1 however1 disposed to think favourably beforehand1 of any mode which unites amusement with instruction4 ,we cannot forbear recommending1 in the strongest manner1 a few pages of ,rollin in his ,thoughts upon ,education1#ad which we think contain an excellent specimen of the manner in which a well informed preceptor might lead his pupils a geographical1 historical1 botanical1 and physiological tour upon the artificial globe4 ,we conclude this chapter of hints1 by repeating what we have before asserted1 that though technical assistance may be of ready use to those who are really acquainted with that knowledge to which it refers1 it never can supply the place of accurate information4 ,the causes of the rise and fall of empires1 the progress of human knowledge1 and the great discoveries of superior minds1 are the real links which connect the chain of political knowledge4 ,,footnotes3 #ab ,v4 ,gray's ,memoria ,technica1 and the ,critic4 #ac ,instead of ,william the conqueror long did reign1 ,and ,william his son by an arrow was slain4 ,read1 ,william the ,consau long did reign1 ,and ,rufkoi his son by an arrow was slain4 ,and so on from ,gray's ,memoria ,technica to the end of the chapter4 #ad ,page #bd4 ,,chapter ,,xv4 ,,on ,,arithmetic4 ,the man who is ignorant that two and two make four1 is stigmatized with the character of hopeless stupidity2 except1 as ,swift has remarked1 in the arithmetic of the customs1 where two and two do not always make the same sum4 ,we must not judge of the understanding of a child by this test1 for many children of quick abilities do not immediately assent to this proposition when it is first laid before them4 ,two and two make four1 says the tutor4 ,well1 child1 why do you stare so8 ,the child stares because the word make is in this sentence used in a sense which is quite new to him2 he knows what it is to make a bow1 and to make a noise1 but how this active verb is applicable in the present case1 where there is no agent to perform the action1 he cannot clearly comprehend4 ,two and two are four1 is more intelligible2 but even this assertion1 the child1 for want of a distinct notion of the sense in which the word are is used1 does not understand4 ,two and two are called four1 is1 perhaps1 the most accurate phrase a tutor can use2 but even these words will convey no meaning until they have been associated with the pupil's perceptions4 ,when he has once perceived the combination of the numbers with real objects1 it will then be easy to teach him that the words are called1 are1 and make1 in the foregoing proposition1 are synonymous terms4 ,we have chosen the first simple instance we could recollect1 to show how difficult the words we generally use in teaching arithmetic1 must be to our young pupils4 ,it would be an unprofitable task to enumerate all the puzzling technical terms which1 in their earliest lessons1 children are obliged to hear1 without being able to understand4 ,it is not from want of capacity that so many children are deficient in arithmetical skill2 and it is absurd to say1 such a child has no genius for arithmetic4 ,such a child cannot be made to comprehend any thing about numbers4 ,these assertions prove nothing1 but that the persons who make them1 are ignorant of the art of teaching4 ,a child's seeming stupidity in learning arithmetic1 may1 perhaps1 be a proof of intelligence and good sense4 ,it is easy to make a boy1 who does not reason1 repeat by rote any technical rules which a common writing-master1 with magisterial solemnity1 may lay down for him2 but a child who reasons1 will not be thus easily managed2 he stops1 frowns1 hesitates1 questions his master1 is wretched and refractory1 until he can discover why he is to proceed in such and such a manner2 he is not content with seeing his preceptor make figures and lines upon a slate1 and perform wondrous operations with the self-complacent dexterity of a conjurer4 ,a sensible boy is not satisfied with merely seeing the total of a given sum1 or the answer to a given question1 come out right2 he insists upon knowing why it is right4 ,he is not content to be led to the treasures of science blindfold2 he would tear the bandage from his eyes1 that he might know the way to them again4 ,that many children1 who have been thought to be slow in learning arithmetic1 have1 after their escape from the hands of pedagogues1 become remarkable for their quickness1 is a fact sufficiently proved by experience4 ,we shall only mention one instance1 which we happened to meet with whilst we were writing this chapter4 ,john ,ludwig1 a ,saxon peasant1 was dismissed from school when he was a child1 after four years ineffectual struggle to learn the common rules of arithmetic4 ,he had been1 during this time1 beaten and scolded in vain4 ,he spent several subsequent years in common country labour1 but at length some accidental circumstances excited his ambition1 and he became expert in all the common rules1 and mastered the rule of three and fractions1 by the help of an old school book1 in the course of one year4 ,he afterwards taught himself geometry1 and raised himself1 by the force of his abilities and perseverance1 from obscurity to fame4 ,we should like to see the book which helped ,mr4 ,ludwig to conquer his difficulties4 ,introductions to ,arithmetic are1 often1 calculated rather for adepts in science1 than for the ignorant4 ,we do not pretend to have discovered any shorter method than what is common1 of teaching these sciences2 but1 in conformity with the principles which are laid down in the former part of this work1 we have endeavoured to teach their rudiments without disgusting our pupils1 and without habituating them to be contented with merely technical operations4 ,in arithmetic1 as in every other branch of education1 the principal object should be1 to preserve the understanding from implicit belief2 to invigorate its powers2 to associate pleasure with literature1 and to induce the laudable ambition of progressive improvement4 ,as soon as a child can read1 he should be accustomed to count1 and to have the names of numbers early connected in his mind with the combinations which they represent4 ,for this purpose1 he should be taught to add first by things1 and afterwards by signs or figures4 ,he should be taught to form combinations of things by adding them together one after another4 ,at the same time that he acquires the names that have been given to these combinations1 he should be taught the figures or symbols that represent them4 ,for example1 when it is familiar to the child1 that one almond1 and one almond1 are called two almonds2 that one almond1 and two almonds1 are called three almonds1 and so on1 he should be taught to distinguish the figures that represent these assemblages2 that #c means one and two1 c4 ,each operation of arithmetic should proceed in this manner1 from individuals to the abstract notation of signs4 ,one of the earliest operations of the reasoning faculty1 is abstraction2 that is to say1 the power of classing a number of individuals under one name4 ,young children call strangers either men or women2 even the most ignorant savages#ae have a propensity to generalize4 ,we may err either by accustoming our pupils too much to the consideration of tangible substances when we teach them arithmetic1 or by turning their attention too much to signs4 ,the art of forming a sound and active understanding1 consists in the due mixture of facts and reflection4 ,dr4 ,reid has1 in his ,essay on the ,intellectual ,powers of ,man1 page #big1 pointed out1 with great ingenuity1 the admirable economy of nature in limiting the powers of reasoning during the first years of infancy4 ,this is the season for cultivating the senses1 and whoever1 at this early age1 endeavours to force the tender shoots of reason1 will repent his rashness4 ,in the chapter on ,toys1 we have recommended the use of plain1 regular solids1 cubes1 globes1 c4 made of wood1 as playthings for children1 instead of uncouth figures of men1 women and animals4 ,for teaching arithmetic1 half inch cubes1 which can be easily grasped by infant fingers1 may be employed with great advantage2 they can be easily arranged in various combinations2 the eye can easily take in a sufficient number of them at once1 and the mind is insensibly led to consider the assemblages in which they may be grouped1 not only as they relate to number1 but as they relate to quantity or shape2 besides1 the terms which are borrowed from some of these shapes1 as squares1 cubes1 c4 will become familiar4 ,as these children advance in arithmetic to square or cube1 a number will be more intelligible to them than to a person who has been taught these words merely as the formula of certain rules4 ,in arithmetic1 the first lessons should be short and simple2 two cubes placed above each other1 will soon be called two2 if placed in any other situations near each other1 they will still be called two2 but it is advantageous to accustom our little pupils to place the cubes with which they are taught in succession1 either by placing them upon one another1 or laying in columns upon a table1 beginning to count from the cube next to them1 as we cast up in addition4 ,for this purpose1 a board about six inches long1 and five broad1 divided into columns perpendicularly by slips of wood three eighths of an inch wide1 and one eighth of an inch thick1 will be found useful2 and if a few cubes of colours different from those already mentioned1 with numbers on their six sides1 are procured1 they may be of great service4 ,our cubes should be placed1 from time to time1 in a different order1 or promiscuously2 but when any arithmetical operations are to be performed with them1 it is best to preserve the established arrangement4 ,one cube and one other1 are called two4 ,two what8 ,two cubes4 ,one glass1 and one glass1 are called two glasses4 ,one raisin1 and one raisin1 are called two raisins1 c4 ,one cube1 and one glass1 are called what8 ,two things or two4 ,by a process of this sort1 the meaning of the abstract term two may be taught4 ,a child will perceive the word two1 means the same as the words one and one2 and when we say one and one are called two1 unless he is prejudiced by something else that is said to him1 he will understand nothing more than that there are two names for the same thing4 ,one1 and one1 and one1 are called three1 is the same as saying that three is the name for one1 and one1 and one4 ,two and one are three1 is also the same as saying that three is the name of two and one4 ,three is also the name of one and two2 the word three has1 therefore1 three meanings2 it means one1 and one1 and one2 also1 two and one2 also1 one and two4 ,he will see that any two of the cubes may be put together1 as it were1 in one parcel1 and that this parcel may be called two2 and he will also see that this parcel1 when joined to another single cube1 will make three1 and that the sum will be the same1 whether the single cube1 or the two cubes1 be named first4 ,in a similar manner1 the combinations which form four1 may be considered4 ,one1 and one1 and one1 and one1 are four4 ,one and three are four4 ,two and two are four4 ,three and one are four4 ,all these assertions mean the same thing1 and the term four is equally applicable to each of them2 when1 therefore1 we say that two and two are four1 the child may be easily led to perceive1 and indeed to see1 that it means the same thing as saying one two1 and one two1 which is the same thing as saying two two's1 or saying the word two two times4 ,our pupil should be suffered to rest here1 and we should not1 at present1 attempt to lead him further towards that compendious method of addition which we call multiplication2 but the foundation is laid by giving him this view of the relation between two and two in forming four4 ,there is an enumeration in the note#af of the different combinations which compose the rest of the ,arabic notation1 which consists only of nine characters4 ,before we proceed to the number ten1 or to the new series of numeration which succeeds to it1 we should make our pupils perfectly masters of the combinations which we have mentioned1 both in the direct order in which they are arranged1 and in various modes of succession2 by these means1 not only the addition1 but the subtraction1 of numbers as far as nine1 will be perfectly familiar to them4 ,it has been observed before1 that counting by realities1 and by signs1 should be taught at the same time1 so that the ear1 the eye1 and the mind1 should keep pace with one another2 and that technical habits should be acquired without injury to the understanding4 ,if a child begins between four and five years of age1 he may be allowed half a year for this essential1 preliminary step in arithmetic2 four or five minutes application every day1 will be sufficient to teach him not only the relations of the first decade in numeration1 but also how to write figures with accuracy and expedition4 ,the next step1 is1 by far the most difficult in the science of arithmetic2 in treatises upon the subject1 it is concisely passed over under the title of ,numeration2 but it requires no small degree of care to make it intelligible to children1 and we therefore recommend1 that1 besides direct instruction upon the subject1 the child should be led1 by degrees1 to understand the nature of classification in general4 ,botany and natural history1 though they are not pursued as sciences1 are1 notwithstanding1 the daily occupation and amusement of children1 and they supply constant examples of classification4 ,in conversation1 these may be familiarly pointed out2 a grove1 a flock1 c4 are constantly before the eyes of our pupil1 and he comprehends as well as we do what is meant by two groves1 two flocks1 c4 ,the trees that form the grove are each of them individuals2 but let their numbers be what they may when they are considered as a grove1 the grove is but one1 and may be thought of and spoken of distinctly1 without any relation to the number of single trees which it contains4 ,from these1 and similar observations1 a child may be led to consider ten as the name for a whole1 an integer2 a one1 which may be represented by the figure 7#a73 this same figure may also stand for a hundred1 or a thousand1 as he will readily perceive hereafter4 ,indeed1 the term one hundred will become familiar to him in conversation long before he comprehends that the word ten is used as an aggregate term1 like a dozen1 or a thousand4 ,we do not use the word ten as the ,french do une dizaine2 ten does not1 therefore1 present the idea of an integer till we learn arithmetic4 ,this is a defect in our language1 which has arisen from the use of duodecimal numeration2 the analogies existing between the names of other numbers in progression1 is broken by the terms eleven and twelve4 ,thirteen1 fourteen1 c4 are so obviously compounded of three and ten1 and four and ten1 as to strike the ears of children immediately1 and when they advance as far as twenty1 they readily perceive that a new series of units begins1 and proceeds to thirty1 and that thirty1 forty1 c4 mean three tens1 four tens1 c4 ,in pointing out these analogies to children1 they become interested and attentive1 they show that species of pleasure which arises from the perception of aptitude1 or of truth4 ,it can scarcely be denied that such a pleasure exists independently of every view of utility and fame2 and when we can once excite this feeling in the minds of our young pupils at any period of their education1 we may be certain of success4 ,as soon as distinct notions have been acquired of the manner in which a collection of ten units becomes a new unit of a higher order1 our pupil may be led to observe the utility of this invention by various examples1 before he applies it to the rules of arithmetic4 ,let him count as far as ten with black pebbles1#ag for instance2 let him lay aside a white pebble to represent the collection of ten2 he may count another series of ten black pebbles1 and lay aside another white one2 and so on1 till he has collected ten white pebbles3 as each of the ten white pebbles represents ten black pebbles1 he will have counted one hundred2 and the ten white pebbles may now be represented by a single red one1 which will stand for one hundred4 ,this large number1 which it takes up so much time to count1 and which could not be comprehended at one view1 is represented by a single sign4 ,here the difference of colour forms the distinction3 difference in shape1 or size1 would answer the same purpose1 as in the ,roman notation ,x for ten1 ,l for fifty1 ,c for one hundred1 c4 ,all this is fully within the comprehension of a child of six years old1 and will lead him to the value of written figures by the place which they hold when compared with one another4 ,indeed he may be led to invent this arrangement1 a circumstance which would encourage him in every part of his education4 ,when once he clearly comprehends that the third place1 counting from the right1 contains only figures which represent hundreds1 c4 he will have conquered one of the greatest difficulties of arithmetic4 ,if a paper ruled with several perpendicular lines1 a quarter of an inch asunder1 be shown to him1 he will see that the spaces or columns between these lines would distinguish the value of figures written in them1 without the use of the sign 7#j7 and he will see that 7#j7 or zero1 serves only to mark the place or situation of the neighbouring figures4 ,an idea of decimal arithmetic1 but without detail1 may now be given to him1 as it will not appear extraordinary to him that a unit should represent ten by having its place1 or column changed2 and nothing more is necessary in decimal arithmetic1 than to consider that figure which represented1 at one time1 an integer1 or whole1 as representing at another time the number of tenth parts into which that whole may have been broken4 ,our pupil may next be taught what is called numeration1 which he cannot fail to understand1 and in which he should be frequently exercised4 ,common addition will be easily understood by a child who distinctly perceives that the perpendicular columns1 or places in which figures are written1 may distinguish their value under various different denominations1 as gallons1 furlongs1 shillings1 c4 ,we should not tease children with long sums in avoirdupois weight1 or load their frail memories with tables of long-measure1 and dry-measure1 and ale-measure in the country1 and ale-measure in ,london2 only let them cast up a few sums in different denominations1 with the tables before them1 and let the practice of addition be preserved in their minds by short sums every day1 and when they are between six and seven years old1 they will be sufficiently masters of the first and most useful rule of arithmetic4 ,to children who have been trained in this manner1 subtraction will be quite easy2 care1 however1 should be taken to give them a clear notion of the mystery of borrowing and paying1 which is inculcated in teaching subtraction4 ,from #id ,subtract #df ,six from four ,i can't1 but six from ten1 and four remains2 four and four is eight4 ,and then1 ,one that ,i borrowed and four are five1 five from nine1 and four remains4 ,this is the formula2 but is it ever explained--or can it be8 ,certainly not without some alteration4 ,a child sees that six cannot be subtracted 7taken7 from four3 more especially a child who is familiarly acquainted with the component parts of the names six and four3 he sees that the sum #df is less than the sum #id1 and he knows that the lesser sum may be subtracted from the greater2 but he does not perceive the means of separating them figure by figure4 ,tell him1 that though six cannot be deducted from four1 yet it can from fourteen1 and that if one of the tens which are contained in the 7#i7 ninety in the uppermost row of the second column1 be supposed to be taken away1 or borrowed1 from the ninety1 and added to the four1 the nine will be reduced to #h 7eighty71 and the four will become fourteen4 ,our pupil will comprehend this most readily2 he will see that #f1 which could not be subtracted from #d1 may be subtracted from fourteen1 and he will remember that the #i in the next column is to be considered as only 7#h74 ,to avoid confusion1 he may draw a stroke across the 7#i7 and write #h over#ah it #h over 7#i7 and proceed to the remainder of the operation4 ,this method for beginners is certainly very distinct1 and may for some time1 be employed with advantage2 and after its rationale has become familiar1 we may explain the common method which depends upon this consideration4 ,if one number is to be deducted from another1 the remainder will be the same1 whether we add any given number to the smaller number1 or take away the same given number from the larger4 ,for instance3 ,let the larger number be #i ,and the smaller #d ,if you deduct #c from the larger it will be #f ,from this subtract the smaller #d -- ,the remainder will be #b -- ,or if you add #c to the smaller number1 it will be #g -- ,subtract this from the larger number #i #g -- ,the remainder will be #b ,now in the common method of subtraction1 the one which is borrowed is taken from the uppermost figure in the adjoining column1 and instead of altering that figure to one less1 we add one to the lowest figure1 which1 as we have just shown1 will have the same effect4 ,the terms1 however1 that are commonly used in performing this operation1 are improper4 ,to say one that ,i borrowed1 and four 7meaning the lowest figure in the adjoining column7 implies the idea that what was borrowed is now to be repaid to that lowest figure1 which is not the fact4 ,as to multiplication1 we have little to say4 ,our pupil should be furnished1 in the first instance1 with a table containing the addition of the different units1 which form the different products of the multiplication table3 these he should1 from time to time1 add up as an exercise in addition2 and it should be frequently pointed out to him1 that adding these figures so many times over1 is the same as multiplying them by the number of times that they are added2 as three times #c means #c added three times4 ,here one of the figures represents a quantity1 the other does not represent a quantity1 it denotes nothing but the times1 or frequency of repetition4 ,young people1 as they advance1 are apt to confound these signs1 and to imagine1 for instance1 in the rule of three1 c4 that the sums which they multiply together1 mean quantities2 that #dj yards of linen may be multiplied by three and six-pence1 c4--an idea from which the misstatements in sums that are intricate1 frequently arise4 ,we have heard that the multiplication table has been set1 like the ,chapter of ,kings1 to a cheerful tune4 ,this is a species of technical memory which we have long practised1 and which can do no harm to the understanding2 it prevents the mind from no beneficial exertion1 and may save much irksome labour4 ,it is certainly to be wished1 that our pupil should be expert in the multiplication table2 if the cubes which we have formerly mentioned1 be employed for this purpose1 the notion of squaring figures will be introduced at the same time that the multiplication table is committed to memory4 ,in division1 what is called the ,italian method of arranging the divisor and quotient1 appears to be preferable to the common one1 as it places them in such a manner as to be easily multiplied by each other1 and as it agrees with algebraic notation4 ,the usual method is this3 ,divisor #ga7hcdfg7aage ,italian method3 ,dividend #hcdfg #ga ---- #aage ,the rule of three is commonly taught in a manner merely technical3 that it may be learned in this manner1 so as to answer the common purposes of life1 there can be no doubt2 and nothing is further from our design1 than to depreciate any mode of instruction which has been sanctioned by experience3 but our purpose is to point out methods of conveying instruction that shall improve the reasoning faculty1 and habituate our pupil to think upon every subject4 ,we wish1 therefore1 to point out the course which the mind would follow to solve problems relative to proportion without the rule1 and to turn our pupil's attention to the circumstances in which the rule assists us4 ,the calculation of the price of any commodity1 or the measure of any quantity1 where the first term is one1 may be always stated as a sum in the rule of three2 but as this statement retards1 instead of expediting the operation1 it is never practised4 ,if one yard costs a shilling1 how much will three yards cost8 ,the mind immediately perceives1 that the price added three times together1 or multiplied by three1 gives the answer4 ,if a certain number of apples are to be equally distributed amongst a certain number of boys1 if the share of one is one apple1 the share of ten or twenty is plainly equal to ten or twenty4 ,but if we state that the share of three boys is twelve apples1 and ask what number will be sufficient for nine boys1 the answer is not obvious2 it requires consideration4 ,ask our pupil what made it so easy to answer the last question1 he will readily say1 ,because ,i knew what was the share of one4 ,then you could answer this new question if you knew the share of one boy8 ,yes4 ,cannot you find out what the share of one boy is when the share of three boys is twelve8 ,four4 ,what number of apples then will be enough1 at the same rate1 for nine boys8 ,nine times four1 that is thirty-six4 ,in this process he does nothing more than divide the second number by the first1 and multiply the quotient by the third2 #ab divided by #c is #d1 which multiplied by #i is #cf4 ,and this is1 in truth1 the foundation of the rule2 for though the golden rule facilitates calculation1 and contributes admirably to our convenience1 it is not absolutely necessary to the solution of questions relating to proportion4 ,again1 ,if the share of three boys is five apples1 how many will be sufficient for nine8 ,our pupil will attempt to proceed as in the former question1 and will begin by endeavouring to find out the share of one of the three boys2 but this is not quite so easy2 he will see that each is to have one apple1 and part of another2 but it will cost him some pains to determine exactly how much4 ,when at length he finds that one and two-thirds is the share of one boy1 before he can answer the question1 he must multiply one and two-thirds by nine1 which is an operation in fractions1 a rule of which he at present knows nothing4 ,but if he begins by multiplying the second1 instead of dividing it previously by the first number1 he will avoid the embarrassment occasioned by fractional parts1 and will easily solve the question4 #c 3 #e 3 #i 3 #ae ,multiply #e by #i -- it makes #de which product #de1 divided by #c1 gives #ae4 ,here our pupil perceives1 that if a given number1 #ab1 for instance1 is to be divided by one number1 and multiplied by another1 it will come to the same thing1 whether he begins by dividing the given number1 or by multiplying it4 #ab divided by #d is #c1 which multiplied by #f is #ah2 ,and #ab multiplied by #f is #gb1 which divided by #d is #ah4 ,we recommend it to preceptors not to fatigue the memories of their young pupils with sums which are difficult only from the number of figures which they require1 but rather to give examples in practice1 where aliquot parts are to be considered1 and where their ingenuity may be employed without exhausting their patience4 ,a variety of arithmetical questions occur in common conversation1 and from common incidents2 these should be made a subject of inquiry1 and our pupils1 amongst others1 should try their skill3 in short1 whatever can be taught in conversation1 is clear gain in instruction4 ,we should observe1 that every explanation upon these subjects should be recurred to from time to time1 perhaps every two or three months2 as there are no circumstances in the business of every day1 which recall abstract speculations to the minds of children2 and the pupil who understands them to-day1 may1 without any deficiency of memory1 forget them entirely in a few weeks4 ,indeed1 the perception of the chain of reasoning1 which connects demonstration1 is what makes it truly advantageous in education4 ,whoever has occasion1 in the business of life1 to make use of the rule of three1 may learn it effectually in a month as well as in ten years2 but the habit of reasoning cannot be acquired late in life without unusual labour1 and uncommon fortitude4 ,,footnotes3 #ae ,v4 ,a strange instance quoted by ,mr4 ,stewart1 ,on the ,human ,mind1 page #aeb4 #af ,,note4 #a ,two is #a the - name for #b #a #a #a #a #b - - #c #c #a #a #a #a #a #a #b #a #b #c #b - - - - #d #d #d #d #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #b #c #a #b #c #d #b #b - - - - - - #e #e #e #e #e #e #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #b #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #b #b #c #d #b #c #a #b #c #d #e #b #b #b #b #c #c - - - - - - - - - - - #f #f #f #f #f #f #f #f #f #f #f #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #b #a #a #b #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #b #b #c #d #e #b #c #d #a #b #c #d #e #f #b #b #b #b #b #c #c #c - - - - - - - - - - - - - - #g #g #g #g #g #g #g #g #g #g #g #g #g #g #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #b #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #b #b #a #b #a #b #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #b #b #b #b #b #c #c #d #a #b #c #d #e #f #g #b #b #b #c #c #c #c #c - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - #h #h #h #h #h #h #h #h #h #h #h #h #h #h #h #a #a #b #a #a #e #b #b #c #d #b #b #c #d #d #d #d #e #f - - - - - - - #h #h #h #h #h #h #h #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #b #a #a #b #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #b #b #a #b #b #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #a #b #b #b #b #b #b #c #a #b #c #d #e #f #g #h #b #b #b #c #c #c #c - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - #i #i #i #i #i #i #i #i #i #i #i #i #i #i #i #a #a #a #a #a #a #b #c #a #b #a #a #b #a #a #b #a #c #c #d #d #e #f #b #b #d #e #b #b #b #b #c #c #c #c #c #c #d #d #d #d #e #e #f #g - - - - - - - - - - - - - - #i #i #i #i #i #i #i #i #i #i #i #i #i #i #ag ,the word calculate is derived from the ,latin calculus1 a pebble4 #ah ,this method is recommended in the ,cours de ,math1 par ,camus1 p4 #ch4 ,,chapter ,,xvi4 ,,geometry4 ,there is certainly no royal road to geometry1 but the way may be rendered easy and pleasant by timely preparations for the journey4 ,without any previous knowledge of the country1 or of its peculiar language1 how can we expect that our young traveller should advance with facility or pleasure8 ,we are anxious that our pupil should acquire a taste for accurate reasoning1 and we resort to ,geometry1 as the most perfect1 and the purest series of ratiocination which has been invented4 ,let us1 then1 sedulously avoid whatever may disgust him2 let his first steps be easy1 and successful2 let them be frequently repeated until he can trace them without a guide4 ,we have recommended in the chapter upon ,toys1 that children should1 from their earliest years1 be accustomed to the shape of what are commonly called regular solids2 they should also be accustomed to the figures in mathematical diagrams4 ,to these should be added their respective names1 and the whole language of the science should be rendered as familiar as possible4 ,mr4 ,donne1 an ingenious mathematician of ,bristol1 has published a prospectus of an ,essay on ,mechanical ,geometry3 he has executed1 and employed with success1 models in wood and metal for demonstrating propositions in geometry in a palpable manner4 ,we have endeavoured1 in vain1 to procure a set of these models for our own pupils1 but we have no doubt of their entire utility4 ,what has been acquired in childhood1 should not be suffered to escape the memory4 ,dionysius#ai had mathematical diagrams described upon the floors of his apartments1 and thus recalled their demonstrations to his memory4 ,the slightest addition that can be conceived1 if it be continued daily1 will imperceptibly1 not only preserve what has been already acquired1 but will1 in a few years1 amount to as large a stock of mathematical knowledge as we could wish4 ,it is not our object to make mathematicians1 but to make it easy to our pupil to become a mathematician1 if his interest1 or his ambition1 make it desirable2 and1 above all1 to habituate him to clear reasoning1 and close attention4 ,and we may here remark1 that an early acquaintance with the accuracy of mathematical demonstration1 does not1 within our experience1 contract the powers of the imagination4 ,on the contrary1 we think that a young lady of twelve years old1 who is now no more1 and who had an uncommon propensity to mathematical reasoning1 had an imagination remarkably vivid and inventive4#bj ,we have accustomed our pupils to form in their minds the conception of figures generated from points and lines1 and surfaces supposed to move in different directions1 and with different velocities4 ,it may be thought1 that this would be a difficult occupation for young minds2 but1 upon trial1 it will be found not only easy to them1 but entertaining4 ,in their subsequent studies1 it will be of material advantage2 it will facilitate their progress not only in pure mathematics1 but in mechanics and astronomy1 and in every operation of the mind which requires exact reflection4 ,to demand steady thought from a person who has not been trained to it1 is one of the most unprofitable and dangerous requisitions that can be made in education4 ,full in the midst of ,euclid dip at once1 ,and petrify a genius to a dunce4 ,in the usual commencement of mathematical studies1 the learner is required to admit that a point1 of which he sees the prototype1 a dot before him1 has neither length1 breadth1 nor thickness4 ,this1 surely1 is a degree of faith not absolutely necessary for the neophyte in science4 ,it is an absurdity which has1 with much success1 been attacked in ,observations on the ,nature of ,demonstrative ,evidence1 by ,doctor ,beddoes4 ,we agree with the doctor as to the impropriety of calling a visible dot1 a point without dimensions4 ,but1 notwithstanding the high respect which the author commands by a steady pursuit of truth on all subjects of human knowledge1 we cannot avoid protesting against part of the doctrine which he has endeavoured to inculcate4 ,that the names point1 radius1 c4 are derived from sensible objects1 need not be disputed2 but surely the word centre can be understood by the human mind without the presence of any visible or tangible substance4 ,where two lines meet1 their junction cannot have dimensions2 where two radii of a circle meet1 they constitute the centre1 and the name centre may be used for ever without any relation to a tangible or visible point4 ,the word boundary1 in like manner1 means the extreme limit we call a line2 but to assert that it has thickness1 would1 from the very terms which are used to describe it1 be a direct contradiction4 ,bishop ,berkely1 ,mr4 ,walton1 ,philathetes ,cantabrigiensis1 and ,mr4 ,benjamin ,robins1 published several pamphlets upon this subject about half a century ago4 ,no man had a more penetrating mind than ,berkely2 but we apprehend that ,mr4 ,robins closed the dispute against him4 ,this is not meant as an appeal to authority1 but to apprize such of our readers as wish to consider the argument1 where they may meet an accurate investigation of the subject4 ,it is sufficient for our purpose1 to warn preceptors not to insist upon their pupils' acquiescence in the dogma1 that a point1 represented by a dot1 is without dimensions2 and at the same time to profess1 that we understand distinctly what is meant by mathematicians when they speak of length without breadth1 and of a superfices without depth2 expressions which1 to our minds1 convey a meaning as distinct as the name of any visible or tangible substance in nature1 whose varieties from shade1 distance1 colour1 smoothness1 heat1 c4 are infinite1 and not to be comprehended in any definition4 ,in fact1 this is a dispute merely about words1 and as the extension of the art of printing puts it in the power of every man to propose and to defend his opinions at length1 and at leisure1 the best friends may support different sides of a question with mutual regard1 and the most violent enemies with civility and decorum4 ,can we believe that ,tycho ,brahe lost half his nose in a dispute with a ,danish nobleman about a mathematical demonstration8 ,,footnotes3 #ai ,plutarch4--,life of ,dion4 #bj ,v4 ,rivuletta1 a little story written entirely by her in #aghf4 ,,chapter ,,xvii4 ,,on ,,mechanics4 ,parents are anxious that children should be conversant with ,mechanics1 and with what are called the ,mechanic ,powers4 ,certainly no species of knowledge is better suited to the taste and capacity of youth1 and yet it seldom forms a part of early instruction4 ,every body talks of the lever1 the wedge1 and the pulley1 but most people perceive1 that the notions which they have of their respective uses1 are unsatisfactory1 and indistinct2 and many endeavour1 at a late period of life1 to acquire a scientific and exact knowledge of the effects that are produced by implements which are in every body's hands1 or that are absolutely necessary in the daily occupations of mankind4 ,an itinerant lecturer seldom fails of having a numerous and attentive auditory2 and if he does not communicate much of that knowledge which he endeavours to explain1 it is not to be attributed either to his want of skill1 or to the insufficiency of his apparatus1 but to the novelty of the terms which he is obliged to use4 ,ignorance of the language in which any science is taught1 is an insuperable bar to its being suddenly acquired2 besides a precise knowledge of the meaning of terms1 we must have an instantaneous idea excited in our minds whenever they are repeated2 and1 as this can be acquired only by practice1 it is impossible that philosophical lectures can be of much service to those who are not familiarly acquainted with the technical language in which they are delivered2 and yet there is scarcely any subject of human inquiry more obvious to the understanding1 than the laws of mechanics4 ,only a small portion of geometry is necessary to the learner1 if he even wishes to become master of the more difficult problems which are usually contained in a course of lectures1 and most of what is practically useful1 may be acquired by any person who is expert in common arithmetic4 ,but we cannot proceed a single step without deviating from common language2 if the theory of the balance1 or the lever1 is to be explained1 we immediately speak of space and time4 ,to persons not versed in literature1 it is probable that these terms appear more simple and unintelligible than they do to a man who has read ,locke1 and other metaphysical writers4 ,the term space to the bulk of mankind1 conveys the idea of an interval2 they consider the word time as representing a definite number of years1 days1 or minutes2 but the metaphysician1 when he hears the words space and time1 immediately takes the alarm1 and recurs to the abstract notions which are associated with these terms2 he perceives difficulties unknown to the unlearned1 and feels a confusion of ideas which distracts his attention4 ,the lecturer proceeds with confidence1 never supposing that his audience can be puzzled by such common terms4 ,he means by space1 the distance from the place whence a body begins to fall1 to the place where its motion ceases2 and by time1 he means the number of seconds1 or of any determinate divisions of civil time which elapse from the commencement of any motion to its end2 or1 in other words1 the duration of any given motion4 ,after this has been frequently repeated1 any intelligent person perceives the sense in which they are used by the tenour of the discourse2 but in the interim1 the greatest part of what he has heard1 cannot have been understood1 and the premises upon which every subsequent demonstration is founded1 are unknown to him4 ,if this be true1 when it is affirmed of two terms only1 what must be the situation of those to whom eight or ten unknown technical terms occur at the commencement of a lecture8 ,a complete knowledge1 such a knowledge as is not only full1 but familiar1 of all the common terms made use of in theoretic and practical mechanics1 is1 therefore1 absolutely necessary before any person can attend public lectures in natural philosophy with advantage4 ,what has been said of public lectures1 may1 with equal propriety1 be applied to private instruction2 and it is probable1 that inattention to this circumstance is the reason why so few people have distinct notions of natural philosophy4 ,learning by rote1 or even reading repeatedly1 definitions of the technical terms of any science1 must undoubtedly facilitate its acquirement2 but conversation1 with the habit of explaining the meaning of words1 and the structure of common domestic implements1 to children1 is the sure and effectual method of preparing the mind for the acquirement of science4 ,the ancients1 in learning this species of knowledge1 had an advantage of which we are deprived3 many of their terms of science were the common names of familiar objects4 ,how few do we meet who have a distinct notion of the words radius1 angle1 or valve4 ,a ,roman peasant knew what a radius or a valve meant1 in their original signification1 as well as a modern professor2 he knew that a valve was a door1 and a radius a spoke of a wheel2 but an ,english child finds it as difficult to remember the meaning of the word angle1 as the word parabola4 ,an angle is usually confounded1 by those who are ignorant of geometry and mechanics1 with the word triangle1 and the long reasoning of many a laborious instructer has been confounded by this popular mistake4 ,when a glass pump is shown to an admiring spectator1 he is desired to watch the motion of the valves3 he looks above1 about1 and underneath2 but1 ignorant of the word valve1 he looks in vain4 ,had he been desired to look at the motion of the little doors that opened and shut1 as the handle of the pump was moved up and down1 he would have followed the lecturer with ease1 and would have understood all his subsequent reasoning4 ,if a child attempts to push any thing heavier than himself1 his feet slide away from it1 and the object can be moved only at intervals1 and by sudden starts2 but if he be desired to prop his feet against the wall1 he finds it easy to push what before eluded his little strength4 ,here the use of a fulcrum1 or fixed point1 by means of which bodies may be moved1 is distinctly understood4 ,if two boys lay a board across a narrow block of wood1 or stone1 and balance each other at the opposite ends of it1 they acquire another idea of a centre of motion4 ,if a poker is rested against a bar of a grate1 and employed to lift up the coals1 the same notion of a centre is recalled to their minds4 ,if a boy1 sitting upon a plank1 a sofa1 or form1 be lifted up by another boy's applying his strength at one end of the seat1 whilst the other end of the seat rests on the ground1 it will be readily perceived by them1 that the point of rest1 or centre of motion1 or fulcrum1 is the ground1 and that the fulcrum is not1 as in the first instance1 between the force that lifts1 and the thing that is lifted2 the fulcrum is at one end1 the force which is exerted acts at the other end1 and the weight is in the middle4 ,in trying1 these simple experiments1 the terms fulcrum1 centre of motion1 c4 should be constantly employed1 and in a very short time they would be as familiar to a boy of eight years old as to any philosopher4 ,if for some years the same words frequently recur to him in the same sense1 is it to be supposed that a lecture upon the balance and the lever would be as unintelligible to him as to persons of good abilities1 who at a more advanced age hear these terms from the mouth of a lecturer8 ,a boy in such circumstances would appear as if he had a genius for mechanics1 when1 perhaps1 he might have less taste for the science1 and less capacity1 than the generality of the audience4 ,trifling as it may at first appear1 it will not be found a trifling advantage1 in the progress of education1 to attend to this circumstance4 ,a distinct knowledge of a few terms1 assists a learner in his first attempts2 finding these successful1 he advances with confidence1 and acquires new ideas without difficulty or disgust4 ,rousseau1 with his usual eloquence1 has inculcated the necessity of annexing ideas to words2 he declaims against the splendid ignorance of men who speak by rote1 and who are rich in words amidst the most deplorable poverty of ideas4 ,to store the memory of his pupil with images of things1 he is willing to neglect1 and leave to hazard1 his acquirement of language4 ,it requires no elaborate argument to prove that a boy1 whose mind was stored with accurate images of external objects1 of experimental knowledge1 and who had acquired habitual dexterity1 but who was unacquainted with the usual signs by which ideas are expressed1 would be incapable of accurate reasoning1 or would1 at best1 reason only upon particulars4 ,without general terms1 he could not abstract2 he could not1 until his vocabulary was enlarged1 and familiar to him1 reason upon general topics1 or draw conclusions from general principles3 in short1 he would be in the situation of those who1 in the solution of difficult and complicated questions relative to quantity1 are obliged to employ tedious and perplexed calculations1 instead of the clear and comprehensive methods that unfold themselves by the use of signs in algebra4 ,it is not necessary1 in teaching children the technical language of any art or science1 that we should pursue the same order that is requisite in teaching the science itself4 ,order is required in reasoning1 because all reasoning is employed in deducing propositions from one another in a regular series2 but where terms are employed merely as names1 this order may be dispensed with4 ,it is1 however1 of great consequence to seize the proper time for introducing a new term2 a moment when attention is awake1 and when accident has produced some particular interest in the object4 ,in every family1 opportunities of this sort occur without any preparation1 and such opportunities are far preferable to a formal lecture and a splendid apparatus for the first lessons in natural philosophy and chemistry4 ,if the pump belonging to the house is out of order1 and the pump-maker is set to work1 an excellent opportunity presents itself for variety of instruction4 ,the centre pin of the handle is taken out1 and a long rod is drawn up by degrees1 at the end of which a round piece of wood is seen partly covered with leather4 ,your pupil immediately asks the name of it1 and the pump-maker prevents your answer1 by informing little master that it is called a sucker4 ,you show it to the child1 he handles it1 feels whether the leather is hard or soft1 and at length discovers that there is a hole through it which is covered with a little flap or door4 ,this1 he learns from the workmen1 is called a clack4 ,the child should now be permitted to plunge the piston 7by which name it should now be called7 into a tub of water2 in drawing it backwards and forwards1 he will perceive that the clack1 which should now be called the valve1 opens and shuts as the piston is drawn backwards and forwards4 ,it will be better not to inform the child how this mechanism is employed in the pump4 ,if the names sucker and piston1 clack and valve1 are fixed in his memory1 it will be sufficient for his first lesson4 ,at another opportunity1 he should be present when the fixed or lower valve of the pump is drawn up2 he will examine it1 and find that it is similar to the valve of the piston2 if he sees it put down into the pump1 and sees the piston put into its place1 and set to work1 the names that he has learned will be fixed more deeply in his mind1 and he will have some general notion of the whole apparatus4 ,from time to time these names should be recalled to his memory on suitable occasions1 but he should not be asked to repeat them by rote4 ,what has been said1 is not intended as a lesson for a child in mechanics1 but as a sketch of a method of teaching which has been employed with success4 ,whatever repairs are carried on in a house1 children should be permitted to see3 whilst every body about them seems interested1 they become attentive from sympathy2 and whenever action accompanies instruction1 it is sure to make an impression4 ,if a lock is out of order1 when it is taken off1 show it to your pupil2 point out some of its principal parts1 and name them2 then put it into the hands of a child1 and let him manage it as he pleases4 ,locks are full of oil1 and black with dust and iron2 but if children have been taught habits of neatness1 they may be clock-makers and white-smiths1 without spoiling their clothes1 or the furniture of a house4 ,upon every occasion of this sort1 technical terms should be made familiar2 they are of great use in the every-day business of life1 and are peculiarly serviceable in giving orders to workmen1 who1 when they are spoken to in a language that they are used to1 comprehend what is said to them1 and work with alacrity4 ,an early use of a rule and pencil1 and easy access to prints of machines1 of architecture1 and of the implements of trades1 are of obvious use in this part of education4 ,the machines published by the ,society of ,arts in ,london2 the prints in ,desaguliers1 ,emerson1 le ,spectacle de la ,nature1 ,machines approuves par l',acadmie1 ,chambers's ,dictionary1 ,berthoud sur l',horlogerie1 ,dictionaire des ,arts et des ,mtiers1 may1 in succession1 be put into the hands of children4 ,the most simple should be first selected1 and the pupils should be accustomed to attend minutely to one print before another is given to them4 ,a proper person should carefully point out and explain to them the first prints that they examine2 they may afterwards be left to themselves4 ,to understand prints of machines1 a previous knowledge of what is meant by an elevation1 a profile1 a section1 a perspective view1 and a 7vue d'oiseau7 bird's eye view1 is necessary4 ,to obtain distinct ideas of sections1 a few models of common furniture1 as chests of drawers1 bellows1 grates1 c4 may be provided1 and may be cut asunder in different directions4 ,children easily comprehend this part of drawing1 and its uses1 which may be pointed out in books of architecture2 its application to the common business of life1 is so various and immediate1 as to fix it for ever in the memory2 besides1 the habit of abstraction1 which is acquired by drawing the sections of complicated architecture or machinery1 is highly advantageous to the mind4 ,the parts which we wish to express1 are concealed1 and are suggested partly by the elevation or profile of the figure1 and partly by the connection between the end proposed in the construction of the building1 machine1 c4 and the means which are adapted to effect it4 ,a knowledge of perspective1 is to be acquired by an operation of the mind directly opposite to what is necessary in delineating the sections of bodies2 the mind must here be intent only upon the objects that are delineated upon the retina1 exactly what we see2 it must forget or suspend the knowledge which it has acquired from experience1 and must see with the eye of childhood1 no further than the surface4 ,every person1 who is accustomed to drawing in perspective1 sees external nature1 when he pleases1 merely as a picture3 this habit contributes much to form a taste for the fine arts2 it may1 however1 be carried to excess4 ,there are improvers who prefer the most dreary ruin to an elegant and convenient mansion1 and who prefer a blasted stump to the glorious foliage of the oak4 ,perspective is not1 however1 recommended merely as a means of improving the taste1 but as it is useful in facilitating the knowledge of mechanics4 ,when once children are familiarly acquainted with perspective1 and with the representations of machines by elevations1 sections1 c4 prints will supply them with an extensive variety of information2 and when they see real machines1 their structure and uses will be easily comprehended4 ,the noise1 the seeming confusion1 and the size of several machines1 make it difficult to comprehend and combine their various parts1 without much time1 and repeated examination2 the reduced size of prints lays the whole at once before the eye1 and tends to facilitate not only comprehension1 but contrivance4 ,whoever can delineate progressively as he invents1 saves much labour1 much time1 and the hazard of confusion4 ,various contrivances have been employed to facilitate drawing in perspective1 as may be seen in ,cabinet de ,servier1 ,memoires of the ,french ,academy1 ,philosophical ,transactions1 and lately in the ,repertory of ,arts4 ,the following is simple1 cheap1 and portable4 ,,plate #a4 ,,fig4 #a4 ,a ,b ,c1 three mahogany boards1 two1 four1 and six inches long1 and of the same breadth respectively1 so as to double in the manner represented4 ,,plate #a4 ,,fig4 #b4 ,the part ,a is screwed1 or clamped to a table of a convenient height1 and a sheet of paper1 one edge of which is put under the piece ,a1 will be held fast to the table4 ,the index ,p is to be set 7at pleasure7 with it sharp point to any part of an object which the eye sees through ,e1 the eye-piece4 ,the machine is now to be doubled as in ,fig4 #b1 taking care that the index be not disturbed2 the point1 which was before perpendicular1 will then approach the paper horizontally1 and the place to which it points on the paper1 must be marked with a pencil4 ,the machine must be again unfolded1 and another point of the object is to be ascertained in the same manner as before2 the space between these points may be then connected with a line2 fresh points should then be taken1 marked with a pencil1 and connected with a line2 and so on successively1 until the whole object is delineated4 ,besides the common terms of art1 the technical terms of science should1 by degrees1 be rendered familiar to our pupils4 ,amongst these the words ,space and ,time occur1 as we have observed1 the soonest1 and are of the greatest importance4 ,without exact definitions1 or abstract reasonings1 a general notion of the use of these terms may be inculcated by employing them frequently in conversation1 and by applying them to things and circumstances which occur without preparation1 and about which children are interested1 or occupied4 ,there is a great space left between the words in that printing4 ,the child understands1 that space in this sentence means white paper between black letters4 ,you should leave a greater space between the flowers which you are planting--he knows that you mean more ground4 ,there is a great space between that boat and the ship--space of water4 ,i hope the hawk will not be able to catch that pigeon1 there is a great space between them--space of air4 ,the men who are pulling that sack of corn into the granary1 have raised it through half the space between the door and the ground4 ,a child cannot be at any loss for the meaning of the word space in these or any other practical examples which may occur2 but he should also be used to the word space as a technical expression1 and then he will not be confused or stopped by a new term when employed in mechanics4 ,the word time may be used in the same manner upon numberless occasions to express the duration of any movement which is performed by the force of men1 or horses1 wind1 water1 or any mechanical power4 ,did the horses in the mill we saw yesterday1 go as fast as the horses which are drawing the chaise8 ,no1 not as fast as the horses go at present on level ground2 but they went as fast as the chaise-horses do when they go up hill1 or as fast as horses draw a waggon4 ,how many times do the sails of that wind-mill go round in a minute8 ,let us count2 ,i will look at my watch2 do you count how often the sails go round2 wait until that broken arm is uppermost1 and when you say now1 ,i will begin to count the time2 when a minute has past1 ,i will tell you4 ,after a few trials1 this experiment will become easy to a child of eight or nine years old2 he may sometimes attend to the watch1 and at other times count the turns of the sails2 he may easily be made to apply this to a horse-mill1 or to a water-mill1 a corn-fan1 or any machine that has a rotatory motion2 he will be entertained with his new employment2 he will compare the velocities of different machines2 the meaning of this word will be easily added to his vocabulary4 ,does that part of the arms of the wind-mill which is near the axle-tree1 or centre1 ,i mean that part which has no cloth or sail upon it1 go as fast as the ends of the arms that are the farthest from the centre8 ,no1 not near so fast4 ,but that part goes as often round in a minute as the rest of the sail4 ,yes1 but it does not go as fast4 ,how so8 ,it does not go so far round4 ,no1 it does not4 ,the extremities of the sails go through more space in the same time than the part near the centre4 ,by conversations like these1 the technical meaning of the word velocity may be made quite familiar to a child much younger than what has been mentioned2 he may not only comprehend that velocity means time and space considered together1 but if he is sufficiently advanced in arithmetic1 he may be readily taught how to express and compare in numbers velocities composed of certain portions of time and space4 ,he will not inquire about the abstract meaning of the word space2 he has seen space measured on paper1 on timber1 on the water1 in the air1 and he perceives distinctly that it is a term equally applicable to all distances that can exist between objects of any sort1 or that he can see1 feel1 or imagine4 ,momentum1 a less common word1 the meaning of which is not quite so easy to convey to a child1 may1 by degrees1 be explained to him3 at every instant he feels the effect of momentum in his own motions1 and in the motions of every thing that strikes against him2 his feelings and experience require only proper terms to become the subject of his conversation4 ,when he begins to inquire1 it is the proper time to instruct him4 ,for instance1 a boy of ten years old1 who had acquired the meaning of some other terms in science1 this morning asked the meaning of the word momentum2 he was desired to explain what he thought it meant4 ,he answered1 ,force4 ,what do you mean by force8 ,effort4 ,of what8 ,of gravity4 ,do you mean that force by which a body is drawn down to the earth8 ,no4 ,would a feather1 if it were moving with the greatest conceivable swiftness or velocity1 throw down a castle8 ,no4#ba ,would a mountain torn up by the roots1 as fabled in ,milton1 if it moved with the least conceivable velocity1 throw down a castle8 ,yes1 ,i think it would4 ,the difference between an uniform1 and an uniformly accelerated motion1 the measure of the velocity of falling bodies1 the composition of motions communicated to the same body in different directions at the same time1 and the cause of the curvilinear track of projectiles1 seem1 at first1 intricate subjects1 and above the capacity of boys of ten or twelve years old2 but by short and well-timed lessons1 they may be explained without confounding or fatiguing their attention4 ,we tried another experiment whilst this chapter was writing1 to determine whether we had asserted too much upon this subject4 ,after a conversation between two boys upon the descent of bodies towards the earth1 and upon the measure of the increasing velocity with which they fall1 they were desired1 with a view to ascertain whether they understood what was said1 to invent a machine which should show the difference between an uniform and an accelerated velocity1 and in particular to show1 by occular demonstration1 that if one body moves in a given time through a given space1 with an uniform motion1 and if another body moves through the same space in the same time with an uniformly accelerated motion1 the uniform motion of the one will be equal to half the accelerated motion of the other4 ,the eldest boy1 ,h----1 thirteen years old1 invented and executed the following machine for this purpose3 ,plate ,i1 ,fig4 #c4 b is a bracket #i inches by #e1 consisting of a back and two sides of hard wood3 two inches from the back two slits are made in the sides of the bracket half an inch deep1 and an eighth of an inch wide1 to receive the two wire pivots of a roller2 which roller is composed of a cylinder1 three inches long and half an inch diameter2 and a cone three inches long and one inch diameter in its largest part or base4 ,the cylinder and cone are not separate1 but are turned out of one piece2 a string is fastened to the cone at its base a1 with a bullet or any other small weight at the other end of it2 and another string and weight are fastened to the cylinder at c2 the pivot p of wire is bent into the form of a handle2 if the handle is turned either way1 the strings will be respectively wound up upon the cone and cylinder2 their lengths should now be adjusted1 so that when the string on the cone is wound up as far as the cone will permit1 the two weights may be at an equal distance from the bottom of the bracket1 which bottom we suppose to be parallel with the pivots2 the bracket should now be fastened against a wall1 at such a height as to let the weights lightly touch the floor when the strings are unwound3 silk or bobbin is a proper kind of string for this purpose1 as it is woven or plaited1 and therefore is not liable to twist4 ,when the strings are wound up to their greatest heights1 if the handle be suddenly let go1 both the weights will begin to fall at the same moment2 but the weight #a1 will descend at first but slowly1 and will pass through but small space compared with the weight #b4 ,as they descend further1 ,no4 #b still continues to get before ,no4 #a2 but after some time1 ,no4 #a begins to overtake ,no4 #b1 and at last they come to the ground together4 ,if this machine is required to show exactly the space that a falling body would describe in given times1 the cone and cylinder must have grooves cut spirally upon their circumference1 to direct the string with precision4 ,to describe these spiral lines1 became a new subject of inquiry4 ,the young mechanics were again eager to exert their powers of invention2 the eldest invented a machine upon the same principle as that which is used by the best workmen for cutting clock fusees2 and it is described in ,berthoud4 ,the youngest invented the engine delineated1 ,plate #a1 ,fig4 #d4 ,the roller or cone 7or both together7 which it is required to cut spirally1 must be furnished with a handle1 and a toothed wheel w1 which turns a smaller wheel or pinion w4 ,this pinion carries with it a screw s1 which draws forward the puppet p1 in which the graver of chisel g slides without shake4 ,this graver has a point or edge shaped properly to form the spiral groove1 with a shoulder to regulate the depth of the groove4 ,the iron rod r1 which is firmly fastened in the puppet1 slides through mortices at mm1 and guides the puppet in a straight line4 ,illustration3 ,plate #a4 ,the rest of the machine is intelligible from the drawing4 ,a simple method of showing the nature of compound forces was thought of at the same time4 ,an ivory ball was placed at the corner of a board sixteen inches broad1 and two feet long2 two other similar balls were let fall down inclined troughs against the first ball in different directions1 but at the same time4 ,one fell in a direction parallel to the length of the board2 the other ball fell back in a direction parallel to its breadth4 ,by raising the troughs1 such a force was communicated to each of the falling balls1 as was sufficient to drive the ball that was at rest to that side or end of the board which was opposite1 or at right angles1 to the line of its motion4 ,when both balls were let fall together1 they drove the ball that was at rest diagonally1 so as to reach the opposite corner4 ,if the same board were placed as an inclined plane1 at an angle of five or six degrees1 a ball placed at one of its uppermost corners1 would fall with an accelerated motion in a direct line2 but if another ball were made 7by descending through an inclined trough7 to strike the first ball at right angles to the line of its former descent1 at the moment when it began to descend1 it would not1 as in the former experiment1 move diagonally1 but would describe a curve4 ,the reason why it describes a curve1 and why that curve is not circular1 was easily understood4 ,children who are thus induced to invent machines or apparatus for explaining and demonstrating the laws of mechanism1 not only fix indelibly those laws in their own minds1 but enlarge their powers of invention1 and preserve a certain originality of thought1 which leads to new discoveries4 ,we therefore strongly recommend it to teachers1 to use as few precepts as possible in the rudiments of science1 and to encourage their pupils to use their own understandings as they advance4 ,in mechanism1 a general view of the powers and uses of engines is all that need be taught2 where more is necessary1 such a foundation1 with the assistance of good books1 and the examination of good machinery1 will perfect the knowledge of theory and facilitate practice4 ,at first we should not encumber our pupils with accurate demonstration4 ,the application of mathematics to mechanics is undoubtedly of the highest use1 and has opened a source of ingenious and important inquiry4 ,archimedes1 the greatest name amongst mechanic philosophers1 scorned the mere practical application of his sublime discoveries1 and at the moment when the most stupendous effects were producing by his engines1 he was so deeply absorbed in abstract speculation as to be insensible to the fear of death4 ,we do not mean1 therefore1 to undervalue either the application of strict demonstration to problems in mechanics1 or the exhibition of the most accurate machinery in philosophical lectures2 but we wish to point out a method of giving a general notion of the mechanical organs to our pupils1 which shall be immediately obvious to their comprehension1 and which may serve as a sure foundation for future improvement4 ,we are told by a vulgar proverb1 that though we believe what we see1 we have yet a higher belief in what we feel4 ,this adage is particularly applicable to mechanics4 ,when a person perceives the effect of his own bodily exertions with different engines1 and when he can compare in a rough manner their relative advantages1 he is not disposed to reject their assistance1 or expect more than is reasonable from their application4 ,the young theorist in mechanics thinks he can produce a perpetual motion6 ,when he has been accustomed to refer to the plain dictates of common sense and experience1 on this1 as well as on every other subject1 he will not easily be led astray by visionary theories4 ,illustration3 ,plate #b4 ,to bring the sense of feeling to our assistance in teaching the uses of the mechanic powers1 the following apparatus was constructed1 to which we have given the name ,panorganon4 ,it is composed of two principal parts3 a frame to contain the moving machinery2 and a capstan or windlass1 which is erected on a sill or plank1 that is sunk a few inches into the ground3 the frame is by this means1 and by six braces or props1 rendered steady4 ,the cross rail1 or transom1 is strengthened by braces and a king-post to make it lighter and cheaper4 ,the capstan consists of an upright shaft1 upon which are fixed two drums2 about which a rope may be wound up1 and two levers or arms by which it may be turned round4 ,there is also a screw of iron coiled round the lower part of the shaft1 to show the properties of the screw as a mechanic power4 ,the rope which goes round the drum passes over one of the pulleys near to the top of the frame1 and under another pulley near the bottom of the frame4 ,as two drums of different sizes are employed1 it is necessary to have an upright roller to conduct the rope in a proper direction to the pulleys1 when either of the drums is used4 ,near the frame1 and in the direction in which the rope runs1 is laid a platform or road of deal boards1 one board in breadth1 and twenty or thirty feet long1 upon which a small sledge loaded with different weights may be drawn4 ,plate #b4 ,fig4 #a4 ,f4 ,f4 ,the frame4 b4 b4 ,braces to keep the frame steady4 a4 a4 a4 ,angular braces to strengthen the transom2 and also a king-post4 ,s4 ,a round1 taper shaft1 strengthened above and below the mortises with iron hoops4 ,l ,l4 ,two arms1 or levers1 by which the shaft1 c4 are to be moved round4 ,d ,d4 ,the drum1 which has two rims of different circumferences4 ,r4 ,the roller to conduct the rope4 ,p4 ,the pulley1 round which the rope passes to the larger drum4 ,p #b4 ,another pulley to answer to the smaller drum4 ,p #c4 ,a pulley through which the rope passes when experiments are tried with levers1 c4 ,p #d4 ,another pulley through which the rope passes when the sledge is used4 ,ro4 ,the road of deal boards for the sledge to move on4 ,sl4 ,the sledge1 with pieces of hard wood attached to it1 to guide it on the road4 ,uses of the ,panorganon4 ,as this machine is to be moved by the force of men or children1 and as their force varies not only with the strength and weight of each individual1 but also according to the different manner in which that strength or weight is applied2 it is1 in the first place1 requisite to establish one determinate mode of applying human force to the machine2 and also a method of determining the relative force of each individual whose strength is applied to it4 ,to estimate the force with which a person can draw horizontally by a rope over his shoulder4 ,,experiment ,i4 ,hang a common long scale-beam 7without scales or chains7 from the top or transom of the frame1 so as that one end of it may come within an inch of one side or post of the machine4 ,tie a rope to the hook of the scale-beam1 where the chains of the scale are usually hung1 and pass it through the pulley ,p #c1 which is about four feet from the ground2 let the person pull this rope from #a towards #b1 turning his back to the machine1 and pulling the rope over his shoulder--,pl4 #b4 ,fig4 #f4 ,as the pulley may be either too high or too low to permit the rope to be horizontal1 the person who pulls it should be placed ten or fifteen feet from the machine1 which will lessen the angular direction of the cord1 and the inaccuracy of the experiment4 ,hang weights to the other end of the scale-beam1 until the person who pulls can but just walk forward1 pulling fairly without propping his feet against any thing4 ,this weight will estimate the force with which he can draw horizontally by a rope over his shoulder4#bb ,let a child who tries this1 walk on the board with dry shoes2 let him afterwards chalk his shoes1 and afterwards try it with his shoes soaped3 he will find that he can pull with different degrees of force in these different circumstances2 but when he tries the following experiments1 let his shoes be always dry1 that his force may be always the same4 ,to show the power of the three different sorts of levers4 ,,experiment ,,ii4 ,instead of putting the cord that comes from the scale-beam1 as in the last experiment1 over the shoulder of the boy1 hook it to the end #a of the lever ,l1 ,fig4 #b4 ,plate #b4 ,this lever is passed through a socket--,plate #b4 ,fig4 #c4--;in which it can be shifted from one of its ends towards the other1 and can be fastened at any place by the screw of the socket4 ,this socket has two gudgeons1 upon which it1 and the lever which it contains1 can turn4 ,this socket and its gudgeons can be lifted out of the holes in which it plays1 between the rail ,r ,r1 ,plate #b4 ,fig4 #b4 and may be put into other holes at ,r ,r1 ,fig4 #e4 ,loop another rope to the other end of this lever1 and let the boy pull as before4 ,perhaps it should be pointed out1 that the boy must walk in a direction contrary to that in which he walked before1 viz4 from #a towards #c4 ,the height to which the weight ascends1 and the distance to which the boy advances1 should be carefully marked and measured2 and it will be found1 that he can raise the weight to the same height1 advancing through the same space as in the former experiment4 ,in this case1 as both ends of the lever moved through equal spaces1 the lever only changed the direction of the motion1 and added no mechanical power to the direct strength of the boy4 ,,experiment ,,iii4 ,shift the lever to its extremity in the socket2 the middle of the lever will be now opposite to the pulley1 ,pl4 #b4 ,fig4 #d4--;hook to it the rope that goes through the pulley ,p #c1 and fasten to the other end of the lever the rope by which the boy is to pull4 ,this will be a lever of the second kind1 as it is called in books of mechanics2 in using which1 the resistance is placed between the centre of motion or fulcrum1 and the moving power4 ,he will now raise double the weight that he did in ,experiment ,,ii1 and he will advance through double the space4 ,,experiment ,,iv4 ,shift the lever1 and the socket which forms the axis 7without shifting the lever from the place in which it was in the socket in the last experiment7 to the holes that are prepared for it at ,r ,r1 ,plate #b4 ,fig4 #e4 ,the free end of the lever ,e will now be opposite to the rope1 and to the pulley 7over which the rope comes from the scale-beam47 ,hook this rope to it1 and hook the rope by which the boy pulls1 to the middle of the lever4 ,the effect will now be different from what it was in the two last experiments2 the boy will advance only half as far1 and will raise only half as much weight as before4 ,this is called a lever of the third sort4 ,the first and second kinds of levers are used in quarrying2 and the operations of many tools may be referred to them4 ,the third kind of lever is employed but seldom1 but its properties may be observed with advantage whilst a long ladder is raised1 as the man who raises it1 is obliged to exert an increasing force until the ladder is nearly perpendicular4 ,when this lever is used1 it is obvious1 from what has been said1 that the power must always pass through less space than the thing which is to be moved2 it can never1 therefore1 be of service in gaining power4 ,but the object of some machines1 is to increase velocity1 instead of obtaining power1 as in a sledge-hammer moved by mill-work4 7,v4 the plates in ,emerson's ,mechanics1 ,no4 #bcf47 ,the experiments upon levers may be varied at pleasure1 increasing or diminishing the mechanical advantage1 so as to balance the power and the resistance1 to accustom the learners to calculate the relation between the power and the effect in different circumstances2 always pointing out1 that whatever excess there is in the power1#bc or in the resistance1 is always compensated by the difference of space through which the inferiour passes4 ,the experiments which we have mentioned1 are sufficiently satisfactory to a pupil1 as to the immediate relation between the power and the resistance2 but the different spaces through which the power and the resistance move when one exceeds the other1 cannot be obvious1 without they pass through much larger spaces than levers will permit4 ,,experiment ,v4 ,place the sledge on the farthest end of the wooden road--,plate #b4 ,fig4 #a4--;fasten a rope to the sledge1 and conduct it through the lowest pulley ,p #d1 and through the pulley ,p #c1 so as that the boy may be enabled to draw it by the rope passed over his shoulder4 ,the sledge must now be loaded1 until the boy can but just advance with short steps steadily upon the wooden road2 this must be done with care1 as there will be but just room for him beside the rope4 ,he will meet the sledge exactly on the middle of the road1 from which he must step aside to pass the sledge4 ,let the time of this experiment be noted4 ,it is obvious that the boy and the sledge move with equal velocity2 there is1 therefore1 no mechanical advantage obtained by the pulleys4 ,the weight that he can draw will be about half a hundred1 if he weigh about nine stone2 but the exact force with which the boy draws1 is to be known by ,experiment ,i4 ,the wheel and axle4 ,this organ is usually called in mechanics1 ,the axis in peritrochio4 ,a hard name1 which might well be spared1 as the word windlass or capstan would convey a more distinct idea to our pupils4 ,,experiment ,,vi4 ,to the largest drum1 ,plate #b4 ,fig4 #a4 fasten a cord1 and pass it through the pulley ,p downwards1 and through the pulley ,p #d to the sledge placed at the end of the wooden road1 which is farthest from the machine4 ,let the boy1 by a rope fastened to the extremity of one of the arms of the capstan1 and passed over his shoulder1 draw the capstan round2 he will wind the rope round the drum1 and draw the sledge upon its road4 ,to make the sledge advance twenty-four feet upon its road1 the boy must have walked circularly #add feet1 which is six times as far1 and he will be able to draw about three hundred weight1 which is six times as much as in the last experiment4 ,it may now be pointed out1 that the difference of space1 passed through by the power in this experiment1 is exactly equal to the difference of weight1 which the boy could draw without the capstan4 ,,experiment ,,vii4 ,let the rope be now attached to the smaller drum2 the boy will draw nearly twice as much weight upon the sledge as before1 and will go through double the space4 ,,experiment ,,viii4 ,where there are a number of boys1 let five or six of them1 whose power of drawing 7estimated as in ,experiment ,i7 amounts to six times as much as the force of the boy at the capstan1 pull at the end of the rope which was fastened to the sledge2 they will balance the force of the boy at the capstan3 either they1 or he1 by a sudden pull1 may advance1 but if they pull fairly1 there will be no advantage on either part4 ,in this experiment1 the rope should pass through the pulley ,p #c1 and should be coiled round the larger drum4 ,and it must be also observed1 that in all experiments upon the motion of bodies1 in which there is much friction1 as where a sledge is employed1 the results are never so uniform as in other circumstances4 ,the ,pulley4 ,upon the pulley we shall say little1 as it is in every body's hands1 and experiments may be tried upon it without any particular apparatus4 ,it should1 however1 be distinctly inculcated1 that the power is not increased by a fixed pulley4 ,for this purpose1 a wheel without a rim1 or1 to speak with more propriety1 a number of spokes fixed in a nave1 should be employed4 7,plate #b4 ,fig4 #i47 ,pieces like the heads of crutches should be fixed at the ends of these spokes1 to receive a piece of girth-web1 which is used instead of a cord1 because a cord would be unsteady2 and a strap of iron with a hook to it should play upon the centre1 by which it may at times be suspended1 and from which at other times a weight may be hung4 ,,experiment ,,ix4 ,let the skeleton of a pulley be hung by the iron strap from the transom of the frame2 fasten a piece of web to one of the radii1 and another to the end of the opposite radius4 ,if two boys of equal weight pull these pieces of girth-web1 they will balance each other2 or two equal weights hung to these webs1 will be in equilibrio4 ,if a piece of girth-web be put round the uppermost radius1 two equal weights hung at the ends of it will remain immoveable2 but if either of them be pulled1 or if a small additional weight be added to either of them1 it will descend1 and the web will apply itself successively to the ascending radii1 and will detach itself from those that are descending4 ,if this movement be carefully considered1 it will be perceived1 that the web1 in unfolding itself1 acts in the same manner upon the radii as two ropes would if they were hung to the extremities of the opposite radii in succession4 ,the two radii which are opposite1 may be considered as a lever of the first sort1 where the centre is in the middle of the lever2 as each end moves through an equal space1 there is no mechanical advantage4 ,but if this skeleton-pulley be employed as a common block or tackle1 its motions and properties will be entirely different4 ,,experiment ,x4 ,,plate #b4 ,,fig4 #i4 ,nail a piece of girth-web to a post1 at the distance of three or four feet from the ground2 fasten the other end of it to one of the radii4 ,fasten another piece of web to the opposite radius1 and let a boy hold the skeleton-pulley suspended by the web2 hook weights to the strap that hangs from the centre4 ,the end of the radius to which the fixed girth-web is fastened1 will remain immoveable2 but1 if the boy pulls the web which he holds in his hand upwards1 he will be able to lift nearly double the weight1 which he can raise from the ground by a simple rope1 without the machine1 and he will perceive that his hand moves through twice as great a space as the weight ascends3 he has1 therefore1 the mechanical advantage which he would have by a lever of the second sort1 as in ,experiment ,,iii4 ,let a piece of web be put round the under radii1 let one end of it be nailed to the post1 and the other be held by the boy1 and it will represent the application of a rope to a moveable pulley2 if its motion be carefully considered1 it will appear that the radii1 as they successively apply themselves to the web1 represent a series of levers of the second kind4 ,a pulley is nothing more than an infinite number of such levers2 the cord at one end of the diameter serving as a fulcrum for the organ during its progress4 ,if this skeleton-pulley be used horizontally1 instead of perpendicularly1 the circumstances which have been mentioned1 will appear more obvious4 ,upon the wooden road lay down a piece of girth-web2 nail one end of it to the road2 place the pulley upon the web at the other end of the board1 and1 bringing the web over the radii1 let the boy1 taking hold of it1 draw the loaded sledge fastened to the hook at the centre of the pulley3 he will draw nearly twice as much in this manner as he could without the pulley4#bd ,here the web lying on the road1 shows more distinctly1 that it is quiescent where the lowest radius touches it2 and if the radii1 as they tread upon it1 are observed1 their points will appear at rest1 whilst the centre of the pulley will go as fast as the sledge1 and the top of each radius successively 7and the boy's hand which unfolds the web7 will move twice as fast as the centre of the pulley and the sledge4 ,if a person1 holding a stick in his hand1 observes the relative motions of the top1 and the middle1 and the bottom of the stick1 whilst he inclines it1 he will see that the bottom of the stick has no motion on the ground1 and that the middle has only half the motion of the top4 ,this property of the pulley has been dwelt upon1 because it elucidates the motion of a wheel rolling upon the ground2 and it explains a common paradox1 which appears at first inexplicable4 ,the bottom of a rolling wheel never moves upon the road4 ,this is asserted only of a wheel moving over hard ground1 which1 in fact1 may be considered rather as laying down its circumference upon the road1 than as moving upon it4 ,the inclined ,plane and the ,wedge4 ,the inclined plane is to be next considered4 ,when a heavy body is to be raised1 it is often convenient to lay a sloping artificial road of planks1 up which it may be pushed or drawn4 ,this mechanical power1 however1 is but of little service without the assistance of wheels or rollers2 we shall1 therefore1 speak of it as it is applied in another manner1 under the name of the wedge1 which is1 in fact1 a moving inclined plane2 but if it is required to explain the properties of the inclined plane by the panorganon1 the wooden road may be raised and set to any inclination that is required1 and the sledge may be drawn upon it as in the former experiments4 ,let one end of a lever1 ,n4 ,plate #b4 ,fig4 #g4 with a wheel at one end of it1 be hinged to the post of the frame1 by means of a gudgeon driven or screwed into the post4 ,to prevent this lever from deviating sideways1 let a slip of wood be connected with it by a nail1 which shall be fast in the lever1 but which moves freely in a hole in the rail4 ,the other end of this slip must be fastened to a stake driven into the ground at three or four feet from the lever1 at one side of it1 and towards the end in which the wheel is fixed 7,plate #b4 ,fig #aj4 which is a vue d'oiseau7 in the same manner as the treadle of a common lathe is managed1 and as the treadle of a loom is sometimes guided4#be ,,experiment ,,xi4 ,under the wheel of this lever place an inclined plane or half-wedge 7,plate #b4 ,fig4 #g47 on the wooden road1 with rollers under it1 to prevent friction2#bf fasten a rope to the foremost end of the wedge1 and pass it through the pulleys 7,p #d4 and ,p #c47 as in the fifth experiment4 ,let a boy draw the sledge by this rope over his shoulder1 and he will find1 that as it advances it will raise the weight upwards2 the wedge is five feet long1 and elevated one foot4 ,now1 if the perpendicular ascent of the weight1 and the space through which he advances1 be compared1 he will find1 that the space through which he has passed will be five times as great as that through which the weight has ascended2 and that this wedge has enabled him to raise five times as much as he could raise without it1 if his strength were applied1 as in ,experiment ,i1 without any mechanical advantage4 ,by making this wedge in two parts hinged together1 with a graduated piece to keep them asunder1 the wedge may be adjusted to any given obliquity2 and it will be always found1 that the mechanical advantage of the wedge may be ascertained by comparing its perpendicular elevation with its base4 ,if the base of the wedge is #b1 #c1 #d1 #e1 or any other number of times greater than its height1 it will enable the boy to raise respectively #b1 #c1 #d1 or #e times more weight than he could do in ,experiment ,i1 by which his power is estimated4 ,the ,screw4 ,the screw is an inclined plane wound round a cylinder2 the height of all its revolutions round the cylinder taken together1 compared with the space through which the power that turns it passes1 is the measure of its mechanical advantage4#bg ,let the lever1 used in the last experiment1 be turned in such a manner as to reach from its gudgeon to the shaft of the ,panorganon1 guided by an attendant lever as before4 7,plate #b4 ,fig4 #h47 ,let the wheel rest upon the lowest helix or thread of the screw3 as the arms of the shaft are turned round1 the wheel will ascend1 and carry up the weight which is fastened to the lever4#bh ,as the situation of the screw prevents the weight from being suspended exactly from the centre of the screw1 proper allowance must be made for this in estimating the force of the screw1 or determining the mechanical advantage gained by the lever3 this can be done by measuring the perpendicular ascent of the weight1 which in all cases is better1 and more expeditious1 than measuring the parts of a machine1 and estimating its force by calculation2 because the different diameters of ropes1 and other small circumstances1 are frequently mistaken in estimates4 ,the space passed through by the moving power1 and by that which it moves1 are infallible data for estimating the powers of engines4 ,two material subjects of experiments1 yet remain for the ,panorganon2 friction1 and wheels of carriages3 but we have already extended this article far beyond its just proportion to similar chapters in this work4 ,we repeat1 that it is not intended in this1 or in any other part of our design1 to write treatises upon science2 but merely to point out methods for initiating young people in the rudiments of knowledge1 and of giving them a clear and distinct view of those principles upon which they are founded4 ,no preceptor1 who has had experience1 will cavil at the superficial knowledge of a boy of twelve or thirteen upon these subjects2 he will perceive1 that the general view1 which we wish to give our pupils of the useful arts and sciences1 must certainly tend to form a taste for literature and investigation4 ,the sciolist has learned only to talk--we wish to teach our pupils to think1 upon the various objects of human speculation4 ,the ,panorganon may be employed in trying the resistance of air and water2 the force of different muscles2 and in a great variety of amusing and useful experiments4 ,in academies1 and private families1 it may be erected in the place allotted for amusement1 where it will furnish entertainment for many a vacant hour4 ,when it has lost its novelty1 the shaft may from time to time be taken down1 and a swing may be suspended in its place4 ,it may be constructed at the expense of five or six pounds3 that which stands before our window1 was made for less than three guineas1 as we had many of the materials beside us for other purposes4 ,,footnotes3 #ba ,when this question was sometime afterwards repeated to ,s----1 he observed1 that the feather would throw down the castle1 if its swiftness were so great as to make up for its want of weight4 #bb ,were it thought necessary to make these experiments perfectly accurate1 a segment of a pulley1 the radius of which is half the length of the scale-beam1 should be attached to the end of the beam2 upon which the cord may apply itself1 and the pulley 7,p #c7 should be raised or lowered1 to bring the rope horizontally from the man's shoulder when in the attitude of drawing4 #bc ,the word power is here used in a popular sense1 to denote the strength or efficacy that is employed to produce an effect by means of any engine4 #bd ,in all these experiments with the skeleton-pulley1 somebody must keep it in its proper direction2 as from its structure1 which is contrived for illustration1 not for practical use1 it cannot retain its proper situation without assistance4 #be ,in a loom this secondary lever is called a lamb1 by mistake1 for lam2 from lamina1 a slip of wood4 #bf ,there should be three rollers used2 one of them must be placed before the sledge1 under which it will easily find its place1 if the bottom of the sledge near the foremost end is a little sloped upwards4 ,to retain this foremost roller in its place until the sledge meets it1 it should be stuck lightly on the road with two small bits of wax or pitch4 #bg ,mechanical advantage is not a proper term1 but our language is deficient in proper technical terms4 ,the word power is used so indiscriminately1 that it is scarcely possible to convey our meaning1 without employing it more strictly4 #bh ,in this experiment1 the boy should pull as near as possible to the shaft1 within a foot of it1 for instance1 else he will have such mechanical advantage as cannot be counterbalanced by any weight which the machine would be strong enough to bear4 ,,chapter ,,xviii4 ,,chemistry4 ,in the first attempts to teach chemistry to children1 objects should be selected1 the principal properties of which may be easily discriminated by the senses of touch1 taste or smell2 and such terms should be employed as do not require accurate definition4 ,when a child has been caught in a shower of snow1 he goes to the fire to warm and dry himself4 ,after he has been before the fire for some time1 instead of becoming dry1 he finds that he is wetter than he was before3 water drops from his hat and clothes1 and the snow with which he was covered disappears4 ,if you ask him what has become of the snow1 and why he has become wetter1 he cannot tell you4 ,give him a tea-cup of snow1 desire him to place it before the fire1 he perceives that the snow melts1 that it becomes water4 ,if he puts his finger into the water1 he finds that it is warmer than snow2 he then perceives that the fire which warmed him1 warmed likewise the snow1 which then became water2 or1 in other words1 he discovers1 that the heat which came from the fire goes into the snow and melts it3 he thus acquires the idea of the dissolution of snow by heat4 ,if the cup containing the water1 or melted snow1 be taken from the fire1 and put out of the window on a frosty day1 he perceives1 that in time the water grows colder2 that a thin1 brittle skin spreads over it2 which grows thicker by degrees1 till at length all the water becomes ice2 and if the cup be again put before the fire1 the ice returns to water4 ,thus he discovers1 that by diminishing the heat of water1 it becomes ice2 by adding heat to ice1 it becomes water4 ,a child watches the drops of melted sealing-wax as they fall upon paper4 ,when he sees you stir the wax about1 and perceives1 that what was formerly hard1 now becomes soft and very hot1 he will apply his former knowledge of the effects of heat upon ice and snow1 and he will tell you that the heat of the candle melts the wax4 ,by these means1 the principle of the solution of bodies by heat1 will be imprinted upon his memory2 and you may now enlarge his ideas of solution4 ,when a lump of sugar is put into a dish of hot tea1 a child sees that it becomes less and less1 till at last it disappears4 ,what has become of the sugar8 ,your pupil will say that it is melted by the heat of the tea3 but if it be put into cold tea1 or cold water1 he will find that it dissolves1 though more slowly4 ,you should then show him some fine sand1 some clay1 and chalk1 thrown into water2 and he will perceive the difference between mechanical mixture and diffusion1 or chemical mixture4 ,chemical mixture1 as that of sugar in water1 depends upon the attraction that subsists between the parts of the solid and fluid which are combined4 ,mechanical mixture is only the suspension of the parts of a solid in a fluid4 ,when fine sand1 chalk1 or clay1 are put into water1 the water continues for some time turbid or muddy2 but by degrees the sand1 c4 falls to the bottom1 and the water becomes clear4 ,in the chemical mixture of sugar and water1 there is no muddiness1 the fluid is clear and transparent1 even whilst it is stirred1 and when it is at rest1 there is no sediment1 the sugar is joined with the water2 a new1 fluid substance1 is formed out of the two simple bodies sugar and water1 and though the parts which compose the mixture are not discernible to the eye1 yet they are perceptible by the taste4 ,after he has observed the mixture1 the child should be asked1 whether he knows any method by which he can separate the sugar from the water4 ,in the boiling of a kettle of water1 he has seen the steam which issues from the mouth of the vessel2 he knows that the steam is formed by the heat from the fire1 which joining with the water drives its parts further asunder1 and makes it take another form1 that of vapour or steam4 ,he may apply this knowledge to the separation of the sugar and water2 he may turn the water into steam1 and the sugar will be left in the vessel in a solid form4 ,if1 instead of evaporating the water1 the boy had added a greater quantity of sugar to the mixture1 he would have seen1 that after a certain time1 the water would have dissolved no more of the sugar2 the superfluous sugar would fall to the bottom of the vessel as the sand had done3 the pupil should then be told that the liquid is saturated with the solid4 ,by these simple experiments1 a child may acquire a general knowledge of solution1 evaporation1 and saturation1 without the formality of a lecture1 or the apparatus of a chemist4 ,in all your attempts to instruct him in chemistry1 the greatest care should be taken that he should completely understand one experiment1 before you proceed to another4 ,the common metaphorical expression1 that the mind should have time to digest the food which it receives1 is founded upon fact and observation4 ,our pupil should see the solution of a variety of substances in fluids1 as salt in water2 marble1 chalk1 or alkalies1 in acids2 and camphire in spirits of wine3 this last experiment he may try by himself1 as it is not dangerous4 ,certainly many experiments are dangerous1 and therefore unfit for children2 but others may be selected1 which they may safely try without any assistance2 and the dangerous experiments may1 when they are necessary1 be shown to them by some careful person4 ,their first experiments should be such as they can readily execute1 and of which the result may probably be successful3 this success will please and interest the pupils1 and will encourage them to perseverance4 ,a child may have some spirit of wine and some camphire given to him2 the camphire will dissolve in the spirit of wine1 till the spirit is saturated2 but then he will be at a loss how to separate them again4 ,to separate them1 he must pour into the mixture a considerable quantity of water2 he will immediately see the liquor1 which was transparent1 become muddy and white3 this is owing to the separation of the camphire from the spirit2 the camphire falls to the bottom of the vessel in the form of a curd4 ,if the child had weighed the camphire1 both before and after its solution1 he would have found the result nearly the same4 ,he should be informed1 that this chemical operation 7for technical terms should now be used7 is called precipitation3 the substance that is separated from the mixture by the introduction of another body1 is cast down1 or precipitated from the mixture4 ,in this instance1 the spirit of wine attracted the camphire1 and therefore dissolved it4 ,when the water was poured in1 the spirit of wine attracted the water more strongly than it did the camphire2 the camphire being let loose1 fell to the bottom of the vessel4 ,the pupil has now been shown two methods1 by which a solid may be separated from a fluid in which it has been dissolved4 ,a still should now be produced1 and the pupil should be instructed in the nature of distillation4 ,by experiments he will learn the difference between the volatility of different bodies2 or1 in other words1 he will learn that some are made fluid1 or are turned into vapour1 by a greater or less degree of heat than others4 ,the degrees of heat should be shown to him by the thermometer1 and the use of the thermometer1 and its nature1 should be explained4 ,as the pupil already knows that most bodies expand by heat1 he will readily understand1 that an increase of heat extends the mercury in the bulb of the thermometer1 which1 having no other space for its expansion1 rises in the small glass tube2 and that the degree of heat to which it is exposed1 is marked by the figures on the scale of the instrument4 ,the business of distillation1 is to separate the more volatile from the less volatile of two bodies4 ,the whole mixture is put into a vessel1 under which there is fire3 the most volatile liquor begins first to turn into vapour1 and rises into a higher vessel1 which1 being kept cold by water or snow1 condenses the evaporated fluid2 after it has been condensed1 it drops into another vessel4 ,in the experiment that the child has just tried1 after having separated the camphire from the spirit of wine by precipitation1 he may separate the spirit from the water by distillation4 ,when the substance that rises1 or that is separated from other bodies by heat1 is a solid1 or when what is collected after the operation1 is solid1 the process is not called distillation1 but sublimation4 ,our pupil may next be made acquainted with the general qualities of acids and alkalies4 ,for instructing him in this part of chemistry1 definition should as much as possible be avoided2 example1 and occular demonstration1 should be pursued4 ,who would begin to explain by words the difference between an acid and an alkali1 when these can be shown by experiments upon the substances themselves8 ,the first great difference which is perceptible between an acid and an alkali1 is their taste4 ,let a child have a distinct perception of the difference of their tastes2 let him be able to distinguish them when his eyes are shut2 let him taste the strongest of each so as not to hurt him1 and when he has once acquired distinct notions of the pungent taste of an alkali1 and of the sour taste of an acid1 he will never forget the difference4 ,he must afterwards see the effects of an acid and alkali on the blue colour of vegetables at separate times1 and not on the same day2 by these means he will more easily remember the experiments1 and he will not confound their different results4 ,the blue colour of vegetables is turned red by acids1 and green by alkalies4 ,let your pupil take a radish1 and scrape off the blue part into water2 it should be left for some time1 until the water becomes of a blue colour3 let him pour some of this liquor into two glasses2 add vinegar or lemon juice to one of them1 and the liquor will become red2 dissolve some alkali in water1 and pour this into the other glass1 and the dissolved radish will become green4 ,if into the red mixture alkali be poured1 the colour will change into green2 and if into the liquor which was made green1 acid be poured1 the colour will change to red3 thus alternately you may pour acid or alkali1 and produce a red or green colour successively4 ,paper stained with the blue colour of vegetables1 is called test paper2 this is changed by the least powerful of the acids or alkalies1 and will1 therefore1 be peculiarly useful in the first experiments of our young pupils4 ,a child should for safety use the weakest acids in his first trials1 but he should be shown that the effects are similar1 whatever acids we employ2 only the colour will be darker when we make use of the strong1 than when we use the weak acids4 ,by degrees the pupil should be accustomed to employ the strong acids2 such as the vitriolic1 the nitric1 and the muriatic1 which three are called fossil acids1 to distinguish them from the vegetable1 or weaker acids4 ,we may be permitted to advise the young chemist to acquire the habit of wiping the neck of the vessel out of which he pours any strong acid1 as the drops of the liquor will not then burn his hand when he takes hold of the bottle2 nor will they injure the table upon which he is at work4 ,this custom1 trivial as it may seem1 is of advantage1 as it gives an appearance of order1 and of ease1 and steadiness1 which are all necessary in trying chemical experiments4 ,the little pupil may be told1 that the custom which we have just mentioned1 is the constant practice of the great chemist1 ,dr4 ,black4 ,we should take care how we first use the term salt in speaking to children1 lest they should acquire indistinct ideas3 he should be told1 that the kind of salt which he eats is not the only salt in the world2 he may be put in mind of the kind of salts which he has1 perhaps1 smelt in smelling-bottles2 and he should be further told1 that there are a number of earthy1 alkaline1 and metallic salts1 with which he will in time become acquainted4 ,when an acid is put upon an alkali1 or upon limestone1 chalk1 or marle1 a bubbling may be observed1 and a noise is heard2 a child should be told1 that this is called effervescence4 ,after some time the effervescence ceases1 and the limestone1 c4 is dissolved in the acid4 ,this effervescence1 the child should be informed1 arises from the escape of a considerable quantity of a particular sort of air1 called fixed air1 or carbonic acid gas4 ,in the solution of the lime in the acid1 the lime and acid have an attraction for one another2 but as the present mixture has no attraction for the gas1 it escapes1 and in rising1 forms the bubbling or effervescence4 ,this may be proved to a child1 by showing him1 that if an acid is poured upon caustic lime 7lime which has had this gas taken from it by fire7 there will be no effervescence4 ,there are various other chemical experiments with which children may amuse themselves2 they may be employed in analyzing marle1 or clays2 they may be provided with materials for making ink or soap4 ,it should be pointed out to them1 that the common domestic and culinary operations of making butter and cheese1 baking1 brewing1 c4 are all chemical processes4 ,we hope the reader will not imagine1 that we have in this slight sketch pretended to point out the best experiments which can be devised for children2 we have only offered a few of the simplest which occurred to us1 that parents may not1 at the conclusion of this chapter1 exclaim1 ,what is to be done8 ,how are we to begin8 ,what experiments are suited to children8 ,if we knew1 our children should try them4 ,it is of little consequence what particular experiment is selected for the first2 we only wish to show1 that the minds of children may be turned to this subject2 and that1 by accustoming them to observation1 we give them not only the power of learning what has been already discovered1 but of adding1 as they grow older1 something to the general stock of human knowledge4 ,,chapter ,,xix4 ,,on ,,public ,,and ,,private ,,education4 ,the anxious parent1 after what has been said concerning tasks and classical literature1 will inquire whether the whole plan of education recommended in the following pages1 is intended to relate to public or to private education4 ,it is intended to relate to both4 ,it is not usual to send children to school before they are eight or nine years old3 our first object is to show how education may be conducted to that age in such a manner1 that children may be well prepared for the acquisition of all the knowledge usually taught at schools1 and may be perfectly free from many of the faults that pupils sometimes have acquired before they are sent to any public seminary4 ,it is obvious1 that public preceptors would be saved much useless labour and anxiety1 were parents to take some pains in the previous instruction of their children2 and more especially1 if they were to prevent them from learning a taste for total idleness1 or habits of obstinacy and of falsehood1 which can scarcely be conquered by the utmost care and vigilance4 ,we can assure parents1 from experience1 that if they pursue steadily a proper plan with regard to the understanding and the moral habits1 they will not have much trouble with the education of their children after the age we have mentioned1 as long as they continue to instruct them at home2 and if they send them to public schools1 their superiority in intellect and in conduct will quickly appear4 ,though we have been principally attentive to all the circumstances which can be essential to the management of young people during the first nine or ten years of their lives1 we have by no means confined our observations to this period alone2 but we have endeavoured to lay before parents a general view of the human mind 7as far as it relates to our subject7 of proper methods of teaching1 and of the objects of rational instruction--so that they may extend the principles which we have laid down1 through all the succeeding periods of education1 and may apply them as it may best suit their peculiar situations1 or their peculiar wishes4 ,we are fully conscious1 that we have executed but very imperfectly even our own design2 that experimental education is yet but in its infancy1 and that boundless space for improvement remains2 but we flatter ourselves1 that attentive parents and preceptors will consider with candour the practical assistance which is offered to them1 especially as we have endeavoured to express our opinions without dogmatical presumption1 and without the illiberal exclusion of any existing institutions or prevailing systems4 ,people who1 even with the best intentions1 attack with violence any of these1 and who do not consider what is practicable1 as well as what ought to be done1 are not likely to persuade1 or to convince mankind to increase the general sum of happiness1 or their own portion of felicity4 ,those who really desire to be of service to society1 should point out decidedly1 but with temperate indulgence for the feelings and opinions of others1 whatever appears to them absurd or reprehensible in any prevailing customs3 having done this1 they will rest in the persuasion that what is most reasonable1 will ultimately prevail4 ,mankind1 at least the prudent and rational part of mankind1 have an aversion to pull down1 till they have a moral certainty that they can build up a better edifice than that which has been destroyed4 ,would you1 says an eminent writer1 convince me1 that the house ,i live in is a bad one1 and would you persuade me to quit it2 build a better in my neighbourhood2 ,i shall be very ready to go into it1 and shall return you my very sincere thanks4 ,till another house be ready1 a wise man will stay in his old one1 however inconvenient its arrangement1 however seducing the plans of the enthusiastic projector4 ,we do not set up for projectors1 or reformers3 we wish to keep steadily in view the actual state of things1 as well as our own hopes of progressive improvement2 and to seize and combine all that can be immediately serviceable3 all that can assist1 without precipitating improvements4 ,every well informed parent1 and every liberal school-master1 must be sensible1 that there are many circumstances in the management of public education which might be condemned with reason2 that too much time is sacrificed to the study of the learned languages2 that too little attention is paid to the general improvement of the understanding and formation of the moral character2 that a school-master cannot pay attention to the temper or habits of each of his numerous scholars2 and that parents1 during that portion of the year which their children spend with them1 are not sufficiently solicitous to co-operate with the views of the school-master2 so that the public is counteracted by the private education4 ,these1 and many other things1 we have heard objected to schools2 but what are we to put in the place of schools8 ,how are vast numbers who are occupied themselves in public or professional pursuits1 how are men in business or in trade1 artists or manufacturers1 to educate their families1 when they have not time to attend to them2 when they may not think themselves perfectly prepared to undertake the classical instruction and entire education of several boys2 and when1 perhaps1 they may not be in circumstances to engage the assistance of such a preceptor as they could approve8 ,it is obvious1 that if in such situations parents were to attempt to educate their children at home1 they would harass themselves1 and probably spoil their pupils irrecoverably4 ,it would1 therefore1 be in every respect impolitic and cruel to disgust those with public schools1 who have no other resource for the education of their families4 ,there is another reason which has perhaps operated upon many in the middle ranks of life unperceived1 and which determines them in favour of public education4 ,persons of narrow fortune1 or persons who have acquired wealth in business1 are often desirous of breeding up their sons to the liberal professions3 and they are conscious that the company1 the language1 and the style of life1 which their children would be accustomed to at home1 are beneath what would be suited to their future professions4 ,public schools efface this rusticity1 and correct the faults of provincial dialect3 in this point of view they are highly advantageous4 ,we strongly recommend it to such parents to send their children to large public schools1 to ,rugby1 ,eton1 or ,westminster2 not to any small school2 much less to one in their own neighbourhood4 ,small schools are apt to be filled with persons of nearly the same stations1 and out of the same neighbourhood3 from this circumstance1 they contribute to perpetuate uncouth antiquated idioms1 and many of those obscure prejudices which cloud the intellect in the future business of life4 ,whilst we admit the necessity which compels the largest portion of society to prefer public seminaries of education1 it is incumbent upon us to caution parents from expecting that the moral character1 the understandings1 or the tempers of their children1 should be improved at large schools2 there the learned languages1 we acknowledge1 are successfully taught4 ,many satisfy themselves with the assertion1 that public education is the least troublesome1 that a boy once sent to school is settled for several years of life1 and will require only short returns of parental care twice a year at the holydays4 ,it is hardly to be supposed1 that those who think in this manner1 should have paid any anxious1 or at least any judicious attention to the education of their children1 previously to sending them to school4 ,it is not likely that they should be very solicitous about the commencement of an education which they never meant to finish3 they would think1 that what could be done during the first few years of life1 is of little consequence2 that children from four to seven years old are too young to be taught2 and that a school would speedily supply all deficiencies1 and correct all those faults which begin at that age to be troublesome at home4 ,thus to a public school1 as to a general infirmary for mental disease1 all desperate subjects are sent1 as the last resource4 ,they take with them the contagion of their vices1 which quickly runs through the whole tribe of their companions1 especially amongst those who happen to be nearly of their own age1 whose sympathy peculiarly exposes them to the danger of infection4 ,we are often told1 that as young people have the strongest sympathy with each other1 they will learn most effectually from each other's example4 ,they do learn quickly from example1 and this is one of the dangers of a public school3 a danger which is not necessary1 but incidental2 a danger against which no school-master can possibly guard1 but which parents can1 by the previous education of the pupils1 prevent4 ,boys are led1 driven1 or carried to school2 and in a school-room they first meet with those who are to be their fellow prisoners4 ,they do not come with fresh unprejudiced minds to commence their course of social education2 they bring with them all the ideas and habits which they have already learned at their respective homes4 ,it is highly unreasonable to expect1 that all these habits should be reformed by a public preceptor4 ,if he had patience1 how could he have time for such an undertaking8 ,those who have never attempted to break a pupil of any one bad habit1 have no idea of the degree of patience requisite to success4 ,we once heard an officer of dragoons assert1 that he would rather break twenty horses of their bad habits1 than one man of his4 ,the proportionate difficulty of teaching boys1 may be easily calculated4 ,it is sometimes asserted1 that the novelty of a school life1 the change of situation1 alters the habits1 and forms in boys a new character4 ,habits of eight or nine years standing1 cannot be instantaneously1 perhaps can never be radically1 destroyed2 they will mix themselves imperceptibly with the new ideas which are planted in their minds1 and though these may strike the eye by the rapidity of their growth1 the others1 which have taken a strong root1 will not easily be dispossessed of the soil4 ,in this new character1 as it is called1 there will1 to a discerning eye1 appear a strong mixture of the old disposition4 ,the boy1 who at home lived with his father's servants1 and was never taught to have any species of literature1 will not acquire a taste for it at school1 merely by being compelled to learn his lessons2 the boy1 who at home was suffered to be the little tyrant of a family1 will1 it is true1 be forced to submit to superior strength or superior numbers at school2#bi but does it improve the temper to practise alternately the habits of a tyrant and a slave8 ,the lesson which experience usually teaches to the temper of a school-boy1 is1 that strength1 and power1 and cunning1 will inevitably govern in society3 as to reason1 it is out of the question1 it would be hissed or laughed out of the company4 ,with respect to social virtues1 they are commonly amongst school-boys so much mixed with party spirit1 that they mislead even the best dispositions4 ,a boy at home1 whose pleasures are all immediately connected with the idea of self1 will not feel a sudden enlargement of mind from entering a public school4 ,he will1 probably1 preserve his selfish character in his new society2 or1 even suppose he catches that of his companions1 the progress is not great in moral education from selfishness to spirit of party3 the one is a despicable1 the other a dangerous1 principle of action4 ,it has been observed1 that what we are when we are twenty1 depends on what we were when we were ten years old4 ,what a young man is at college1 depends upon what he was at school2 and what he is at school1 depends upon what he was before he went to school4 ,in his father's house1 the first important lessons1 those which decide his future abilities and character1 must be learned4 ,we have repeated this idea1 and placed it in different points of view1 in hopes that it will catch and fix the attention4 ,suppose that parents educated their children well for the first eight or nine years of their lives1 and then sent them all to public seminaries1 what a difference this must immediately make in public education3 the boys would be disposed to improve themselves with all the ardour which the most sanguine preceptor would desire2 their tutors would find that there was nothing to be unlearned2 no habits of idleness to conquer2 no perverse stupidity would provoke them2 no capricious contempt of application would appear in pupils of the quickest abilities4 ,the moral education could then be made a part of the preceptor's care1 with some hopes of success2 the pupils would all have learned the first necessary moral principles and habits2 they would1 consequently1 be all fit companions for each other2 in each other's society they would continue to be governed by the same ideas of right and wrong by which they had been governed all their lives2 they would not have any new character to learn2 they would improve1 by mixing with numbers1 in the social virtues1 without learning party spirit2 and though they would love their companions1 they would not1 therefore1 combine together to treat their instructers as pedagogues and tyrants4 ,this may be thought an ,utopian idea of a school2 indeed it is very improbable1 that out of the numbers of parents who send their children to large schools1 many should suddenly be much moved1 by any thing that we can say1 to persuade them to take serious trouble in their previous instruction4 ,but much may be effected by gradual attempts4 ,ten well educated boys1 sent to a public seminary at nine or ten years old1 would1 probably1 far surpass their competitors in every respect2 they would inspire others with so much emulation1 would do their parents and preceptors so much credit1 that numbers would eagerly inquire into the causes of their superiority2 and these boys would1 perhaps1 do more good by their example1 than by their actual acquirements4 ,we do not mean to promise1 that a boy judiciously educated1 shall appear at ten years old a prodigy of learning2 far from it3 we should not even estimate his capacity1 or the chain of his future progress1 by the quantity of knowledge stored in his memory1 by the number of ,latin lines he had got by rote1 by his expertness in repeating the rules of his grammar1 by his pointing out a number of places readily in a map1 or even by his knowing the latitude and longitude of all the capital cities in ,europe2 these are all useful articles of knowledge3 but they are not the test of a good education4 ,we should rather1 if we were to examine a boy of ten years old1 for the credit of his parents1 produce proofs of his being able to reason accurately1 of his quickness in invention1 of his habits of industry and application1 of his having learned to generalize his ideas1 and to apply his observations and his principles3 if we found that he had learned all1 or any of these things1 we should be in little pain about grammar1 or geography1 or even ,latin2 we should be tolerably certain that he would not long remain deficient in any of these2 we should know that he would overtake and surpass a competitor who had only been technically taught1 as certainly as that the giant would overtake the panting dwarf1 who might have many miles the start of him in the race4 ,we do not mean to say1 that a boy should not be taught the principles of grammar1 and some knowledge of geography1 at the same time that his understanding is cultivated in the most enlarged manner3 these objects are not incompatible1 and we particularly recommend it to parents who intend to send their children to school1 early to give them confidence in themselves1 by securing the rudiments of literary education2 otherwise their pupils1 with a real superiority of understanding1 may feel depressed1 and may1 perhaps1 be despised1 when they mix at a public school with numbers who will estimate their abilities merely by their proficiency in particular studies4 ,mr4 ,frend1#cj in recommending the study of arithmetic for young people1 has very sensibly remarked1 that boys bred up in public schools1 are apt to compare themselves with each other merely as classical scholars2 and1 when they afterwards go into the world excellent ,greek and ,latin scholars1 are much astonished to perceive1 that many of the companions whom they had under-valued at school1 get before them when they come to actual business1 and to active life4 ,many1 in the pursuit of their classical studies1 have neglected all other knowledge1 especially that of arithmetic1 that useful1 essential branch of knowledge1 without which neither the abstract sciences nor practical arts can be taught4 ,the precision which the habit of applying the common rules of arithmetic1 gives to the understanding1 is highly advantageous1 particularly to young people of vivacity1 or1 as others would say1 of genius4 ,the influence which the habit of estimating has upon that part of the moral character called prudence1 is of material consequence4 ,we shall further explain upon this subject when we speak of the means of teaching arithmetic and reasoning to children2 we only mention the general ideas here1 to induce intelligent parents to attend early to these particulars4 ,if they mean to send their children to public classical schools1 it must be peculiarly advantageous to teach them early the rudiments of arithmetic1 and to give them the habit of applying their knowledge in the common business of life4 ,we forbear to enumerate other useful things1 which might easily be taught to young people before they leave home1 because we do not wish to terrify with the apprehension1 that a perplexing variety of things are to be taught4 ,one thing well taught1 is better than a hundred taught imperfectly4 ,the effect of the pains which are taken in the first nine or ten years of a child's life1 may not be apparent immediately to the view1 but it will gradually become visible4 ,to careless observers1 two boys of nine years old1 who have been very differently educated1 may appear nearly alike in abilities1 in temper1 and in the promise of future character4 ,send them both to a large public school1 let them be placed in the same new situation1 and exposed to the same trials1 the difference will then appear3 the difference in a few years will be such as to strike every eye1 and people will wonder what can have produced in so short a time such an amazing change4 ,in the ,hindoo art of dyeing1 the same liquors communicate different colours to particular spots1 according to the several bases previously applied3 to the ignorant eye1 no difference is discernible in the ground1 nor can the design be distinctly traced till the air1 and light1 and open exposure1 bring out the bright and permanent colours to the wondering eye of the spectator4 ,besides bestowing some attention upon early education1 parents1 who send their children to school1 may much assist the public preceptor by judicious conduct towards children during that portion of the year which is usually spent at home4#ca ,mistaken parental fondness1 delights to make the period of time which children spend at home1 as striking a contrast as possible with that which they pass at school4 ,the holydays are made a jubilee1 or rather resemble the ,saturnalia4 ,even if parents do not wish to represent a school-master as a tyrant1 they are by no means displeased to observe1 that he is not the friend or favourite of their children4 ,they put themselves in mean competition with him for their affection1 instead of co-operating with him in all his views for their advantage4 ,how is it possible1 that any master can long retain the wish or the hope of succeeding in any plan of education1 if he perceives that his pupils are but partially under his government2 if his influence over their minds be counteracted from time to time by the superior influence of their parents8 ,an influence which he must not wish to destroy4 ,to him is left the power to punish1 it is true2 but parents reserve to themselves the privilege to reward4 ,the ancients did not suppose1 that even ,jupiter could govern the world without the command of pain and pleasure4 ,upon the vases near his throne1 depended his influence over mankind4 ,and what are these holyday delights8 ,and in what consists parental rewards8 ,in dissipation and idleness4 ,with these are consequently associated the idea of happiness and the name of pleasure2 the name is often sufficient1 without the reality4 ,during the vacation1 children have a glimpse of what is called the world2 and then are sent back to their prison with heads full of visions of liberty1 and with a second-sight of the blessed lives which they are to lead when they have left school for ever4 ,what man of sense1 who has studied the human mind1 who knows that the success of any plan of education must depend upon the concurrence of every person1 and every circumstance1 for years together1 to the same point1 would undertake any thing more than the partial instruction of pupils1 whose leading associations and habits must be perpetually broken8 ,when the work of school is undone during the holydays1 what hand could have the patience perpetually to repair the web8 ,during the vacations spent at home1 children may be made extremely happy in the society and in the affections of their friends1 but they need not be taught1 that idleness is pleasure3 on the contrary1 occupation should1 by all possible methods1 be rendered agreeable to them2 their school acquisitions1 their knowledge and taste1 should be drawn out in conversation1 and they should be made to feel the value of what they have been taught2 by these means1 there would be some connection1 some unity of design1 preserved in their education4 ,their school-masters and tutors should never become the theme of insipid ridicule2 nor should parents ever put their influence in competition with that of a preceptor3 on the contrary1 his pupils should uniformly perceive1 that from his authority there is no appeal1 except to the superior power of reason1 which should be the avowed arbiter to which all should be submitted4 ,some of the dangerous effects of that mixed society at schools1 of which we have complained1 may be counteracted by the judicious conduct of parents during the time which children spend at home4 ,a better view of society1 more enlarged ideas of friendship and of justice1 may be given to young people1 and the vile principle of party spirit may be treated with just contempt and ridicule4 ,some standard1 some rules may be taught to them1 by which they may judge of character independently of prejudice1 or childish prepossession4 ,i do not like you1 ,doctor ,fell2 ,the reason why1 ,i cannot tell3 ,but this ,i know full well1 ,i do not like you1 ,doctor ,fell-- is an exact specimen of the usual mode of reasoning1 of the usual method in which an ill educated school-boy expresses his opinion and feelings about all persons1 and all things4 ,the reason why1 should always be inquired whenever children express preference or aversion4 ,to connect the idea of childhood with that of inferiority and contempt1 is unjust and impolitic2 it should not be made a reproach to young people to be young1 nor should it be pointed out to them1 that when they are some years older1 they will be more respected2 the degree of respect which they really command1 whether in youth or age1 will depend upon their own conduct1 their knowledge1 and their powers of being useful and agreeable to others4 ,if they are convinced of this1 children will not at eight years old long to be fifteen1 or at fifteen to be one and twenty2 proper subordination would be preserved1 and the scale of happiness would not have a forced and false connection with that of age4 ,if parents did not first excite foolish wishes in the minds of their children1 and then imprudently promise that these wishes shall be gratified at certain periods of their existence1 children would not be impatient to pass over the years of childhood2 those years which idle boys wish to pass over as quickly as possible1 men without occupation regret as the happiest of their existence4 ,to a child1 who has been promised that he shall put on manly apparel on his next birthday1 the pace of time is slow and heavy until that happy era arrive4 ,fix the day when a boy shall leave school1 and he wishes instantly to mount the chariot1 and lash the horses of the sun4 ,nor when he enters the world1 will his restless spirit be satisfied2 the first step gained1 he looks anxiously forward to the height of manly elevation1 ,and the brisk minor pants for twenty-one ,these juvenile anticipations diminish the real happiness of life2 those who are in continual expectation1 never enjoy the present2 the habit of expectation is dangerous to the mind1 it suspends all industry1 all voluntary exertion4 ,young men1 who early acquire this habit1 find existence insipid to them without the immediate stimuli of hope and fear3 no matter what the object is1 they must have something to sigh for2 a curricle1 a cockade1 or an opera-dancer4 ,much may be done by education to prevent this boyish restlessness4 ,parents should refrain from those imprudent promises1 and slight inuendoes1 which the youthful imagination always misunderstands and exaggerates4--,never let the moment in which a young man quits a seminary of education1 be represented as a moment in which all instruction1 labour1 and restraints1 cease4 ,the idea1 that he must restrain and instruct himself1 that he must complete his own education1 should be excited in a young man's mind2 nor should he be suffered to imagine that his education is finished1 because he has attained to some given age4 ,when a common school-boy bids adieu to that school which he has been taught to consider as a prison1 he exults in his escape from books and masters1 and from all the moral and intellectual discipline1 to which he imagines that it is the peculiar disgrace and misery of childhood to be condemned4 ,he is impatient to be thought a man1 but his ideas of the manly character are erroneous1 consequently his ambition will only mislead him4 ,from his companions whilst at school1 from his father's acquaintance1 and his father's servants1 with whom he has been suffered to consort during the vacations1 he has collected imperfect notions of life1 fashion1 and society4 ,these do not mix well in his mind with the examples and precepts of ,greek and ,roman virtue3 a temporary enthusiasm may have been kindled in his soul by the eloquence of antiquity2 but1 for want of sympathy1 this enthusiasm necessarily dies away4 ,his heroes are not the heroes of the present times2 the maxims of his sages are not easily introduced into the conversation of the day4 ,at the tea-table he now seldom hears even the name of ,plato2 and he often blushes for not knowing a line from a popular ,english poet1 whilst he could repeat a cento from ,horace1 ,virgil1 and ,homer2 or an antistrophe from schylus or ,euripides4 ,he feels ashamed to produce the knowledge he has acquired1 because he has not learned sufficient address to produce it without pedantry4 ,on his entrance into the world1 there remains in his mind no grateful1 no affectionate1 no respectful remembrance of those under whose care he has passed so many years of his life4 ,he has escaped from the restraints imposed by his school-master1 and the connection is dissolved for ever4 ,but when a son separates from his father1 if he has been well educated1 he wishes to continue his own education3 the course of his ideas is not suddenly broken2 what he has been1 joins immediately with what he is to be2 his knowledge applies to real life1 it is such as he can use in all companies2 there is no sudden metamorphosis in any of the objects of his ambition2 the boy and man are the same individual4 ,pleasure will not influence him merely by her name1 or by the contrast of her appearance with the rigid discipline of scholastic learning2 he will feel the difference between pleasure and happiness1 and his early taste for domestic life will remain or return upon his mind4 ,his old precepts and new motives are not at war with each other2 his experience will confirm his education1 and external circumstances will call forth his latent virtues4 ,when he looks back1 he can trace the gradual growth of his knowledge2 when he looks forward1 it is with the delightful hope of progressive improvement4 ,a desire in some degree to repay the care1 to deserve the esteem1 to fulfil the animating prophecies1 or to justify the fond hopes of the parent who has watched over his education1 is one of the strongest motives to an ingenuous young man2 it is an incentive to exertion in every honourable pursuit4 ,a son who has been judiciously and kindly educated1 will feel the value of his father's friendship4 ,the perception1 that no man can be more entirely interested in every thing that concerns him1 the idea1 that no one more than his father can share in his glory or in his disgrace1 will press upon his heart1 will rest upon his understanding4 ,upon these ideas1 upon this common family interest1 the real strength of the connection between a father and his son depends4 ,no public preceptor can have the same advantages2 his connection with his pupil is not necessarily formed to last4 ,after having spoken with freedom1 but we hope with moderation1 of public schools1 we may1 perhaps1 be asked our opinion of universities4 ,are universities the most splendid repositories of learning8 ,we are not afraid to declare an opinion in the negative4 ,smith1 in his ,wealth of ,nations1 has stated some objections to them1 we think1 with unanswerable force of reasoning4 ,we do not1 however1 wish to destroy what we do not entirely approve4 ,far be that insanity from our minds which would1 like ,orlando1 tear up the academic groves2 the madness of innovation is as destructive as the bigotry of ancient establishments4 ,the learning and the views of the rising century must have different objects from those of the wisdom and benevolence of ,alfred1 ,balsham1 or ,wolsey2 and1 without depreciating or destroying the magnificence or establishments of universities1 may not their institutions be improved8 ,may not their splendid halls echo with other sounds than the exploded metaphysics of the schools8 ,and may not other learning be as much rewarded and esteemed as pure latinity8 ,we must here distinctly point out1 that young men designed for the army or the navy1 should not be educated in private families4 ,the domestic habits1 the learned leisure of private education1 are unsuited to them2 it would be absurd to waste many years in teaching them the elegancies of classic literature1 which can probably be of no essential use to them2 it would be cruel to give them a nice and refined choice of right and wrong1 when it will be their professional duty to act under the command of others2 when implicit1 prompt1 unquestioning obedience must be their first military virtue4 ,military academies1 where the sciences practically essential to the professions are taught1 must be the best situations for all young sailors and soldiers2 strict institution is the best education for them4 ,we do not here inquire how far these professions are necessary in society2 it is obvious1 that in the present state of ,european cultivation1 soldiers and sailors are indispensable to every nation4 ,we hope1 however1 that a taste for peace may1 at some future period in the history of the world1 succeed to the passion for military glory2 and in the mean time1 we may safely recommend it to parents1 never to trust a young man designed for a soldier1 to the care of a philosopher1 even if it were possible to find one who would undertake the charge4 ,we hope that we have shown ourselves the friends of the public preceptor1 that we have pointed out the practicable means of improving public institutions by parental care and parental co-operation4 ,but1 until such a meliorating plan shall actually have been carried into effect1 we cannot hesitate to assert1 that even when the abilities of the parent are inferiour to those of the public preceptor1 the means of ensuring success preponderate in favour of private education4 ,a father1 who has time1 talents1 and temper1 to educate his family1 is certainly the best possible preceptor2 and his reward will be the highest degree of domestic felicity4 ,if1 from his situation1 he is obliged to forego this reward1 he may select some man of literature1 sense1 and integrity1 to whom he can confide his children4 ,opulent families should not think any reward too munificent for such a private preceptor4 ,even in an economic point of view1 it is prudent to calculate how many thousands lavished on the turf1 or lost at the gaming table1 might have been saved to the heirs of noble and wealthy families by a judicious education4 ,,footnotes3 #bi ,v4 ,barne's ,essay on public and private education4 ,manchester ,society4 #cj ,v4 ,mr4 ,frend's ,principles of ,algebra4 #ca ,v4 ,williams's ,lectures on ,education4 ,,chapter ,,xx4 ,,on ,,female ,,accomplishments1 ,,masters1 ,,and ,,governesses4 ,some years ago1 an opera dancer at ,lyon's1 whose charms were upon the wane1 applied to an ,english gentleman for a recommendation to some of his friends in ,england1 as a governess for young ladies4 ,do you doubt1 said the lady 7observing that the gentleman was somewhat confounded by the easy assurance of her request7 do you doubt my capability8 ,do ,i not speak good ,parisian ,french8 ,have ,i any provincial accent8 ,i will undertake to teach the language grammatically4 ,and for music and dancing1 without vanity1 may ,i not pretend to teach them to any young person8 ,the lady's excellence in all these particulars was unquestionable4 ,she was beyond dispute a highly accomplished woman4 ,pressed by her forcible interrogatories1 the gentleman was compelled to hint1 that an ,english mother of a family might be inconveniently inquisitive about the private history of a person who was to educate her daughters4 ,oh1 said the lady1 ,i can change my name2 and1 at my age1 nobody will make further inquiries4 ,before we can determine how far this lady's pretensions were ill founded1 and before we can exactly decide what qualifications are most desirable in a governess1 we must form some estimate of the positive and relative value of what are called accomplishments4 ,we are not going to attack any of them with cynical asperity1 or with the ambition to establish any new dogmatical tenets in the place of old received opinions4 ,it can1 however1 do no harm to discuss this important subject with proper reverence and humility4 ,without alarming those mothers1 who declare themselves above all things anxious for the rapid progress of their daughters in every fashionable accomplishment1 it may be innocently asked1 what price such mothers are willing to pay for these advantages4 ,any price within the limits of our fortune6 they will probably exclaim4 ,there are other standards by which we can measure the value of objects1 as well as by money4 ,fond mother1 would you1 if it were in your power1 accept of an opera dancer for your daughter's governess1 upon condition that you should live to see that daughter dance the best minuet at a birth-night ball8 ,not for the world1 replies the mother4 ,do you think ,i would hazard my daughter's innocence and reputation1 for the sake of seeing her dance a good minuet8 ,shocking6 ,absurd6 ,what can you mean by such an outrageous question8 ,to fix your attention4 ,where the mind has not precisely ascertained its wishes1 it is sometimes useful to consider extremes2 by determining what price you will not pay1 we shall at length ascertain the value which you set upon the object4 ,reputation and innocence1 you say1 you will not1 upon any account1 hazard4 ,but would you consent that your daughter should1 by universal acclamation1 be proclaimed the most accomplished woman in ,europe1 upon the simple condition1 that she should pass her days in a nunnery8 ,i should have no right to make such a condition2 domestic happiness ,i ought certainly to prefer to public admiration for my daughter4 ,her accomplishments would be of little use to her1 if she were to be shut up from the world3 who is to be the judge of them in a nunnery8 ,i will say no more about the nunnery4 ,but would not you1 as a good mother1 consent to have your daughter turned into an automaton for eight hours in every day for fifteen years1 for the promise of hearing her1 at the end of that time1 pronounced the first private performer at the most fashionable and most crowded concert in ,london8 ,eight hours a day for fifteen years1 are too much4 ,no one need practise so much to become the first performer in ,england4 ,that is another question4 ,you have not told me whether you would sacrifice so much of your daughter's existence for such an object1 supposing that you could obtain it at no other price4 ,for one concert8 says the hesitating mother2 ,i think it would be too high a price4 ,yet ,i would give any thing to have my daughter play better than any one in ,england4 ,what a distinction6 ,she would be immediately taken notice of in all companies6 ,she might get into the first circles in ,london6 ,she would want neither beauty nor fortune to recommend her6 ,she would be a match for any man1 who has any taste for music6 ,and music is universally admired1 even by those who have the misfortune to have no taste for it4 ,besides1 it is such an elegant accomplishment in itself6 ,such a constant source of innocent amusement6 ,putting every thing else out of the question1 ,i should wish my daughter to have every possible accomplishment1 because accomplishments are such charming resources for young women2 they keep them out of harm's way2 they make a vast deal of their idle time pass so pleasantly to themselves and others6 ,this is my chief reason for liking them4 ,here are so many reasons brought together at once1 along with the chief reason1 that they are altogether unanswerable2 we must separate1 class1 and consider them one at a time4 ,accomplishments1 it seems1 are valuable1 as being the objects of universal admiration4 ,some accomplishments have another species of value1 as they are tickets of admission to fashionable company4 ,accomplishments have another1 and a higher species of value1 as they are supposed to increase a young lady's chance of a prize in the matrimonial lottery4 ,accomplishments have also a value as resources against ennui1 as they afford continual amusement and innocent occupation4 ,this is ostensibly their chief praise2 it deserves to be considered with respect4 ,false and odious must be that philosophy which would destroy any one of the innocent pleasures of our existence4 ,no reward was thought too high for the invention of a new pleasure2 no punishment would be thought too severe for those who would destroy an old one4 ,women are peculiarly restrained in their situation1 and in their employments1 by the customs of society3 to diminish the number of these employments1 therefore1 would be cruel2 they should rather be encouraged1 by all means1 to cultivate those tastes which can attach them to their home1 and which can preserve them from the miseries of dissipation4 ,every sedentary occupation must be valuable to those who are to lead sedentary lives2 and every art1 however trifling in itself1 which tends to enliven and embellish domestic life1 must be advantageous1 not only to the female sex1 but to society in general4 ,as far as accomplishments can contribute to all or any of these excellent purposes1 they must be just objects of attention in early education4 ,a number of experiments have already been tried2 let us examine the result4 ,out of the prodigious number of young women who learn music and drawing1 for instance1 how many are there1 who1 after they become mistresses of their own time1 and after they have the choice of their own amusements1 continue to practise these accomplishments for the pure pleasure of occupation8 ,as soon as a young lady is married1 does she not frequently discover1 that she really has not leisure to cultivate talents which take up so much time8 ,does she not complain of the labour of practising four or five hours a day to keep up her musical character8 ,what motive has she for perseverance8 ,she is1 perhaps1 already tired of playing to all her acquaintance4 ,she may really take pleasure in hearing good music2 but her own performance will not then please her ear so much as that of many others4 ,she will prefer the more indolent pleasure of hearing the best music that can be heard for money at public concerts4 ,she will then of course leave off playing1 but continue very fond of music4 ,how often is the labour of years thus lost for ever6 ,those who have excelled in drawing1 do not appear to abandon the occupation so suddenly2 it does not demand such an inordinate quantity of time to keep up the talent2 the exertion of the imitative powers with apparent success1 is agreeable2 the employment is progressive1 and1 therefore1 the mind is carried on to complete what has been begun4 ,independently of all applause1 which may be expected for the performance1 there is a pleasure in going on with the work4 ,but setting aside enthusiasm and habit1 the probability that any sensible person will continue to pursue a given employment1 must depend1 in a great measure1 upon their own conviction of its utility1 or of its being agreeable to those whom they wish to please4 ,the pleasure which a lady's friends receive from her drawings1 arises chiefly from the perception of their comparative excellence4 ,comparative excellence is all to which gentlewomen artists usually pretend1 all to which they expect to attain2 positive excellence is scarcely attained by one in a hundred4 ,compared with the performances of other young ladies of their acquaintance1 the drawings of ,miss ,x or ,y may be justly considered as charming6 admirable6 and astonishing6 ,but there are few drawings by young ladies which can be compared with those of a professed artist4 ,the wishes of obliging friends are satisfied with a few drawings in handsome frames1 to be hung up for the young lady's credit2 and when it is allowed amongst their acquaintance1 that she draws in a superior style1 the purpose of this part of her education is satisfactorily answered4 ,we do not here speak of those few individuals who really excel in drawing1 who have learnt something more than the common routine which is usually learnt from a drawing master1 who have acquired an agreeable1 talent1 not for the mere purpose of exhibiting themselves1 but for the sake of the occupation it affords1 and the pleasure it may give to their friends4 ,we have the pleasure of knowing some who exactly answer to this description1 and who must feel themselves distinct and honourable exceptions to these general observations4 ,from whatever cause it arises1 we may observe1 that after young women are settled in life1 their taste for drawing and music gradually declines4 ,for this fact1 we can appeal only to the recollection of individuals4 ,we may hence form some estimate of the real value which ought to be put upon what are called accomplishments1 considered as occupations4 ,hence we may also conclude1 that parents do not form their judgments from the facts which they see every day in real life2 or else may we not infer1 that they deceive themselves as to their own motives2 and that1 amongst the reasons which make them so anxious about the accomplishments of their daughters1 there are some secret motives more powerful than those which are usually openly acknowledged8 ,it is admitted in the cabinet council of mothers1 that some share of the value of accomplishments depends upon the demand for them in the fashionable world4 ,a young lady1 they say1 is nobody1 and nothing1 without accomplishments2 they are as necessary to her as a fortune3 they are indeed considered as part of her fortune1 and sometimes are even found to supply the place of it4 ,next to beauty1 they are the best tickets of admission into society which she can produce2 and every body knows1 that on the company she keeps1 depends the chance of a young woman's settling advantageously in the world4 ,to judge of what will please and attach men of superior sense and characters--we are not quite certain that these are the men who are to be considered first1 when we speak of a young lady's settling advantageously in the world2 but we will take this for granted--to judge of what will please and attach men of superior sense and characters1 we must observe their actual conduct in life1 and listen to their speculative opinions4 ,superficial accomplishments do not appear to be the objects of their preference4 ,in enumerating the perfections of his wife1 or in retracing the progress of his love1 does a man of sense dwell upon his mistress's skill in drawing1 or dancing1 or music8 ,no4 ,these1 he tells you1 are extremely agreeable talents1 but they could have never attached him2 they are subordinate parts in her character2 he is angry that you can rank them amongst her perfections2 he knows that a thousand women possess these accomplishments1 who have never touched his heart4 ,he does not1 perhaps1 deny1 that in ,chloe1 altogether1 they have power to please1 but he does not think them essential to her power4 ,the opinion of women1 who have seen a good deal of the world1 is worth attending to upon this subject2 especially if we can obtain it when their passions are wholly uninterested in their decision4 ,whatever may be the judgment of individuals concerning the character and politics of the celebrated ,madame ,roland1 her opinion as a woman of abilities1 and a woman who had seen a variety of life1 will be thought deserving of attention4 ,her book was written at a time when she was in daily expectation of death1 when she could have no motive to conceal her real sentiments upon any subject4 ,she gives an account of her employments in prison1 and1 amongst others1 mentions music and drawing4 ,i then employed myself in drawing till dinner time4 ,i had so long been out of the habit of using a pencil1 that ,i could not expect to be very dexterous2 but we commonly retain the power of repeating with pleasure1 or at least of attempting with ease1 whatever we have successfully practised in our youth4 ,therefore the study of the fine arts1 considered as a part of female education1 should be attended to1 much less with a view to the acquisition of superior talents1 than with a desire to give women a taste for industry1 the habit of application1 and a greater variety of employments2 for these assist us to escape from ennui1 the most cruel disease of civilized society2 by these we are preserved from the dangers of vice1 and even from those seductions which are far more likely to lead us astray4 ,i would not make my daughter a performer4#cb ,i remember1 that my mother was afraid that ,i should become a great musician1 or that ,i should have devoted myself entirely to painting3 she wished that ,i should1 above all other things1 love the duties of my sex3 that ,i should be a good economist1 a good mistress1 as well as a good mother of a family4 ,i wish my ,eudora to be able to accompany her voice agreeably on the harp4 ,i wish that she may play agreeably on the piano-forte2 that she may know enough of drawing1 to feel pleasure from the sight and from the examination of the finest pictures of the great painters2 that she may be able to draw a flower that happens to please her2 and that she may unite in her dress elegance and simplicity4 ,i should wish that her talents might be such1 that they should neither excite the admiration of others1 nor inspire her with vanity2 ,i should wish that she should please by the general effect of her whole character1 without ever striking any body with astonishment at first sight2 and that she should attach by her good qualities1 rather than shine by her accomplishments4 ,women cannot foresee what may be the tastes of the individuals with whom they are to pass their lives4 ,their own tastes should not1 therefore1 be early decided2 they should1 if possible1 be so educated that they may attain any talent in perfection which they may desire1 or which their circumstances may render necessary4 ,if1 for instance1 a woman were to marry a man who was fond of music1 or who admired painting1 she should be able to cultivate these talents for his amusement and her own4 ,if he be a man of sense and feeling1 he will be more pleased with the motive than with the thing that is actually done4 ,but if it be urged1 that all women cannot expect to marry men of sense and feeling2 and if we are told1 that nevertheless they must look to an advantageous establishment1 we must conclude1 that men of rank and fortune are meant by that comprehensive phrase4 ,another set of arguments must be used to those who speculate on their daughters accomplishments in this line4 ,they have1 perhaps1 seen some instances of what they call success2 they have seen some young women of their acquaintance1 whose accomplishments have attracted men of fortune superior to their own2 consequently1 maternal tenderness is awakened1 and many mothers are sanguine in their expectations of the effect of their daughters education4 ,but they forget that every body now makes the same reflections1 that parents are1 and have been for some years1 speculating in the same line2 consequently1 the market is likely to be overstocked1 and1 of course1 the value of the commodities must fall4 ,every young lady 7and every young woman is now a young lady7 has some pretensions to accomplishments4 ,she draws a little2 or she plays a little1 or she speaks ,french a little4 ,even the blue-board boarding schools1 ridiculed by ,miss ,allscript in the ,heiress1 profess to perfect young ladies in some or all of these necessary parts of education4 ,stop at any good inn on the ,london roads1 and you will probably find that the landlady's daughter can show you some of her own framed drawings1 can play a tune upon her spinnet1 or support a dialogue in ,french of a reasonable length1 in the customary questions and answers4 ,now it is the practice in high life to undervalue1 and avoid as much as possible1 every thing which descends to the inferiour classes of society4 ,the dress of to-day is unfashionable to-morrow1 because every body wears it4 ,the dress is not preferred because it is pretty or useful1 but because it is the distinction of well bred people4 ,in the same manner accomplishments have lost much of that value which they acquired from opinion1 since they have become common4 ,they are now so common1 that they cannot be considered as the distinguishing characteristics of even a gentlewoman's education4 ,the higher classes in life1 and those individuals who aim at distinction1 now establish another species of monopoly1 and secure to themselves a certain set of expensive masters in music1 drawing1 dancing1 c4 and they endeavour to believe1 and to make others believe1 that no one can be well educated without having served an apprenticeship of so many lessons under some of these privileged masters4 ,but it is in vain that they intrench themselves1 they are pursued by the intrusive vulgar4 ,in a wealthy1 mercantile nation1 there is nothing which can be bought for money1 which will long continue to be an envied distinction4 ,the hope of attaining to that degree of eminence in the fine arts which really deserves celebrity1 becomes every day more difficult to private practitioners1 because the number of competitors daily increases2 and it is the interest of masters to forward their pupils by every possible means4 ,both genius and perseverance must now be united to obtain the prize of distinction2 and how seldom are they found1 or kept together1 in the common course of education6 ,considering all these circumstances1 is not there some reason to apprehend1 that in a few years the taste for several fashionable appendages of female education1 may change1 and that those will consequently be treated with neglect1 who have no other claim to public regard1 than their proficiency in what may1 perhaps1 then be thought vulgar or obsolete accomplishments8 ,our great grandmothers distinguished themselves by truly substantial tent-work chairs and carpets1 by needle-work pictures of ,solomon and the queen of ,sheba4 ,these were admirable in their day1 but their day is over2 and these useful1 ingenious1 and laborious specimens of female talents1 are consigned to the garret1 or they are produced but as curiosities1 to excite wonder at the strange patience and miserable destiny of former generations3 the taste for tapestry and embroidery is thus past2 the long labours of the loom have ceased4 ,cloth-work1 crape-work1 chenille-work1 ribbon-work1 wafer-work1 with a long train of etceteras1 have all passed away in our own memory2 yet these conferred much evanescent fame1 and a proportional quantity of vain emulation4 ,a taste for drawing1 or music1 cannot be classed with any of these trifling performances2 but there are many faded drawings of the present generations1 which cannot stand in competition with the glowing and faithful colours of the silk and worsted of former times2 and many of the hours spent at a stammering harpsichord1 might1 surely1 with full as much domestic advantage1 have been devoted to the embellishment of chairs and carpets4 ,we hope that no one will so perversely misunderstand us1 as to infer from these remarks1 that we desire to see the revival of old tapestry work2 or that we condemn the elegant accomplishments of music and drawing4 ,we condemn only the abuse of these accomplishments2 we only wish that they should be considered as domestic occupations1 not as matters of competition1 or of exhibition1 nor yet as the means of attracting temporary admiration4 ,we are not afraid that any1 who are really conscious of having acquired accomplishments with these prudent and honourable views1 should misapprehend what has been said4 ,mediocrity may1 perhaps1 attempt to misrepresent our remarks1 and may endeavour to make it appear that we have attacked1 and that we would discourage1 every effort of female taste and ingenuity in the fine arts2 we cannot1 therefore1 be too explicit in disclaiming such illiberal views4 ,we have not yet spoken of dancing1 though it is one of the most admired of female accomplishments4 ,this evidently is an amusement1 not an occupation2 it is an agreeable exercise1 useful to the health1 and advantageous1 as it confers a certain degree of habitual ease and grace4 ,mr4 ,locke seems to think1 that it gives young people confidence in themselves when they come into company1 and that it is1 therefore1 expedient to teach children early to dance3 but there are so many other methods of inspiring young people with this confidence in themselves1 that it appears unnecessary to lay much stress upon this argument4 ,if children live in good company1 and see constantly people with agreeable manners1 they will acquire manners which the dancing master does not always teach2 and they will easily vary their forms of politeness with the fashion of the day4 ,nobody comes into a room regularly as their dancing master taught them to make their entrance2 we should think a strict adherence to his lessons ridiculous and awkward in well bred company2 therefore much must be left to the discretion and taste of the pupil1 after the dancing master has made his last bow4 ,ease of manners is not always attained by those who have been strictly disciplined by a ,vestris1 because the lessons are not always practised in precisely the same circumstances in which they were learnt3 this confuses and confounds the pupils1 and they rather lose than gain confidence in themselves1 from perceiving that they cannot immediately apply what they have been taught4 ,but we need not expatiate upon this subject1 because there are few parents of good sense1 in any rank of life1 who will not perceive that their daughter's manners cannot be formed or polished by a dancing-master4 ,we are not to consider dancing in a grave and moral light2 it is an amusement much more agreeable to young people1 and much better suited to them in every respect1 than cards1 or silent assemblies of formal visiters4 ,it promotes cheerfulness1 and prevents1 in some measure1 the habits of gossiping conversation1 and the love of scandal4 ,so far we most willingly agree with its most vivacious advocates1 in its common eulogium4 ,but this is not1 we fear1 saying enough4 ,we see1 or fancy that we see1 the sober matron lay down her carefully assorted cards upon the card-table1 and with dictatorial solemnity she pronounces1 ,that dancing is something more than an amusement2 that girls must learn to dance1 because they must appear well in public2 because the young ladies who dance the best1 are usually most taken notice of in public2 most admired by the other sex2 most likely1 in short1 not only to-have their choice of the best partner in a ball room1 but sometimes of the best partner for life4 ,with submission to maternal authority1 these arguments do not seem to be justified of late years4 ,girls1 who dance remarkably well1 are1 it is true1 admired in a ball room1 and followed1 perhaps1 by those idle1 thoughtless young men1 who frequent public places merely for want of something else to do4 ,this race of beings are not particularly calculated to make good husbands in any sense of the word2 nor are they usually disposed to think of marriage in any other light than as the last desperate expedient to repair their injured fortunes4 ,they set their wits against the sex in general1 and consider themselves as in danger of being jockeyed into the matrimonial state4 ,some few1 perhaps1 who have not brought their imagination sufficiently under the command of the calculating faculty1 are caught by beauty and accomplishments1 and marry against the common rules of interest4 ,these men are considered with pity1 or with ridicule1 by their companions1 as dupes who have suffered themselves to be taken in3 others are warned by their fate2 and the future probability of similar errours1 of course1 must be diminished4 ,the fashionable apathy1 whether real or affected1 with which young men lounge in public places1 with scarcely the appearance of attention to the fair exhibitors before them1 sufficiently marks the temper of the times2 and if the female sex have lost any thing of the respect and esteem which ought to be paid to them in society1 they can scarcely expect to regain their proper influence by concessions to the false and vitiated taste of those who combine to treat them with neglect bordering upon insolence4 ,if the system of female education1 if the system of female manners1 conspire to show in the fair sex a degrading anxiety to attract worthless admiration1 wealthy or titled homage1 is it surprising that every young man1 who has any pretensions to birth1 fortune1 or fashion1 should consider himself as the arbiter of their fate1 and the despotic judge of their merit8 ,women1 who understand their real interests1 perceive the causes of the contempt with which the sex is treated by fashionable coxcombs1 and they feel some indignation at the meanness with which this contempt1 tacitly or openly expressed1 is endured4 ,women1 who feel none of this indignation1 and who1 either from their education1 or their circumstances1 are only solicitous to obtain present amusement1 or what they think the permanent advantages of a fortunate alliance1 will yet find themselves mistaken by persisting in their thoughtless career2 they will not gain even the objects to which they aspire4 ,how many accomplished belles run the usual round of dissipation in all public places of exhibition1 tire the public eye1 and1 after a season or two1 fade and are forgotten6 ,how many accomplished belles are there1 who1 having gained the object of their own1 or of their mother's ambition1 find themselves doomed to misery for life6 ,those unequal marriages1 which are sometimes called excellent matches1 seldom produce much happiness4 ,and where happiness is not1 what is all the rest8 ,if all1 or any of these reflections1 should strike the heart1 and convince the understanding1 of an anxious1 but reasonable mother1 she will1 probably1 immediately determine upon her own conduct in the education of her daughters3 she will resolve to avoid the common errours of the frivolous or the interested2 she will not be influenced by the importunity of every idle acquaintance1 who may talk to her of the necessity of her daughter's being taken notice of in public1 of the chances of an advantageous establishment1 of the good fortune of ,miss ,y----1 or lady ,angelina ,x----1 in meeting with a coxcomb or a spendthrift for a husband2 nor will she be moved with maternal emulation when she is further told1 that these young ladies owed their success entirely to the superiority of their accomplishments3 she will consider1 for one moment1 what is meant by the word success2 she will1 perhaps1 not be of opinion that 'tis best repenting in a coach and six2 she will1 perhaps1 reflect1 that even the soft sounds of titled grandeur lose their power to please1 and salute the ear almost unobserved4 ,the happiness1 the permanent happiness of her child1 will be the first1 the last object of the good and the enlightened mother3 to this all her views and all her efforts will tend2 and to this she will make every fashionable1 every elegant accomplishment subservient4 ,as to the means of acquiring these accomplishments1 it would be absurd1 and presumptuous1 to present here any vague precepts1 or tedious details1 upon the mode of learning drawing1 dancing1 and music4 ,these can be best learned from the masters who profess to teach them1 as far as the technical part is necessary4 ,but success will not ultimately depend upon any technical instructions that a master can give3 he may direct the efforts of industry so as to save much useless labour2 he may prevent his pupils from acquiring bad practical habits2 he may assist1 but he cannot inspire1 the spirit of perseverance4 ,a master1 who is not expected1 or indeed allowed1 to interfere in the general education of his pupils1 can only diligently attend to them whilst he is giving his lessons2 he has not any power1 except that pernicious motive1 competition1 to excite them to excel2 his instructions cannot be peculiarly adapted to their tempers or their understandings1 because with these he is unacquainted4 ,now a sensible mother has it in her power to supply all these deficiencies2 even if she does not herself excel in any of the accomplishments which her daughters are learning1 her knowledge of their minds1 her taste1 her judgment1 her affection1 her superintending intelligence1 will be of inestimable value to her children4 ,if she has any skill in any accomplishment1 she will1 for the first years of her daughters' lives1 be undoubtedly the best person to instruct them4 ,by skill1 we do not mean superior talents1 or proficiency in music or drawing2 without these1 she may be able to teach all that is necessary in the early part of education4 ,one of the best motives which a woman can have to cultivate her talents after she marries1 is the hope and belief1 that she may be essentially serviceable in the instruction of her family4 ,and that she may be essentially serviceable1 let no false humility lead her to doubt4 ,she need not be anxious for the rapid progress of her little pupils2 she need not be terrified if she see their equals in age surpass them under what she thinks more able tuition2 she may securely satisfy herself1 that if she but inspires her children with a desire to excel1 with the habits of attention and industry1 they will certainly succeed1 sooner or later1 in whatever it is desirable that they should learn4 ,the exact age at which the music1 dancing1 or drawing master1 should begin their instructions1 need not be fixed4 ,if a mother should not be so situated as to be able to procure the best masters for her daughters whilst they are yet children1 she need not be in despair2 a rapid progress is made in a short time by well educated young people2 those who have not acquired any bad habits1 are easily taught3 it should1 therefore1 seem prudent1 if the best masters cannot be procured at any given period of education1 to wait patiently1 than to hazard their first impressions1 and the first habits which might be given by any inferiour technical instruction4 ,it is said1 that the celebrated musician ,timotheus1 whose excellence in his art ,alexander the conqueror of the world was forced to acknowledge1 when pupils flocked to him from all parts of the world1 had the prudence to demand double entrance money from every scholar who had had any other music master4 ,besides the advantage of being entirely free from other bad habits1 children who are not taught by inferiour masters1 will not contract habits of listless application4 ,under the eye of an indolent person1 children seldom give their entire attention to what they are about4 ,they become mere machines1 and1 without using their own understanding in the least1 have recourse to the convenient master upon every occasion4 ,the utmost that children in such circumstances can learn1 is all the technical part of the art which the master can teach4 ,when the master is at last dismissed1 and her education completed1 the pupil is left both fatigued and helpless4 ,few have been taught to any purpose1 who have not been their own teachers1 says ,sir ,joshua ,reynolds4 ,this reflection upon the art of teaching1 may1 perhaps1 be too general2 but those persons who look back upon their education1 will1 in many respects1 allow it to be just4 ,they will perceive that they have been too much taught1 that they have learned every thing which they know as an art1 and nothing as a science4 ,few people have sufficient courage to re-commence their own education1 and for this reason few people get beyond a certain point of mediocrity4 ,it is easy to them to practise the lessons which they have learned1 if they practise them in intellectual darkness2 but if you let in upon them one ray of philosophic light1 you dazzle and confound them1 so that they cannot even perform their customary feats4 ,a young man1#cc who had been blind from his birth1 had learned to draw a cross1 a circle1 and a square1 with great accuracy2 when he was twenty1 his eyes were couched1 and when he could see perfectly well1 he was desired to draw his circle and square4 ,his new sense of seeing1 so far from assisting him in this operation1 was extremely troublesome to him2 though he took more pains than usual1 he performed very ill3 confounded by the new difficulty1 he concluded that sight was useless in all operations to be performed by the hand1 and he thought his eyes would be of no use to him in future4 ,how many people find their reason as useless and troublesome to them as this young man found his eye-sight6 ,whilst we are learning any mechanical operation1 or whilst we are acquiring any technical art1 the mind is commonly passive4 ,in the first attempts1 perhaps1 we reason or invent ways of abridging our own labour1 and the awkwardness of the unpractised hand is assisted by ingenuity and reflection2 but as we improve in manual dexterity1 attention and ingenuity are no longer exerted2 we go on habitually without thought4--,thought would probably interrupt the operation1 and break the chain of associated actions4#cd ,an artificer stops his hand the moment you ask him to explain what he is about3 he can work and talk of indifferent objects2 but if he reflects upon the manner in which he performs certain slight of hand parts of his business1 it is ten to one but he cannot go on with them4 ,a man1 who writes a free running hand1 goes on without thinking of the manner in which he writes2 fix his attention upon the manner in which he holds his pen1 or forms his letters1 and he probably will not write quite so fast1 or so well1 as usual4 ,when a girl first attempts to dress herself at a glass1 the glass perplexes1 instead of assisting her1 because she thinks and reasons about every motion2 but when by habit she has learned how to move her hands in obedience to the flugel-image1#ce which performs its exercise in the mirror1 no further thought is employed4 ,make the child observe that she moves her left hand forward when the image in the glass moves in a contrary manner1 turn the child's attention to any of her own motions1 and she will make mistakes as she did before her habits were formed4 ,many occupations1 which are generally supposed to depend upon the understanding1 and which do probably depend in the first instance upon the understanding1 become by practice purely mechanical4 ,this is the case in many of the imitative arts4 ,a person unused to drawing1 exerts a great deal of attention in copying any new object2 but custom soon supplies the place of thought4 ,by custom1#cf as a great artist assures us1 he will become able to draw the human figure tolerably correctly1 with as little effort of the mind1 as to trace with a pen the letters of the alphabet4 ,we must further observe1 that the habit of pursuing any occupation1 which requires no mental exertion1 induces an indolence or incapacity of intellect4 ,mere artists are commonly as stupid as mere artificers1 and these are little more than machines4 ,the length of time which is required to obtain practical skill and dexterity in certain accomplishments1 is one reason why there are so few people who obtain any thing more than mechanical excellence4 ,they become the slaves of custom1 and they become proud of their slavery4 ,at first they might have considered custom as a tyrant2 but when they have obeyed her for a certain time1 they do her voluntary homage ever after1 as to a sovereign by divine right4 ,to prevent this species of intellectual degradation1 we must in education be careful to rank mere mechanical talents below the exercise of the mental powers4 ,thus the ambition of young people will be directed to high objects1 and all inferiour qualifications may be attained without contracting the understanding4 ,praise children for patience1 for perseverance1 for industry2 encourage them to reason and to invent upon all subjects1 and you may direct their attention afterwards as you think proper4 ,but if you applaud children merely for drawing a flower neatly1 or copying a landscape1 without exciting their ambition to any thing higher1 you will never create superior talents1 or a superior character4 ,the proficiency that is made in any particular accomplishment1 at any given age1 should not be considered so much1 even by those who highly value accomplishments1 as the power1 the energy1 that is excited in the pupil's mind1 from which future progress is ensured4 ,the writing and drawing automaton performs its advertised wonders to the satisfaction of the spectators2 but the machine is not instinct with spirit2 you cannot expect from its pencil the sketch of a ,raphael1 or from its pen the thoughts of a ,shakespeare4 ,it is easy to guide the hand1 but who can transfuse a soul into the image8 ,it is not an uncommon thing to hear young people1 who have been long under the tuition of masters1 complain of their own want of genius4 ,they are sensible that they have not made any great progress in any of the accomplishments which they have endeavoured to learn2 they see others1 who have not1 perhaps1 had what they call such opportunities and advantages in their education1 suddenly surpass them2 this they attribute to natural genius1 and they say to themselves in despair1 ,certainly ,i have no taste for drawing2 ,i have no genius for music2 ,i have learned so many years1 ,i have had so many lessons from the best masters1 and yet here is such and such a one1 who has had no master1 who has taught herself1 and1 perhaps1 did not begin till late in life1 has got before me1 because she has a natural genius for these things4 ,she must have a natural taste for them1 because she can sit whole hours at these things for her own pleasure4 ,now ,i never would take a pencil in my hand from my own choice2 and ,i am glad1 at all events1 that the time for lessons and masters is over4 ,my education is finished1 for ,i am of age4 ,the disgust and despair1 which are thus induced by an injudicious education1 absolutely defeat its own trivial purposes4 ,so that1 whatever may be the views of parents1 whether they consider ornamental accomplishments as essential to their daughter's success in the world1 or whether they value them rather as secondary objects1 subordinate to her happiness2 whether they wish their daughter actually to excel in any particular accomplishment1 or to have the power of excelling in any to which circumstances may direct her1 it is in all cases advisable to cultivate the general power of the pupil's understanding1 instead of confining her to technical practices and precepts1 under the eye of any master who does not possess that which is the soul of every art4 ,we do not mean any illiberal attack upon masters2 but in writing upon education1 it is necessary to examine the utility of different modes of instruction1 without fear of offending any class of men4 ,we acknowledge1 that it is seldom found1 that those who can communicate their knowledge the best1 possess the most1 especially if this knowledge be that of an artist or a linguist4 ,before any person is properly qualified to teach1 he must have the power of recollecting exactly how he learned2 he must go back step by step to the point at which he began1 and he must be able to conduct his pupil through the same path without impatience or precipitation4 ,he must not only have acquired a knowledge of the process by which his own ideas and habits were formed1 but he must have extensive experience of the varieties of the human mind4 ,he must not suppose1 that the operations of intellect are carried on precisely in the same manner in all minds2 he must not imagine1 that there is but one method of teaching1 which will suit all persons alike4 ,the analogies which strike his own mind1 the arrangement of ideas1 which to him appears the most perspicuous1 to his pupil may appear remote and confused4 ,he must not attribute this to his pupil's inattention1 stupidity1 or obstinacy2 but he must attribute it to the true causes2 the different association of ideas in different minds1 the different habits of thinking1 which arise from their various tempers and previous education4 ,he must be acquainted with the habits of all tempers3 the slow1 the quick1 the inventive1 the investigating2 and he must adapt his instructions accordingly4 ,there is something more requisite3 a master must not only know what he professes to teach of his own peculiar art or science1 but he ought to know all its bearings and dependencies4 ,he must be acquainted not only with the local topography of his own district1 but he must have the whole map of human knowledge before him2 and whilst he dwells most upon his own province1 he must yet be free from local prejudices1 and must consider himself as a citizen of the world4 ,children who study geography in small separate maps1 understand1 perhaps1 the view of each country tolerably well2 but we see them quite puzzled when they are to connect these maps in their idea of the world4 ,they do not know the relative size or situation of ,england or ,france2 they cannot find ,london or ,paris when they look for the first time upon the globe1 and every country seems to be turned upside down in their imagination4 ,young people who learn particular arts and sciences from masters who have confined their view to the boundaries of each1 without having given an enlarged idea of the whole1 are much in the same situation with these unfortunate geographers4 ,the persisting to teach things separately1 which ought to be taught as a whole1 must prevent the progress of mental cultivation4#cg ,the division and subdivision of different parts of education1 which are monopolised as trades by the masters who profess to teach them1 must tend to increase and perpetuate errour4 ,these intellectual casts are pernicious4 ,it is said1 that the ,persians had masters to teach their children each separate virtue3 one master to teach justice1 another fortitude1 another temperance1 and so on4 ,how these masters could preserve the boundaries of their several moral territories1 it is not easy to imagine1 especially if they all insisted upon independent sovereignty4 ,there must have been some danger1 surely1 of their disputing with one another concerning the importance of their respective professions1 like the poor bourgeois gentilhomme's dancing-master1 music-master1 master of morality1 and master of philosophy1 who all fell to blows to settle their pretensions1 forgetful of the presence of their pupil4 ,masters1 who are only expected to teach one thing1 may be sincerely anxious for the improvement of their pupils in that particular1 without being in the least interested for their general character or happiness4 ,thus the drawing-master has done his part1 and is satisfied if he teaches his pupil to draw well3 it is no concern of his what her temper may be1 any more than what sort of hand she writes1 or how she dances4 ,the dancing-master1 in his turn1 is wholly indifferent about the young lady's progress in drawing2 all he undertakes1 is to teach her to dance4 ,we mention these circumstances to show parents1 that masters1 even when they do the utmost that they engage to do1 cannot educate their children2 they can only partially instruct them in particular arts4 ,parents must themselves preside over the education of their children1 or must entirely give them into the care of some person of an enlarged and philosophic mind1 who can supply all the deficiencies of common masters1 and who can take advantage of all the positive good that can be obtained from existing institutions4 ,such a preceptor or governess must possess extensive knowledge1 and that superiority of mind which sees the just proportion and value of every acquisition1 which is not to be overawed by authority1 or dazzled by fashion4 ,under the eye of such persons1 masters will keep precisely their proper places2 they will teach all they can teach1 without instilling absurd prejudices1 or inspiring a spirit of vain rivalship2 nor will masters be suffered to continue their lessons when they have nothing more to teach4 ,parents who do not think that they have leisure1 or feel that they have capacity1 to take the entire direction of their children's education upon themselves1 will trust this important office to a governess4 ,the inquiry concerning the value of female accomplishments1 has been purposely entered into before we could speak of the choice of a governess1 because the estimation in which these are held1 will very much determine parents in their choice4 ,if what has been said of the probability of a decline in the public taste for what are usually called accomplishments2 of their little utility to the happiness of families and individuals2 of the waste of time1 and waste of the higher powers of the mind in acquiring them3 if what has been observed on any of these points is allowed to be just1 we shall have little difficulty in pursuing the same principles further4 ,in the choice of a governess we should not1 then1 consider her fashionable accomplishments as her best recommendations2 these will be only secondary objects4 ,we shall examine with more anxiety1 whether she possess a sound1 discriminating1 and enlarged understanding3 whether her mind be free from prejudice2 whether she has steadiness of temper to pursue her own plans2 and1 above all1 whether she has that species of integrity which will justify a parent in trusting a child to her care4 ,we shall attend to her conversation1 and observe her manners1 with scrupulous minuteness4 ,children are imitative animals1 and they are peculiarly disposed to imitate the language1 manners1 and gestures1 of those with whom they live1 and to whom they look up with admiration4 ,in female education1 too much care cannot be taken to form all those habits in morals and in manners1 which are distinguishing characteristics of amiable women4 ,these habits must be acquired early1 or they will never appear easy or graceful2 they will necessarily be formed by those who see none but good models4 ,we have already pointed out the absolute necessity of union amongst all those who are concerned in a child's education4 ,a governess must either rule1 or obey1 decidedly4 ,if she do not agree with the child's parents in opinion1 she must either know how to convince them by argument1 or she must with strict integrity conform her practice to their theories4 ,there are few parents1 who will choose to give up the entire care of their children to any governess2 therefore1 there will probably be some points in which a difference of opinion will arise4 ,a sensible woman will never submit to be treated1 as governesses are in some families1 like the servant who was asked by his master what business he had to think3 nor will a woman of sense or temper insist upon her opinions without producing her reasons4 ,she will thus ensure the respect and the confidence of enlightened parents4 ,it is surely the interest of parents to treat the person who educates their children1 with that perfect equality and kindness1 which will conciliate her affection1 and which will at the same time preserve her influence and authority over her pupils4 ,and it is with pleasure we observe1 that the style of behaviour to governesses1 in well bred families1 is much changed within these few years4 ,a governess is no longer treated as an upper servant1 or as an intermediate being between a servant and a gentlewoman3 she is now treated as the friend and companion of the family1 and she must1 consequently1 have warm and permanent interest in its prosperity3 she becomes attached to her pupils from gratitude to their parents1 from sympathy1 from generosity1 as well as from the strict sense of duty4 ,in fashionable life there is1 however1 some danger that parents should go into extremes in their behaviour towards their governesses4 ,those who disdain the idea of assuming superiority of rank and fortune1 and who desire to treat the person who educates their children as their equal1 act with perfect propriety2 but if they make her their companion in all their amusements1 they go a step too far1 and they defeat their own purposes4 ,if a governess attends the card-table1 and the assembly-room2 if she is to visit1 and be visited1 what is to become of her pupils in her absence8 ,they must be left to the care of servants4 ,there are some ladies who will not accept of any invitation1 in which the governess of their children is not included4 ,this may be done from a good motive1 but1 surely1 it is unreasonable2 for the very use of a governess is to supply the mother's place in her absence4 ,cannot this be managed better8 ,cannot the mother and governess both amuse themselves at different times8 ,there would then be perfect equality2 the governess would be in the same society1 and would be treated with the same respect1 without neglecting her duty4 ,the reward which is given to women of abilities1 and of unblemished reputation1 who devote themselves to the superintendence of the education of young ladies in the higher ranks of life1 the daughters of our affluent nobility1 ought to be considerably greater than what it is at present3 it ought to be such as to excite women to cultivate their talents1 and their understandings1 with a view to this profession4 ,a profession we call it1 for it should be considered as such1 as an honourable profession1 which a gentlewoman might follow without losing any degree of the estimation in which she is held by what is called the world4 ,there is no employment1 at present1 by which a gentlewoman can maintain herself1 without losing something of that respect1 something of that rank in society1 which neither female fortitude nor male philosophy willingly foregoes4 ,the liberal professions are open to men of small fortunes2 by presenting one similar resource to women1 we should give a strong motive for their moral and intellectual improvement4 ,nor does it seem probable1 that they should make a disgraceful or imprudent use of their increasing influence and liberty in this case1 because their previous education must previously prepare them properly4 ,the misfortune of women has usually been1 to have power trusted to them before they were educated to use it prudently4 ,to say that preceptresses in the higher ranks of life should be liberally rewarded1 is but a vague expression2 something specific should be mentioned1 wherever general utility is the object4 ,let us observe1 that many of the first dignities of the church are bestowed1 and properly bestowed1 upon men who have educated the highest ranks of our nobility4 ,those who look with an evil eye upon these promotions1 do not fairly estimate the national importance of education for the rich and powerful4 ,no provision can be made for women who direct the education of the daughters of our nobility1 any ways equivalent to the provision made for preceptors by those who have influence in the state4 ,a pecuniary compensation is in the power of opulent families4 ,three hundred a year1 for twelve or fourteen years1 the space of time which a preceptress must probably employ in the education of a young lady1 would be a suitable compensation for her care4 ,with this provision she would be enabled1 after her pupil's education was completed1 either to settle in her own family1 or she would1 in the decline of life1 be happily independent1 secure from the temptation of marrying for money4 ,if a few munificent and enlightened individuals set the example of liberally rewarding merit in this situation1 many young women will probably appear with talents and good qualities suited to the views of the most sanguine parents4 ,with good sense1 and literary tastes1 a young woman might instruct herself during the first years of her pupils childhood1 and might gradually prepare herself with all the necessary knowledge3 according to the principles that have been suggested1 there would be no necessity for her being a mistress of arts1 a performer in music1 a paintress1 a linguist1 or a poetess4 ,a general knowledge of literature is indispensable2 and yet further1 she must have sufficient taste and judgment to direct the literary talents of her pupils4 ,with respect to the literary education of the female sex1 the arguments on both sides of the question have already been stated1 with all the impartiality in our power1 in another place4#ch ,without obtruding a detail of the same arguments again upon the public1 it will be sufficient to profess the distinct opinion1 which a longer consideration of the subject has yet more fully confirmed1 that it will tend to the happiness of society in general1 that women should have their understandings cultivated and enlarged as much as possible2 that the happiness of domestic life1 the virtues and the powers of pleasing in the female sex1 the yet more desirable power of attaching those worthy of their love and esteem1 will be increased by the judicious cultivation of the female understanding1 more than by all that modern gallantry or ancient chivalry could devise in favour of the sex4 ,much prudence and ability are requisite to conduct properly a young woman's literary education4 ,her imagination must not be raised above the taste for necessary occupations1 or the numerous small1 but not trifling1 pleasures of domestic life3 her mind must be enlarged1 yet the delicacy of her manners must be preserved3 her knowledge must be various1 and her powers of reasoning unawed by authority2 yet she must habitually feel that nice sense of propriety1 which is at once the guard and the charm of every feminine virtue4 ,by early caution1 unremitting1 scrupulous caution in the choice of the books which are put into the hands of girls1 a mother1 or a preceptress1 may fully occupy and entertain their pupils1 and excite in their minds a taste for propriety1 as well as a taste for literature4 ,it cannot be necessary to add more than this general idea1 that a mother ought to be answerable to her daughter's husband for the books her daughter had read1 as well as for the company she had kept4 ,those observations1 which apply equally to the cultivation of the understanding both of men and of women1 we do not here mean to point out2 we would speak only of what may be peculiar to female education4 ,from the study of the learned languages1 women1 by custom1 fortunately for them1 are exempted3 of ancient literature they may1 in translations which are acknowledged to be excellent1 obtain a sufficient knowledge1 without paying too much time and labour for this classic pleasure4 ,confused notions from fashionable publications1 from periodical papers1 and comedies1 have made their way into common conversation1 and thence have assumed an appearance of authority1 and have been extremely disadvantageous to female education4 ,sentiment and ridicule have conspired to represent reason1 knowledge1 and science1 as unsuitable or dangerous to women2 yet at the same time wit1 and superficial acquirements in literature1 have been the object of admiration in society2 so that this dangerous inference has been drawn1 almost without our perceiving its fallacy1 that superficial knowledge is more desirable in women than accurate knowledge4 ,this principle must lead to innumerable errours2 it must produce continual contradictions in the course of education3 instead of making women more reasonable1 and less presuming1 it will render them at once arrogant and ignorant2 full of pretensions1 incapable of application1 and unfit to hear themselves convinced4 ,whatever young women learn1 let them be taught accurately2 let them know ever so little apparently1 they will know much if they have learnt that little well4 ,a girl who runs through a course of natural history1 hears something about chemistry1 has been taught something of botany1 and who knows but just enough of these to make her fancy that she is well informed1 is in a miserable situation1 in danger of becoming ridiculous1 and insupportably tiresome to men of sense and science4 ,but let a woman know any one thing completely1 and she will have sufficient understanding to learn more1 and to apply what she has been taught so as to interest men of generosity and genius in her favour4 ,the knowledge of the general principles of any science1 is very different from superficial knowledge of the science2 perhaps1 from not attending to this distinction1 or from not understanding it1 many have failed in female education4 ,some attempt will be made to mark this distinction practically1 when we come to speak of the cultivation of the memory1 invention1 and judgment4 ,no intelligent preceptress will1 it is hoped1 find any difficulty in the application of the observations they may meet with in the chapters on imagination1 sympathy and sensibility1 vanity and temper4 ,the masculine pronoun he1 has been used for grammatical convenience1 not at all because we agree with the prejudiced1 and uncourteous grammarian1 who asserts1 that the masculine is the more worthy gender4 ,,footnotes3 #cb ,une virtuose4 #cc ,v4 ,storia di quattro fratelli nati ciechi e guariti coll' estrazione delle cateratte4--,di ,francesco ,buzzi4 #cd ,v4 ,zoonomia4 #ce ,this word is sometimes by mistake spelt fugal-man4 #cf ,sir ,joshua ,reynolds4 #cg ,condillac4 #ch ,v4 ,letters for ,literary ,ladies4 ,,chapter ,,xxi4 ,,memory ,,and ,,invention4 ,before we bestow many years of time and pains upon any object1 it may be prudent to afford a few minutes previously to ascertain its precise value4 ,many persons have a vague idea of the great value of memory1 and1 without analyzing their opinion1 they resolve to cultivate the memories of their children as much1 and as soon1 as possible4 ,so far from having determined the value of this talent1 we shall find that it will be difficult to give a popular definition of a good memory4 ,some people call that a good memory which retains the greatest number of ideas for the longest time4 ,others prefer a recollective to a retentive memory1 and value not so much the number2 as the selection1 of facts2 not so much the mass1 or even the antiquity1 of accumulated treasure1 as the power of producing current specie for immediate use4 ,memory is sometimes spoken of as if it were a faculty admirable in itself1 without any union with the other powers of the mind4 ,amongst those who allow that memory has no independent claim to regard1 there are yet many who believe1 that a superior degree of memory is essential to the successful exercise of the higher faculties1 such as judgment and invention4 ,the degree in which it is useful to those powers1 has not1 however1 been determined4 ,those who are governed in their opinions by precedent and authority1 can produce many learned names1 to prove that memory was held in the highest estimation amongst the great men of antiquity2 it was cultivated with much anxiety in their public institutions1 and in their private education4 ,but there were many circumstances1 which formerly contributed to make a great memory essential to a great man4 ,in civil and military employments1 amongst the ancients1 it was in a high degree requisite4 ,generals were expected to know by heart the names of the soldiers in their armies2 demagogues1 who hoped to please the people1 were expected to know the names of all their fellow-citizens4#ci ,orators1 who did not speak extempore1 were obliged to get their long orations by rote4 ,those who studied science or philosophy1 were obliged to cultivate their memory with incessant care1 because1 if they frequented the schools for instruction1 they treasured up the sayings of the masters of different sects1 and learned their doctrines only by oral instruction4 ,manuscripts were frequently got by heart by those who were eager to secure the knowledge they contained1 and who had not opportunities of recurring to the originals4 ,it is not surprising1 therefore1 that memory1 to which so much was trusted1 should have been held in such high esteem4 ,at the revival of literature in ,europe1 before the discovery of the art of printing1 it was scarcely possible to make any progress in the literature of the age1 without possessing a retentive memory4 ,a man who had read a few manuscripts1 and could repeat them1 was a wonder1 and a treasure3 he could travel from place to place1 and live by his learning2 he was a circulating library to a nation1 and the more books he could carry in his head1 the better3 he was certain of an admiring audience if he could repeat what ,aristotle or ,saint ,jerome had written2 and he had far more encouragement to engrave the words of others on his memory1 than to invent or judge for himself4 ,in the twelfth century1 above six hundred scholars assembled in the forests of ,champagne1 to hear the lectures of the learned ,abeillard2 they made themselves huts of the boughs of trees1 and in this new academic grove were satisfied to go almost without the necessaries of life4 ,in the specimens of ,abeillard's composition1 which are handed down to us1 we may discover proofs of his having been vain of a surprising memory2 it seems to have been the superior faculty of his mind3 his six hundred pupils could carry away with them only so much of his learning as they could get by heart during his course of lectures2 and he who had the best memory1 must have been best paid for his journey4#dj ,the art of printing1 by multiplying copies so as to put them within the easy reference of all classes of people1 has lowered the value of this species of retentive memory4 ,it is better to refer to the book itself1 than to the man who has read the book4 ,knowledge is now ready classed for use1 and it is safely stored up in the great common-place books of public libraries4 ,a man of literature need not incumber his memory with whole passages from the authors he wants to quote2 he need only mark down the page1 and the words are safe4 ,mere erudition does not in these days ensure permanent fame4 ,the names of the ,abb de ,longuerue1 and of the ,florentine librarian ,magliabechi1 excite no vivid emotions in the minds of those who have heard of them before2 and there are many1 perhaps not illiterate persons1 who would not be ashamed to own that they had never heard of them at all4 ,yet these men were both of them1 but a few years ago1 remarkable for extraordinary memory and erudition4 ,when ,m4 de ,longuerue was a child1 he was such a prodigy of memory and knowledge1 that ,lewis the fourteenth1 passing through the abb's province1 stopped to see and hear him4 ,when he grew up1 ,paris consulted him as the oracle of learning4 ,his erudition1 says d',alembert1#da was not only prodigious1 but actually terrible4 ,greek and ,hebrew were more familiar to him than his native tongue4 ,his memory was so well furnished with historic facts1 with chronological and topographical knowledge1 that upon hearing a person assert in conversation1 that it would be a difficult task to write a good historical description of ,france1#db he asserted1 that he could do it from memory1 without consulting any books4 ,all he asked1 was1 to have some maps of ,france laid before him3 these recalled to his mind the history of each province1 of all the fiefs of the crown of each city1 and even of each distinguished nobleman's seat in the kingdom4 ,he wrote his folio history in a year4 ,it was admired as a great curiosity in manuscript2 but when it came to be printed1 sundry gross errours appeared3 he was obliged to take out several leaves in correcting the press4 ,the edition was very expensive1 and the work1 at last1 would have been rather more acceptable to the public1 if the author had not written it from memory4 ,love of the wonderful must yield to esteem for the useful4 ,the effect which all this erudition had upon the ,abb de ,longuerue's taste1 judgment1 and imagination1 is worth our attention4 ,some of his opinions speak sufficiently for our purpose4 ,he was of opinion that the ,english have never done any good1#dc since they renounced the study of ,greek and ,arabic1 for ,geometry and ,physics4 ,he was of opinion1 that two antiquarian books upon ,homer1 viz4 ,antiquitates ,homeric and ,homeri ,gnomologia1 are preferable to ,homer himself4 ,he would rather have them1 he declared1 because with these he had all that was useful in the poet1 without being obliged to go through long stories1 which put him to sleep4 ,as for that madman ,ariosto1 said he1 ,i sometimes divert myself with him4 ,one odd volume of ,racine was the only ,french book to be found in his library4 ,his erudition died with him1 and the world has not profited much by his surprising memory4 ,the librarian ,magliabechi was no less famous than ,m4 de ,longuerue for his memory1 and he was yet more strongly affected by the mania for books4 ,his appetite for them was so voracious1 that he acquired the name of the glutton of literature4#dd ,before he died1 he had swallowed six large rooms full of books4 ,whether he had time to digest any of them we do not know1 but we are sure that he wished it2 for the only line of his own composition which he has left for the instruction of posterity1 is round a medal4 ,the medal represents him sitting with a book in his hand1 and with a great number of books scattered on the floor round him4 ,the candid inscription signifies1 that to become learned it is not sufficient to read much1 if we read without reflection4 ,the names of ,franklin and of ,shakespeare are known wherever literature is cultivated1 to all who have any pretensions to science or to genius2 yet they were neither of them men of extraordinary erudition1 nor from their works should we judge that memory was their predominant faculty4 ,it may be said1 that a superior degree of memory was essential to the exercise of their judgment and invention2 that without having treasured up in his memory a variety of minute observations upon human nature1 ,shakespeare could never have painted the passions with so bold and just a hand2 that if ,franklin had not accurately remembered his own philosophical observations1 and those of others1 he never would have made those discoveries which have immortalized his name4 ,admitting the justice of these assertions1 we see that memory to great men is but a subordinate servant1 a treasurer who receives1 and is expected to keep faithfully whatever is committed to his care2 and not only to preserve faithfully all deposits1 but to produce them at the moment they are wanted4 ,there are substances which are said to imbibe and retain the rays of light1 and to emit them only in certain situations4 ,as long as they retain the rays1 no eye regards them4 ,it has often been observed1 that a recollective and retentive memory are seldom found united4 ,if this were true1 and that we had our choice of either1 which should we prefer8 ,for the purposes of ostentation1 perhaps the one2 for utility1 the other4 ,a person who could repeat from beginning to end the whole ,economy of ,human ,life1 which he had learned in his childhood1 might1 if we had time to sit still and listen to him1 obtain our admiration for his extraordinary retentive memory2 but the person who1 in daily occurrences1 or interesting affairs1 recollects at the proper time what is useful to us1 obtains from our gratitude something more than vain admiration4 ,to speak accurately1 we must remark1 that retentive and recollective memories are but relative terms3 the recollective memory must be retentive of all that it recollects2 the retentive memory cannot show itself till the moment it becomes recollective4 ,but we value either precisely in proportion as they are useful and agreeable4 ,just at the time when philosophers were intent upon trying experiments in electricity1 ,dr4 ,heberden recollected to have seen1 many years before1 a small electrical stone1 called tourmalin1#de in the possession of ,dr4 ,sharpe at ,cambridge4 ,it was the only one known in ,england at that time4 ,dr4 ,heberden procured it2 and several curious experiments were made and verified with it4 ,in this instance1 it is obvious that we admire the retentive1 local memory of ,dr4 ,heberden1 merely because it became recollective and useful4 ,had the tourmalin never been wanted1 it would have been a matter of indifference1 whether the direction for it at ,dr4 ,sharpe's at ,cambridge1 had been remembered or forgotten4 ,there was a man#df who undertook1 in going from ,temple ,bar to the furthest part of ,cheapside and back again1 to enumerate at his return every sign on each side of the way in its order1 and to repeat them1 if it should be required1 either backwards or forwards4 ,this he exactly accomplished4 ,as a playful trial of memory1 this affords us a moments entertainment2 but if we were to be serious upon the subject1 we should say it was a pity that the man did not use his extraordinary memory for some better purpose4 ,the late king of ,prussia1 when he intended to advance ,trenck in the army1 upon his first introduction1 gave him a list of the strangest names which could be picked out1 to learn by rote4 ,trenck learned them quickly1 and the king was much pleased with this instance of his memory2 but ,frederick would certainly never have made such a trial of the abilities of ,voltaire4 ,we cannot always foresee what facts may be useful1 and what may be useless to us1 otherwise the cultivation of the memory might be conducted by unerring rules4 ,in the common business of life1 people regulate their memories by the circumstances in which they happen to be placed4 ,a clerk in a counting-house1 by practice1 learns to remember the circumstances1 affairs1 and names of numerous merchants1 of his master's customers1 the places of their abode1 and1 perhaps1 something of their peculiar humours and manners4 ,a fine lady remembers her visiting list1 and1 perhaps1 the dresses and partners of every couple at a crowded ball2 she finds all these particulars a useful supply for daily conversation1 she therefore remembers them with care4 ,an amateur1 who is ambitious to shine in the society of literary men1 collects literary anecdotes1 and retails them whenever occasion permits4 ,men of sense1 who cultivate their memories for useful purposes1 are not obliged to treasure up heterogeneous facts3 by reducing particulars to general principles1 and by connecting them with proper associations1 they enjoy all the real advantages1 whilst they are exempt from the labour of accumulation4 ,mr4 ,stewart has1 with so much ability1 pointed out the effects of systematic arrangement of writing1 reading1 and the use of technical contrivances in the cultivation of the memory1 that it would be a presumptuous and unnecessary attempt to expatiate in other words upon the same subject4 ,it may not be useless1 however1 to repeat a few of his observations1 because1 in considering what further improvement may be made1 it is always essential to have fully in our view what is already known4 ,philosophic arrangement assists the memory1 by classing under a few principles1 a number of apparently dissimilar and unconnected particulars4 ,the habit1 for instance1 of attending to the connection of cause and effect1 presents a multitude of interesting analogies to the minds of men of science1 which escape other persons2 the vulgar feel no pleasure in contemplating objects that appear remote from common life2 and they find it extremely difficult to remember observations and reasonings which are foreign to their customary course of associated ideas4 ,even literary and ingenious people1 when they begin to learn any art or science1 usually complain that their memory is not able to retain all the terms and ideas which pour in upon them with perplexing rapidity4 ,in time1 this difficulty is conquered1 not so much by the strength of the memory1 as by the exercise of judgment3 they learn to distinguish1 and select the material terms1 facts and arguments1 from those that are subordinate1 and they class them under general heads1 to relieve the memory from all superfluous labour4 ,in all studies1 there is some prevalent associating principle1 which gradually becomes familiar to our minds1 but which we do not immediately discover in our first attempts4 ,in poetry1 resemblance2 in philosophy1 cause and effect2 in mathematics1 demonstrations continually recur2 and1 therefore1 each is expected by persons who have been used to these respective studies4 ,the habit of committing our knowledge to writing1 assists the memory1 because1 in writing1 we detain certain ideas long enough in our view to perceive all their relations2 we use fixed and abbreviated signs for all our thoughts2 with the assistance of these1 we can prevent confusion in our reasonings4 ,we can1 without fatigue1 by the help of words1 letters1 figures1 or algebraic signs1 go through a variety of mental processes1 and solve many difficult problems1 which1 without such assistance1 must have been too extensive for our capacities4 ,if our books be well chosen1 and if we read with discrimination and attention1 reading will improve the memory1 because1 as it increases our knowledge1 it increases our interest in every new discovery1 and in every new combination of ideas4 ,we agree entirely with ,mr4 ,stewart in his observations upon technical helps to the memory2 they are hurtful to the understanding1 because they break the general habits of philosophic order in the mind4 ,there is no connection of ideas between the memorial lines1 for instance1 in ,grey's ,memoria ,technica1 the history of the ,kings or ,emperors1 and the dates that we wish to remember4 ,however1 it may be advantageous in education to use such contrivances1 to assist our pupils in remembering those technical parts of knowledge1 which are sometimes valued above their worth in society4 ,the facts upon which the principles of any science are founded1 should never be learnt by rote in a technical manner4 ,but the names and the dates of the reigns of a number of kings and emperors1 if they must be remembered by children1 should be learnt in the manner which may give them the least trouble4#dg ,it is commonly asserted1 that our memory is to be improved by exercise3 exercise may be of different kinds1 and we must determine what sort is best4 ,repetition is found to fix words1 and sometimes ideas1 strongly in the mind2 the words of the burden of a song1 which we have frequently heard1 are easily and long remembered4 ,when we want to get any thing by rote1 we repeat it over and over again1 till the sounds seem to follow one another habitually1 and then we say we have them perfectly by rote4#dh ,the regular recurrence of sounds1 at stated intervals1 much assists us4 ,in poetry1 the rhymes1 the cadence1 the alliteration1 the peculiar structure of the poet's lines1 aids us4 ,all these are mechanical helps to the memory4 ,repetition seems much more agreeable to some people than to others2 but it may be doubted whether a facility and propensity to repetition be favourable to rational memory4 ,whilst we repeat1 we exclude all thought from the mind2 we form a habit of saying certain sounds in a certain order2 but if this habit be afterwards broken by any trifling external circumstances1 we lose all our labour4 ,we have no means of recollecting what we have learned in this manner4 ,once gone1 it is gone for ever4 ,it depends but upon one principle of association4 ,those who exert ingenuity as well as memory in learning by heart1 may not1 perhaps1 associate sounds with so much expedition1 but they will have the power of recollection in a greater degree4 ,they will have more chances in their favour1 besides the great power of voluntary exertion3 a power which few passive repeaters ever possess4 ,the following lines are easily learned3 ,haste1 then1 ye spirits2 to your charge repair1 ,the fluttering fan be ,zephyretta's care2 ,the drops to thee1 ,brillante1 we consign1 ,and1 ,momentilla1 let the watch be thine2 ,do thou1 ,crispissa1 tend her favourite lock1 ,ariel himself shall be the guard of ,shock4 ,to a person who merely learned the sounds in these lines by rote1 without knowing the sense of the words1 all the advantage of the appropriated names and offices of the sylphs would be lost4 ,no one1 who has any sense of propriety1 can call these sylphs by wrong names1 or put them out of their places4 ,momentilla and the watch1 ,zephyretta and the fan1 ,crispissa and the lock of hair1 ,brillante and the diamond drops1 are so intimately associated1 that they necessarily recur together in the memory4 ,the following celebrated lines on envy1 some people will find easy1 and others difficult1 to learn by heart3 ,envy will merit1 as its shade1 pursue2 ,but1 like a shadow1 proves the substance true3 ,for envy'd wit1 like ,sol eclips'd1 makes known ,th' opposing body's grossness1 not its own4 ,when first that sun too pow'rful beams displays1 ,it draws up vapour1 which obscures its rays2 ,but ev'n those clouds at last adorn its way1 ,reflect new glories1 and augment the day4 ,the flow of these lines is not particularly easy2 those who trust merely to the power of reiteration in getting them by rote1 will find the task difficult2 those who seize the ideas1 will necessarily recollect their order1 and the sense will conduct them to their proper places with certainty3 they cannot1 for instance1 make the clouds adorn the sun's rays before the sun's powerful beams have drawn up the vapours4 ,this fixes the place of the four last lines4 ,the simile of merit and the sun1 and envy and the clouds1 keeps each idea in its order2 if any one escapes1 it is easily missed1 and easily recalled4 ,we seldom meet with those who can give us an accurate account of their own thoughts2 it is1 therefore1 difficult to tell the different ways in which different people manage their memory4 ,we judge by the effects frequently1 that causes are the same1 which sometimes are entirely different4 ,thus we1 in common conversation1 should say1 that two people had an equally good memory1 who could repeat with equal exactness any thing which they had heard or read4 ,but in their methods of remembering1 these persons might differ essentially2 the one might have exerted much more judgment and ingenuity in the conduct of his memory than the other1 and might thus have not only fatigued himself less1 but might have improved his understanding1 whilst the other learned merely by rote4 ,when ,dr4 ,johnson reported the parliamentary debates for the gentleman's ,magazine1 his judgment1 his habit of attending to the order in which ideas follow one another in reasoning1 his previous knowledge of the characters and style of the different speakers1 must considerably have assisted his memory4 ,his taste for literary composition must have shown him instantly where any argument or allusion was misplaced4 ,a connecting phrase1 or a link in a chain of reasoning1 is missed as readily by a person used to writing and argument1 as a word in a line of poetry is missed by a poetic ear4 ,if any thing has escaped the memory of persons who remember by general classification1 they are not only by their art able to discover that something is missing1 but they have a general direction where to find it2 they know to what class of ideas it must belong2 they can hunt from generals to particulars1 till they are sure at last of tracing and detecting the deserter2 they have certain signs by which they know the object of which they are in search1 and they trust with more certainty to these characteristics1 than to the mere vague recollection of having seen it before4 ,we feel disposed to trust the memory of those who can give us some reason for what they remember4 ,if they can prove to us that their assertion could not1 consistently with other facts1 be false1 we admit the assertion into the rank of facts1 and their judgment thus goes surety for their memory4 ,the following advertisement 7taken from the star of the #bast ,september1 #agif7 may show that experience justifies these theoretic notions3 ,literature4 ,a gentleman capable of reporting the debates in parliament1 is wanted for a ,london newspaper4 ,a business of no such great difficulty as is generally imagined by those unacquainted with it4 ,a tolerable good style and facility of composition1 as well as a facility of writing1 together with a good memory 7not an extraordinary one7 are all the necessary requisites4 ,if a gentleman writes short hand1 it is an advantage2 but memory and composition are more important4 ,the advertiser1 conceiving that many gentlemen either in ,london or at the ,universities1 or in other parts of the kingdom1 may think such a situation desirable1 takes this public method of enabling them to obtain it4 ,the salary1 which will vary according to the talents of the reporter1 will at least afford a genteel subsistence1 and the business need not interrupt the pursuit of studies necessary for a more important profession4 ,a gentleman who has never tried parliamentary reporting1 will be preferred by the advertiser1 because he has observed1 that those who have last attempted it1 are now the best reporters4 ,in the common mode of education1 great exactness of repetition is required from pupils4 ,this seems to be made a matter of too much importance4 ,there are circumstances in life1 in which this talent is useful1 but its utility1 perhaps1 we shall find1 upon examination1 is over-rated4 ,in giving evidence of words1 dates1 and facts1 in a court of justice1 the utmost precision is requisite4 ,the property1 lives1 and characters of individuals depend upon this precision4 ,but we must observe1 that after long detailed evidence has been given by a number of witnesses1 an advocate separates the material from the immaterial circumstances1 and the judge in his charge again compresses the arguments of the counsel1 so that much of what has been said during the trial1 might as well have been omitted4 ,all these superfluous ideas were remembered to no purpose4 ,an evidence sometimes1 if he be permitted1 would tell not only all that he remembers of the circumstances about which he is examined1 but also a number of other circumstances1 which are casually associated with these in his memory4 ,an able advocate rejects1 by a quickness of judgment which appears like intuition1 all that is irrelevant to his argument and his cause2 and it is by this selection that his memory1 in the evidence1 perhaps1 of twenty different people1 is able to retain all that is useful4 ,when this heterogeneous mass of evidence is classed by his perspicuous arrangement1 his audience feel no difficulty either in understanding or recollecting all which had before appeared confused4 ,thus the exercise of the judgment saves much of the labour of memory2 labour which is not merely unnecessary1 but hurtful1 to our understanding4 ,in making observations upon subjects which are new to us1 we must be content to use our memory unassisted at first by our reason2 we must treasure up the ore and rubbish together1 because we cannot immediately distinguish them from each other4 ,but the sooner we can separate them1 the better4 ,in the beginning of all experimental sciences1 a number of useless particulars are recorded1 because they are not known to be useless2 when1 from comparing these1 a few general principles are discovered1 the memory is immediately relieved1 the judgment and inventive faculty have power and liberty to work1 and then a rapid progress and great discoveries are made4 ,it is the misfortune of those who first cultivate new sciences1 that their memory is overloaded2 but if those who succeed to them1 submit to the same senseless drudgery1 it is not their misfortune1 but their fault4 ,let us look over the history of those who have made discoveries and inventions1 we shall perceive1 that it has been by rejecting useless ideas that they have first cleared their way to truth4 ,dr4 ,priestley's ,histories of ,vision and of ,electricity1 are as useful when we consider them as histories of the human mind1 as when we read them as histories of science4 ,dr4 ,priestley has published a catalogue of books1#di from which he gathered his materials4 ,the pains1 he tells us1 that it cost him to compress and abridge the accounts which ingenious men have given of their own experiments1 teach us how much our progress in real knowledge depends upon rejecting all that is superfluous4 ,when ,simonides offered to teach ,themistocles the art of memory1 ,themistocles answered1 ,rather teach me the art of forgetting2 for ,i find that ,i remember much that ,i had better forget1 and forget 7consequently7 some things which ,i wish to remember4 ,when any discovery or invention is completed1 we are frequently astonished at its obvious simplicity4 ,the ideas necessary to the discovery1 are seldom so numerous as to fatigue our memory4 ,memory seems to have been useful to inventors only as it presented a few ideas in a certain happy connection1 as it presented them faithfully and distinctly to view in the proper moment4 ,if we wish for examples of the conduct of the understanding1 we need only look into ,dr4 ,franklin's works4 ,he is so free from all affectation1 he lays his mind so fairly before us1 that he is1 perhaps1 the best example we can select4 ,those who are used to look at objects in a microscope1 say1 that full as much depends upon the object's being well prepared for inspection1 as upon the attention of the observer1 or the excellence of the glass4 ,the first thing that strikes us1 in looking over ,doctor ,franklin's works1 is the variety of his observations upon different subjects4 ,we might imagine1 that a very tenacious and powerful memory was necessary to register all these2 but ,dr4 ,franklin informs us1 that it was his constant practice to note down every hint as it occurred to him3 he urges his friends to do the same2 he observes1 that there is scarcely a day passes without our hearing or seeing something which1 if properly attended to1 might lead to useful discoveries4 ,by thus committing his ideas to writing1 his mind was left at liberty to think4 ,no extraordinary effort of memory was1 even upon the greatest occasions1 requisite4 ,a friend wrote to him to inquire how he was led to his great discovery of the identity of lightning and electricity2 and how he first came to think of drawing down lightning from the clouds4 ,dr4 ,franklin replies1 that he could not answer better than by giving an extract from the minutes he used to keep of the experiments he made1 with memorandums of such as he purposed to make1 the reasons for making them1 and the observations that rose upon them4 ,by this extract1 says ,dr4 ,franklin1 you will see that the thought was not so much an out of the way one1 but that it might have occurred to any electrician4#ej ,when the ideas are arranged in clear order1 as we see them in this note1 the analogy or induction to which ,dr4 ,franklin was led1 appears easy4 ,why1 then1 had it never been made by any other person8 ,numbers of ingenious men were at this time intent upon electricity4 ,the ideas which were necessary to this discovery1 were not numerous or complicated4 ,we may remark1 that one analogy connecting these observations together1 they are more easily recollected2 and their being written down for a particular purpose1 on which ,dr4 ,franklin's mind was intent1 must have made it still easier to him to retain them4 ,the degree of memory he was forced to employ1 is thus reduced to a portion in which few people are defective4 ,now1 let us suppose1 that ,dr4 ,franklin1 at the time he wrote his memorandum1 had fully in his recollection every previous experiment that had ever been tried on electricity2 and not only these1 but the theories1 names1 ages1 and private history1 of all the men who had tried these experiments2 of what advantage would this have been to him8 ,he must have excluded all these impertinent ideas successively as they rose before him1 and he must have selected the fifteen useful observations1 which we have mentioned1 from this troublesome multitude4 ,the chance in such a selection would have been against him2 the time employed in the examination and rejection of all the unnecessary recollections1 would have been absolutely wasted4 ,we must wish that it were in our power1 when we make observations upon nature1 or when we read the reflections of others1 to arrange our thoughts so as to be ready when we want to reason or invent4 ,when cards are dealt to us1 we can sort our hand according to the known probabilities of the game1 and a new arrangement is easily made when we hear what is trumps4 ,in collecting and sorting observations1 ,dr4 ,franklin particularly excelled2 therefore we may safely continue to take him for our example4 ,wherever he happened to be1 in a boat1 in a mine1 in a printer's shop1 in a crowded city1 or in the country1 in ,europe or ,america1 he displays the same activity of observation4 ,when any thing1 however trifling1 struck him which he could not account for1 he never rested till he had traced the effect to its cause4 ,thus1 after having made one remark1 he had fresh motive to collect facts1 either to confirm or refute an hypothesis2 his observations tending consequently to some determinate purpose1 they were arranged in the moment they were made1 in the most commodious manner1 both for his memory and invention2 they were arranged either according to their obvious analogies1 or their relation to each other as cause and effect4 ,he had two useful methods of judging of the value of his own ideas2 he either considered how they could be immediately applied to practical improvements in the arts1 or how they could lead to the solution of any of the great problems in science4 ,here we must again observe1 that judgment saved the labour of memory4 ,a person1 who sets about to collect facts at random1 is little better than a magpie1 who picks up and lays by any odd bits of money he can light upon1 without knowing their use4 ,miscellaneous observations1 which are made by those who have no philosophy1 may accidentally lead to something useful2 but here we admire the good fortune1 and not the genius1 of the individuals who make such discoveries3 these are prizes drawn from the lottery of science1 which ought not to seduce us from the paths of sober industry4 ,how long may an observation1 fortunately made1 continue to be useless to mankind1 merely because it has not been reasoned upon6 ,the trifling observation1 that a straight stick appears bent in water1 was made many hundred years before the reason of that appearance was discovered6 ,the invention of the telescope might have been made by any person who could have pursued this slight observation through all its consequences4 ,having now defined1 or rather described1 what we mean by a good memory1 we may consider how the memory should be cultivated4 ,in children1 as well as in men1 the strength of that habit1 or perhaps of that power of the mind which associates ideas together1 varies considerably4 ,it is probable1 that this difference may depend sometimes upon organization4 ,a child who is born with any defect in his eyes1 cannot possibly have the same pleasure in objects of sight1 which those enjoy who have strong eyes3 ideas associated with these external objects1 are1 therefore1 not associated with pleasure1 and1 consequently1 they are not recollected with any sensations of pleasure4 ,an ingenious writer#ea supposes1 that all the difference of capacity amongst men ultimately depends on their original power of feeling pleasure or pain1 and their consequent different habits of attention4 ,when there is any defect in a child's organization1 we must have recourse to physics1 and not to metaphysics2 but even among children1 who are apparently in the full possession of all their senses1 we see very different degrees of vivacity3 those who have most vivacity1 seldom take delight in repeating their ideas2 they are more pleased with novelty than prone to habit4 ,those children who are deficient in vivacity1 are much disposed to the easy indolent pleasure of repetition2 it costs them less exertion to say or do the same thing over again1 than to attempt any thing new2 they are uniformly good subjects to habit1 because novelty has no charms to seduce their attention4 ,the education of the memory in these two classes of children1 ought not to be the same4 ,those who are disposed to repetition1 should not be indulged in it1 because it will increase their indolence2 they should be excited by praise1 by example1 by sympathy1 and by all the strongest motives that we can employ4 ,their interest in every thing around them must by all means be increased3 when they show eagerness about any thing1 no matter what it is1 we may then exercise their memory upon that subject with some hopes of success4 ,it is of importance that they should succeed in their first trials1 otherwise they will be discouraged from repeating their attempts1 and they will distrust their own memory in future4 ,the fear of not remembering1 will occupy1 and agitate1 and weaken their minds2 they should1 therefore1 be animated by hope4 ,if they fail1 at all events let them not be reproached2 the mortification they naturally feel1 is sufficient3 nor should they be left to dwell upon their disappointment2 they should have a fresh and easier trial given to them1 that they may recover their own self-complacency as expeditiously as possible4 ,it may be said1 that there are children of such a sluggish temperament1 that they feel no pleasure in success1 and no mortification in perceiving their own mental deficiencies4 ,there are few children of this description2 scarcely any1 perhaps1 whose defects have not been increased by education4 ,exertion has been made so painful to them1 that at length they have sunk into apathy1 or submitted in despair to the eternal punishment of shame4 ,the mistaken notion1 that the memory must be exercised only in books1 has been often fatal to the pupils of literary people4 ,we remember best those things which interest us most2 which are useful to us in conversation2 in our daily business or amusement4 ,so do children4 ,on these things we should exercise their memory4 ,tell a boy who has lost his top1 to remember at such a particular time to put you in mind of it1 and if he does1 that you will give him another1 he will probably remember your requests after this1 better than you will yourself4 ,affectionate children will easily extend their recollective memories in the service of their friends and companions4 ,put me in mind to give your friend what he asked for1 and ,i will give it to him if you remember it at the right time4 ,it will be best to manage these affairs so that convenience1 and not caprice1 shall appear to be your motive for the requests4 ,the time and place should be precisely fixed1 and something should be chosen which is likely to recall your request at the appointed time4 ,if you say1 put me in mind of such a thing the moment the cloth is taken away after dinner2 or as soon as candles are brought into the room2 or when ,i go by such a shop in our walk this evening2 here are things mentioned which will much assist the young remembrancer3 the moment the cloth is taken away1 or the candles come1 he will recollect1 from association1 that something is to be done1 that he has something to do2 and presently he will make out what that something is4 ,a good memory for business depends upon local1 well arranged associations4 ,the man of business makes an artificial memory for himself out of the trivial occurrences of the day1 and the hours as they pass recall their respective occupations4 ,children can acquire these habits very early in their education2 they are eager to give their companions an account of any thing they have seen or heard2 their tutors should become their companions1 and encourage them by sympathy to address these narrations to them4 ,children who forget their lessons in chronology1 and their pence tables1 can relate with perfect accuracy any circumstances which have interested themselves4 ,this shows that there is no deficiency in their capacity4 ,every one1 who has had any experience of the pleasure of talking1 knows how intimately it is connected with the pleasure of being listened to4 ,the auditors1 consequently1 possess supreme power over narrative childhood1 without using any artifice1 by simply showing attention to well arranged1 and well recollected narratives1 and ceasing to attend when the young orator's memory and story become confused1 he will naturally be excited to arrange his ideas4 ,the order of time is the first and easiest principle of association to help the memory4 ,this1 till young people acquire the ideas of cause and effect1 will be their favourite mode of arrangement4 ,things that happen at the same time2 things that are said1 thoughts that have occurred1 at the same time1 will recur to the mind together4 ,we may observe1 that ill educated people continue through life to remember things by this single association2 and1 consequently1 there is a heterogeneous collection of ideas in their mind1 which have no rational connection with each other2 crowds which have accidentally met1 and are forced to live for ever together4 ,a vulgar evidence1 when he is examined about his memory of a particular fact1 gives as a reason for his remembering it1 a relation of a number of other circumstances1 which he tells you happened at the same time2 or he calls to witness any animate or inanimate objects1 which he happened to see at the same time4 ,all these things are so joined with the principal fact in his mind1 that his remembering them distinctly1 seems to him1 and he expects will seem to others1 demonstration of the truth and accuracy of his principal assertion4 ,when a lawyer tells him he has nothing to do with these ideas1 he is immediately at a stand in his narrative2 he can recollect nothing1 he is sure of nothing2 he has no reason to give for his belief1 unless he may say that it was ,michaelmas-day when such a thing happened1 that he had a goose for dinner that day1 or that he had a new wig4 ,those who have more enlarged minds1 seldom produce these strange reasons for remembering facts4 ,indeed1 no one can reason clearly1 whose memory has these foolish habits2 the ill matched ideas are inseparably joined1 and hence they imagine there is some natural connection between them4 ,hence arise those obstinate prejudices which no arguments can vanquish4 ,to prevent children from arguing ill1 we must1 therefore1 take care1 in exercising their memory1 to discourage them in this method of proving that they remember one thing by telling us a number of others which happened at the same time2 rather let them be excited to bring their reasoning faculty into play in support of their memory4 ,suppose1 for instance1 that a child had mislaid his hat1 and was trying to recollect where he had put it4 ,he first may recollect1 from the association of time1 that he had the hat the last time he went out2 but when he wants to recollect when that time was1 he had better go back1 if he can1 to his motive for going out2 this one idea will bring a number of others in right order into his mind4 ,he went out1 suppose1 to fetch his kite1 which he was afraid would be wet by a shower of rain2 then the boy recollects that his hat must have been wet by the same rain1 and that when he came in1 instead of hanging it up in its usual place1 it was put before the fire to be dried4 ,what fire1 is the next question1 c4 ,such an instance as this may appear very trivial2 but children whose minds are well managed about trifles1 will retain good habits when they are to think about matters of consequence4 ,by exercising the memory in this manner about things1 instead of about books and lessons1 we shall not disgust and tire our pupils1 nor shall we give the false notion1 that all knowledge is acquired by reading4 ,long before children read fluently for their own amusement1 they like to hear others read aloud to them1 because they have then the entertainment without the labour4 ,we may exercise their memory by asking for an account of what they have heard4 ,but let them never be required to repeat in the words of the book1 or even to preserve the same arrangement2 let them speak in words of their own1 and arrange their ideas to their own plan2 this will exercise at once their judgment1 invention1 and memory4 ,try if you can explain to me what ,i have just been explaining to you1 a sensible tutor will frequently say to his pupils2 and he will suffer them to explain in a different manner from himself2 he will only require them to remember what is essential to the explanation4 ,in such repetitions as these1 the mind is active1 therefore it will strengthen and improve4 ,children are all1 more or less1 pleased with the perception of resemblances and of analogy4 ,this propensity assists us much in the cultivation of the memory2 but it must be managed with discretion1 or it will injure the other powers of the understanding4 ,there is1 in some minds1 a futile love of tracing analogies1 which leads to superstition1 to false reasoning1 and false taste4 ,the quick perception of resemblances is1 in other minds1 productive of wit1 poetic genius1 and scientific invention4 ,the difference between these two classes1 depends upon this--the one has more judgment1 and more the habit of using it1 than the other4 ,children who are pleased by trifling coincidences1 by allusions1 and similitudes1 should be taught with great care to reason3 when once they perceive the pleasure of demonstration1 they will not be contented with the inaccuracy of common analogies4 ,a tutor is often tempted to teach pupils1 who are fond of allusions1 by means of them1 because he finds that they remember well whatever suits their taste for resemblances4 ,by following the real analogies between different arts and sciences1 and making use of the knowledge children have on one subject to illustrate another1 we may at once amuse their fancy1 and cultivate their memory with advantage4 ,ideas laid up in this manner1 will recur in the same order1 and will be ready for further use4 ,when two ideas are remembered by their mutual connection1 surely it is best that they should both of them be substantially useful2 and not that one should attend merely to answer for the appearance of the other4 ,as men readily remember those things which are every day useful to them in business1 what relates to their amusements1 or to their favourite tastes in arts1 sciences1 or in literature2 so children find no difficulty in remembering every thing which mixes daily with their little pleasures4 ,they value knowledge1 which is useful and agreeable to them1 as highly as we do2 but they consider only the present1 and we take the future into our estimate4 ,children feel no interest in half the things that are committed1 with the most solemn recommendations1 to the care of their memory4 ,it is in vain to tell them1 ,you must remember such a thing1 because it will be useful to you when you grow up to be a man4 ,the child feels like a child1 and has no idea of what he may feel when he grows up to be a man4 ,he tries to remember what he is desired1 perhaps1 because he wishes to please his wiser friends2 but if the ideas are remote from his every day business1 if nothing recall them but voluntary exertion1 and if he be obliged to abstract his little soul from every thing it holds dear1 before he can recollect his lessons1 they will have no hold upon his memory2 he will feel that recollection is too operose1 and he will enjoy none of the pleasures of memory4 ,to induce children to exercise their memory1 we must put them in situations where they may be immediately rewarded for their exertion4 ,we must create an interest in their minds--nothing uninteresting is long remembered4 ,in a large and literary family1 it will not be difficult to invent occupations for children which may exercise all their faculties4 ,even the conversation of such a family1 will create in their minds a desire for knowledge2 what they hear1 will recall to their memory what they read2 and if they are encouraged to take a reasonable share in conversation1 they will acquire the habit of listening to every thing that others say4 ,by permitting children to talk freely of what they read1 we are more likely to improve their memory for books1 than by exacting from them formal repetitions of lessons4 ,dr4 ,johnson1 who is said to have had an uncommonly good memory1 tells us1 that when he was a boy1 he used1 after he had acquired any fresh knowledge from his books1 to run and tell it to an old woman1 of whom he was very fond4 ,this exercise was so agreeable to him1 that it imprinted what he read upon his memory4 ,la ,gaucherie1 one of the preceptors of ,henry ,,iv4 having found that he had to do with a young prince of an impatient mind1 and active genius1 little suited to sedentary studies1 instead of compelling his pupil to read1 taught him by means of conversation3 anecdotes of heroes1 and the wise sayings of ancient philosophers1 were thus imprinted upon the mind of this prince4 ,it is said1 that ,henry ,,iv4 applied1 in his subsequent life1 all the knowledge he had acquired in this manner so happily1 that learned men were surprised at his memory4#eb ,by these observations1 we by no means would insinuate1 that application to books is unnecessary4 ,we are sensible that accurate knowledge upon any subject1 cannot be acquired by superficial conversation2 that it can be obtained only by patient application4 ,but we mean to point out1 that an early taste for literature may be excited in children by conversation2 and that their memory should be first cultivated in the manner which will give them the least pain4 ,when there is motive for application1 and when habits of industry have been gradually acquired1 we may securely trust1 that our pupils will complete their own education4 ,nor should we have reason to fear1 that those who have a good memory for all other things1 should not be able to retain all that is worth remembering in books4 ,children should never be praised for merely remembering exactly what they read1 they should be praised for selecting with good sense what is best worth their attention1 and for applying what they remember to useful purposes4 ,we have observed how much the habit of inventing increases the wish for knowledge1 and increases the interest men take in a number of ideas1 which are indifferent to uncultivated and indolent people4 ,it is the same with children4 ,children who invent1 exercise their memory with pleasure1 from the immediate sense of utility and success4 ,a piece of knowledge1 which they lay by in their minds1 with the hopes of making use of it in some future invention1 they have more motives for remembering1 than what they merely learn by rote1 because they are commanded to do so by the voice of authority4 7,june #aith1 #agif47 ,s----1 a boy of nine years old1 of good abilities1 was translating ,ovid's description of envy4 ,when he came to the ,latin word suffusa1 he pronounced it as if it had been spelled with a single f and a double s1 sufussa2 he made the same mistake several times3 at last his father1 to try whether it would make him remember the right pronunciation1 desired him to repeat suffusa forty times4 ,the boy did so4 ,about three hours afterwards1 the boy was asked whether he recollected the word which he had repeated forty times4 ,no1 he said1 he did not2 but he remembered that it meant diffused4 ,his father recalled the word to his mind1 by asking him what letter it was that he had sounded as if it had been a double letter2 he said s4 ,and what double letter did you sound as if it had been single8 f1 said the boy4 ,then1 said his father1 you have found out that it was a word in which there was a double ff and a single s1 and that it is the ,latin for diffused4 ,oh1 suffusa1 said the boy4 ,this boy1 who had such difficulty in learning a single ,latin word1 by repeating it forty times1 showed in other instances1 that he was by no means deficient in recollective memory4 ,on the contrary1 though he read very little1 and seldom learned any thing by rote1 he applied happily any thing that he read or heard in conversation4 7,march #cast1 #agif47 ,his father told him1 that he had this morning seen a large horn at a gentleman's in the neighbourhood4 ,it was found thirty spades depth below the surface of the earth1 in a bog4 ,with the horn was found a carpet1 and wrapped up in the carpet a lump of tallow4 ,now1 said his father1 how could that lump of tallow come there8 ,or was it tallow1 do you think8 ,or what could it be8 ,h---- 7a boy of #ad1 brother to ,s----7 said1 he thought it might have been buried by some robbers1 after they had committed some robbery2 he thought the lump was tallow4 ,s---- said1 ,perhaps some dead body might have been wrapped up in the carpet and buried2 and the dead body might have turned into tallow4#ec ,how came you1 said his father1 to think of a dead body's turning into tallow8 ,you told me1 said the boy1 ,you read to me1 ,i mean1 an account of some dead bodies that had been buried a great many years1 which had turned into tallow4 ,spermaceti1 you mean8 ,yes4 ,s---- had heard the account he alluded to above two months before this time4 ,no one in company recollected it except himself1 though several had heard it4 ,amongst the few things which ,s---- had learnt by heart1 was the ,hymn to ,adversity4 ,a very slight circumstance may show1 that he did not get this poem merely as a tiresome lesson1 as children sometimes learn by rote what they do not understand1 and which they never recollect except in the arduous moments of formal repetition4 ,a few days after ,s---- had learned the ,hymn to ,adversity1 he happened to hear his sister say to a lady1 ,i observed you pitied me for having had a whitlow on my finger1 more than any body else did1 because you have had one yourself4 ,s----'s father asked him why he smiled4 ,because1 said ,s----1 ,i was thinking of the song1#ed the hymn to adversity2 ,and from her own she learned to melt at other's wo4 ,a recollective memory of books appears early in children who are not overwhelmed with them2 if the impressions made upon their minds be distinct1 they will recur with pleasure to the memory when similar ideas are presented4 ,july #agif4 ,s---- heard his father read ,sir ,brook ,boothby's excellent epitaph upon ,algernon ,sidney2 the following lines pleased the boy particularly3 ,approach1 contemplate this immortal name1 ,swear on this shrine to emulate his fame2 ,to dare1 like him1 e'en to thy latest breath1 ,contemning chains1 and poverty1 and death4 ,s----'s father asked him why he liked these lines1 and whether they put him in mind of any thing that he had heard before4 ,s---- said1 ,it puts me in mind of ,hamilcar's making his son ,hannibal swear to hate the ,romans1 and love his countrymen eternally4 ,but ,i like this much better4 ,i think it was exceedingly foolish and wrong of ,hamilcar to make his son swear always to hate the ,romans4 ,latin lessons are usually so very disagreeable to boys1 that they seldom are pleased with any allusions to them2 but by a good management in a tutor1 even these lessons may be associated with agreeable ideas4 ,boys should be encouraged to talk and think about what they learn in ,latin1 as well as what they read in ,english2 they should be allowed to judge of the characters described in ancient authors1 to compare them with our present ideas of excellence1 and thus to make some use of their learning4 ,it will then be not merely engraved upon their memory in the form of lessons1 it will be mingled with their notions of life and manners2 it will occur to them when they converse1 and when they act2 they will possess the admired talent for classical allusion1 as well as all the solid advantages of an unprejudiced judgment4 ,it is not enough that gentlemen should be masters of the learned languages1 they must know how to produce their knowledge without pedantry or affectation4 ,the memory may in vain be stored with classical precedents1 unless these can be brought into use in speaking or writing without the parade of dull citation1 or formal introduction4 ,sir1 said ,dr4 ,johnson1 to some prosing tormentor1 ,i would rather a man would knock me down1 than to begin to talk to me of the ,punic wars4 ,a public speaker1 who rises in the ,house of ,commons1 with pedantry prepense to quote ,latin or ,greek1 is coughed or laughed down2 but the beautiful unpremeditated classical allusions of ,burke or ,sheridan1 sometimes conveyed in a single word1 seize the imagination irresistibly4 ,since we perceive1 that memory is chiefly useful as it furnishes materials for invention1 and that invention can greatly abridge the mere labour of accumulation1 we must examine how the inventive faculty can be properly exercised4 ,the vague precept of1 cultivate the memory and invention of young people at the same time1 will not inform parents how this is to be accomplished2 we trust1 therefore1 that we may be permitted1 contrary to the custom of didactic writers1 to illustrate a general precept by a few examples2 and we take these examples from real life1 because we apprehend1 that fictions1 however ingenious1 will never advance the science of education so much as simple experiments4 ,no elaborate theory of invention shall here alarm parents4 ,it is a mistake1 to suppose that the inventive faculty can be employed only on important subjects2 it can be exercised in the most trifling circumstances of domestic life4 ,scarcely any family can be so unfortunately situated1 that they may not employ the ingenuity of their children without violent exertion1 or any grand apparatus4 ,let us only make use of the circumstances which happen every hour4 ,children are interested in every thing that is going forward4 ,building1 or planting1 or conversation1 or reading2 they attend to every thing1 and from every thing might they with a little assistance obtain instruction4 ,let their useful curiosity be encouraged2 let them make a part of the general society of the family1 instead of being treated as if they had neither senses nor understanding4 ,when any thing is to be done1 let them be asked to invent the best way of doing it4 ,when they see that their invention becomes immediately useful1 they will take pleasure in exerting themselves4 ,june #dth1 #agif4 ,a lady1 who had been ruling pencil lines for a considerable time1 complained of its being a tiresome operation2 and she wished that a quick and easy way of doing it could be invented4 ,somebody present said they had seen pens for ruling music books1 which ruled four lines at a time2 and it was asked1 whether a leaden rake could not be made to rule a sheet of paper at once4 ,mr4 ---- said1 that he thought such a pencil would not rule well2 and he called to ,s----1 7the same boy we mentioned before7 and asked him if he could invent any method of doing the business better4 ,s---- took about a quarter of an hour to consider2 and he then described a little machine for ruling a sheet of paper at a single stroke1 which his father had executed for him4 ,it succeeded well1 and this success was the best reward he could have4 ,another day ,mr4 ---- observed1 that the maid1 whose business it was to empty a bucket of ashes into an ash-hole1 never could be persuaded to do it1 because the ashes were blown against her face by the wind2 and he determined to invent a method which should make it convenient to her to do as she was desired4 ,the maid usually threw the ashes into a heap on the sheltered side of a wall2 the thing to be done was1 to make her put the bucket through a hole in this wall1 and empty the ashes on the other side4 ,this problem was given to all the children and grown up persons in the family4 ,one of the children invented the shelf1 which1 they said1 should be like part of the vane of a winnowing machine which they had lately seen2 the manner of placing this vane1 another of the children suggested3 both these ideas joined together1 produced the contrivance which was wanted4 ,a little model was made in wood of this bucket1 which was a pretty toy4 ,the thing itself was executed1 and was found useful4 ,june #hth1 #agif4 ,mr4 ---- was balancing a pair of scales very exactly1 in which he was going to weigh some opium2 this led to a conversation upon scales and weighing4 ,some one said that the dealers in diamonds must have very exact scales1 as the difference of a grain makes such a great difference in their value4 ,s---- was very attentive to this conversation4 ,m----told him1 that jewellers always1 if they can1 buy diamonds when the air is light1 and sell them when it is heavy4 ,s---- did not understand the reason of this1 till his father explained to him the general principles of hydrostatics1 and showed him a few experiments with bodies of different specific gravity3 these experiments were distinctly understood by every body present4 ,the boy then observed1 that it was not fair of the jewellers to buy and sell in this manner2 they should not1 said he1 use these weights4 ,diamonds should be the weights4 ,diamonds should be weighed against diamonds4 ,november1 #agie4 ,one day after dinner1 the candles had been left for some time without being snuffed2 and ,mr4 ---- said he wished candles could be made which would not require snuffing4 ,mrs4 9999999999999999 thought of cutting the wick into several pieces before it was put into the candle1 that so1 when it burned down to the divisions1 the wick might fall off4 ,m---- thought that the wick might be tied tight round at intervals1 before it was put into the candle2 that when it burned down to the places where it was tied1 it would snap off3 but ,mr4 ---- objected1 that the candle would most likely go out when it had burned down to her knots4 ,it was then proposed to send a stream of oxygene through the candle1 instead of a wick4 ,m---- asked if some substance might not be used for wicks which should burn into powder1 and fly off or sublime4 ,mr4 ---- smiled at this1 and said1 ,some substance2 some kind of air2 some chemical mixture6 ,a person ignorant of chemistry always talks of1 as an ignorant person in mechanics always says1 ,oh1 you can do it somehow with a spring4 ,as the company could not immediately discover any way of making candles which should not require to be snuffed1 they proceeded to invent ways of putting out a candle at a certain time without hands4 ,the younger part of the company had hopes of solving this problem1 and every eye was attentively fixed upon the candle4 ,how would you put it out1 ,s----8 said ,mr4 ----4 ,s---- said1 that if a weight1 a very little lighter than the extinguisher1 were tied to a string1 and if the string were put over a pulley1 and if the extinguisher were tied to the other end of the string1 and the candle put exactly under the extinguisher2 the extinguisher would move very1 very gently down1 and at last put out the candle4 ,mr4 ---- observed1 that whilst it was putting out the candle1 there would be a disagreeable smell1 because the extinguisher would be a considerable time moving very1 very gently down1 over the candle after the candle had begun to go out4 ,c---- 7a girl of twelve years old7 spoke next4 ,i would tie an extinguisher to one end of a thread4 ,i would put this string through a pulley fastened to the ceiling2 the other end of this string should be fastened to the middle of another thread1 which should be strained between two posts set upright on each side of the candle1 so as that the latter string might lean against the candle at any distance you want below the flame4 ,when the candle burns down to this string1 it will burn it in two1 and the extinguisher will drop upon the candle4 ,this is the exact description of the weaver's alarm1 mentioned in the ,philosophical ,transactions which ,c---- had never seen or heard of4 ,mr4 ---- now showed us the patent extinguisher1 which was much approved of by all the rival inventors4 ,it is very useful to give children problems which have already been solved1 because they can immediately compare their own imperfect ideas with successful inventions1 which have actually been brought into real use4 ,we know beforehand what ideas are necessary to complete the invention1 and whether the pupil has all the necessary knowledge4 ,though by the courtesy of poetry1 a creative power is ascribed to inventive genius1 yet we must be convinced that no genius can invent without materials4 ,nothing can come of nothing4 ,invention is nothing more than the new combination of materials4 ,we must judge in general of the ease or difficulty of any invention1 either by the number of ideas necessary to be combined1 or by the dissimilarity or analogy of those ideas4 ,in giving any problem to children1 we should not only consider whether they know all that is necessary upon the subject1 but also1 whether that knowledge is sufficiently familiar to their minds1 whether circumstances are likely to recall it1 and whether they have a perfectly ,clear idea of the thing to be done4 ,by considering all these particulars1 we may pretty nearly proportion our questions to the capacity of the pupil2 and we may lead his mind on step by step from obvious to intricate inventions4 ,july #cjth1 #agif4 ,l----1 who had just returned from ,edinburgh1 and had taken down in two large volumes1 ,dr4 ,black's ,lectures1 used to read to us part of them1 for about a quarter of an hour1 every morning after breakfast4 ,he was frequently interrupted 7which interruptions he bore with heroic patience7 by ,mr4 ----'s explanations and comments4 ,when he came to the expansive power of steam1 and to the description of the different steam engines which have been invented1 ,mr4 ---- stopped to ask ,b----1 ,c----1 and ,s----1 to describe the steam engine in their own words4 ,they all described it in such a manner as to show that they clearly understood the principle of the machine4 ,only the general principle had been explained to them4 ,l----1 after having read the description of ,savary's and ,newcomen's steam engines1 was beginning to read the description of that invented by ,mr4 ,watt2 but ,mr4 ---- stopped him1 that he might try whether any person present could invent it4 ,mr4 ,e---- thus stated the difficulty3 ,in the old steam engine1 cold water1 you know1 is thrown into the cylinder to condense the steam2 but in condensing the steam1 the cold water at the same time cools the cylinder4 ,now the cylinder must be heated again1 before it can be filled with steam2 for till it is heated1 it will condense the steam4 ,there is1 consequently1 a great waste of heat and fuel in the great cylinder4 ,how can you condense the steam without cooling the cylinder8 ,s----4 ,let down a cold tin tube into the cylinder when you want to condense the steam1 and draw it up again as soon as the steam is condensed2 or1 if you could put a cylinder of ice up the great tube4 ,some of the company next asked1 if an horizontal plate of cold metal1 made to slide up the inside of the cylinder1 would condense the steam4 ,the edges of the plate only would touch the cylinder2 the surface of the plate might condense the steam4 ,but1 said ,mr4 ----how can you introduce and withdraw it8 ,c---- 7a girl of #ab7 then said1 ,i would put a cold vessel to condense the steam at the top of the cylinder4 ,mr4 ----4 ,so as to touch the cylinder1 do you mean8 ,c----4 ,no1 not so as to touch the cylinder1 but at some distance from it4 ,mr4 ----4 ,then the cold air would rush into the cylinder whilst the steam was passing from the cylinder to your condenser4 ,c----4 ,but ,i would cover in the cold vessel1 and ,i would cover in the passage to it4 ,mr4 ----4 ,i have the pleasure of informing you1 that you have invented part of the great ,mr4 ,watt's improvement on the steam engine4 ,you see how it facilitates invention1 to begin by stating the difficulty clearly to the mind4 ,this is what every practical inventor does when he invents in mechanics4 ,l---- 7smiling47 ,and what ,i always do in inventing a mathematical demonstration4 ,to the good natured reader we need offer no apology2 to the ill natured we dare attempt none1 for introducing these detailed views of the first attempts of young invention4 ,they are not exhibited as models1 either to do honour to the tutor or his pupils2 but simply to show1 how the mind may be led from the easiest steps1 to what are supposed to be difficult in education4 ,by imagining ourselves to be in the same situation with children1 we may guess what things are difficult to them2 and if we can recollect the course of our own minds in acquiring knowledge1 or in inventing1 we may by retracing the same steps instruct others4 ,the order that is frequently followed by authors1 in the division and subdivision of their elementary treatises1 is not always the best for those who are to learn4 ,such authors are usually more intent upon proving to the learned that they understand their subject1 than upon communicating their knowledge to the ignorant4 ,parents and tutors must1 therefore1 supply familiar oral instruction1 and those simple1 but essential explanations1 which books disdain1 or neglect to give4 ,and there is this advantage in all instruction given in conversation1 that it can be made interesting by a thousand little circumstances1 which are below the dignity of didactic writers4 ,gradually we may proceed from simple to more complicated contrivances4 ,the invention of experiments to determine a theory1 or to ascertain the truth of an assertion1 must be particularly useful to the understanding4 ,any person1 who has attended to experiments in chemistry and natural philosophy1 must know1 that invention can be as fully and elegantly displayed upon these subjects as upon any in the fine arts or literature4 ,there is one great advantage in scientific invention2 it is not dependent upon capricious taste for its reward4 ,the beauty and elegance of a poem may be disputed by a thousand amateurs2 there can be but one opinion about the truth of a discovery in science4 ,independent of all ambition1 there is considerable pleasure in the pursuit of experimental knowledge4 ,children especially1 before they are yet fools to fame1 enjoy this substantial pleasure4 ,nor are we to suppose that children have not capacities for such pursuits2 they are peculiarly suited to their capacity4 ,they love to see experiments tried1 and to try them4 ,they show this disposition not only wherever they are encouraged1 but wherever they are permitted to show it2 and if we compare their method of reasoning with the reasonings of the learned1 we shall sometimes be surprised4 ,they have no prejudices1 therefore they have the complete use of all their senses2 they have few ideas1 but those few are distinct2 they can be analyzed and compared with ease2 children1 therefore1 judge and invent better1 in proportion to their knowledge1 than most grown up people4 ,dr4 ,hooke observes1 that a sensible man1 in solving any philosophical problem1 should always lean to that side which is opposite to his favourite taste4 ,a chemist is disposed to account for every thing by chemical means2 a geometrician is inclined to solve every problem geometrically2 and a mechanic accounts for all the phenomena of nature by the laws of mechanism4 ,this undue bias upon the minds of ingenious people1 has frequently rendered their talents less useful to mankind4 ,it is the duty of those who educate ingenious children1 to guard against this species of scientific insanity4 ,there are prejudices of another description1 which are fatal to inventive genius2 some of these are usually found to attend ignorance1 and others sometimes adhere to the learned4 ,ignorant people1 if they possess any degree of invention1 are so confident in their own abilities1 that they will not take the pains to inquire what others have thought or done2 they disdain all general principles1 and will rather scramble through some by-path of their own striking out1 than condescend to be shown the best road by the most enlightened guide4 ,for this reason1 self-taught geniuses1 as they are called1 seldom go beyond a certain point in their own education1 and the praise we bestow upon their ingenuity is always accompanied with expressions of regret3 ,it is a pity that such a genius had not the advantages of a good education4 ,the learned1 on the contrary1 who have been bred up in reverence for established opinions1 and who have felt in many instances the advantage of general principles1 are apt to adhere too pertinaciously to their theories1 and hence they neglect or despise new observations4 ,how long did the maxim1 that nature abhors a vacuum1 content the learned6 ,and how many discoveries were retarded by this single false principle6 ,for a great number of years it was affirmed and believed1 that all objects were seen by the intervention of visual rays1 proceeding from the eye much in the same manner as we feel any object at a distance from us by the help of a stick4#ee ,whilst this absurd analogy satisfied the mind1 no discoveries were made in vision1 none were attempted4 ,a prepossession often misleads the industry of active genius4 ,dr4 ,hooke1 in spite of the ridicule which he met with1 was firm in his belief1 that mankind would discover some method of sailing in the air4 ,balloons have justified his prediction2 but all his own industry in trying experiments upon flying was wasted1 because he persisted in following a false analogy to the wings of birds4 ,he made wings of various sorts2 till he took it for granted that he must learn to fly by mechanical means3 had he applied to chemistry1 he might have succeeded4 ,it is curious to observe1 how nearly he once touched upon the discovery1 and yet1 misled by his prepossessions1 quitted his hold4 ,he observed1 that the air cells#ef of fishes are filled with air1 which buoys them up in the water2 and he supposes that this air is lighter than common air4 ,had he pursued this idea1 he might have invented balloons2 but he returned with fatal perseverance to his old theory of wings4 ,from such facts1 we may learn the power and danger of prejudice in the most ingenious minds2 and we shall be careful to preserve our pupils early from its blind dominion4 ,the best preservation against the presumption to which ignorance is liable1 and the best preservative against the self sufficiency to which the learned are subject1 is the habit of varying our studies and occupations4 ,those who have a general view of the whole map of human knowledge1 perceive how many unexplored regions are yet to be cultivated by future industry2 nor will they implicitly submit to the reports of ignorant voyagers4 ,no imaginary pillars of ,hercules1 will bound their enterprises4 ,there is no presumption in believing1 that much more is possible to science than ever human ingenuity has executed2 therefore1 young people should not be ridiculed for that sanguine temper which excites to great inventions4 ,they should be ridiculed only when they imagine that they possess the means of doing things to which they are unequal4 ,the fear of this deserved ridicule1 will stimulate them to acquire knowledge1 and will induce them to estimate cautiously their own powers before they hazard their reputation4 ,we need not fear that this caution should repress their activity of mind2 ambition will secure their perseverance1 if they are taught that every acquisition is within the reach of unremitting industry4 ,this is not an opinion to be artfully inculcated to serve a particular purpose1 but it is an opinion drawn from experience2 an opinion which men of the highest abilities and integrity1 of talents and habits the most dissimilar1 have confirmed by their united testimony4 ,helvetius maintained1 that no great man ever formed a great design which he was not also capable of executing4 ,even where great perseverance is exercised1 the choice of the subjects on which the inventive powers are employed determines1 in a great measure1 their value3 therefore1 in the education of ingenious children1 we should gradually turn their attention from curious trifles to important objects4 ,boverick1#eg who made chains to yoke a flea1 must have possessed exquisite patience2 besides his chain of two hundred links1 with its padlock and key1 all weighing together less than the third part of a grain1 this indefatigable minute artificer was the maker of a landau1 which opened and shut by springs3 this equipage1 with six horses harnessed to it1 a coachman sitting on the box1 with a dog between his legs1 four inside and two outside passengers1 besides a postilion riding one of the fore horses1 was drawn with all the ease and safety imaginable by a well trained flea6 ,the inventor and executor of this puerile machine1 bestowed on it1 probably1 as much time as would have sufficed to produce ,watt's fire engine1 or ,montgolfier's balloon4 ,it did not1 perhaps1 cost the ,marquis of ,worcester more exertion to draw out his celebrated century of inventions2 it did not1 perhaps1 cost ,newton more to write those queries which ,maclaurin said he could never read without feeling his hair stand on end with admiration4 ,brebeuf1 a ,french wit1 wrote a hundred and fifty epigrams upon a painted lady2 a brother wit1 fired with emulation1 wrote upon the same subject three hundred more1 making in all four hundred and fifty epigrams1 each with appropriate turns of their own4 ,probably1 ,pope and ,parnell did not rack their invention so much1 or exercise more industry in completing ,the ,rape of the ,lock1 or ,the ,rise of ,woman4 ,these will live for ever2 who will read the four hundred and fifty epigrams8 ,the most effectual methods to discourage in young people the taste for frivolous ingenuity1 will be1 never to admire these laborious nothings1 to compare them with useful and elegant inventions1 and to show that vain curiosities can be but the wonder and amusement of a moment4 ,children who begin with trifling inventions1 may be led from these to general principles2 and with their knowledge1 their ambition will necessarily increase4 ,it cannot be expected that the most enlarged plan of education could early give an intimate acquaintance with all the sciences2 but with their leading principles1 their general history1 their present state1 and their immediate desiderata1#eh young people may1 and ought to be1 made acquainted4 ,their own industry will afterwards collect more precise information1 and they will never waste their time in vain studies and fruitless inventions4 ,even if the cultivation of the memory were our grand object1 this plan of education will succeed4 ,when the ,abb de ,longuerue1 whose prodigious memory we have formerly mentioned1 was asked by the ,marquis d',argenson1 how he managed to arrange and retain in his head every thing that entered it1 and to recollect every thing when wanted8 ,the ,abb answered3 ,sir1 the elements of every science must be learned whilst we are very young2 the first principles of every language2 the a b c1 as ,i may say1 of every kind of knowledge3 this is not difficult in youth1 especially as it is not necessary to penetrate far2 simple notions are sufficient2 when once these are acquired1 every thing we read afterwards1 finds its proper place4 ,,footnotes3 #ci ,v4 ,plutarch4 ,quintilian4 #dj ,berington's ,history of the ,lives of ,abeillard and ,heloisa1 page #agc4 #da ,eloge de ,m4 ,l',abb d',alary4 #db ,marquis d',argenson's ,essays1 page #che4 #dc ,d',alembert's ,eloge de ,m4 d',alary4 #dd ,curiosities of ,literature1 vol4 ii4 page #ade4 #de ,priestley on ,electricity1 page #cag4 #df ,fuller1 author of the ,worthies of ,england4 ,see ,curiosities of ,literature1 vol4 i4 #dg ,v4 ,chapter on ,books1 and on ,geography4 #dh ,dr4 ,darwin4 ,zoonomia4 #di ,at the end of the ,history of ,vision4 #ej ,nov4 #g1 #agdi4 ,electrical fluid agrees with lightning in these particulars4 #a4 ,giving light4 #b4 ,colour of the light4 #c4 ,crooked direction4 #d4 ,swift motion4 #e4 ,being conducted by metals4 #f4 ,crack or noise in exploding4 #g4 ,subsisting in water or ice4 #h4 ,rending bodies it passes through4 #i4 ,destroying animals4 #aj4 ,melting metals4 #aa4 ,firing inflammable substances4 #ab4 ,sulphureous smell4 ,the electric fluid is attracted by points4 ,we do not know whether this property is in lightning4 ,but since they agree in all the particulars wherein we can already compare them1 is it not probable they agree likewise in this8 ,let the experiment be made4 ,dr4 ,franklin's ,letters1 page #cbb4 #ea ,helvetius1 ,sur l',esprit4 #eb ,see preface to ,l',esprit des ,romains considr4 #ec ,see the account in the ,monthly ,review4 #ed ,he had tried to sing it to the tune of ,hope1 thou nurse of young desire4 #ee ,priestley on ,vision1 vol4 i4 page #bc4 #ef ,v4 ,hooke's ,posthumous ,works4 #eg ,hooke's ,mycrographia1 p4 #fb4 ,,chapter ,,xxii4 ,,taste ,,and ,,imagination4 ,figurative language seems to have confounded the ideas of most writers upon metaphysics4 ,imagination1 ,memory1 and ,reason1 have been long introduced to our acquaintance as allegorical personages1 and we have insensibly learned to consider them as real beings4 ,the viewless regions of the soul1 have been portioned out amongst these ideal sovereigns2 but disputes have1 nevertheless1 sometimes arisen concerning the boundaries of intellectual provinces4 ,amongst the disputed territories1 those of ,imagination have been most frequently the seat of war2 her empire has been subject to continual revolution2 her dominions have been1 by potent invaders1 divided and subdivided4 ,fancy1#ei ,memory1#fj ,ideal presence1#fa and ,conception1#fb have shared her spoils4 ,by poets1 imagination has been addressed as the great parent of genius1 as the arbiter1 if not the creator1 of our pleasures2 by philosophers1 her name has been sometimes pronounced with horror2 to her fatal delusions1 they have ascribed all the crimes and miseries of mankind4 ,yet1 even philosophers have not always agreed in their opinions3 whilst some have treated ,imagination with contempt1 as the irreconcileable enemy of ,reason1 by others#fc she has been considered with more respect1 as ,reason's inseparable friend2 as the friend who collects and prepares all the arguments upon which ,reason decides2 as the injured1 misrepresented power who is often forced to supply her adversaries with eloquence1 who is often called upon to preside at her own trial1 and to pronounce her own condemnation4 ,imagination is the power1 we are told1 of forming images3 the word image1 however1 does not1 strictly speaking1 express any thing more than a representation of an object of sight2 but the power of imagination extends to objects of all the senses4 ,i hear a voice you cannot hear1 ,which says ,i must not stay4 ,i see a hand you cannot see1 ,which beckons me away4 ,imagination hears the voice1 as well as sees the hand2 by an easy license of metaphor1 what was originally used to express the operation of our senses1 is extended to them all4 ,we do not precisely say1 that ,imagination1 forms images of past sounds1 or tastes1 or smells2 but we say that she forms ideas of them2 and ideas1 we are told1 are mental images4 ,it has been suggested by ,dr4 ,darwin1 that all these analogies between images and thoughts have1 probably1 originated in our observing the little pictures painted on the retina of the eye4 ,it is difficult certainly1 if not impossible1 to speak of the invisible operations of the mind or body1 without expressing ourselves in metaphor of some kind or other2 and we are easily misled by allusions to sensible objects1 because when we comprehend the allusion1 we flatter ourselves that we understand the theory which it is designed to illustrate4 ,whether we call ideas images in popular language1 or vibrations1 according to ,dr4 ,hartley's system1 or modes of sensation with ,condillac1 or motions of the sensorium1 in the language of ,dr4 ,darwin1 may seem a matter of indifference4 ,but even the choices of names is not a matter of indifference to those who wish to argue accurately2 when they are obliged to describe their feelings or thoughts by metaphoric expressions1 they will prefer the simplest2 those with which the fewest extraneous associations are connected4 ,words which call up a variety of heterogeneous ideas to our minds1 are unfit for the purposes of sober reasoning2 our attention is distracted by them1 and we cannot restrain it to the accurate comparison of simple proportions4 ,we yield to pleasing reverie1 instead of exerting painful voluntary attention4 ,hence it is probably useful in our attempts to reason1 especially upon metaphysical subjects1 to change from time to time our nomenclature1#fd and to substitute terms which have no relation to our old associations1 and which do not affect the prejudices of our education4 ,we are obliged to define with some degree of accuracy the sense of new terms1 and we are thus led to compare our old notions with more severity4 ,our superstitious reverence for mere symbols is also dissipated2 symbols are apt to impose even upon those who acknowledge their vanity1 and who profess to consider them merely as objects of vulgar worship4 ,when we call a class of our ideas images and pictures1 a tribe of associations with painting comes into our mind1 and we argue about ,imagination as if she were actually a paintress1 who has colours at her command1 and who1 upon some invisible canvass in the soul1 portrays the likeness of all earthly and celestial objects4 ,when we continue to pursue the same metaphor in speaking of the moral influence of ,imagination1 we say that her colouring deceives us1 that her pictures are flattering and false1 that she draws objects out of proportion1 c4 ,to what do all these metaphors lead8 ,we make no new discoveries by talking in this manner2 we do not learn the cause or the cure of any of the diseases of the mind2 we only persuade ourselves that we know something1 when we are really ignorant4 ,we have sedulously avoided entering into any metaphysical disquisitions2 but we have examined with care the systems of theoretic writers1 that we may be able to avail ourselves of such of their observations as can be reduced to practice in education4 ,with respect to the arts1 imagination may be considered practically in two points of view1 as it relates to our taste1 and as it relates to our talents for the arts4 ,without being a poet1 or an orator1 a man may have a sufficient degree of imagination to receive pleasure from the talents of others2 he may be a critical judge of the respective merits of orators1 poets1 and artists4 ,this sensibility to the pleasures of the imagination1 when judiciously managed1 adds much to the happiness of life1 and it must be peculiarly advantageous to those who are precluded by their station in society from the necessity of manual labour4 ,mental exercise1 and mental amusements1 are essential to persons in the higher ranks of life1 who would escape from the fever of dissipation1 or from the lethargy of ennui4 ,the mere physical advantages which wealth can procure1 are reducible to the short sum of meat1 fire1 and clothes4 ,a nobleman of the highest birth1 and with the longest line of ancestry1 inherits no intuitive taste1 nor can he purchase it from the artist1 the painter1 or the poet2 the possession of the whole ,pinelli library could not infuse the slightest portion of literature4 ,education can alone give the full power to enjoy the real advantages of fortune4 ,to educate the taste and the imagination1 it is not necessary to surround the heir of an opulent family with masters and connoisseurs4 ,let him never hear the jargon of amateurs1 let him learn the art not to admire4 ,but in his earliest childhood cultivate his senses with care1 that he may be able to see and hear1 to feel and understand1 for himself4 ,visible images he will rapidly collect in his memory2 but these must be selected1 and his first associations must not be trusted to accident4 ,encourage him to observe with attention all the works of nature1 but show him only the best imitations of art2 the first objects that he contemplates with delight1 will remain long associated with pleasure in his imagination2 you must1 therefore1 be careful1 that these early associations accord with the decisions of those who have determined the national standard of taste4 ,in many instances taste is governed by arbitrary and variable laws2 the fashions of dress1 of decoration1 of manner1 change from day to day2 therefore no exclusive prejudices should confine your pupil's understanding4 ,let him know1 as far as we know them1 the general principles which govern mankind in their admiration of the sublime and beautiful2 but at the same time give him that enlarged toleration of mind1 which comprehends the possibility of a taste different from our own4 ,show him1 and you need not go further than the ,indian skreen1 or the ,chinese paper in your drawing room1 for the illustration1 that the sublime and beautiful vary at ,pekin1 at ,london1 on ,westminster bridge1 and on the banks of the ,ganges4 ,let your young pupil look over a collection of gems or of ancient medals2 it is necessary that his eye should be early accustomed to ,grecian beauty1 and to all the classic forms of grace4 ,but do not suffer him to become a bigot1 though he may be an enthusiast in his admiration of the antique4 ,short lessons upon this subject may be conveyed in a few words4 ,if a child sees you look at the bottom of a print for the name of the artist1 before you will venture to pronounce upon its merits1 he will follow your example1 and he will judge by the authority of others1 and not by his own taste4 ,if he hears you ask1 who wrote this poem8 ,who built this palace8 ,is this a genuine antique8 he will ask the same questions before he ventures to be pleased4 ,if he hears you pronounce with emphasis1 that such a thing comes from ,italy1 and therefore must be in good taste1 he will take the same compendious method of decision upon the first convenient occasion4 ,he will not trouble himself to examine why utility pleases1 nor will he analyze his taste1 or discover why one proportion or one design pleases him better than another2 he will1 if by example you teach him prejudice1 content himself with repeating the words1 proportion1 antique1 picturesque1 c4 without annexing any precise ideas to these words4 ,parents1 who have not turned their attention to metaphysics1 may1 perhaps1 apprehend1 that they have something very abstruse or intricate to learn1 before they can instruct their pupils in the principles of taste3 but these principles are simple1 and two or three entertaining books1 of no very alarming size1 comprise all that has yet been ascertained upon this subject4 ,vernet's ,thorie des ,sentiments ,agrables2 ,hogarth's ,analysis of ,beauty2 an ,essay of ,hume's on the standard of taste2 ,burke's ,sublime and ,beautiful2 ,lord ,kames's ,elements of ,criticism2 ,sir ,joshua ,reynold's ,discourses2 and ,alison on ,taste2 contain so much instruction1 mixed with so much amusement1 that we cannot think that it will be a terrible task to any parent to peruse them4 ,these books are above the comprehension of children2 but the principles which they contain1 can be very early illustrated in conversation4 ,it will be easy1 in familiar instances1 to show children that the fitness1 propriety1 or utility of certain forms1 recommends them to our approbation3 that uniformity1 an appearance of order and regularity1 are1 in some cases1 agreeable to us2 contrast1 in others3 that one class of objects pleases us from habit1 another from novelty1 c4 ,the general principle that governs taste1 in the greatest variety of instances1 is the association of ideas1 and this1 fortunately1 can be most easily illustrated4 ,i like such a person1 because her voice puts me in mind of my mother's4 ,i like this walk1 because ,i was very happy the last time ,i was here with my sister4 ,i think green is the prettiest of all colours2 my father's room is painted green1 and it is very cheerful1 and ,i have been very happy in that room2 and1 besides1 the grass is green in spring4 ,such simple observations as these1 come naturally from children2 they take notice of the influence of association upon their taste1 though1 perhaps1 they may not extend their observations so as to deduce the general principle according to philosophical forms4 ,we should not lay down for them this or any other principle of taste1 as a rule which they are to take for granted2 but we should lead them to class their own desultory remarks1 and we should excite them to attend to their own feelings1 and to ascertain the truth1 by experiments upon themselves4 ,we have often observed1 that children have been much entertained with comparing the accidental circumstances they have met with1 and the unpremeditated expressions used in conversation1 with any general maxim4 ,in this point of view1 we may render even general maxims serviceable to children1 because they will excite to experiment3 our pupils will detect their falsehood1 or1 after sufficient reflection1 acknowledge their truth4 ,perhaps it may be thought1 that this mode of instruction will tend rather to improve the judgment than the taste2 but every person of good taste1 must have also a good judgment in matters of taste3 sometimes the judgment may have been partially exercised upon a particular class of objects1 and its accuracy of discrimination may be confined to this one subject2 therefore we hastily decide1 that1 because men of taste may not always be men of universally good judgment1 these two powers of the mind are unnecessary to one another4 ,by teaching the philosophy1 at the same time that we cultivate the pleasures1 of taste1 we shall open to our pupils a new world2 we shall give them a new sense4 ,the pleasure of every effect will be increased by the perception of its cause2 the magic of the scenery will not lose its power to charm1 though we are aware of the secret of the enchantment4 ,we have hitherto spoken of the taste for what is beautiful2 a taste for the sublime we should be cautious in cultivating4 ,obscurity and terror are two of the grand sources of the sublime2 analyze the feeling1 examine accurately the object which creates the emotion1 and you dissipate the illusion1 you annihilate the pleasure4 ,what seemed its head1 the likeness of a kingly crown had on4 ,the indistinctness of the head and of the kingly crown1 makes this a sublime image4 ,upon the same principle1 ,danger1 whose limbs1 of giant mould1 ,no mortal eye can fix'd behold1 always must appear sublime as long as the passion of fear operates4 ,would it not1 however1 be imprudent in education to permit that early propensity to superstitious terrors1 and that temporary suspension of the reasoning faculties1 which are often essential to our taste for the sublime8 ,when we hear of ,margaret's grimly ghost1 or of the dead still hour of night1 a sort of awful tremor seizes us1 partly from the effect of early associations1 and partly from the solemn tone of the reader4 ,the early associations which we perhaps have formed of terror1 with the ideas of apparitions1 and winding sheets1 and sable shrouds1 should be unknown to children4 ,the silent solemn hour of midnight1 should not to them be an hour of terror4 ,in the following poetic description of the beldam telling dreadful stories to her infant audience1 we hear only of the pleasures of the imagination2 we do not recollect how dearly these pleasures must be purchased by their votaries3 99 99 99 99 99 99 finally by night ,the village matron1 round the blazing hearth1 ,suspends the infant audience with her tales1 ,breathing astonishment6 of witching rhymes1 ,and evil spirits2 of the death-bed call ,of him who robbed the widow1 and devour'd ,the orphan's portion2 of the unquiet souls ,ris'n from the grave to ease the heavy guilt ,of deeds in life concealed2 of shapes that walk ,at dead of night1 and clank their chains1 and wave ,the torch of hell around the murd'rer's bed4 ,at every solemn pause the crowd recoil1 ,gazing each other speechless1 and congeal'd ,with shiv'ring sighs2 till1 eager for th' event1 ,around the beldam all erect they hang1 ,each trembling heart with grateful terrors quell'd4#fe ,no prudent mother will ever imitate this eloquent village matron1 nor will she permit any beldam in the nursery to conjure up these sublime shapes1 and to quell the hearts of her children with these grateful terrors4 ,we were once present when a group of speechless children sat listening to the story of ,blue-beard1 breathing astonishment4 ,a gentleman who saw the charm beginning to operate1 resolved to counteract its dangerous influence4 ,just at the critical moment1 when the fatal key drops from the trembling hands of the imprudent wife1 the gentleman interrupted the awful pause of silence that ensued1 and requested permission to relate the remainder of the story4 ,tragi-comedy does not offend the taste of young1 so much as of old critics2 the transition from grave to gay was happily managed4 ,blue-beard's wife afforded much diversion1 and lost all sympathy the moment she was represented as a curious1 tattling1 timid1 ridiculous woman4 ,the terrors of ,blue-beard himself subsided when he was properly introduced to the company2 and the denouement of the piece was managed much to the entertainment of the audience2 the catastrophe1 instead of freezing their young blood1 produced general laughter4 ,ludicrous images1 thus presented to the mind which has been prepared for horror1 have an instantaneous effect upon the risible muscles3 it seems better to use these means of counteracting the terrors of the imagination1 than to reason upon the subject whilst the fit is on2 reason should be used between the fits4#ff ,those who study the minds of children know the nice touches which affect their imagination1 and they can1 by a few words1 change their feelings by the power of association4 ,ferdinand ,duke of ,tuscany was once struck with the picture of a child crying3 the painter1#fg who was at work upon the head1 wished to give the duke a proof of his skill3 by a few judicious strokes1 he converted the crying into a laughing face4 ,the duke1 when he looked at the child again1 was in astonishment3 the painter1 to show himself master of the human countenance1 restored his first touches2 and the duke1 in a few moments1 saw the child weeping again4 ,a preceptor may acquire similar power over the countenance of his pupil if he has studied the oratorical art4 ,by the art of oratory1 we do not mean the art of misrepresentation1 the art of deception2 we mean the art of showing the truth in the strongest light2 of exciting virtuous enthusiasm and generous indignation4 ,warm1 glowing eloquence1 is not inconsistent with accuracy of reasoning and judgment4 ,when we have expressed our admiration or abhorrence of any action or character1 we should afterwards be ready coolly to explain to our pupils the justice of our sentiments3 by this due mixture and alternation of eloquence and reasoning1 we may cultivate a taste for the moral and sublime1 and yet preserve the character from any tincture of extravagant enthusiasm4 ,we cannot expect1 that the torrent of passion should never sweep away the land-marks of exact morality2 but after its overflowing impetuosity abates1 we should take a calm survey of its effects1 and we should be able to ascertain the boundaries of right and wrong with geometrical precision4 ,there is a style of bombast morality affected by some authors1 which must be hurtful to young readers4 ,generosity and honour1 courage and sentiment1 are the striking qualities which seize and enchant the imagination in romance3 these qualities must be joined with justice1 prudence1 economy1 patience1 and many humble virtues1 to make a character really estimable2 but these would spoil the effect1 perhaps1 of dramatic exhibitions4 ,children may with much greater safety see hideous1 than gigantic representations of the passions4 ,richard the ,third excites abhorrence2 but young ,charles de ,moor1 in ,the ,robbers1 commands our sympathy2 even the enormity of his guilt1 exempts him from all ordinary modes of trial2 we forget the murderer1 and see something like a hero4 ,it is curious to observe1 that the legislature in ,germany1 and in ,england1 have found it necessary to interfere as to the representation of ,captain ,mac ,heath and the ,robbers2 two characters in which the tragic and the comic muse have had powerful effects in exciting imitation4 ,george ,barnwell is a hideous representation of the passions1 and therefore beneficial4 ,there are many sublime objects which do not depend upon terror1 or at least upon false associations of terror1 for their effect2 and there are many sublime thoughts1 which have no connection with violent passions or false ideas of morality4 ,these are what we should select1 if possible1 to raise1 without inflating1 the imagination4 ,the view of the ocean1 of the setting or the rising sun1 the great and bold scenes of nature1 affects the mind with sublime pleasure4 ,all the objects which suggest ideas of vast space1 or power1 of the infinite duration of time1 of the decay of the monuments of ancient grandeur1 or of the master-pieces of human art and industry1 have power to raise sublime sensations3 but we should consider1 that they raise this pleasure only by suggesting certain ideas2 those who have not the previous ideas1 will not feel the pleasure4 ,we should not1 therefore1 expect that children should admire objects which do not excite any ideas in their minds2 we should wait till they have acquired the necessary knowledge1 and we should not injudiciously familiarize them with these objects4 ,simplicity is a source of the sublime1 peculiarly suited to children2 accuracy of observation and distinctness of perception1 are essential to this species of the sublime4 ,in ,percy's collection of ancient ballads1 and in the modern poems of the ,ayreshire ploughman1 we may see many instances of the effect of simplicity4 ,to preserve our pupil's taste from a false love of ornament1 he must avoid1 either in books or in conversation1 all verbose and turgid descriptions1 the use of words and epithets which only fill up the measure of a line4 ,when a child sees any new object1 or feels any new sensation1 we should assist him with appropriate words to express his thoughts and feelings3 when the impression is fresh in his mind1 the association1 with the precise descriptive epithets1 can be made with most certainty4 ,as soon as a child has acquired a sufficient stock of words and ideas1 he should be from time to time exercised in description2 we should encourage him to give an exact account of his own feelings in his own words4 ,those parents who have been used to elegant1 will not1 perhaps1 be satisfied with the plain1 descriptions of unpractised pupils2 but they should not be fastidious2 they should rather be content with an epithet too little1 than with an epithet too much2 and they should compare the child's description with the objects actually described1 and not with the poems of ,thomson or ,gray1 or ,milton or ,shakespeare4 ,if we excite our pupils to copy from the writings of others1 they never can have any originality of thought4 ,to show parents what sort of simple descriptions they may reasonably expect from children1 we venture to produce the following extempore description of a summer's evening1 given by three children of different ages4 ,july #abth1 #agif4 ,mr4 ---- was walking out with his family1 and he asked his children to describe the evening just as it appeared to them4 ,there were three bards in ,ossian's poems1 said he1 who were sent out to see what sort of a night it was2 they all gave different descriptions upon their return2 you have never any of you read ,ossian1 but you can give us some description of this evening2 try4 ,b---- 7a girl of #ad47 ,the clouds in the west are bright with the light of the sun which has just set2 a thick mist is seen in the east1 and the smoke which had been heaped up in the day-time1 is now spread1 and mixes with the mist all round us2 the noises are heard more plainly 7though there are but few7 than in the day-time2 and those which are at a distance1 sound almost as near as those which are close to us2 there is a red mist round the moon4 ,c---- 7a girl of eleven years old47 ,the western clouds are pink with the light of the sun which has just set4 ,the moon shines red through the mist4 ,the smoke and mist make it look dark at a distance2 but the few objects near us appear plainer4 ,if it was not for the light of the moon1 they would not be seen2 but the moon is exceedingly bright2 it shines upon the house and the windows4 ,every thing sounds busy at a distance2 but what is near us is still4 ,s---- 7a boy between nine and ten years old74 ,the sun has set behind the hill1 and the western clouds are tinged with light4 ,the mist mixes with the smoke1 which rises from the heaps of weeds which some poor man is burning to earn bread for his family4 ,the moon through the mist peeps her head1 and sometimes she goes back1 retires into her bower of clouds4 ,the few noises that are heard1 are heard very plain--very plainly4 ,we should observe1 that the children who attempted these little descriptions1 had not been habituated to the poetic trade2 these were the only descriptions of an evening which they ever made4 ,it would be hurtful to exercise children frequently in descriptive composition2 it would give them the habit of exact observation1 it is true1 but something more is necessary to the higher species of poetry4 ,words must be selected which do not represent only1 but which suggest1 ideas4 ,minute veracity is essential to some sorts of description2 but in a higher style of poetry1 only the large features characteristic of the scene must be produced1 and all that is subordinate must be suppressed4 ,sir ,joshua ,reynolds justly observes1 that painters1 who aim merely at deception of the eye by exact imitation1 are not likely1 even in their most successful imitations1 to rouse the imagination4 ,the man who mistook the painted fly for a real fly1 only brushed1 or attempted to brush it1 away4 ,the exact representation of such a common object1 could not raise any sublime ideas in his mind2 and when he perceived the deception1 the wonder which he felt at the painter's art1 was a sensation no wise connected with poetic enthusiasm4 ,as soon as young people have collected a variety of ideas1 we can proceed a step in the education of their fancy4 ,we should sometimes in conversation1 sometimes in writing or in drawing1 show them how a few strokes1 or a few words1 can suggest or combine various ideas4 ,a single expression from ,csar1 charmed a mutinous army to instant submission4 ,unless the words ,roman ,citizens6 had suggested more than meets the ear1 how could they have produced this wonderful effect8 ,the works of ,voltaire and ,sterne abound with examples of the skilful use of the language of suggestion3 on this the wit of ,voltaire1 and the humour and pathos of ,sterne1 securely depend for their success4 ,thus1 corporal ,trim's eloquence on the death of his young master1 owed its effect upon the whole kitchen1 including the fat scullion1 who was scouring a fish-kettle upon her knees1 to the well-timed use of the mixed language of action and suggestion4 ',are we not here now8' continued the corporal 7striking the end of his stick perpendicularly upon the floor1 so as to give an idea of health and stability7 'and are we not' 7dropping his hat upon the ground7 'gone in a moment8' ,are we not here now1 and gone in a moment8 continues ,sterne1 who1 in this instance1 reveals the secret of his own art4 ,there was nothing in the sentence2 it was one of your self-evident truths we have the advantage of hearing every day2 and if ,trim had not trusted more to his hat than his head1 he had made nothing at all of it4 ,when we point out to our pupils such examples in ,sterne1 we hope it will not be understood1 that we point them out to induce servile imitation4 ,we apprehend1 that the imitators of ,sterne have failed from not having discovered that the interjections and ---- dashes of this author1 are not in themselves beauties1 but that they affect us by suggesting ideas4 ,to prevent any young writers from the intemperate or absurd use of interjections1 we should show them ,mr4 ,horne ,tooke's acute remarks upon this mode of embellishment4 ,we do not1 however1 entirely agree with this author in his abhorrence of interjections4 ,we do not believe that where speech can be employed they are totally useless2 and are always insufficient for the purpose of communicating our thoughts4#fh ,even if we class them1 as ,mr4 ,tooke himself does1#fi amongst involuntary convulsions with oral sound1 such as groaning1 shrieking1 c4 yet they may suggest ideas1 as well as express animal feelings4 ,sighing1 according to ,mr4 ,tooke1 is in the class of interjections1 yet the poet acknowledges the superior eloquence of sighs3 ,persuasive words1 and more persuasive sighs4 ',i wish1' said ,uncle ,toby1 with a deep sigh 7after hearing the story of ,le ,fevre7 ',i wish1 ,trim1 ,i was asleep4' ,the sigh here adds great force to the wish1 and it does not mark that ,uncle ,toby1 from vehemence of passion1 had returned to the brutal state of a savage who has not learnt the use of speech2 but1 on the contrary1 it suggests to the reader1 that ,uncle ,toby was a man of civilized humanity2 not one whose compassion was to be excited merely as an animal feeling by the actual sight of a fellow-creature in pain1 but rather by the description of the sufferer's situation4 ,in painting1 as well as in writing1 the language of suggestion affects the mind1 and if any of our pupils should wish to excel in this art1 they must early attend to this principle4 ,the picture of ,agamemnon hiding his face at the sacrifice of his daughter1 expresses little to the eye1 but much to the imagination4 ,the usual signs of grief and joy make but slight impression2 to laugh and to weep are such common expressions of delight or anguish1 that they cannot be mistaken1 even by the illiterate2 but the imagination must be cultivated to enlarge the sphere of sympathy1 and to render a more refined language intelligible4 ,it is said that a ,milanese artist painted two peasants1 and two country-girls1 who laughed so heartily1 that no one could look at them without laughing4#gj ,this is an instance of sympathy unconnected with imagination4 ,the following is an instance of sympathy excited by imagination4 ,when ,porcia was to part from ,brutus1 just before the breaking out of the civil war1 she endeavoured1 says ,plutarch1 as well as possible1 to conceal the sorrow that oppressed her2 but1 notwithstanding her magnanimity1 a picture betrayed her distress4 ,the subject was the parting of ,hector and ,andromache4 ,he was represented delivering his son ,astyanax into her arms1 and the eyes of ,andromache were fixed upon him4 ,the resemblance that this picture bore to her own distress1 made ,porcia burst into tears the moment she beheld it4 ,if ,porcia had never read ,homer1 ,andromache would not have had this power over her imagination and her sympathy4 ,the imagination not only heightens the power of sympathy with the emotions of all the passions which a painter would excite1 but it is likewise essential to our taste for another class of pleasures4 ,artists1 who like ,hogarth would please by humour1 wit1 and ridicule1 must depend upon the imagination of the spectators to supply all the intermediate ideas which they would suggest4 ,the cobweb over the poor box1 one of the happiest strokes of satire that ,hogarth ever invented1 would probably say nothing to the inattentive eye1 or the dull imagination4 ,a young person must acquire the language1 before he can understand the ideas1 of superior minds4 ,the taste for poetry must be prepared by the culture of the imagination4 ,the united powers of music and poetry could not have triumphed over ,alexander1 unless his imagination had assisted the mighty master4 ,with downcast looks the joyless victor sat1 ,revolving in his altered soul ,the various turns of chance below2 ,and now and then a sigh he stole1 ,and tears began to flow4 ,the sigh and the tears were the consequences of ,alexander's own thoughts1 which were only recalled by kindred sounds4 ,we are well aware1 that savage nations1 or those that are imperfectly civilized1 are subject to enthusiasm2 but we are inclined to think1 that the barbarous clamour with which they proclaim their delight in music and poetry1 may deceive us as to the degree in which it is felt3 the sensations of cultivated minds may be more exquisite1 though they are felt in silence4 ,it has been supposed1 that ignorance is extremely susceptible of the pleasures of wonder3 but wonder and admiration are different feelings3 the admiration which a cultivated mind feels for excellence1 of which it can fully judge1 is surely a higher species of pleasure1 than the brute wonder expressed by a foolish face of praise4 ,madame ,roland tells us1 that once1 at a sermon preached by a celebrated ,frenchman1 she was struck with the earnest attention painted in the countenance of a young woman who was looking up at the preacher4 ,at length the fair enthusiast exclaimed1 ,my ,god1 how he perspires6 ,a different sort of admiration was felt by ,csar1 when the scroll dropped from his hand whilst he listened to an oration of ,cicero's4 ,there are an infinite variety of associations1 by which the orator has power to rouse the imagination of a person of cultivated understanding2 there are comparatively few1 by which he can amuse the fancy of illiterate auditors4 ,it is not that they have less imagination than others2 they have equally the power of raising vivid images2 but there are few images which can be recalled to them3 the combinations of their ideas are confined to a small number1 and words have no poetic or literary associations in their minds3 even amongst children1 this difference between the power we have over the cultivated and uncultivated mind1 early appears4 ,a laurel leaf is to the eye of an illiterate boy nothing more than a shrub with a shining1 pale-green1 pointed leaf3 recall the idea of that shrub by the most exact description1 it will affect him with no peculiar pleasure3 but associate early in a boy's mind the ideas of glory1 of poetry1 of olympic crowns1 of ,daphne and ,apollo2 by some of these latent associations the orator may afterwards raise his enthusiasm4 ,we shall not here repeat what has been said#ga upon the choice of literature for young people1 but shall once more warn parents to let their pupils read only the best authors1 if they wish them to have a fine imagination1 or a delicate taste4 ,when their minds are awake and warm1 show them excellence2 let them hear oratory only when they can feel it2 if the impression be vivid1 no matter how transient the touch4 ,ideas which have once struck the imagination1 can be recalled by the magic of a word1 with all their original1 all their associated force4 ,do not fatigue the eye and ear of your vivacious pupil with the monotonous sounds and confused images of vulgar poetry4 ,do not make him repeat the finest passages of ,shakespeare and ,milton2 the effect is lost by repetition2 the words1 the ideas are profaned4 ,let your pupils hear eloquence from eloquent lips1 and they will own its power4 ,but let a drawling1 unimpassioned reader1 read a play of ,shakespeare's1 or an oration of ,demosthenes1 and if your pupil is not out of patience1 he will never taste the charms of eloquence4 ,if he feels a fine sentiment1 or a sublime idea1 pause1 leave his mind full1 leave his imagination elevated4 ,five minutes afterwards1 perhaps1 your pupil's attention is turned to something else1 and the sublime idea seems to be forgotten3 but do not fear2 the idea is not obliterated2 it is latent in his memory2 it will appear at a proper time1 perhaps a month1 perhaps twenty years afterwards4 ,ideas may remain long useless1 and almost forgotten in the mind1 and may be called forth by some corresponding association from their torpid state4 ,young people1 who wish to make themselves orators or eloquent writers1 should acquire the habit of attending first to the general impression made upon their own minds by oratory1 and afterwards to the cause which produced the effect2 hence they will obtain command over the minds of others1 by using the knowledge they have acquired of their own4 ,the habit of considering every new idea1 or new fact1 as a subject for allusion1 may also be useful to the young orator4 ,a change from time to time in the nature of his studies1 will enlarge and invigorate his imagination4 ,gibbon says1 that1 after the publication of his first volume of the ,roman history1 he gave himself a short holyday4 ,i indulged my curiosity in some studies of a very different nature3 a course of anatomy1 which was demonstrated by ,dr4 ,hunter1 and some lessons of chemistry1 which were delivered by ,dr4 ,higgins4 ,the principles of these sciences1 and a taste for books of natural history1 contributed to multiply my ideas and images2 and the anatomist and chemist may sometimes track me in their own snow4 ,different degrees of enthusiasm are requisite in different professions2 but we are inclined to think1 that the imagination might with advantage be cultivated to a much higher degree than is commonly allowed in young men intended for public advocates4 ,we have seen several examples of the advantage of a general taste for the belles lettres in eminent lawyers2#gb and we have lately seen an ingenious treatise called ,deinology1 or instructions for a ,young ,barrister1 which confirms our opinion upon this subject4 ,an orator1 by the judicious preparation of the minds of his audience1 may increase the effect of his best arguments4 ,a ,grecian painter1#gc before he would produce a picture which he had finished1 representing a martial enterprise1 ordered martial music to be played1 to raise the enthusiasm of the assembled spectators2 when their imagination was sufficiently elevated1 he uncovered the picture1 and it was beheld with sympathetic transports of applause4 ,it is usually thought1 that persons of extraordinary imagination are deficient in judgment3 by proper education1 this evil might be prevented4 ,we may observe that persons1 who have acquired particular facility in certain exercises of the imagination1 can1 by voluntary exertion1 either excite or suppress certain trains of ideas on which their enthusiasm depends4 ,an actor1 who storms and raves whilst he is upon the stage1 appears with a mild and peaceable demeanor a moment afterwards behind the scenes4 ,a poet1 in his inspired moments1 repeats his own verses in his garret with all the emphasis and fervour of enthusiasm2 but when he comes down to dine with a mixed convivial company1 his poetic fury subsides1 a new train of ideas takes place in his imagination4 ,as long as he has sufficient command over himself to lay aside his enthusiasm in company1 he is considered as a reasonable1 sensible man1 and the more imagination he displays in his poems1 the better4 ,the same exercise of fancy1 which we admire in one case1 we ridicule in another4 ,the enthusiasm which characterizes the man of genius1 borders upon insanity4 ,when ,voltaire was teaching mademoiselle ,clairon1 the celebrated actress1 to perform an impassioned part in one of his tragedies1 she objected to the violence of his enthusiasm4 ,mais1 monsieur1 on me prendroit pour une possede6#gd ,eh1 mademoiselle1 replied the philosophic bard1 il faut tre un possed pour russir en aucun art4 ,the degree of enthusiasm1 which makes the painter and poet set1 what to more idle1 or more busy mortals1 appears an imaginary value upon their respective arts1 supports the artist under the pressure of disappointment and neglect1 stimulates his exertions1 and renders him almost insensible to labour and fatigue4 ,military heroes1 or those who are insane with ambition1#ge endure all the real miseries of life1 and brave the terrors of death1 under the invigorating influence of an extravagant imagination4 ,cure them of their enthusiasm1 and they are no longer heroes4 ,we must1 therefore1 decide in education1 what species of characters we would produce1 before we can determine what degree1 or what habits of imagination1 are desirable4 ,je suis le ,dieu de la danse6#gf exclaimed ,vestris2 and probably ,alexander the ,great did not feel more pride in his ,apotheosis4 ,had any cynical philosopher undertaken to cure ,vestris of his vanity1 it would not have been a charitable action4 ,vestris might1 perhaps1 by force of reasoning1 have been brought to acknowledge that a dancing-master was not a divinity1 but this conviction would not have increased his felicity2 on the contrary1 he would have become wretched in proportion as he became rational4 ,the felicity of enthusiasts depends upon their being absolutely incapable of reasoning1 or of listening to reason upon certain subjects2 provided they are resolute in repeating their own train of thoughts without comparing them with that of others1 they may defy the malice of wisdom1 and in happy ignorance may enjoy perpetual delirium4 ,parents1 who value the happiness of their children1 will consider exactly what chance there is of their enjoying unmolested any partial enthusiasm2 they will consider1 that by early excitations1 it is very easy to raise any species of ambition in the minds of their pupils4 ,the various species of enthusiasm necessary to make a poet1 a painter1 an orator1 or a military hero1 may be inspired1 without doubt1 by education4 ,how far these are connected with happiness1 is another question4 ,whatever be the object which he pursues1 we must1 as much as possible1 ensure our pupil's success4 ,those who have been excited to exertion by enthusiasm1 if they do not obtain the reward or admiration which they had been taught to expect1 sink into helpless despondency4 ,whether their object has been great or small1 if it has been their favourite object1 and they fail of its attainment1 their mortification and subsequent languor are unavoidable4 ,the wisest of monarchs exclaimed1 that all was vanity and vexation of spirit2 he did not1 perhaps1 feel more weary of the world than the poor juggler felt1 who1 after educating his hands to the astonishing dexterity of throwing up into the air1 and catching as they fell1 six eggs successively1 without breaking them1 received from the emperor1 before whom he performed1 six eggs to reward the labour of his life6 ,this poor man's ambition appears obviously absurd2 and we are under no immediate apprehension1 that parents should inspire their children with the enthusiasm necessary to the profession of a juggler3 but1 unless some precautions are taken1 the objects which excite the ambition of numbers1 may be placed so as to deceive the eye and imagination of children2 and they may labour through life in pursuit of phantoms4 ,if children early hear their parents express violent admiration for riches1 rank1 power1 or fame1 they catch a species of enthusiasm for these things1 before they can estimate justly their value2 from the countenance and manner1 they draw very important conclusions4 ,felicity is painted on your countenance1 is a polite phrase of salutation in ,china4 ,the taste for looking happy1 is not confined to the ,chinese3 the rich and great1#gg by every artifice of luxury1 endeavour to impress the spectator with the idea of their superior felicity4 ,from experience we know1 that the external signs of delight are not always sincere1 and that the apparatus of luxury is not necessary to happiness4 ,children who live with persons of good sense1 learn to separate the ideas of happiness and a coach and six2 but young people who see their fathers1 mothers1 and preceptors1 all smitten with sudden admiration at the sight of a fine phaeton1 or a fine gentleman1 are immediately infected with the same absurd enthusiasm4 ,these parents do not suspect1 that they are perverting the imagination of their children1 when they call them with foolish eagerness to the windows to look at a fine equipage1 a splendid cavalcade1 or a military procession2 they perhaps summon a boy1 who is intended for a merchant1 or a lawyer1 to hear the spirit stirring drum2 and they are afterwards surprised1 if he says1 when he is fifteen or sixteen1 that1 if his father pleases1 he had rather go into the army1 than go to the bar4 ,the mother is alarmed1 perhaps1 about the same time1 by an unaccountable predilection in her daughter's fancy for a red coat1 and totally forgets having called the child to the window to look at the smart cockades1 and to hear the tune of ,see the conquering hero comes4 ,hear you me1 ,jessica1 says ,shylock to his daughter1 lock up my doors2 and when you hear the drum1 and the vile squeaking of the wry-necked fife1 clamber not you up into the casements then4 ,shylock's exhortations were vain2 ,jessica had arrived at years of discretion1 and it was too late to forbid her clambering into the casements2 the precautions should have been taken sooner2 the epithets vile squeaking and wry-necked fife1 could not alter the lady's taste3 and ,shylock should have known how peremptory prohibitions and exaggerated expressions of aversion operate upon the female imagination2 he was imprudent in the extreme of his caution4 ,we should let children see things as they really are1 and we should not prejudice them either by our exclamations of rapture1 or by our affected disgust4 ,if they are familiarized with show1 they will not be caught by it2 if they see the whole of whatever is to be seen1 their imagination will not paint things more delightful than they really are4 ,for these reasons1 we think that young people should not be restrained1 though they may be guided in their tastes2 we should supply them with all the information in which they are deficient1 and leave them to form their own judgments4 ,without making it a matter of favour1 or of extraordinary consequence1 parents can take their children to see public exhibitions1 or to partake of any amusements which are really agreeable2 they can1 at the same time1 avoid mixing factitious with real pleasure4 ,if1 for instance1 we have an opportunity of taking a boy to a good play1 or a girl to a ball1 let them enjoy the full pleasure of the amusement1 but do not let us excite their imagination by great preparations1 or by anticipating remarks3 ,oh1 you'll be very happy to-morrow1 for you're to go to the play4 ,you must look well to-night1 for you are going to the ball4 ,were you never at a ball8 ,did you never see a play before8 ,oh1 then you'll be delighted1 ,i'm sure6 ,the children often look much more sensible1 and sometimes more composed1 in the midst of these foolish exclamations1 than their parents4 ,est ce que je m'amuse1 maman8 said a little girl of six years old1 the first time she was taken to the playhouse4 ,besides the influence of opinion1 there are a number of other circumstances to be considered in cultivating the imagination2 there are many other circumstances which must be attended to1 and different precautions are necessary1 to regulate properly the imagination of children of different dispositions1 or temperaments4 ,the disposition to associate ideas1 varies in strength and quickness in opposite temperaments3 the natural vivacity or dulness of the senses1 the habit of observing external objects1 the power of voluntary exertion1 and the propensity to reverie1 must all be considered before we can adapt a plan of education exactly to the pupil's advantage4 ,a wise preceptor will counteract1 as much as possible1 all those defects to which a child may appear most liable1 and will cultivate his imagination so as to prevent the errours to which he is most exposed by natural1 or what we call natural1 disposition4 ,some children appear to feel sensations of pleasure or pain with more energy than others2 they take more delight in feeling than in reflection2 they have neither much leisure nor much inclination for the intellectual exertions of comparison or deliberation4 ,great care should be taken to encourage children of this temper to describe and to compare their sensations4 ,by their descriptions we shall judge what motives we ought to employ to govern them1 and if we can teach them to compare their feelings1 we shall induce that voluntary exertion of mind in which they are naturally defective4 ,we cannot compare or judge of our sensations without voluntary exertion4 ,when we deliberate1 we repeat our ideas deliberately2 and this is an exercise peculiarly useful to those who feel quickly4 ,when any pleasure makes too great an impression upon these children of vivid sensations1 we should repeat the pleasure frequently1 till it begins to fatigue2 or we should contrast it1 and bring it into direct comparison with some other species of pleasure4 ,for instance1 suppose a boy had appeared highly delighted with seeing a game at cards1 and that we were apprehensive he might1 from this early association1 acquire a taste for gaming1 we might either repeat the amusement till the playing at cards began to weary the boy1 or we might take him immediately after playing at cards to an interesting comedy2 probably1 the amusement he would receive at the playhouse1 would be greater than that which he had enjoyed at the card-table2 and as these two species of pleasure would immediately succeed to each other1 the child could scarcely avoid comparing them4 ,is it necessary to repeat1 that all this should be done without any artifice8 ,the child should know the meaning of our conduct1 and then he will never set himself in opposition to our management4 ,if it is not convenient1 or possible1 to dull the charm of novelty by repetition1 or to contrast a new pleasure with some other superior amusement1 there is another expedient which may be useful2 we may call the power of association to our assistance3 this power is sometimes a full match for the most lively sensations4 ,for instance1 suppose a boy of strong feelings had been offended by some trifle1 and expressed sensations of hatred against the offender obviously too violent for the occasion2 to bring the angry boy's imagination to a temperate state1 we might recall some circumstance of his former affection for the offender2 or the general idea1 that it is amiable and noble to command our passion1 and to forgive those who have injured us4 ,at the sight of his mother1 with whom he had many agreeable associations1 the imagination of ,coriolanus raised up instantly a train of ideas connected with the love of his family1 and of his country1 and immediately the violence of his sensations of anger were subdued4 ,brutus1 after his friend ,cassius has apologized to him for his rash humour1 by saying1 that it was hereditary from his mother1 promises that the next time ,cassius is over-earnest with his ,brutus1 he will think his mother chides1 and leave him so2 that is to say1 ,brutus promises to recollect an association of ideas1 which shall enable him to bear with his friend's ill humour4 ,children1 who associate ideas very strongly and with rapidity1#gh must be educated with continual attention4 ,with children of this class1 the slightest circumstances are of consequence2 they may at first appear to be easily managed1 because they will remember pertinaciously any reproof1 any reward or punishment2 and1 from association1 they will scrupulously avoid or follow what has1 in any one instance1 been joined with pain or pleasure in their imagination3 but unfortunately1 accidental events will influence them1 as well as the rewards and punishments of their preceptors2 and a variety of associations will be formed1 which may secretly govern them long before their existence is suspected4 ,we shall be surprised to find1 that even where there is apparently no hope1 or fear1 or passion1 to disturb their judgment1 they cannot reason1 or understand reasoning4 ,on studying them more closely1 we shall discover the cause of this seeming imbecility4 ,a multitude of associated ideas occur to them upon whatever subject we attempt to reason1 which distract their attention1 and make them change the terms of every proposition with incessant variety4 ,their pleasures are chiefly secondary reflected pleasures1 and they do not judge by their actual sensations so much as by their associations4 ,they like and dislike without being able to assign any sufficient cause for their preference or aversion4 ,they make a choice frequently without appearing to deliberate2 and if you1 by persuading them to a more detailed examination of the objects1 convince them1 that according to the common standard of good and evil1 they have made a foolish choice1 they will still seem puzzled and uncertain2 and1 if you leave them at liberty1 will persist in their original determination4 ,by this criterion we may decide1 that they are influenced by some secret false association of ideas2 and1 instead of arguing with them upon the obvious folly of their present choice1 we should endeavour to make them trace back their ideas1 and discover the association by which they are governed4 ,in some cases this may be out of their power1 because the original association may have been totally forgotten1 and yet those connected with it may continue to act3 but even when we cannot succeed in any particular instance in detecting the cause of the errour1 we shall do the pupils material service by exciting them to observe their own minds4 ,a tutor1 who carefully remarks the circumstances in which a child expresses uncommon grief or joy1 hope or fear1 may obtain complete knowledge of his associations1 and may accurately distinguish the proximate and remote causes of all his pupil's desires and aversions4 ,he will then have absolute command over the child's mind1 and he should upon no account trust his pupil to the direction of any other person4 ,another tutor1 though perhaps of equal ability1 could not be equally secure of success2 the child would probably be suspected of cunning1 caprice1 or obstinacy1 because the causes of his tastes and judgments could not be discovered by his new preceptor4 ,it often happens1 that those who feel pleasure and pain most strongly1 are likewise most disposed to form strong associations of ideas4#gi ,children of this character are never stupid1 but often prejudiced and passionate3 they can readily assign a reason for their preference or aversion2 they recollect distinctly the original sensations of pleasure or pain1 on which their associations depend2 they do not1 like ,mr4 ,transfer in ,zelucco1 like or dislike persons and things1 because they have been used to them1 but because they have received some injury or benefit from them4 ,such children are apt to make great mistakes in reasoning1 from their registering of coincidences hastily2 they do not wait to repeat their experiments1 but if they have in one instance observed two things to happen at the same time1 they expect that they will always recur together4 ,if one event precedes or follows another accidentally1 they believe it to be the cause or effect of its concomitant1 and this belief is not to be shaken in their minds by ridicule or argument4 ,they are1 consequently1 inclined both to superstition and enthusiasm1 according as their hopes and fears predominate4 ,they are likewise subject to absurd antipathies--antipathies which verge towards insanity4 ,dr4 ,darwin relates a strong instance of antipathy in a child from association4 ,the child1 on tasting the gristle of sturgeon1 asked what gristle was8 and was answered1 that gristle was like the division of a man's nose4 ,the child1 disgusted at this idea1 for twenty years afterwards could never be persuaded to taste sturgeon4#hj ,zimmermann assures us1 that he was an eye-witness of a singular antipathy1 which we may be permitted to describe in his own words3 ,happening to be in company with some ,english gentlemen1 all of them men of distinction1 the conversation fell upon antipathies4 ,many of the company denied their reality1 and considered them as idle stories1 but ,i assured them that they were truly a disease4 ,mr4 ,william ,matthews1 son to the governor of ,barbadoes1 was of my opinion1 because he himself had an antipathy to spiders4 ,the rest of the company laughed at him4 ,i undertook to prove to them that this antipathy was really an impression on his soul1 resulting from the determination of a mechanical effect4 7,we do not pretend to know what ,dr4 ,zimmermann means by this47 ,lord ,john ,murray undertook to shape some black wax into the appearance of a spider1 with a view to observe whether the antipathy would take place at the simple figure of the insect4 ,he then withdrew for a moment1 and came in again with the wax in his hand1 which he kept shut4 ,mr4 ,matthews1 who in other respects was a very amiable and moderate man1 immediately conceiving that his friend really had a spider in his hand1 clapped his hand to his sword with extreme fury1 and running back towards the partition1 cried out most horribly4 ,all the muscles of his face were swelled1 his eyes were rolling in their sockets1 and his body was immoveable4 ,we were all exceedingly alarmed1 and immediately ran to his assistance1 took his sword from him1 and assured him that what he conceived to be a spider1 was nothing more than a bit of wax1 which he might see upon the table4 ,he remained some time in this spasmodic state2 but at length he began to recover1 and to deplore the horrible passion from which he still suffered4 ,his pulse was very strong and quick1 and his whole body was covered with a cold perspiration4 ,after taking an anodyne draft1 he resumed his usual tranquillity4 ,we are not to wonder at this antipathy1 continues ,zimmermann2 the spiders at ,barbadoes are very large1 and of an hideous figure4 ,mr4 ,matthews was born there1 and his antipathy was therefore to be accounted for4 ,some of the company undertook to make a little waxen spider in his presence4 ,he saw this done with great tranquillity1 but he could not be persuaded to touch it1 though he was by no means a timorous man in other respects4 ,nor would he follow my advice to endeavour to conquer this antipathy by first drawing parts of spiders of different sorts1 and after a time whole spiders1 till at length he might be able to look at portions of real spiders1 and thus gradually accustom himself to whole ones1 at first dead1 and then living ones4#ha ,dr4 ,zimmermann's method of cure1 appears rather more ingenious1 than his way of accounting for the disease4 ,are all the natives of ,barbadoes subject to convulsions at the sight of the large spiders in that island8 or why does ,mr4 ,william ,matthews' having been born there account so satisfactorily for his antipathy8 ,the cure of these unreasonable fears of harmless animals1 like all other antipathies1 would1 perhaps1 be easily effected1 if it were judiciously attempted early in life4 ,the epithets which we use in speaking of animals1 and our expressions of countenance1 have great influence on the minds of children4 ,if we1 as ,dr4 ,darwin advises1 call the spider the ingenious spider1 and the frog the harmless frog1 and if we look at them with complacency1 instead of aversion1 children1 from sympathy1 will imitate our manner1 and from curiosity will attend to the animals1 to discover whether the commendatory epithets we bestow upon them1 are just4 ,it is comparatively of little consequence to conquer antipathies which have trifling objects4 ,an individual can go through life very well without eating sturgeon1 or touching spiders2 but when we consider the influence of the same disposition to associate false ideas too strongly in more important instances1 we shall perceive the necessity of correcting it by education4 ,locke tells us of a young man1 who1 having been accustomed to see an old trunk in the room with him when he learned to dance1 associated his dancing exertions so strongly with the sight of this trunk1 that he could not succeed by any voluntary efforts in its absence4 ,we have1 in our remarks upon attention1#hb pointed out the great inconveniences to which those are exposed who acquire associated habits of intellectual exertion2 who cannot speak1 or write1 or think1 without certain habitual aids to their memory or imagination4 ,we must further observe1 that incessant vigilance is necessary in the moral education of children disposed to form strong associations2 they are liable to sudden and absurd dislikes or predilections1 with respect to persons1 as well as things2 they are subject to caprice in their affections and temper1 and liable to a variety of mental infirmities1 which1 in different degrees1 we call passion or madness4 ,locke tells us1 that he knew a man who1 after having been restored to health by a painful operation1 had so strongly associated the idea and figure of the operator with the agony he had endured1 that though he acknowledged the obligation1 and felt gratitude towards this friend who had saved him1 he never afterwards could bear to see his benefactor4 ,there are some people who associate so readily and incorrigibly the idea of any pain or insult they have received from another1 with his person and character1 that they can never afterwards forget or forgive4 ,they are hence disposed to all the intemperance of hatred and revenge2 to the chronic malice of a ,jago1 or the acute pangs of an ,achilles4 ,homer1 in his speech of ,achilles to ,agamemnon's mediating ambassadors1 has drawn a strong and natural picture of the progress of anger4 ,it is worth studying as a lesson in metaphysics4 ,whenever association suggests to the mind of ,achilles the injury he has received1 he loses his reason1 and the orator works himself up from argument to declamation1 and from declamation to desperate resolution1 through a close linked connection of ideas and sensations4 ,the insanities of ambition1 avarice1 and vanity1 originate in early mistaken associations4 ,a feather1 or a crown1 or an alderman's chain1 or a cardinal's hat1 or a purse of yellow counters1 are unluckily associated in the minds of some men with the idea of happiness1 and1 without staying to deliberate1 these unfortunate persons hunt through life the phantasms of a disordered imagination4 ,whilst we pity1 we are amused by the blindness and blunders of those whose mistakes can affect no one's felicity but their own2 but any delusions which prompt their victims to actions inimical to their fellow-creatures1 are the objects not unusually of pity1 but of indignation1 of private aversion and public punishment4 ,we smile at the avaricious insanity of the miser1 who dresses himself in the cast-off ,wig of a beggar1 and pulls a crushed pancake from his pocket for his own and for his friend's dinner4#hc ,we smile at the insane vanity of the pauper1 who dressed himself in a many-coloured paper star1 assumed the title of ,duke of ,baubleshire1 and as such required homage from every passenger4#hd ,but are we inclined to smile at the outrageous vanity of the man who styled himself the son of ,jupiter1 and who murdered his best friend for refusing him divine honours8 ,are we disposed to pity the slave-merchant1 who1 urged by the maniacal desire for gold1 hears unmoved the groans of his fellow-creatures1 the execrations of mankind1 and that small still voice1 which haunts those who are stained with blood4 ,the moral insanities which strike us with horror1 compassion1 or ridicule1 however they may differ in their effects1 have frequently one common origin2 an early false association of ideas4 ,persons who mistake in measuring their own feelings1 or who neglect to compare their ideas1 and to balance contending wishes1 scarcely merit the name of rational creatures4 ,the man1 who does not deliberate1 is lost4 ,we have endeavoured1 though well aware of the difficulty of the subject1 to point out some of the precautions that should be used in governing the imagination of young people of different dispositions4 ,we should add1 that in all cases the pupils attention to his own mind will be of more consequence1 than the utmost vigilance of the most able preceptor2 the sooner he is made acquainted with his own character1 and the sooner he can be excited to govern himself by reason1 or to attempt the cure of his own defects1 the better4 ,there is one habit of the imagination1 to which we have not yet adverted1 the habit of reverie4 ,in reverie we are so intent upon a particular train of ideas1 that we are unconscious of all external objects1 and we exert but little voluntary power4 ,it is true that some persons in castle-building both reason and invent1 and therefore must exert some degree of volition2 even in the wildest reverie1 there may be traced some species of consistency1 some connection amongst the ideas2 but this is simply the result of the association of ideas4 ,inventive castle-builders are rather nearer the state of insanity than of reverie2 they reason well upon false principles2 their airy fabrics are often both in good taste and in good proportion2 nothing is wanting to them but a foundation4 ,on the contrary1 nothing can be more silly than the reveries of silly people2 they are not only defective in consistency1 but they want all the unities2 they are not extravagant1 but they are stupid2 they consist usually of a listless reiteration of uninteresting ideas2 the whole pleasure enjoyed by those addicted to them consists in the facility of repetition4 ,it is a mistaken notion1 that only people of ardent imaginations are disposed to reverie2 the most indolent and stupid persons waste their existence in this indulgence2 they do not act always in consequence of their dreams1 therefore we do not detect their folly4 ,young people of active minds1 when they have not sufficient occupation1 necessarily indulge in reverie2 and1 by degrees1 this wild exercise of their invention and imagination becomes so delightful to them1 that they prefer it to all sober employments4 ,mr4 ,williams1 in his ,lectures upon ,education1 gives an account of a boy singularly addicted to reverie4 ,the desire of invisibility had seized his mind1 and for several years he had indulged his fancy with imagining all the pleasures that he should command1 and all the feats that he could perform1 if he were in possession of ,gyges's ring4 ,the reader should1 however1 be informed1 that this castle-builder was not a youth of strict veracity2 his confession upon this occasion1 as upon others1 might not have been sincere4 ,we only state the story from ,mr4 ,williams4 ,to prevent children from acquiring a taste for reverie1 let them have various occupations both of mind and body4 ,let us not direct their imagination to extraordinary future pleasures1 but let us suffer them to enjoy the present4 ,anticipation is a species of reverie2 and children1 who have promises of future pleasures frequently made to them1 live in a continual state of anticipation4 ,to cure the habit of reverie when it has once been formed1 we must take different methods with different tempers4 ,with those who indulge in the stupid reverie1 we should employ strong excitations1 and present to the senses a rapid succession of objects1 which will completely engage without fatiguing them4 ,this mode must not be followed with children of different dispositions1 else we should increase1 instead of curing1 the disease4 ,the most likely method to break this habit in children of great quickness or sensibility1 is to set them to some employment which is wholly new to them1 and which will consequently exercise and exhaust all their faculties1 so that they shall have no life left for castle-building4 ,monotonous occupations1 such as copying1 drawing1 or writing1 playing on the harpsichord1 c4 are not1 if habit has made them easy to the pupil1 fit for our purpose4 ,we may all perceive1 that in such occupations1 the powers of the mind are left unexercised4 ,we can frequently read aloud with tolerable emphasis for a considerable time together1 and at the same time think upon some subject foreign to the book we hold in our hands4 ,the most difficult exercises of the mind1 such as invention1 or strict reasoning1 are those alone which are sufficient to subjugate and chain down the imagination of some active spirits4 ,to such laborious exercises they should be excited by the encouraging voice of praise and affection4 ,imaginative children will be more disposed to invent than to reason1 but they cannot perfect any invention without reasoning2 there will1 therefore1 be a mixture of what they like and dislike in the exercise of invention1 and the habit of reasoning will1 perhaps1 gradually become agreeable to them1 if it be thus dexterously united with the pleasures of the imagination4 ,so much has already been written by various authors upon the pleasures and the dangers of imagination1 that we could scarcely hope to add any thing new to what they have produced3 but we have endeavoured to arrange the observations which appeared most applicable to practical education2 we have pointed out how the principles of taste may be early taught without injury to the general understanding1 and how the imagination should be prepared for the higher pleasures of eloquence and poetry4 ,we have attempted to define the boundaries between the enthusiasm of genius1 and its extravagance2 and to show some of the precautions which may be used1 to prevent the moral defects to which persons of ardent imagination are usually subject4 ,the degree in which the imagination should be cultivated must1 we have observed1 be determined by the views which parents may have for their children1 by their situations in society1 and by the professions for which they are destined4 ,under the government of a sober judgment1 the powers of the imagination must be advantageous in every situation2 but their value to society1 and to the individuals by whom they are possessed1 depends ultimately upon the manner in which they are managed4 ,a magician1 under the control of a philosopher1 would perform not only great1 but useful1 wonders4 ,the homely proverb1 which has been applied to fire1 may with equal truth be applied to imagination3 ,it is a good servant1 but a bad master4 ,,footnotes3 #eh ,priestley has ably given the desiderata of electricity1 vision1 c4 #ei ,wharton's ,ode to ,fancy4 #fj ,gerard4 #fa ,lord ,kames4 #fb ,professor ,stewart4 #fc ,v4 ,an excellent essay of ,mr4 ,barnes's on ,imagination4 ,manchester ,society1 vol4 i4 #fd ,it is to be hoped that the foreign philosophers1 who1 it is said1 are now employed in drawing up a new metaphysical nomenclature1 will avail themselves of the extensive knowledge1 and original genius of the author of ,zoonomia4 #fe ,akenside4 #ff ,know there are words and spells which can control1 ,between the fits1 the fever of the soul4 ,pope4 #fg ,peter of ,cortona4 #fh ,v4 ,epea ,pteroenta1 p4 #hh4 #fi ,chapter on ,grammar4 #gj ,v4 ,camper's ,works1 p4 #abf4 #ga ,v4 ,chapter on ,books4 #gb ,lord ,mansfield1 ,hussey ,burgh1 c4 #gc ,theon4 #gd ,but1 ,sir1 ,i shall be taken for one possessed6 ,well1 ,ma'am1 you must be like one possessed1 if you would succeed in any art4 #ge ,dr4 ,darwin4 #gf ,i am the god of dancing6 #gg ,v4 ,smith's ,moral ,theory4 #gh ,temperament of increased association4 ,zoonomia4 #gi ,v4 ,zoonomia4 ,temperament of increased sensibility and association joined4 #hj ,zoonomia1 vol4 ii4 #ha ,monthly ,review of ,zimmermann on ,experience in ,physic4 ,march #aghc1 p4 #baa4 #hb ,v4 ,chapter on ,attention4 #hc ,elwes4 ,see his ,life4 #hd ,there is an account of this poor man's death in the ,star1 #agif4 ,,chapter ,,xxiii4 ,,on ,,wit ,,and ,,judgment4 ,it has been shown1 that the powers of memory1 invention and imagination1 ought to be rendered subservient to judgment3 it has been shown1 that reasoning and judgment abridge the labours of memory1 and are necessary to regulate the highest flights of imagination4 ,we shall consider the power of reasoning in another point of view1 as being essential to our conduct in life4 ,the object of reasoning is to adapt means to an end1 to attain the command of effects by the discovery of the causes on which they depend4 ,until children have acquired some knowledge of effects1 they cannot inquire into causes4 ,observation must precede reasoning2 and as judgment is nothing more than the perception of the result of comparison1 we should never urge our pupils to judge1 until they have acquired some portion of experience4 ,to teach children to compare objects exactly1 we should place the things to be examined distinctly before them4 ,every thing that is superfluous1 should be taken away1 and a sufficient motive should be given to excite the pupil's attention4 ,we need not here repeat the advice that has formerly been given#he respecting the choice of proper motives to excite and fix attention2 or the precautions necessary to prevent the pain of fatigue1 and of unsuccessful application4 ,if comparison be early rendered a task to children1 they will dislike and avoid this exercise of the mind1 and they will consequently show an inaptitude to reason3 if comparing objects be made interesting and amusing to our pupils1 they will soon become expert in discovering resemblances and differences2 and thus they will be prepared for reasoning4 ,rousseau has judiciously advised1 that the senses of children should be cultivated with the utmost care4 ,in proportion to the distinctness of their perceptions1 will be the accuracy of their memory1 and1 probably1 also the precision of their judgment4 ,a child1 who sees imperfectly1 cannot reason justly about the objects of sight1 because he has not sufficient data4 ,a child1 who does not hear distinctly1 cannot judge well of sounds2 and1 if we could suppose the sense of touch to be twice as accurate in one child as in another1 we might conclude1 that the judgment of these children must differ in a similar proportion4 ,the defects in organization are not within the power of the preceptor2 but we may observe1 that inattention1 and want of exercise1 are frequently the causes of what appear to be natural defects2 and1 on the contrary1 increased attention and cultivation sometimes produce that quickness of eye and ear1 and that consequent readiness of judgment1 which we are apt to attribute to natural superiority of organization or capacity4 ,even amongst children1 we may early observe a considerable difference between the quickness of their senses and of their reasoning upon subjects where they have had experience1 and upon those on which they have not been exercised4 ,the first exercises for the judgment of children should1 as ,rousseau recommends1 relate to visible and tangible substances4 ,let them compare the size and shape of different objects2 let them frequently try what they can lift2 what they can reach2 at what distance they can see objects2 at what distance they can hear sounds3 by these exercises they will learn to judge of distances and weight2 and they may learn to judge of the solid contents of bodies of different shapes1 by comparing the observations of their sense of feeling and of sight4 ,the measure of hollow bodies can be easily taken by pouring liquids into them1 and then comparing the quantities of the liquids that fill vessels of different shapes4 ,this is a very simple method of exercising the judgment of children2 and1 if they are allowed to try these little experiments for themselves1 the amusement will fix the facts in their memory1 and will associate pleasure with the habits of comparison4 ,rousseau rewards ,emilius with cakes when he judges rightly2 success1 we think1 is a better reward4 ,rousseau was himself childishly fond of cakes and cream4 ,the step which immediately follows comparison1 is deduction4 ,the cat is larger than the kitten2 then a hole through which the cat can go1 must be larger than a hole through which the kitten can go4 ,long before a child can put this reasoning into words1 he is capable of forming the conclusion1 and we need not be in haste to make him announce it in mode and figure4 ,we may see by the various methods which young children employ to reach what is above them1 to drag1 to push1 to lift different bodies1 that they reason2 that is to say1 that they adapt means to an end1 before they can explain their own designs in words4 ,look at a child building a house of cards2 he dexterously balances every card as he floors the edifice2 he raises story over story1 and shows us that he has some design in view1 though he would be utterly incapable of describing his intentions previously in words4 ,we have formerly#hf endeavoured to show how the vocabulary of our pupils may be gradually enlarged1 exactly in proportion to their real knowledge4 ,a great deal depends upon our attention to this proportion2 if children have not a sufficient number of words to make their thoughts intelligible1 we cannot assist them to reason by our conversation1 we cannot communicate to them the result of our experience2 they will have a great deal of useless labour in comparing objects1 because they will not be able to understand the evidence of others1 as they do not understand their language2 and at last1 the reasonings which they carry on in their own minds will be confused for want of signs to keep them distinct4 ,on the contrary1 if their vocabulary exceed their ideas1 if they are taught a variety of words to which they connect no accurate meaning1 it is impossible that they should express their thoughts with precision4 ,as this is one of the most common errours in education1 we shall dwell upon it more particularly4 ,we have pointed out the mischief which is done to the understanding of children by the nonsensical conversation of common acquaintance4#hg ,should you like to be a king8 ,what are you to be8 ,are you to be a bishop1 or a judge8 ,had you rather be a general1 or an admiral1 my little dear8 are some of the questions which every one has probably heard proposed to children of five or six years old4 ,children who have not learned by rote the expected answers to such interrogatories1 stand in amazed silence upon these occasions2 or else answer at random1 having no possible means of forming any judgment upon such subjects4 ,we have often thought1 in listening to the conversations of grown up people with children1 that the children reasoned infinitely better than their opponents4 ,people1 who are not interested in the education of children1 do not care what arguments they use1 what absurdities they utter in talking to them2 they usually talk to them of things which are totally above their comprehension2 and they instil errour and prejudice1 without the smallest degree of compunction2 indeed1 without in the least knowing what they are about4 ,we earnestly repeat our advice to parents1 to keep their children as much as possible from such conversation3 children will never reason1 if they are allowed to hear or to talk nonsense4 ,when we say1 that children should not be suffered to talk nonsense1 we should observe1 that unless they have been in the habit of hearing foolish conversation1 they very seldom talk nonsense4 ,they may express themselves in a manner which we do not understand1 or they may make mistakes from not accurately comprehending the words of others2 but in these cases1 we should not reprove or silence them2 we should patiently endeavour to find out their hidden meaning4 ,if we rebuke or ridicule them1 we shall intimidate them1 and either lessen their confidence in themselves or in us4 ,in the one case1 we prevent them from thinking2 in the other1 we deter them from communicating their thoughts2 and thus we preclude ourselves from the possibility of assisting them in reasoning4 ,to show parents the nature of the mistakes which children make from their imperfect knowledge of words1 we shall give a few examples from real life4 ,s----1 at five years old1 when he heard some one speak of bay horses1 said1 he supposed that the bay horses must be the best horses4 ,upon cross-questioning him1 it appeared that he was led to this conclusion by the analogy between the sound of the words bay and obey4 ,a few days previous to this1 his father had told him that spirited horses were always the most ready to obey4 ,these erroneous analogies between the sound of words and their sense1 frequently mislead children in reasoning2 we should1 therefore1 encourage children to explain themselves fully1 that we may rectify their errours4 ,when ,s---- was between four and five years old1 a lady who had taken him upon her lap playfully1 put her hands before his eyes1 and 7we believe7 asked if he liked to be blinded4 ,s---- said no2 and he looked very thoughtful4 ,after a pause1 he added1 ,smellie says1 that children like better to be blinded than to have their legs tied4 7,s---- had read this in ,smellie two or three days before47 ,father4 ,are you of ,smellie's opinion8 ,s---- hesitated4 ,father4 ,would you rather be blinded1 or have your legs tied8 ,s----4 ,i would rather have my legs tied not quite tight4 ,father4 ,do you know what is meant by blinded8 ,s----4 ,having their eyes put out4 ,father4 ,how do you mean8 ,s----4 ,to put something into the eye to make the blood burst out2 and then the blood would come all over it1 and cover it1 and stick to it1 and hinder them from seeing--,i don't know how4 ,it is obvious1 that whilst this boy's imagination pictured to him a bloody orb when he heard the word blinded1 he was perfectly right in his reasoning in preferring to have his legs tied2 but he did not judge of the proposition meant to be laid before him2 he judged of another which he had formed for himself4 ,his father explained to him1 that ,smellie meant blindfolded1 instead of blinded2 a handkerchief was then tied round the boy's head1 so as to hinder him from seeing1 and he was made perfectly to understand the meaning of the word blindfolded4 ,in such trifles as these1 it may appear of little consequence to rectify the verbal errours of children2 but exactly the same species of mistake1 will prevent them from reasoning accurately in matters of consequence4 ,it will not cost us much more trouble to detect these mistakes when the causes of them are yet recent2 but it will give us infinite trouble to retrace thoughts which have passed in infancy4 ,when prejudices1 or the habits of reasoning inaccurately1 have been formed1 we cannot easily discover or remedy the remote trifling origin of the evil4 ,when children begin to inquire about causes1 they are not able to distinguish between coincidence and causation3 we formerly observed the effect which this ignorance produces upon their temper2 we must now observe its effect upon their understanding4 ,a little reflection upon our own minds1 will prevent us from feeling that stupid amazement1 or from expressing that insulting contempt which the natural thoughts of children sometimes excite in persons who have frequently less understanding than their pupils4 ,what account can we give of the connection between cause and effect8 ,how is the idea1 that one thing is the cause of another1 first produced in our minds8 ,all that we know is1 that amongst human events1 those which precede1 are1 in some cases1 supposed to produce what follow4 ,when we have observed1 in several instances1 that one event constantly precedes another1 we believe1 and expect1 that these events will in future recur together4 ,before children have had experience1 it is scarcely possible that they should distinguish between fortuitous circumstances and causation2 accidental coincidences of time1 and juxta-position1 continually lead them into errour4 ,we should not accuse children of reasoning ill2 we should not imagine that they are defective in judgment1 when they make mistakes from deficient experience2 we should only endeavour to make them delay to decide until they have repeated their experiments2 and1 at all events1 we should encourage them to lay open their minds to us1 that we may assist them by our superior knowledge4 ,this spring1 little ,w---- 7three years old7 was looking at a man who was mowing the grass before the door4 ,it had been raining1 and when the sun shone1 the vapour began to rise from the grass4 ,does the man mowing make the smoke rise from the grass8 said the little boy4 ,he was not laughed at for this simple question4 ,the man's mowing immediately preceded the rising of the vapour2 the child had never observed a man mowing before1 and it was absolutely impossible that he could tell what effects might be produced by it2 he very naturally imagined1 that the event which immediately preceded the rising of the vapour1 was the cause of its rise2 the sun was at a distance2 the scythe was near the grass4 ,the little boy showed by the tone of his inquiry1 that he was in the philosophic state of doubt2 had he been ridiculed for his question2 had he been told that he talked nonsense1 he would not1 upon another occasion1 have told us his thoughts1 and he certainly could not have improved in reasoning4 ,the way to improve children in their judgment with respect to causation1 is to increase their knowledge1 and to lead them to try experiments by which they may discover what circumstances are essential to the production of any given effect2 and what are merely accessory1 unimportant concomitants of the event4#hh ,a child who1 for the first time1 sees blue and red paints mixed together to produce purple1 could not be certain that the pallet on which these colours were mixed1 the spatula with which they were tempered1 were not necessary circumstances4 ,in many cases1 the vessels in which things are mixed are essential2 therefore1 a sensible child would repeat the experiment exactly in the same manner in which he had seen it succeed4 ,this exactness should not be suffered to become indolent imitation1 or superstitious adherence to particular forms4 ,children should be excited to add or deduct particulars in trying experiments1 and to observe the effects of these changes4 ,in ,chemistry1 and ,mechanics1 we have pointed out a variety of occupations1 in which the judgment of children may be exercised upon the immediate objects of their senses4 ,it is natural1 perhaps1 that we should expect our pupils to show surprise at those things which excite surprise in our minds2 but we should consider that almost every thing is new to children2 and1 therefore1 there is scarcely any gradation in their astonishment4 ,a child of three or four years old1 would be as much amused1 and1 probably1 as much surprised1 by seeing a paper kite fly1 as he could by beholding the ascent of a balloon4 ,we should not attribute this to stupidity1 or want of judgment1 but simply to ignorance4 ,a few days ago1 ,w---- 7three years old7 who was learning his letters1 was let sow an o in the garden with mustard seed4 ,w---- was much pleased with the operation4 ,when the green plants appeared above ground1 it was expected that ,w---- would be much surprised at seeing the exact shape of his o4 ,he was taken to look at it2 but he showed no surprise1 no sort of emotion4 ,we have advised that the judgment of children should be exercised upon the objects of their senses4 ,it is scarcely possible that they should reason upon the subjects which are sometimes proposed to them3 with respect to manners and society1 they have had no experience1 consequently they can form no judgments4 ,by imprudently endeavouring to turn the attention of children to conversation that is unsuited to them1 people may give the appearance of early intelligence1 and a certain readiness of repartee and fluency of expression2 but these are transient advantages4 ,smart1 witty children1 amuse the circle for a few hours1 and are forgotten3 and we may observe1 that almost all children who are praised and admired for sprightliness and wit1 reason absurdly1 and continue ignorant4 ,wit and judgment depend upon different opposite habits of the mind4 ,wit searches for remote resemblances between objects or thoughts apparently dissimilar4 ,judgment compares the objects placed before it1 in order to find out their differences1 rather than their resemblances4 ,the comparisons of judgment may be slow3 those of wit must be rapid4 ,the same power of attention in children1 may produce either wit or judgment4 ,parents must decide in which faculty1 or rather1 in which of these habits of the mind1 they wish their pupils to excel2 and they must conduct their education accordingly4 ,those who are desirous to make their pupils witty1 must sacrifice some portion of their judgment to the acquisition of the talent for wit2 they must allow their children to talk frequently at random4 ,amongst a multitude of hazarded observations1 a happy hit is now and then made3 for these happy hits1 children who are to be made wits should be praised2 and they must acquire sufficient courage to speak from a cursory view of things2 therefore the mistakes they make from superficial examination must not be pointed out to them2 their attention must be turned to the comic1 rather than to the serious side of objects2 they must study the different meanings and powers of words2 they should hear witty conversation1 read epigrams1 and comedies2 and in all company they should be exercised before numbers in smart dialogue and repartee4 ,when we mention the methods of educating a child to be witty1 we at the same time point out the dangers of this education2 and it is but just to warn parents against expecting inconsistent qualities from their pupils4 ,those who steadily prefer the solid advantages of judgment1 to the transient brilliancy of wit1 should not be mortified when they see their children1 perhaps1 deficient at nine or ten years old in the showy talents for general conversation2 they must bear to see their pupils appear slow2 they must bear the contrast of flippant gayety and sober simplicity2 they must pursue exactly an opposite course to that which has been recommended for the education of wits2 they must never praise their pupils for hazarding observations2 they must cautiously point out any mistakes that are made from a precipitate survey of objects2 they should not harden their pupils against that feeling of shame1 which arises in the mind from the perception of having uttered an absurdity2 they should never encourage their pupils to play upon words2 and their admiration of wit should never be vehemently or enthusiastically expressed4 ,we shall give a few examples to convince parents1 that children1 whose reasoning powers have been cultivated1 are rather slow in comprehending and in admiring wit4 ,they require to have it explained1 they want to settle the exact justice and morality of the repartee1 before they will admire it4 7,november #bjth1 #agif47 ,to day at dinner the conversation happened to turn upon wit4 ,somebody mentioned the well known reply of the hackney coachman to ,pope4 ,s----1 a boy of nine years old1 listened attentively1 but did not seem to understand it2 his father endeavoured to explain it to him4 ,pope was a little ill made man2 his favourite exclamation was1 ',god mend me6' ,now1 when he was in a passion with the hackney coachman1 he cried as usual1 ',god mend me6' ',mend you1 sir8' said the coachman2 'it would be easier to make a new one4' ,do you understand this now1 ,s----8 ,s---- looked dull upon it1 and1 after some minutes consideration1 said1 ,yes1 ,pope was ill made2 the man meant it would be better to make a new one than to mend him4 ,s---- did not yet seem to taste the wit2 he took the answer literally1 and understood it soberly4 ,immediately afterwards1 the officer's famous reply to ,pope was told to ,s----4 ,about ten days after this conversation1 ,s---- said to his sister1 ,i wonder1 ,m----1 that people don't oftener laugh at crooked people2 like the officer who called ,pope a note of interrogation4 ,m----4 ,it would be ill natured to laugh at them4 ,s----4 ,but you all praised that man for saying that about ,pope4 ,you did not think him ill natured4 ,mr4 ----4 ,no1 because ,pope had been impertinent to him4 ,s----4 ,how8 ,m----4 ,don't you remember1 that when the officer said that a note of interrogation would make the passage clear1 ,pope turned round1 and looking at him with great contempt1 asked if he knew what a note of interrogation was8 ,s----4 ,yes1 ,i remember that2 but ,i do not think that was very impertinent1 because ,pope might not know whether the man knew it or not4 ,mr4 ----4 ,very true3 but then you see1 that ,pope took it for granted that the officer was extremely ignorant2 a boy who is just learning to read knows what a note of interrogation is4 ,s---- 7thoughtfully47 ,yes1 it was rude of ,pope2 but then the man was an officer1 and therefore1 it was very likely that he might be ignorant2 you know you said that officers were often very ignorant4 ,mr4 ----4 ,i said often2 but not always4 ,young men1 ,i told you1 who are tired of books1 and ambitious of a red coat1 often go into the army to save themselves the trouble of acquiring the knowledge necessary for other professions4 ,a man cannot be a good lawyer1 or a good physician1 without having acquired a great deal of knowledge2 but an officer need have little knowledge to know how to stand to be shot at4 ,but though it may be true in general1 that officers are often ignorant1 it is not necessary that they should be so2 a man in a red coat may have as much knowledge as a man in a black1 or a blue one2 therefore no sensible person should decide that a man is ignorant merely because he is an officer1 as ,pope did4 ,s----4 ,no1 to be sure4 ,i understand now4 ,m----4 ,but ,i thought1 ,s----1 you understood this before4 ,mr4 ----4 ,he is very right not to let it pass without understanding it thoroughly4 ,you are very right1 ,s----1 not to swallow things whole2 chew them well4 ,s---- looked as if he was still chewing4 ,m----4 ,what are you thinking of ,s----8 ,s----4 ,of the man's laughing at ,pope for being crooked4 ,mr4 ----4 ,if ,pope had not said any thing rude to that man1 the man would have done very wrong to have laughed at him4 ,if the officer had walked into a coffee-house1 and pointing at ,pope1 had said1 'there's a little crooked thing like a note of interrogation1' people might have been pleased with his wit in seeing that resemblance1 but they would have disliked his ill nature2 and those who knew ,mr4 ,pope1 would probably have answered1 ',yes ,sir1 but that crooked little man is one of the most witty men in ,england2 he is the great poet1 ,mr4 ,pope4' ,but when ,mr4 ,pope had insulted the officer1 the case was altered4 ,now1 if the officer had simply answered1 when he was asked what a note of interrogation was1 'a little crooked thing2' and if he had looked at ,pope from head to foot as he spoke these words1 every body's attention would have been turned upon ,pope's figure2 but then the officer would have reproached him only for his personal defects3 by saying1 'a little crooked thing that asks questions1' the officer reproved ,pope for his impertinence4 ,pope had just asked him a question1 and every body perceived the double application of the answer4 ,it was an exact description of a note of interrogation1 and of ,mr4 ,pope4 ,it is this sort of partial resemblance quickly pointed out between things1 which at first appear very unlike1 that surprises and pleases people1 and they call it wit4 ,how difficult it is to explain wit to a child6 and how much more difficult to fix its value and morality6 ,about a month after this conversation had passed1 ,s---- returned to the charge3 his mind had not been completely settled about wit4 7,january #ith1 #agif47 ,so1 ,s----1 you don't yet understand wit1 ,i see1 said ,m---- to him1 when he looked very grave at something that was said to him in jest4 ,s---- immediately asked1 ,what is wit8 ,m---- answered 7laughing7 ,wit is the folly of grown up people4 ,mr4 ----4 ,how can you give the boy such an answer8 ,come to me1 my dear1 and ,i'll try if ,i can give you a better4 ,there are two kinds of wit1 one which depends upon words1 and another which depends upon thoughts4 ,i will give you an instance of wit depending upon words3 ,hear yonder beggar1 how he cries1 ,i am so lame ,i cannot rise6 ,if he tells truth1 he lies4 ,do you understand that8 ,s----4 ,no6 ,if he tells truth1 he lies6 ,no1 he can't both tell truth and tell a lie at the same time2 that's impossible4 ,mr4 ----4 ,then there is something in the words which you don't understand3 in the common sense of the words1 they contradict each other2 but try if you can find out any uncommon sense--any word which can be understood in two senses4 ,s---- muttered the words1 ,if he tells truth1 he lies1 and looked indignant1 but presently said1 ,oh1 now ,i understand2 the beggar was lying down2 he lies1 means he lies down1 not he tells a lie4 ,the perception of the double meaning of the words1 did not seem to please this boy2 on the contrary1 it seemed to provoke him2 and he appeared to think that he had wasted his time upon the discovery4 ,mr4 ----4 ,now ,i will give you an instance of wit that depends upon the ideas1 rather than on the words4 ,a man of very bad character had told falsehoods of another1 who then made these two lines2 ,lie on1 whilst my revenge shall be1 ,to tell the very truth of thee4 ,s---- approved of this immediately1 and heartily1 and recollected the only epigram he knew by rote1 one which he had heard in conversation two or three months before this time4 ,it was made upon a tall1 stupid man1 who had challenged another to make an epigram extempore upon him4 ,unlike to ,robinson shall be my song2 ,it shall be witty1 and it shan't be long4 ,at the time ,s---- first heard this epigram1 he had been as slow in comprehending it as possible2 but after it had been thoroughly explained1 it pleased him1 and remained fixed in his memory4 ,mr4 ---- observed1 that this epigram contained wit both in words and in ideas3 and he gave ,s----one other example4 ,there were two contractors2 ,i mean people who make a bargain with government1 or with those who govern the country1 to supply them with certain things at a certain price2 there were two contractors1 one of whom was employed to supply government with corn2 the other agreed to supply government with rum4 ,now1 you know1 corn may be called grain1 and rum may be called spirit4 ,both these contractors cheated in their bargain2 both their names were the same2 and the following epigram was made on them3 ,both of a name1 lo6 two contractors come2 ,one cheats in corn1 and t'other cheats in rum4 ,which is the greater1 if you can1 explain1 ,a rogue in spirit1 or a rogue in grain8 ,spirit1 continued ,mr4 ----1 has another sense1 you know--will1 intention1 soul2 he has the spirit of a rogue2 she has the spirit of contradiction4 ,and grain has also another meaning2 the grain of this table1 the grain of your coat4 ,dyed in grain1 means dyed into the substance of the material1 so that the dye can't be washed out4 ,a rogue in grain1 means a man whose habit of cheating is fixed in his mind3 and it is difficult to determine which is the worst1 a man who has the wish1 or a man who has the habit1 of doing wrong4 ,at first it seems as if you were only asked which was the worst1 to cheat in selling grain1 or in selling spirit2 but the concealed meaning1 makes the question both sense and wit4 ,these detailed examples1 we fear1 may appear tiresome2 but we knew not how1 without them1 to explain ourselves fully4 ,we should add1 for the consolation of those who admire wit1 and we are amongst the number ourselves1 that it is much more likely that wit should be engrafted upon judgment1 than that judgment should be engrafted upon wit4 ,the boy whom we have just mentioned1 who was so slow in comprehending the nature of wit1 was asked whether he could think of any answer that ,pope might have made to the officer who called him a note of interrogation4 ,s----4 ,is there any note which means answer8 ,mr4 ----4 ,i don't know what you mean4 ,s----4 ,any note which means answer1 as - - - - like the note of interrogation1 which shows that a question is asked8 ,mr4 ----4 ,no2 but if there were1 what then8 ,s----4 ,pope might have called the man that note4 ,s---- could not exactly explain his idea2 somebody who was present said1 that if he had been in ,pope's place1 he would have called the officer a note of admiration4 ,s---- would have made this answer1 if he had been familiarly acquainted with the name of the note of admiration4 ,his judgment taught him how to set about looking for a proper answer2 but it could not lead him to the exact place for want of experience4 ,we hope that we have1 in the chapter on books1 fully explained the danger of accustoming children to read what they do not understand4 ,poetry1 they cannot early comprehend2 and even if they do understand it1 they cannot improve their reasoning faculty by poetic studies4 ,the analogies of poetry1 and of reasoning1 are very different4 ,the muse1 says an excellent judge upon this subject1 would make but an indifferent school-mistress4 ,we include under the head poetry1 all books in which declamation and eloquence are substituted for reasoning4 ,we should accustom our pupils to judge strictly of the reasoning which they meet with in books2 no names of high authority should ever preclude an author's arguments from examination4 ,the following passage from ,st4 ,pierre's ,etudes de la ,nature1 was read to two boys3 ,h----1 #ad years old2 ,s----1 #aj years old4 ,hurtful insects1 present 7the same7 oppositions and signs of destruction2 the gnat1 thirsty of human blood1 announces himself to our sight by the white spots with which his brown body is speckled2 and by the shrill sound of his wings1 which interrupts the calm of the groves1 he announces himself to our ear as well as to our eye4 ,the carnivorous wasp is streaked like the tiger1 with bands of black over a yellow ground4 ,h---- and ,s---- both at once exclaimed1 that these spots in the gnat1 and streaks in the wasp1 had nothing to do with their stinging us4 ,the buzzing of the gnat1 said ,s----1 would1 ,i think1 be a very agreeable sound to us1 if we did not know that the gnat would sting1 and that it was coming near us2 and1 as to the wasp1 ,i remember stopping one day upon the stairs to look at the beautiful black and yellow body of a wasp4 ,i did not think of danger1 nor of its stinging me then1 and ,i did not know that it was like the tiger4 ,after ,i had been stung by a wasp1 ,i did not think a wasp such a beautiful animal4 ,i think it is very often from our knowing that animals can hurt us1 that we think them ugly4 ,we might as well say1 continued ,s----1 pointing to a crocus which was near him1 we might as well say1 that a man who has a yellow face has the same disposition as that crocus1 or that the crocus is in every thing like the man1 because it is yellow4 ,cicero's curious consolation for deafness is properly noticed by ,mr4 ,hume4 ,it was read to ,s---- a few days ago1 to try whether he could detect the sophistry3 he was not previously told what was thought of it by others4 ,how many languages are there1 says ,cicero1 which you do not understand6 ,the ,punic1 ,spanish1 ,gallic1 ,egyptian1 c4 ,with regard to all these1 you are as if you were deaf1 and yet you are indifferent about the matter4 ,is it then so great a misfortune to be deaf to one language more8 ,i don't think1 said ,s----1 that was at all a good way to console the man1 because it was putting him in mind that he was more deaf than he thought he was4 ,he did not think of those languages1 perhaps1 till he was put in mind that he could not hear them4 ,in stating any question to a child1 we should avoid letting our own opinion be known1 lest we lead or intimidate his mind4 ,we should also avoid all appearance of anxiety1 all impatience for the answer2 our pupil's mind should be in a calm state when he is to judge3 if we turn his sympathetic attention to our hopes and fears1 we agitate him1 and he will judge by our countenances rather than by comparing the objects or propositions which are laid before him4 ,some people1 in arguing with children1 teach them to be disingenuous by the uncandid manner in which they proceed2 they show a desire for victory1 rather than for truth2 they state the arguments only on their own side of the question1 and they will not allow the force of those which are brought against them4 ,children are thus piqued1 instead of being convinced1 and in their turn they become zealots in support of their own opinions2 they hunt only for arguments in their own favour1 and they are mortified when a good reason is brought on the opposite side of the question to that on which they happen to have enlisted4 ,to prevent this1 we should never argue1 or suffer others to argue for victory with our pupils2 we should not praise them for their cleverness in finding out arguments in support of their own opinion2 but we should praise their candour and good sense when they perceive and acknowledge the force of their opponent's arguments4 ,they should not be exercised as advocates1 but as judges2 they should be encouraged to keep their minds impartial1 to sum up the reasons which they have heard1 and to form their opinion from these without regard to what they may have originally asserted4 ,we should never triumph over children for changing their opinion4 ,i thought you were on my side of the question2 or1 ,i thought you were on the other side of the question just now6 is sometimes tauntingly said to an ingenuous child1 who changes his opinion when he hears a new argument4 ,you think it a proof of his want of judgment1 that he changes his opinion in this manner2 that he vibrates continually from side to side3 let him vibrate1 presently he will be fixed4 ,do you think it a proof that your scales are bad1 because they vibrate with every additional weight that is added to either side8 ,idle people sometimes amuse themselves with trying the judgment of children1 by telling them improbable1 extravagant stories1 and then ask the simple listeners whether they believe what has been told them4 ,the readiness of belief in children will always be proportioned to their experience of the veracity of those with whom they converse2 consequently children1 who live with those who speak truth to them1 will scarcely ever be inclined to doubt the veracity of strangers4 ,such trials of the judgment of our pupils should never be permitted4 ,why should the example of lying be set before the honest minds of children1 who are far from silly when they show simplicity8 ,they guide themselves by the best rules1 by which even a philosopher in similar circumstances could guide himself4 ,the things asserted are extraordinary1 but the children believe them1 because they have never had any experience of the falsehood of human testimony4 ,the ,socratic mode of reasoning is frequently practised upon children4 ,people arrange questions artfully1 so as to bring them to whatever conclusion they please4 ,in this mode of reasoning1 much depends upon getting the first move2 the child has very little chance of having it1 his preceptor usually begins first with a peremptory voice1 ,now answer me this question6 ,the pupil1 who knows that the interrogatories are put with a design to entrap him1 is immediately alarmed1 and instead of giving a direct1 candid answer to the question1 is always looking forward to the possible consequences of his reply2 or he is considering how he may evade the snare that is laid for him4 ,under these circumstances he is in imminent danger of learning the shuffling habits of cunning2 he has little chance of learning the nature of open1 manly investigation4 ,preceptors1 who imagine that it is necessary to put on very grave faces1 and to use much learned apparatus in teaching the art of reasoning1 are not nearly so likely to succeed as those who have the happy art of encouraging children to lay open their minds freely1 and who can make every pleasing trifle an exercise for the understanding4 ,if it be playfully pointed out to a child that he reasons ill1 he smiles and corrects himself2 but you run the hazard of making him positive in errour1 if you reprove or ridicule him with severity4 ,it is better to seize the subjects that accidentally arise in conversation1 than formally to prepare subjects for discussion4 ,the king's stag hounds1 7says ,mr4 ,white of ,selborne1 in his entertaining observations on quadrupeds1#hi7 the king's stag hounds came down to ,alton1 attended by a huntsman and six yeoman prickers with horns1 to try for the stag that has haunted ,hartley-wood and its environs for so long a time4 ,many hundreds of people1 horse and foot1 attended the dogs to see the deer unharboured2 but though the huntsman drew ,hartley-wood1 and ,long-coppice1 and ,shrub-wood1 and ,temple-hangers1 and in their way back1 ,hartley1 and ,wardleham-hangers1 yet no stag could be found4 ,the royal pack1 accustomed to have the deer turned out before them1 never drew the coverts with any address and spirit1 c4 ,children1 who are accustomed to have the game started and turned out before them by their preceptors1 may1 perhaps1 like the royal pack1 lose their wonted address and spirit1 and may be disgracefully at a fault in the public chase4 ,preceptors should not help their pupils out in argument1 they should excite them to explain and support their own observations4 ,many ladies show in general conversation the powers of easy raillery joined to reasoning1 unincumbered with pedantry4 ,if they would employ these talents in the education of their children1 they would probably be as well repaid for their exertions1 as they can possibly be by the polite1 but transient applause of the visiters to whom they usually devote their powers of entertaining4 ,a little praise or blame1 a smile from a mother1 or a frown1 a moments attention1 or a look of cold neglect1 have the happy1 or the fatal power of repressing or of exciting the energy of a child1 of directing his understanding to useful or pernicious purposes4 ,scarcely a day passes in which children do not make some attempt to reason about the little events which interest them1 and1 upon these occasions1 a mother1 who joins in conversation with her children1 may instruct them in the art of reasoning without the parade of logical disquisitions4 ,mr4 ,locke has done mankind an essential service1 by the candid manner in which he has spoken of some of the learned forms of argumentation4 ,a great proportion of society1 he observes1 are unacquainted with these forms1 and have not heard the name of ,aristotle2 yet1 without the aid of syllogisms1 they can reason sufficiently well for all the useful purposes of life1 often much better than those who have been disciplined in the schools4 ,it would indeed be putting one man sadly over the head of another1 to confine the reasoning faculty to the disciples of ,aristotle1 to any sect or system1 or to any forms of disputation4 ,mr4 ,locke has very clearly shown1 that syllogisms do not assist the mind in the perception of the agreement or disagreement of ideas2 but1 on the contrary1 that they invert the natural order in which the thoughts should be placed1 and in which they must be placed1 before we can draw a just conclusion4 ,to children who are not familiarized with scholastic terms1 the sound of harsh words1 and quaint language1 unlike any thing that they hear in common conversation1 is alone sufficient to alarm their imagination with some confused apprehension of difficulty4 ,in this state of alarm they are seldom sufficiently masters of themselves1 either to deny or to acknowledge an adept's major1 minor1 or conclusion4 ,even those who are most expert in syllogistical reasoning1 do not often apply it to the common affairs of life1 in which reasoning is just as much wanted as it is in the abstract questions of philosophy2 and many argue1 and conduct themselves with great prudence and precision1 who might1 perhaps1 be caught on the horns of a dilemma2 or who would infallibly fall victims to the crocodile4 ,young people should not be ignorant1 however1 of these boasted forms of argumentation2 and it may1 as they advance in the knowledge of words1 be a useful exercise to resist the attacks of sophistry4 ,no ingenious person would wish to teach a child to employ them4 ,as defensive weapons1 it is necessary1 that young people should have the command of logical terms2 as offensive weapons1 these should never be used4 ,they should know the evolutions1 and be able to perform the exercise of a logician1 according to the custom of the times1 according to the usage of different nations2 but they should not attach any undue importance to this technical art3 they should not trust to it in the day of battle4 ,we have seen syllogisms1 crocodiles1 enthymemas1 sorites1 c4 explained and tried upon a boy of nine or ten years old in playful conversation1 so that he became accustomed to the terms without learning to be pedantic in the abuse of them2 and his quickness in reasoning was increased by exercise in detecting puerile sophisms2 such as that of the ,cretans--,gorgias and his bargain about the winning of his first cause4 ,in the following sorites#ij of ,themistocles--,my son commands his mother2 his mother commands me2 ,i command the ,athenians2 the ,athenians command ,greece2 ,greece commands ,europe2 ,europe commands the whole earth2 therefore my son commands the whole earth--the sophism depends upon the inaccurate use of the commands1 which is employed in different senses in the different propositions4 ,this errour was without difficulty detected by ,s---- at ten years old2 and we make no doubt that any unprejudiced boy of the same age1 would immediately point out the fallacy without hesitation2 but we do not feel quite sure that a boy exercised in logic1 who had been taught to admire and reverence the ancient figures of rhetoric1 would with equal readiness detect the sophism4 ,perhaps it may seem surprising1 that the same boy1 who judged so well of this sorites of ,themistocles1 should a few months before have been easily entrapped by the following simple dilemma4 ,m----4 ,we should avoid what gives us pain4 ,s----4 ,yes1 to be sure4 ,m----4 ,whatever burns us1 gives us pain4 ,s----4 ,yes1 that it does6 ,m----4 ,we should then avoid whatever burns us4 ,to this conclusion ,s---- heartily assented1 for he had but just recovered from the pain of a burn4 ,m----4 ,fire burns us4 ,s----4 ,yes1 ,i know that4 ,m----4 ,we should then avoid fire4 ,s----4 ,yes4 ,this hasty yes was extorted from the boy by the mode of interrogatory2 but he soon perceived his mistake4 ,m----4 ,we should avoid fire4 ,what when we are very cold8 ,s----4 ,oh1 no3 ,i meant to say1 that we should avoid a certain degree of fire4 ,we should not go too near the fire4 ,we should not go so near as to burn ourselves4 ,children who have but little experience1 frequently admit assertions to be true in general1 which are only true in particular instances2 and this is often attributed to their want of judgment3 it should be attributed to their want of experience4 ,experience1 and nothing else1 can rectify these mistakes3 if we attempt to correct them by words1 we shall merely teach our pupils to argue about terms1 not to reason4 ,some of the questions and themes which are given to boys may afford us instances of this injudicious education4 ,is eloquence advantageous1 or hurtful to a state8 ,what a vast range of ideas1 what variety of experience in men and things should a person possess1 who is to discuss this question6 ,yet it is often discussed by unfortunate scholars of eleven or twelve years old4 ,what is the greatest good8 ,the answer expected by a preceptor to this question1 obviously is1 virtue2 and1 if a boy can1 in decent language1 write a page or two about pleasure's being a transient1 and virtue a permanent good1 his master flatters himself that he has early taught him to reason philosophically4 ,but what ideas does the youth annex to the words pleasure and virtue8 ,or does he annex any8 ,if he annex no idea to the words1 he is merely talking about sounds4 ,all reasoning ultimately refers to matters of fact3 to judge whether any piece of reasoning is within the comprehension of a child1 we must consider whether the facts to which it refers are within his experience4 ,the more we increase his knowledge of facts1 the more we should exercise him in reasoning upon them2 but we should teach him to examine carefully before he admits any thing to be a fact1 or any assertion to be true4 ,experiment1 as to substances1 is the test of truth2 and attention to his own feelings1 as to matters of feeling4 ,comparison of the evidence of others with the general laws of nature1 which he has learned from his own observation1 is another mode of obtaining an accurate knowledge of facts4 ,m4 ,condillac1 in his ,art of ,reasoning1 maintains1 that the evidence of reason depends solely upon our perception of the identity1 or1 to use a less formidable word1 sameness1 of one proposition with another4 ,a demonstration1 he says1 is only a chain of propositions1 in which the same ideas1 passing from one to the other1 differ only because they are differently expressed2 the evidence of any reasoning consists solely in its identity4 ,m4 ,condillac#ia exemplifies this doctrine by translating this proposition1 ,the measure of every triangle is the product of its height by half its base1 into self-evident1 or1 as he calls them1 identical propositions4 ,the whole ultimately referring to the ideas which we have obtained by our senses of a triangle2 of its base1 of measure1 height1 and number4 ,if a child had not previously acquired any one of these ideas1 it would be in vain to explain one term by another1 or to translate one phrase or proposition into another2 they might be identical1 but they would not be self-evident propositions to the pupil2 and no conclusion1 except what relates merely to words1 could be formed from such reasoning4 ,the moral which we should draw from ,condillac's observations for ,practical ,education must be1 that clear ideas should first be acquired by the exercise of the senses1 and that afterwards1 when we reason about things in words1 we should use few and accurate terms1 that we may have as little trouble as possible in changing or translating one phrase or proposition into another4 ,children1 if they are not overawed by authority1 if they are encouraged in the habit of observing their own sensations1 and if they are taught precision in the use of the words by which they describe them1 will probably reason accurately where their own feelings are concerned4 ,in appreciating the testimony of others1 and in judging of chances and probability1 we must not expect our pupils to proceed very rapidly4 ,there is more danger that they should overrate1 than that they should undervalue1 the evidence of others2 because1 as we formerly stated1 we take it for granted1 that they have had little experience of falsehood4 ,we should1 to preserve them from credulity1 excite them in all cases where it can be obtained1 never to rest satisfied without the strongest species of evidence1 that of their own senses4 ,if a child says1 ,i am sure of such a thing1 we should immediately examine into his reasons for believing it4 ,mr4 ,a4 or ,mr4 ,b4 told me so1 is not a sufficient cause of belief1 unless the child has had long experience of ,a4 and ,b4's truth and accuracy2 and1 at all events1 the indolent habit of relying upon the assertions of others1 instead of verifying them1 should not be indulged4 ,it would be waste of time to repeat those experiments1 of the truth of which the uniform experience of our lives has convinced us3 we run no hazard1 for instance1 in believing any one who simply asserts1 that they have seen an apple fall from a tree2 this assertion agrees with the great natural law of gravity1 or1 in other words1 with the uniform experience of mankind3 but if any body told us1 that they had seen an apple hanging self-poised in the air1 we should reasonably suspect the truth of their observation1 or of their evidence4 ,this is the first rule which we can most readily teach our pupils in judging of evidence4 ,we are not speaking of children from four to six years old1 for every thing is almost equally extraordinary to them2 but1 when children are about ten or eleven1 they have acquired a sufficient variety of facts to form comparisons1 and to judge to a certain degree of the probability of any new fact that is related4 ,in reading and in conversation we should now exercise them in forming judgments1 where we know that they have the means of comparison4 ,do you believe such a thing to be true8 and why do you believe it8 ,can you account for such a thing8 are questions we should often ask at this period of their education4 ,on hearing extraordinary facts1 some children will not be satisfied with vague assertions2 others content themselves with saying1 ,it is so1 ,i read it in a book4 ,we should have little hopes of those who swallow every thing they read in a book2 we are always pleased to see a child hesitate and doubt1 and require positive proof before he believes4 ,the taste for the marvellous1 is strong in ignorant minds2 the wish to account for every new appearance1 characterizes the cultivated pupil4 ,a lady told a boy of nine years old 7,s----7 the following story1 which she had just met with in ,the ,curiosities of ,literature4 ,an officer1 who was confined in the ,bastille1 used to amuse himself by playing on the flute3 one day he observed1 that a number of spiders came down from their webs1 and hung round him as if listening to his music2 a number of mice also came from their holes1 and retired as soon as he stopped4 ,the officer had a great dislike to mice2 he procured a cat from the keeper of the prison1 and when the mice were entranced by his music1 he let the cat out amongst them4 ,s---- was much displeased by this man's treacherous conduct towards the poor mice1 and his indignation for some moments suspended his reasoning faculty2 but1 when ,s---- had sufficiently expressed his indignation against the officer in the affair of the mice1 he began to question the truth of the story2 and he said1 that he did not think it was certain1 that the mice and spiders came to listen to the music4 ,i do not know about the mice1 said he1 but ,i think1 perhaps1 when the officer played upon the flute1 he set the air in motion1 and shook the cobwebs1 so as to disturb the spiders4 ,we do not1 nor did the child think1 that this was a satisfactory account of the matter2 but we mention it as an instance of the love of investigation1 which we wish to encourage4 ,the difficulty of judging concerning the truth of evidence increases1 when we take moral causes into the account4 ,if we had any suspicion1 that a man who told us that he had seen an apple fall from a tree1 had himself pulled the apple down and stolen it1 we should set the probability of his telling a falsehood1 and his motive for doing so1 against his evidence2 and though according to the natural physical course of things1 there would be no improbability in his story1 yet there might arise improbability from his character for dishonesty2 and thus we should feel ourselves in doubt concerning the fact4 ,but if two people agreed in the same testimony1 our doubt would vanish2 the dishonest man's doubtful evidence would be corroborated1 and we should believe1 notwithstanding his general character1 in the truth of his assertion in this instance4 ,we could make the matter infinitely more complicated1 but what has been said will be sufficient to suggest to preceptors the difficulty which their young and inexperienced pupils must feel1 in forming judgments of facts where physical and moral probabilities are in direct opposition to each other4 ,we wish that a writer equal to such a task would write trials for children as exercises for their judgment2 beginning with the simplest1 and proceeding gradually to the more complicated cases in which moral reasonings can be used4 ,we do not mean1 that it would be advisable to initiate young readers in the technical forms of law2 but the general principles of justice1 upon which all law is founded1 might1 we think1 be advantageously exemplified4 ,such trials would entertain children extremely4 ,there is a slight attempt at this kind of composition1 we mean in a little trial in ,evenings at ,home2 and we have seen children read it with great avidity4 ,cyrus's judgment about the two coats1 and the ingenious story of the olive merchant's cause1 rejudged by the sensible child in the ,arabian ,tales1 have been found highly interesting to a young audience4 ,we should prefer truth to fiction3 if we could select any instances from real life1 any trials suited to the capacity of young people1 they would be preferable to any which the most ingenious writer could invent for our purpose4 ,a gentleman who has taken his two sons1 one of them ten1 and the other fifteen years old1 to hear trials at his county assizes1 found by the account which the boys gave of what they had heard1 that they had been interested1 and that they were capable of understanding the business4 ,allowance must be made at first for the bustle and noise of a public place1 and for the variety of objects which distract the attention4 ,much of the readiness of forming judgments depends upon the power of discarding and obliterating from our mind all the superfluous circumstances2 it may be useful to exercise our pupils1 by telling them now and then stories in the confused manner in which they are sometimes related by puzzled witnesses2 let them reduce the heterogeneous circumstances to order1 make a clear statement of the case for themselves1 and try if they can point out the facts on which the decision principally rests4 ,this is not merely education for a lawyer2 the powers of reasoning and judgment1 when we have been exercised in this manner1 may be turned to any art or profession4 ,we should1 if we were to try the judgment of children1 observe1 whether in unusual circumstances they can apply their former principles1 and compare the new objects that are placed before them without perplexity4 ,we have sometimes found1 that on subjects entirely new to them1 children1 who have been used to reason1 can lay aside the circumstances that are not essential1 and form a distinct judgment for themselves1 independently of the opinion of others4 ,last winter the entertaining life of the celebrated miser ,mr4 ,elwes was read aloud in a family1 in which there were a number of children4 ,mr4 ,elwes1 once1 as he was walking home on a dark night1 in ,london1 ran against a chair pole and bruised both his shins4 ,his friends sent for a surgeon4 ,elwes was alarmed at the idea of expense1 and he laid the surgeon the amount of his bill1 that the leg which he took under his own protection would get well sooner than that which was put under the surgeon's care2 at the same time ,mr4 ,elwes promised to put nothing to the leg of which he took charge4 ,mr4 ,elwes favourite leg got well sooner than that which the surgeon had undertaken to cure1 and ,mr4 ,elwes won his wager4 ,in a note upon this transaction his biographer says1 ,this wager would have been a bubble bet if it had been brought before the ,jockey-club1 because ,mr4 ,elwes1 though he promised to put nothing to the leg under his own protection1 took ,velnos' vegetable sirup during the time of its cure4 ,c---- 7a girl of twelve years old7 observed when this anecdote was read1 that still the wager was a fair wager1 because the medicine which ,mr4 ,elwes took1 if it was of any use1 must have been of use to both legs2 therefore the surgeon and ,mr4 ,elwes had equal advantage from it4 ,c---- had never heard of the ,jockey-club1 or of bubble bets before1 and she used the word medicine1 because she forgot the name of ,velnos' vegetable sirup4 ,we have observed1#ib that works of criticism are unfit for children1 and teach them rather to remember what others say of authors1 than to judge of the books themselves impartially3 but1 when we object to works of criticism1 we do not mean to object to criticism2 we think it an excellent exercise for the judgment1 and we have ourselves been so well corrected1 and so kindly assisted by the observations of young critics1 that we cannot doubt their capacity4 ,this book has been read to a jury of young critics1 who gave their utmost attention to it for about half an hour at a sitting1 and many amendments have been made from their suggestions4 ,in the chapter on obstinacy1 for instance1 when we were asserting1 that children sometimes forget their old bad habits1 and do not consider these as a part of themselves1 there was this allusion4 ,as the snake1 when he casts his skin1 leaves the slough behind him1 and winds on his way in new and beautiful colours4 ,the moment this sentence was read1 it was objected to by the audience4 ,mr4 ---- objected to the word slough1 as an ill sounding1 disagreeable word1 and which conveyed at first to the eye the idea of a wet boggy place2 such as the slough of ,despond4 ,at last ,s----1 who had been pondering over the affair in silence1 exclaimed1 ,but ,i think there's another fault in the allusion2 do not snakes cast their skins every year8 ,then these new and beautiful colours1 which are the good habits1 must be thrown aside and forgotten the next time2 but that should not be4 ,this criticism appeared conclusive even to the author1 and the sentence was immediately expunged4 ,when young people have acquired a command of language1 we must be careful lest their fluency and their ready use of synonymous expressions should lessen the accuracy of their reasoning1 ,mr4 ,horne ,tooke has ably shown the connection between the study of language and the art of reasoning4 ,it is not necessary to make our pupils profound grammarians1 or etymologists1 but attention to the origin1 abbreviations1 and various meanings of words1 will assist them not only to speak1 but to think and argue with precision4 ,this is not a study of abstract speculation1 but of practical1 daily utility2 half the disputes1 and much of the misery of the world1 originate and perpetuate themselves by the inaccurate use of words4 ,one party uses a word in this sense1 the opposite party uses the same word in another sense2 all their reasonings appear absurd to each other2 and1 instead of explaining them1 they quarrel4 ,this is not the case merely in philosophical disputes between authors1 but it happens continually in the busy1 active scenes of life4 ,even whilst we were writing this passage1 in the newspaper of to-day1 we met with an instance that is sufficiently striking4 ,the accusation against me1 says ,sir ,sidney ,smith1 in his excellent letter to ,pichegru1 expostulating upon his unmerited confinement1 brought forward by your justice of the peace1 was1 that ,i was the enemy of the republic4 ,you know1 general1 that with military men1 the word enemy has merely a technical signification1 without expressing the least character of hatred4 ,you will readily admit this principle1 the result of which is1 that ,i ought not to be persecuted for the injury ,i have been enabled to do whilst ,i carried arms against you4 ,here the argument between two generals1 one of whom is pleading for his liberty1 if not for his life1 turns upon the meaning and construction of a single word4 ,accuracy of reasoning1 and some knowledge of language1 may1 it appears1 be of essential service in all professions4 ,it is not only necessary to attend to the exact meaning which is avowedly affixed to any terms used in argument1 but is also useful to attend to the thoughts which are often suggested to the disputants by certain words4 ,thus1 the words happiness and beauty1 suggest1 in conversation1 very different ideas to different men2 and in arguing1 concerning these1 they could never come to a conclusion4 ,even persons who agree in the same definition of a word1 frequently do not sufficiently attend to the ideas which the word suggests2 to the association of thoughts and emotions which it excites2 and1 consequently1 they cannot strictly abide by their own definition1 nor can they discover where the errour lies4 ,we have observed1#ic that the imagination is powerfully affected by words that suggest long trains of ideas2 our reasonings are influenced in the same manner1 and the elliptical figures of speech are used in reasoning as well as in poetry4 ,i would do so and so1 if ,i were ,alexander4 ,and so would ,i1 if ,i were ,parmenio2 is a short reply1 which suggests a number of ideas1 and a train of reasoning4 ,to those who cannot supply the intermediate ideas1 the answer would not appear either sublime or rational4 ,young people1 when they appear to admire any compressed reasoning1 should be encouraged to show that they can supply the thoughts and reasons that are not expressed4 ,vivacious children1 will be disgusted1 however1 if they are required to detail upon the subject2#id all that is necessary1 is to be sure that they actually comprehend what they admire4 ,sometimes a question that appears simple1 involves the consideration of others which are difficult4 ,whenever a preceptor cannot go to the bottom of the business1 he will do wisely to say so at once to his pupil1 instead of attempting a superficial or evasive reply4 ,for instance1 if a child was to hear that the ,dutch burn and destroy quantities of spice1 the produce of their ,india islands1 he would probably express some surprise1 and perhaps some indignation4 ,if a preceptor were to say1 ,the ,dutch have a right to do what they please with what is their own1 and the spice is their own1 his pupil would not yet be satisfied2 he would probably say1 ,yes1 they have a right to do what they please with what is their own2 but why should they destroy what is useful8 ,the preceptor might answer1 if he chose to make a foolish answer1 ,the ,dutch follow their own interest in burning the spice2 they sell what remains at a higher price2 the market would be overstocked if they did not burn some of their spice4 ,even supposing the child to understand the terms1 this would not be a satisfactory answer2 nor could a satisfactory answer be given1 without discussing the nature of commerce1 and the justice of monopolies4 ,where one question in this manner involves another1 we should postpone the discussion1 if it cannot be completely made2 the road may be just pointed out1 and the pupil's curiosity may be excited to future inquiry4 ,it is even better to be ignorant1 than to have superficial knowledge4 ,a philosopher1 who himself excelled in accuracy of reasoning1 recommends the study of mathematics1 to improve the acuteness and precision of the reasoning faculty4#ie ,to study any thing accurately1 will have an excellent effect upon the mind2 and we may afterwards direct the judgment to whatever purposes we please4 ,it has often been remarked1 as a reproach upon men of science and literature1 that those who judge extremely well of books1 and of abstract philosophical questions1 do not show the same judgment in the active business of life3 a man1 undoubtedly1 may be a good mathematician1 a good critic1 an excellent writer1 and may yet not show1 or rather not employ1 much judgment in his conduct3 his powers of reasoning cannot be deficient2 the habit of employing those powers in conducting himself1 he should have been taught by early education4 ,moral reasoning1 and the habit of acting in consequence of the conviction of the judgment1 we call prudence2 a virtue of so much consequence to all the other virtues2 a virtue of so much consequence to ourselves and to our friends1 that it surely merits a whole chapter to itself in ,practical ,education4 ,,footnotes3 #he ,v4 ,chapter on ,attention4 #hf ,v4 ,tasks4 #hg ,chapter on ,acquaintance4 #hh ,v4 ,stewart4 #hi ,a ,naturalist's ,calendar1 by the late ,rev4 ,gilbert ,white1 ,m4 ,a4 published by ,dr4 ,aikin1 printed for ,b4 and ,j4 ,white1 ,fleet ,street4 #ij ,v4 ,deinology2 where there are many entertaining examples of the figures of rhetoric4 #ia ,une dmonstration est donc une suite de propositions1 ou les mmes ides passant de l'une l'autre1 ne diffrent que parce qu'elles sont nonces diffrement2 et l'vidence d'un raisonnement consiste uniquement dans l'identit4 ,v4 ,art de ,raisonner1 p4 #b4 #ib ,v4 ,chapter on ,books4 #ic ,v4 ,chapter on ,imagination4 #id ,v4 ,attention4 #ie ,locke4 ,essay on the ,conduct of the ,human ,understanding4 ,,chapter ,,xxiv4 ,,on ,,prudence ,,and ,,economy4 ,voltaire says1 that the king of ,prussia always wrote with one kind of enthusiasm1 and acted with another4 ,it often happens1 that men judge with one degree of understanding1 and conduct themselves with another2#if hence the common-place remarks on the difference between theory and practice2 hence the observation1 that it is easy to be prudent for other people1 but extremely difficult to be prudent for ourselves4 ,prudence is a virtue compounded of judgment and resolution3 we do not here speak of that narrow species of prudence1 which is more properly called worldly wisdom2 but we mean that enlarged1 comprehensive wisdom1 which1 after taking a calm view of the objects of happiness1 steadily prefers the greatest portion of felicity4 ,this is not a selfish virtue2 for1 according to our definition1 benevolence1 as one of the greatest sources of our pleasures1 must be included in the truly prudent man's estimate4 ,two things are necessary to make any person prudent1 the power to judge1 and the habit of acting in consequence of his conviction4 ,we have1 in the preceding chapter1 as far as we were able1 suggested the best methods of cultivating the powers of reasoning in our pupils2 we must consider now how these can be applied immediately to their conduct1 and associated with habits of action4 ,instead of deciding always for our young pupils1 we should early accustom them to choose for themselves about every trifle which is interesting to childhood3 if they choose wisely1 they should enjoy the natural reward of their prudence2 and if they decide rashly1 they should be suffered to feel the consequence of their own errour4 ,experience1 it is said1 makes even fools wise2 and the sooner we can give experience1 the sooner we shall teach wisdom4 ,but we must not substitute belief upon trust for belief upon conviction4 ,when a little boy says1 ,i did not eat any more custard1 because mamma told me that the custard would make me sick1 he is only obedient1 he is not prudent2 he submits to his mother's judgment1 he does not use his own4 ,when obedience is out of the question1 children sometimes follow the opinions of others2 of this we formerly gave an instance 7v4 ,toys7 in the poor boy1 who chose a gilt coach1 because his mamma and every body said it was the prettiest1 whilst he really preferred the useful cart3 we should never prejudice them either by our wisdom or our folly4 ,a sensible little boy of four years old had seen somebody telling fortunes in the grounds of coffee2 but when he had a cup of coffee given to him1 he drank it all1 saying1 ,coffee is better than fortune6 ,when their attention is not turned to divine what the spectators think and feel1 children will have leisure to consult their own minds1 and to compare their own feelings4 ,as this has been already spoken of1#ig we shall not dwell upon it2 we only mention it as a necessary precaution in teaching prudence4 ,some parents may perhaps fear1 that1 if they were to allow children to choose upon every trifling occasion for themselves1 they would become wilful and troublesome3 this certainly will be the effect1 if we make them think that there is a pleasure in the exercise of free-will1 independently of any good that may be obtained by judicious choice4 ,now1 my dear1 you shall have your choice6 ,you shall choose for yourself6 ,you shall have your free choice6 are expressions that may be pronounced in such a tone1 and with such an emphasis to a child1 as immediately to excite a species of triumphant ecstasy from the mere idea of having his own free choice4 ,by a different accent and emphasis we may repress the ideas of triumph1 and1 without intimidating the pupil1 we may turn his mind to the difficulties1 rather than the glory of being in a situation to decide for himself4 ,we must not be surprised at the early imprudence of children2 their mistakes1 when they first are allowed to make a choice1 are inevitable2 all their sensations are new to them1 consequently they cannot judge of what they shall like or dislike4 ,if some of ,lord ,macartney's suite had1 on his return from the late embassy to ,china1 brought home some plant whose smell was perfectly unknown to ,europeans1 would it have been possible for the greatest philosopher in ,england to have decided1 if he had been asked1 whether he should like the unknown perfume8 ,children1 for the first five or six years of their lives1 are in the situation of this philosopher1 relatively to external objects4 ,we should never reproachfully say to a child1 ,you asked to smell such a thing2 you asked to see such a thing2 and now you have had your wish1 you don't like them6 ,how can the child possibly judge of what he shall like or dislike1 before he has tried8 ,let him try experiments upon his own feelings2 the more accurate knowledge he acquires1 the sooner he will be enabled to choose prudently4 ,you may expedite his progress by exciting him to compare each new sensation with those to which he is already familiarized2 this will counteract that love of novelty which is often found dangerous to prudence2 if the mind is employed in comparing1 it cannot be dazzled by new objects4 ,children often imagine1 that what they like for the present minute1 they shall continue to like for ever2 they have not learnt from experiment1 that the most agreeable sensations fatigue1 if they are prolonged or frequently repeated2 they have not learnt1 that all violent stimuli are followed by weariness or ennui4 ,the sensible preceptor will not insist upon his pupil's knowing these things by inspiration1 nor will he expect that his assertions or prophecies should be implicitly believed2 he will wait till the child feels1 and at that moment he will excite his pupil to observe his own feelings4 ,you thought that you should never be tired of smelling that rose1 or of looking at that picture2 now you perceive that you are tired3 remember this2 it may be of use to you another time4 ,if this be said in a friendly manner1 it will not pique the child to defend his past choice1 but it will direct his future judgment4 ,young people are often reproached for their imprudence in preferring a small present pleasure to a large distant advantage3 this errour also arises from inexperience1 not from want of judgment1 or deficiency in strength of mind4 ,when that which has been the future1 has in its turn become present1 children begin to have some idea of the nature of time1 and they can then form some comparisons between the value of present and future pleasures4 ,this is a very slow process2 old people calculate and depend upon the distant future more than the young1 not always from their increased wisdom or prudence1 but merely from their increased experience1 and consequent belief that the future will in time arrive4 ,it is imprudent in old people to depend upon the future2 if they were to reason upon the chance of their lives1 they ought not to be secure of its arrival2 yet habit in this instance1 as in many others1 is more powerful than reason3 in all the plans of elderly people1 there is seldom any errour from impatience as to the future2 there often appear gross errours in their security as to its arrival4 ,if these opposite habits could be mixed in the minds of the old and of the young1 it would be for their mutual advantage4 ,it is not possible to infuse experience into the mind2 our pupils must feel for themselves3 but1 by teaching them to observe their own feelings1 we may abridge their labour2 a few lessons will teach a great deal when they are properly applied4 ,to teach children to calculate and compare their present and future pleasures1 we may begin by fixing short intervals of time for our experiments2 an hour1 a day1 a week1 perhaps1 are periods of time to which their imagination will easily extend2 they can measure and compare their feelings within these spaces of time1 and we may lead them to observe their own errours in not providing for the future4 ,now ,friday is come2 last ,monday you thought ,friday would never come4 ,if you had not cut away all your pencil last week1 you would have had some left to draw with to-day4 ,another time you will manage better4 ,we should also lead them to compare their ideas of any given pleasure1 before and after the period of its arrival4 ,you thought last summer that you should like making snow balls in winter1 better than making hay in summer4 ,now you have made snow-balls to-day2 and you remember what you felt when you were making hay last summer2 do you like the snow-ball pleasure1 or the hay-making pleasure the best8 ,v4 ,berquin's ,quatre saisons4 ,if our pupils1 when they have any choice to make1 prefer a small present gratification to a great future pleasure1 we should not1 at the moment of their decision1 reproach their imprudence1 but we should steadily make them abide by their choice2 and when the time arrives at which the greater pleasure might have been enjoyed1 we should remark the circumstance1 but not with a tone of reproach1 for it is their affair1 not ours4 ,you preferred having a sheet of paper the moment you wanted it last week1 to the having a quire of paper this week4 ,oh1 but1 says the child1 ,i wanted a sheet of paper very much then1 but ,i did not consider how soon this week would come--,i wish ,i had chosen the quire4 ,then remember what you feel now1 and you will be able to choose better upon another occasion4 ,we should always refer to the pupils' own feelings1 and look forward to their future advantage4 ,the reason why so few young people attend to advice1 is1 that their preceptors do not bring it actually home to their feelings3 it is useless to reproach for past imprudence2 the child sees the errour as plainly as we do2 all that can be done1 is to make it a lesson for the future4 ,to a geometrician1 the words by proposition #ast4 stand for a whole demonstration3 if he recollects that he has once gone over the demonstration1 he is satisfied of its truth2 and1 without verifying it again1 he makes use of it in making out the demonstration of a new proposition4 ,in moral reasoning1 we proceed in the same manner2 we recollect the result of our past experiments1 and we refer to this moral demonstration in solving a new problem4 ,in time1 by frequent practice1 this operation is performed so rapidly by the mind1 that we scarcely perceive it1 and yet it guides our actions4 ,a man1 in walking across the room1 keeps out of the way of the tables and chairs1 without perceiving that he reasons about the matter2 a sober man avoids hard drinking1 because he knows it to be hurtful to his health2 but he does not1 every time he refuses to drink1 go over the whole train of reasoning which first decided his determination4 ,a modern philosopher1#ih calls this rapid species of reasoning intuitive analogy2 applied to the business of life1 the ,french call it tact4 ,sensible people have this tact in higher perfection than others2 and prudent people govern themselves by it more regularly than others4 ,by the methods which we have recommended1 we hope it may be successfully cultivated in early education4 ,rousseau1 in expressing his contempt for those who make habit their only guide of action1 goes1 as he is apt to do in the heat of declamation1 into the errour opposite to that which he ridicules4 ,the only habit1 cries he1 that ,i wish my ,emilius to have1 is the habit of having no habits4 ,emilius would have been a strange being1 had he literally accomplished his preceptor's wish4 ,to go up stairs1 would have been a most operose1 and to go down stairs1 a most tremendous1 affair to ,emilius1 for he was to have no habits3 between every step of the stairs1 new deliberations must take place1 and fresh decisions of the judgment and will ensue4 ,in his moral judgments1 ,emilius would have had as much useless labour4 ,habit surely is necessary1 even to those who make reason the ultimate judge of their affairs4 ,reason is not to be appealed to upon every trivial occasion1 to rejudge the same cause a million of times4 ,must a man1 every time he draws a straight line1 repeat to himself1 a right line is that which lieth evenly between its points8 ,must he rehearse the propositions of ,euclid1 instead of availing himself of their practical use8 ,christian1 can'st thou raise a perpendicular upon a straight line8 is the apostrophe with which the cross-legged emperor of ,barbary1 seated on his throne of rough deal boards1 accosts every learned stranger who frequents his court4 ,in the course of his reign1 probably1 his ,barbaric majesty may have reiterated the demonstration of this favourite proposition1 which he learned from a ,french surgeon about five hundred times2 but his majesty's understanding is not materially improved by these recitals2 his geometrical learning is confined1 we are told1 to this single proposition4 ,it would have been scarcely worth while to have singled out for combat this paradox of ,rousseau's1 concerning habit1 if it had not presented itself in the formidable form of an antithesis4 ,a false maxim1 conveyed in an antithesis1 is dangerous1 because it is easily remembered and repeated1 and it quickly passes current in conversation4 ,but to return to our subject1 of which we have imprudently lost sight4 ,imprudence does not always arise from our neglect of our past experience1 or from our forgetting to take the future into our calculations1 but from false associations1 or from passion4 ,objects often appear different to one man1 from what they do to the rest of the world3 this man may reason well upon what the majority of reasonable people agree to call false appearances2 he may follow strictly the conviction of his own understanding1 and yet the world will say that he acts very imprudently4 ,to the taste or smell of those who are in a fever1 objects not only appear1 but really are1 to the patients different from what they appear to persons in sound health3 in the same manner to the imagination1 objects have really a different value in moments of enthusiasm1 from what they have in our cooler hours1 and we scarcely can believe that our view of objects will ever vary4 ,it is in vain to oppose reason to false associations2 we must endeavour to combat one set of associations by another1 and to alter the situation1 and consequently1 the views1#ii of the mistaken person4 ,suppose1 for instance1 that a child had been in a coach and six upon some pleasant excursion 7it is an improbable thing1 but we may suppose any thing37 suppose a child had enjoyed1 from some accidental circumstances1 an extraordinary degree of pleasure in a coach and six1 he might afterwards long to be in a similar vehicle1 from a mistaken notion1 that it could confer happiness4 ,here we should not oppose the force of reasoning to a false association1 but we should counteract the former association4 ,give the child an equal quantity of amusement when he is not in a coach and six1 and then he will form fresh pleasurable associations with other objects which may balance his first prepossession4 ,if you oppose reason ineffectually to passion or taste1 you bring the voice and power of reason into discredit with your pupil4 ,when you have changed his view of things1 you may then reason with him1 and show him the cause of his former mistake4 ,in the excellent fable of the shield that was gold on one side and silver on the other1 the two disputants never could have agreed until they changed places4--,when you have1 in several instances1 proved by experiment1 that you judge more prudently than your pupil1 he will be strongly inclined to listen to your counsels1 and then your experience will be of real use to him2 he will argue from it with safety and satisfaction4 ,when1 after recovering from fits of passion or enthusiasm1 you have1 upon several occasions1 convinced him that your admonitions would have prevented him from the pain of repentance1 he will recollect this when he again feels the first rise of passion in his mind2 and he may1 in that lucid moment1 avail himself of your calm reason1 and thus avoid the excesses of extravagant passions4 ,that unfortunate ,french monarch1#ajj who was liable to temporary fits of frenzy1 learned to foresee his approaching malady1 and often requested his friends to disarm him1 lest he should injure any of his attendants4 ,in a malady which precludes the use of reason1 it was possible for this humane patient to foresee the probable mischief he might do to his fellow-creatures1 and to take prudent measures against his own violence2 and may not we expect1 that those who are early accustomed to attend to their own feelings1 may prepare against the extravagance of their own passions1 and avail themselves of the regulating advice of their temperate friends8 ,in the education of girls1 we must teach them much more caution than is necessary to boys3 their prudence must be more the result of reasoning than of experiment2 they must trust to the experience of others2 they cannot always have recourse to what ought to be2 they must adapt themselves to what is4 ,they cannot rectify the material mistakes in their conduct1#aja ,timidity1 a certain tardiness of decision1 and reluctance to act in public situations1 are not considered as defects in a woman's character3 her pausing prudence does not1 to a man of discernment1 denote imbecility2 but appears to him the graceful1 auspicious characteristic of female virtue4 ,there is always more probability that women should endanger their own happiness by precipitation1 than by forbearance4--,promptitude of choice1 is seldom expected from the female sex2 they should avail themselves of the leisure that is permitted to them for reflection4 ,begin nothing of which you have not well considered the end1 was the piece of advice for which the ,eastern ,sultan#ajb paid a purse of gold1 the price set upon it by a sage4 ,the monarch did not repent of his purchase4 ,this maxim should be engraved upon the memory of our female pupils1 by the repeated lessons of education4 ,we should1 even in trifles1 avoid every circumstance which can tend to make girls venturesome2 which can encourage them to trust their good fortune1 instead of relying on their own prudence4 ,marmontel's tale1 entitled ,heureusement1 is a witty1 but surely not a moral1 tale4 ,girls should be discouraged from hazarding opinions in general conversation2 but amongst their friends1 they should be excited to reason with accuracy and with temper4#ajc ,it is really a part of a woman's prudence to have command of temper2 if she has it not1 her wit and sense will not have their just value in domestic life4 ,calphurnia1 a ,roman lady1 used to plead her own causes before the senate1 and we are informed1 that she became so troublesome and confident1 that the judges decreed that thenceforward no woman should be suffered to plead4 ,did not this lady make an imprudent use of her talents8 ,in the choice of friends1 and on all matters of taste1 young women should be excited to reason about their own feelings4 ,there is no reasoning about taste1 is a pernicious maxim3 if there were more reasoning1 there would be less disputation upon this subject4 ,if women questioned their own minds1 or allowed their friends to question them1 concerning the reasons of their preferences and aversions1 there would not1 probably1 be so many love matches1 and so few love marriages4 ,it is in vain to expect1 that young women should begin to reason miraculously at the very moment that reason is wanted in the guidance of their conduct4 ,we should also observe1 that women are called upon for the exertion of their prudence at an age when young men are scarcely supposed to possess that virtue2 therefore1 women should be more early1 and more carefully1 educated for the purpose4 ,the important decisions of woman's life1 are often made before she is twenty3 a man does not come upon the theatre of public life1 where most of his prudence is shown1 till he is much older4 ,economy is1 in women1 an essential domestic virtue4 ,some women have a foolish love of expensive baubles2 a taste which a very little care1 probably1 in their early education1 might have prevented4 ,we are told1 that when a collection of three hundred and fifty pounds was made for the celebrated ,cuzzona1 to save her from absolute want1 she immediately laid out two hundred pounds of the money in the purchase of a shell cap1 which was then in fashion4#ajd ,prudent mothers1 will avoid showing any admiration of pretty trinkets before their young daughters2 and they will oppose the ideas of utility and durability to the mere caprice of fashion1 which creates a taste for beauty1 as it were1 by proclamation4 ,such a thing is pretty1 but it is of no use4 ,such a thing is pretty1 but it will soon wear out--a mother may say2 and she should prove the truth of her assertions to her pupils4 ,economy is usually confined to the management of money1 but it may be shown on many other occasions3 economy may be exercised in taking care of whatever belongs to us2 children should have the care of their own clothes1 and if they are negligent of what is in their charge1 this negligence should not be repaired by servants or friends1 they should feel the real natural consequences of their own neglect1 but no other punishment should be inflicted2 and they should be left to make their own reflections upon their errours and misfortunes1 undisturbed by the reproaches of their friends1 or by the prosing moral of a governess or preceptor4 ,we recommend1 for we must descend to these trifles1 that girls should be supplied with an independent stock of all the little things which are in daily use2 housewives1 and pocket books well stored with useful implements2 and there should be no lending#aje and borrowing amongst children4 ,it will be but just to provide our pupils with convenient places for the preservation and arrangement of their little goods4 ,order is necessary to economy2 and we cannot more certainly create a taste for order1 than by showing early its advantages in practice as well as in theory4 ,the aversion to old things1 should1 if possible1 be prevented in children3 we should not express contempt for old things1 but we should treat them with increased reverence1 and exult in their having arrived under our protection to such a creditable age4 ,i have had such a hat so long1 therefore it does not signify what becomes of it6 is the speech of a promising little spendthrift4 ,i have taken care of my hat1 it has lasted so long2 and ,i hope ,i shall make it last longer1 is the exultation of a young economist1 in which his prudent friends should sympathize4 ,waste not1 want not1 is an excellent motto in an ,english nobleman's kitchen4#ajf ,the most opulent parents ought not to be ashamed to adopt it in the economic education of their children3 early habits of care1 and an early aversion and contempt for the selfish spirit of wasteful extravagance1 may preserve the fortunes1 and1 what is of far more importance1 the integrity and peace of mind of noble families4 ,we have said1 that economy cannot be exercised without children's having the management of money4 ,whilst our pupils are young1 if they are educated at home1 they cannot have much real occasion for money2 all the necessaries of life are provided for them2 and if they have money to spend1 it must be probably laid out on superfluities4 ,this is a bad beginning4 ,money should be represented to our pupils as what it really is1 the conventional sign of the value of commodities3 before children are acquainted with the real and comparative value of any of these commodities1 it is surely imprudent to trust them with money4 ,as to the idea that children may be charitable and generous in the disposal of money1 we have expressed our sentiments fully upon this subject already4#ajg ,we are1 however1 sensible that when children are sent to any school1 it is advisable to supply them with pocket-money enough to put them upon an equal footing with their companions2 otherwise1 we might run the hazard of inducing worse faults than extravagance--meanness1 or envy4 ,young people who are educated at home should1 as much as possible1 be educated to take a family interest in all the domestic expenses4 ,parental reserve in money matters is extremely impolitic2 as ,mr4 ,locke judiciously observes1 that a father1 who wraps his affairs up in mystery1 and who views his son with jealous eyes1 as a person who is to begin to live when he dies1 must make him an enemy by treating him as such4 ,a frank simplicity and cordial dependence upon the integrity and upon the sympathy of their children1 will ensure to parents their disinterested friendship4 ,ignorance is always more to be dreaded than knowledge4 ,young people1 who are absolutely ignorant of affairs1 who have no idea of the relative expense of different modes of living1 and of the various wants of a family1 are apt to be extremely unreasonable in the imaginary disposal of their parent's fortune2 they confine their view merely to their own expenses4 ,i only spend such a sum1 they say1 and surely that is nothing to my father's income4 ,they consider only the absolute amount of what they spend2 they cannot compare it with the number of other expenses which are necessary for the rest of the family3 they do not know these1 therefore they cannot perceive the proportion which it is reasonable that their expenditure should bear to the whole4 ,mrs4 ,d',arblay1 in one of her excellent novels1 has given a striking picture of the ignorance in which young women sometimes leave their father's house1 and begin to manage in life for themselves1 without knowing any thing of the powers of money4 ,camilla's imprudence must chiefly be ascribed to her ignorance4 ,young women should be accustomed to keep the family accounts1 and their arithmetic should not be merely a speculative science2 they should learn the price of all necessaries1 and of all luxuries2 they should learn what luxuries are suited to their fortune and rank1 what degree of expense in dress is essential to a regularly neat appearance1 and what must be the increased expense and temptations of fashion in different situations2 they should not be suffered to imagine that they can resist these temptations more than others1 if they get into company above their rank1 nor should they have any indistinct idea1 that by some wonderful economical operations they can make a given sum of money go further than others can do4 ,the steadiness of calculation will prevent all these vain notions2 and young women1 when they see in stubborn figures what must be the consequence of getting into situations where they must be tempted to exceed their means1 will probably begin by avoiding1 instead of braving1 the danger4 ,most parents think that their sons are more disposed to extravagance than their daughters2 the sons are usually exposed to greater temptations4 ,young men excite one another to expense1 and to a certain carelessness of economy1 which assumes the name of spirit1 while it often forfeits all pretensions to justice4 ,a prudent father will never1 from any false notions of forming his son early to good company1 introduce him to associates whose only merit is their rank or their fortune4 ,such companions will lead a weak young man into every species of extravagance1 and then desert and ridicule him in the hour of distress4 ,if a young man has a taste for literature1 and for rational society1 his economy will be secured1 simply because his pleasures will not be expensive1 nor will they be dependent upon the caprice of fashionable associates4 ,the intermediate state between that of a school-boy and a man1 is the dangerous period in which taste for expense is often acquired1 before the means of gratifying it are obtained4 ,boys listen with anxiety to the conversation of those who are a few years older than themselves4 ,from this conversation they gather information respecting the ways of the world1 which1 though often erroneous1 they tenaciously believe to be accurate3 it is in vain that their older friends may assure them that such and such frivolous expenses are not necessary to the well-being of a man in society2 they adhere to the opinion of the younger counsel2 they conclude that every thing has changed since their parents were young1 that they must not govern themselves by antiquated notions1 but by the scheme of economy which happens to be the fashion of the day4 ,during this boyish state1 parents should be particularly attentive to the company which their sons keep2 and they should frequently in conversation with sensible1 but not with morose or old fashioned people1 lead to the subject of economy1 and openly discuss and settle the most essential points4 ,at the same time a father should not intimidate his son with the idea that nothing but rigid economy can win his parental favour2 his parental favour should not be a mercenary object2 he should rather show his son1 that he is aware of the great temptations to which a young man is exposed in going first into the world3 he should show him1 both that he is disposed to place confidence in him1 and that he yet knows the fallibility of youthful prudence4 ,if he expect from his son unerring prudence1 he expects too much1 and he will1 perhaps1 create an apprehension of his displeasure1 which may chill and repress all ingenuous confidence4 ,in all his childish1 and in all his youthful distresses1 a son should be habitually inclined to turn to his father as to his most indulgent friend4 ,apply to me if ever you get into any difficulties1 and you will always find me your most indulgent friend1 were the words of a father to a child of twelve years old1 pronounced with such encouraging benevolence1 that they were never forgotten by the person to whom they were addressed4 ,before a young man goes into the world1 it will be a great advantage to him to have some share in the management of his father's affairs2 by laying out money for another person1 he will acquire habits of care1 which will be useful to him afterwards in his own affairs4 ,a father1 who is building1 or improving grounds1 who is carrying on works of any sort1 can easily allot some portion of the business to his son1 as an exercise for his judgment and prudence4 ,he should hear and see the estimates of workmen1 and he should1 as soon as he has collected the necessary facts1 form estimates of his own1 before he hears the calculation of others3 this power of estimating will be of great advantage to gentlemen3 it will circumscribe their wishes1 and it will protect them against the low frauds of designing workmen4 ,it may seem trivial1 but we cannot forbear to advise young people to read the news-papers of the day regularly3 they will keep up by these means with the current of affairs1 and they will exercise their judgment upon interesting business1 and large objects4 ,the sooner boys acquire the sort of knowledge necessary for the conversation of sensible men1 the better2 they will be the less exposed to feel false shame4 ,false shame1 the constant attendant upon ignorance1 often leads young men into imprudent expenses2 when1 upon any occasion1 they do not know by any certain calculation to what any expense may amount1 they are ashamed to inquire minutely4 ,from another sort of weakness1 they are ashamed to resist the example or importunity of numbers2 against this weakness1 the strong desire of preserving the good opinion of estimable friends1 is the best preservative4 ,the taste for the esteem of superior characters1 cures the mind of fondness for vulgar applause4 ,we have1 in the very first chapter of this book1 spoken of the danger of the passion for gaming1 and the precautions that we have recommended in early education will1 it is hoped1 prevent the disorder from appearing in our pupils as they grow up4 ,occupations for the understanding1 and objects for the affections1 will preclude all desire for the violent stimulus of the gaming table4 ,it may be said1 that many men of superior abilities1 and of generous social tempers1 become gamesters4 ,they do so1 because they have exhausted other pleasures1 and they have been accustomed to strong excitements4 ,such excitements do not become necessary to happiness1 till they have been made habitual4 ,there was an excellent ,essay on ,projects1 published some years ago by an anonymous writer1 which we think would make a great impression upon any young persons of good sense4 ,we do not wish to repress the generous enterprising ardour of youth1 or to confine the ideas to the narrow circle of which self must be the centre4 ,calculation will show what can be done1 and how it can be done2 and thus the individual1 without injury to himself1 may1 if he wish it1 speculate extensively for the good of his fellow creatures4 ,it is scarcely possible1 that the mean passion of avarice should exist in the mind of any young person who has been tolerably well educated2 but too much pains cannot be taken to preserve that domestic felicity1 which arises from entire confidence and satisfaction amongst the individuals of a family with regard to property4 ,exactness in accounts and in business relative to property1 far from being unnecessary amongst friends and relations1 are1 we think1 peculiarly agreeable1 and essential to the continuance of frank intimacy4 ,we should1 whilst our pupils are young1 teach them a love for exactness about property2 a respect for the rights of others1 rather than a tenacious anxiety about their own4 ,when young people are of a proper age to manage money and property of their own1 let them know precisely what they can annually spend2 in whatever form they receive an income1 let that income be certain3 if presents of pocket money or of dress are from time to time made to them1 this creates expectation and uncertainty in their minds4 ,all persons who have a fluctuating revenue1 are disposed to be imprudent and extravagant4 ,it is remarkable1 that the ,west-,indian planters1 whose property is a kind of lottery1 are extravagantly disposed to speculation2 in the hopes of a favourable season1 they live from year to year in unbounded profusion4 ,it is curious to observe1 that the propensity to extravagance exists in those who enjoy the greatest affluence1 and in those who have felt the greatest distress4 ,those who have little to lose1 are reckless about that little2 and any uncertainty as to the tenure of property1 or as to the rewards of industry1 immediately operates1 not only to depress activity1 but to destroy prudence4 ,prudence1 says ,mr4 ,edwards1 is a term that has no place in the negro vocabulary2 instead of trusting to what are called the ground provisions1 which are safe from the hurricanes1 the negroes1 in the cultivation of their own lands1 trust more to plantain-groves1 corn1 and other vegetables that are liable to be destroyed by storms4 ,when they earn a little money1 they immediately gratify their palate with salted meats and other provisions1 which are to them delicacies4 ,the idea of accumulating1 and of being economic in order to accumulate1 is unknown to these poor slaves1 who hold their lands by the most uncertain of all tenures1#ajh ,we are told1 that the provision ground1 the creation of the negro's industry1 and the hope of his life1 is sold by public auction to pay his master's debts4 ,is it wonderful that the term prudence should be unknown in the negro vocabulary8 ,the very poorest class of people in ,london1 who feel despair1 and who merely live to bear the evil of the day1 are1 it is said1 very little disposed to be prudent4 ,in a late publication1 ,mr4 ,colquhoun's ,treatise on the ,police of the ,metropolis1 he tells us1 that the chief consumption of oysters1 crabs1 lobsters1 pickled salmon1 c4 when first in season1 and when the prices are high1 is by the lowest classes of the people4 ,the middle ranks1 and those immediately under them1 abstain generally from such indulgences until the prices are moderate4#aji ,perhaps it may be thought1 that the consumption of oysters1 crabs1 and pickled salmon1 in ,london1 or the management of the negro's provision ground in ,jamaica1 has little to do with a practical essay upon economy and prudence2 but we hope1 that we may be permitted to use these far fetched illustrations1 to show that the same causes act upon the mind independently of climate3 they are mentioned here to show1 that the little revenue of young people ought to be fixed and certain4 ,when we recommend economy and prudence to our pupils1 we must1 at the same time1 keep their hearts open to the pleasures of generosity2 economy and prudence will put it in the power of the generous to give4 ,the worth of everything ,is as much money as 'twill bring1 will never be the venal maxim of those who understand the nature of philosophic prudence4 ,the worth of money is to be estimated by the number of real pleasures which it can procure3 there are many which are not to be bought by gold2#aaj these will never lose their pre-eminent value with persons who have been educated both to reason and to feel4 ,,footnotes3 #if ,here lies the mutton eating king2 ,whose promise none relied on2 ,who never said a foolish thing1 ,and never did a wise one4 ,epitaph on ,charles #b;d4 #ig ,v4 ,taste and ,imagination4 #ih ,darwin's ,zoonomia4 #ii ,chapter on ,imagination4 #ajj ,charles ,,vi4 #aja ,no penance can absolve their guilty fame1 ,nor tears1 that wash out sin1 can wash out shame4 #ajb ,v4 ,persian ,tales4 #ajc ,v4 ,chapter on ,temper4 #ajd ,mrs4 ,piozzi's ,english ,synonymy1 vol4 i4 p4 #cei4 #aje ,v4 ,toys4 #ajf ,lord ,scarsdale's4 ,keddleston4 #ajg ,v4 ,chapter on ,sympathy and ,sensibility4 #ajh ,v4 ,edwards' ,history of the ,west ,indies4 #aji ,v4 a note in page #cb of the ,treatise on the ,police of the ,metropolis4 ,,chapter ,,xxv4 ,,summary4 ,the general principle1 that we should associate pleasure with whatever we wish that our pupils should pursue1 and pain with whatever we wish that they should avoid1 forms1 our readers will perceive1 the basis of our plan of education4 ,this maxim1 applied to the cultivation of the understanding1 or of the affections1 will1 we apprehend1 be equally successful2 virtues1 as well as abilities1 or what is popularly called genius1 we believe to be the result of education1 not the gift of nature4 ,a fond mother will tremble at the idea1 that so much depends upon her own care in the early education of her children2 but1 even though she may be inexperienced in the art1 she may be persuaded that patience and perseverance will ensure her success3 even from her timidity we may prophesy favourably2 for1 in education1 to know the danger1 is often to avoid it4 ,the first steps require rather caution and gentle kindness1 than any difficult or laborious exertions3 the female sex are1 from their situation1 their manners1 and talents1 peculiarly suited to the superintendence of the early years of childhood4 ,we have1 therefore1 in the first chapters of the preceding work1 endeavoured to adapt our remarks principally to female readers1 and we shall think ourselves happy1 if any anxious mother feels their practical utility4 ,in the chapters on ,toys1 ,tasks1 and ,attention1 we have attempted to show how the instruction and amusements of children may be so managed as to coincide with each other4 ,play1 we have observed1 is only a change of occupation2 and toys1 to be permanently agreeable to children1 must afford them continued employment4 ,we have declared war against tasks1 or rather against the train of melancholy1 which1 associated with this word1 usually render it odious to the ears of the disgusted scholar4 ,by kind patience1 and well timed1 distinct1 and above all1 by short lessons1 a young child may be initiated in the mysteries of learning1 and in the first principles of knowledge1 without fatigue1 or punishment1 or tears4 ,no matter how little be learned in a given time1 provided the pupil be not disgusted2 provided the wish to improve be excited1 and the habits of attention be acquired4 ,attention we consider as the faculty of the mind which is essential to the cultivation of all its other powers4 ,it is essential to success in what are called accomplishments1 or talents1 as well as to our progress in the laborious arts or abstract sciences4 ,believing so much to depend upon this faculty or habit1 we have taken particular pains to explain the practical methods by which it may be improved4 ,the general maxims1 that the attention of young people should at first be exercised but for very short periods2 that they should never be urged to the point of fatigue2 that pleasure1 especially the great pleasure of success1 should be associated with the exertions of the pupil2 are applicable to children of all tempers4 ,the care which has been recommended1 in the use of words1 to convey uniformly distinct ideas1 will1 it is hoped1 be found advantageous4 ,we have1 without entering into the speculative question concerning the original differences of temper and genius1 offered such observations as we thought might be useful in cultivating the attention of vivacious1 and indolent children2 whether their idleness or indolence proceed from nature1 or from mistaken modes of instruction1 we have been anxious to point out means of curing their defects2 and1 from our successful experience with pupils apparently of opposite dispositions1 we have ventured to assert with some confidence1 that no parent should despair of correcting a child's defects2 that no preceptor should despair of producing in his pupil the species of abilities which his education steadily tends to form4 ,these are encouraging hopes1 but not flattering promises4 ,having just opened these bright views to parents1 we have paused to warn them1 that all their expectations1 all their cares1 will be in vain1 unless they have sufficient prudence and strength of mind to follow a certain mode of conduct with respect to servants1 and with respect to common acquaintance4 ,more failures in private education have been occasioned by the interference of servants and acquaintance1 than from any other cause4 ,it is impossible1 we repeat it in the strongest terms1 it is impossible that parents can be successful in the education of their children at home1 unless they have steadiness enough to resist all interference from visiters and acquaintance1 who from thoughtless kindness1 or a busy desire to administer advice1 are apt to counteract the views of a preceptor2 and who often1 in a few minutes1 undo the work of years4 ,when our pupils have formed their habits1 and have reason and experience sufficient to guide them1 let them be left as free as air2 let them choose their friends and acquaintance2 let them see the greatest variety of characters1 and hear the greatest variety of conversation and opinions3 but whilst they are children1 whilst they are destitute of the means to judge1 their parents or preceptors must supply their deficient reason2 and authority1 without violence1 should direct them to their happiness4 ,they must see1 that all who are concerned in their education1 agree in the means of governing them2 in all their commands and prohibitions1 in the distribution of praise and blame1 of reward and punishment1 there must be unanimity4 ,where there does not exist this unanimity in families2 where parents have not sufficient firmness to prevent the interference of acquaintance1 and sufficient prudence to keep children from all private communication with servants1 we earnestly advise that the children be sent to some public seminary of education4 ,we have taken some pains to detail the methods by which all hurtful communication between children and servants1 in a well regulated family1 may be avoided1 and we have asserted1 from the experience of above twenty years1 that these methods have been found not only practicable1 but easy4 ,in the chapters on ,obedience1 ,temper and ,truth1 the general principle1 that pleasure should excite to exertion and virtue1 and that pain should be connected with whatever we wish our pupils to avoid1 is applied to practice with a minuteness of detail which we knew not how to avoid4 ,obedience we have considered as a relative1 rather than as a positive1 virtue3 before children are able to conduct themselves1 their obedience must be rendered habitual3 obedience alters its nature as the pupil becomes more and more rational2 and the only method to secure the obedience1 the willing1 enlightened obedience of rational beings1 is to convince them by experience1 that it tends to their happiness4 ,truth depends upon example more than precept2 and we have endeavoured to impress it on the minds of all who are concerned in education1 that the first thing necessary to teach their pupils to love truth1 is in their whole conduct to respect it themselves4 ,we have reprobated the artifices sometimes used by preceptors towards their pupils2 we have shown that all confidence is destroyed by these deceptions4 ,may they never more be attempted6 ,may parents unite in honest detestation of these practices6 ,children are not fools1 and they are not to be governed like fools4 ,parents who adhere to the firm principle of truth1 may be certain of the respect and confidence of their children4 ,children who never see the example of falsehood1 will grow up with a simplicity of character1 with an habitual love of truth1 that must surprise preceptors who have seen the propensity to deceit which early appears in children who have had the misfortune to live with servants1 or with persons who have the habits of meanness and cunning4 ,we have advised1 that children1 before their habits are formed1 should never be exposed to temptations to deceive2 that no questions should be asked them which hazard their young integrity2 that as they grow older1 they should gradually be trusted2 and that they should be placed in situations where they may feel the advantages both of speaking truth1 and of obtaining a character for integrity4 ,the perception of the utility of this virtue to the individual1 and to society1 will confirm the habitual reverence in which our pupils have been taught to hold it4 ,as young people become reasonable1 the nature of their habits and of their education should be explained to them1 and their virtues1 from being virtues of custom1 should be rendered virtues of choice and reason4 ,it is easier to confirm good habits by the conviction of the understanding1 than to induce habits in consequence of that conviction4 ,this principle we have pursued in the chapter on ,rewards and ,punishments2 we have not considered punishment as vengeance or retaliation1 but as pain inflicted with the reasonable hope of procuring some future advantage to the delinquent1 or to society4 ,the smallest possible quantity of pain that can effect this purpose1 we suppose1 must1 with all just and humane persons1 be the measure of punishment4 ,this notion of punishment1 both for the sake of the preceptor and the pupil1 should be clearly explained as early as it can be made intelligible4 ,as to rewards1 we do not wish that they should be bribes2 they should stimulate1 without weakening the mind4 ,the consequences which naturally follow every species of good conduct1 are the proper and best rewards that we can devise2 children whose understandings are cultivated1 and whose tempers are not spoiled1 will be easily made happy without the petty bribes which are administered daily to ill educated1 ignorant1 over stimulated1 and1 consequently1 wretched and ill humoured children4 ,far from making childhood a state of continual penance1 restraint1 and misery1 we wish that it should be made a state of uniform happiness2 that parents and preceptors should treat their pupils with as much equality and kindness as the improving reason of children justifies4 ,the views of children should be extended to their future advantage1#aaa and they should consider childhood as a part of their existence1 not as a certain number of years which must be passed over before they can enjoy any of the pleasures of life1 before they can enjoy any of the privileges of grown up people4 ,preceptors should not accustom their pupils to what they call indulgence1 but should give them the utmost degree of present pleasure which is consistent with their future advantage4 ,would it not be folly and cruelty to give present pleasure at the expense of a much larger portion of future pain8 ,when children acquire experience and reason1 they rejudge the conduct of those who have educated them2 and their confidence and their gratitude will be in exact proportion to the wisdom and justice with which they have been governed4 ,it was necessary to explain at large these ideas of rewards and punishments1 that we might clearly see our way in the progress of education4 ,after having determined1 that our object is to obtain for our pupils the greatest possible portion of felicity2 after having observed1 that no happiness can be enjoyed in society without the social virtues1 without the useful and the agreeable qualities2 our view naturally turns to the means of forming these virtues1 of ensuring these essential qualities4 ,on our sympathy with our fellow creatures depend many of our social virtues2 from our ambition to excel our competitors1 arise many of our most useful and agreeable actions4 ,we have considered these principles of action as they depend on each other1 and as they are afterwards separated4 ,sympathy and sensibility1 uninformed by reason1 cannot be proper guides to action4 ,we have endeavoured to show how sympathy may be improved into virtue4 ,children should not see the deformed expression of the malevolent passions in the countenance of those who live with them3 before the habits are formed1 before sympathy has any rule to guide itself1 it is necessarily determined by example4 ,benevolence and affectionate kindness from parents to children1 first inspire the pleasing emotions of love and gratitude4 ,sympathy is not able to contend with passion or appetite3 we should therefore avoid placing children in painful competition with one another4 ,we love those from whom we receive pleasure4 ,to make children fond of each other1 we must make them the cause of pleasure to each other2 we must place them in situations where no passion or appetite crosses their natural sympathy4 ,we have spoken of the difference between transient1 convivial sympathy1 and that higher species of sympathy which1 connected with esteem1 constitutes friendship4 ,we have exhorted parents not to exhaust imprudently the sensibility of their children2 not to lavish caresses upon their infancy1 and cruelly to withdraw their kindness when their children have learned to expect the daily stimulus of affection4 ,the idea of exercising sensibility we have endeavoured to explain1 and to show1 that if we require premature gratitude and generosity from young people1 we shall only teach them affectation and hypocrisy4 ,we have slightly touched on the dangers of excessive female sensibility1 and have suggested1 that useful1 active employments1 and the cultivation of the reasoning faculty1 render sympathy and sensibility more respectable1 and not less graceful4 ,in treating of vanity1 pride1 and ambition1 we have been more indulgent to vanity than our proud readers will approve4 ,we hope1 however1 not to be misunderstood2 we hope that we shall not appear to be admirers of that mean and ridiculous foible1 which is anxiously concealed by all who have any desire to obtain esteem4 ,we cannot1 however1 avoid thinking it is a contradiction to inspire young people with a wish to excel1 and at the same time to insist upon their repressing all expressions of satisfaction if they succeed4 ,the desire to obtain the good opinion of others1 is a strong motive to exertion3 this desire cannot be discriminative in children before they have any knowledge of the comparative value of different qualities1 and before they can estimate the consequent value of the applause of different individuals4 ,we have endeavoured to show how1 from appealing at first to the opinions of others1 children may be led to form judgments of their own actions1 and to appeal to their own minds for approbation4 ,the sense of duty and independent self-complacency may gradually be substituted in the place of weak1 ignorant vanity4 ,there is not much danger that young people1 whose understandings are improved1 and who mix gradually with society1 should not be able to repress those offensive expressions of vanity or pride1 which are disagreeable to the feelings of the impartial spectators4 ,we should rather let the vanity of children find its own level1 than attempt any artificial adjustments2 they will learn propriety of manners from observation and experience2 we should have patience with their early uncivilized presumption1 lest we1 by premature restraints1 check the energy of the mind1 and induce the cold1 feeble vice of hypocrisy4 ,in their own family1 among the friends whom they ought to love and esteem1 let children1 with simple1 unreserved vivacity1 express the good opinion they have of themselves4 ,it is infinitely better that they should be allowed this necessary expansion of self-complacency in the company of their superiors1 than that it should be repressed by the cold hand of authority1 and afterwards be displayed in the company of inferiors and sycophants4 ,we have endeavoured to distinguish between the proper and improper use of praise as a motive in education3 we have considered it as a stimulus which1 like all other excitements1 is serviceable or pernicious1 according to the degree in which it is used1 and the circumstances in which it is applied4 ,whilst we have thus been examining the general means of educating the heart and the understanding1 we have avoided entering minutely into the technical methods of obtaining certain parts of knowledge4 ,it was essential1 in the first place1 to show1 how the desire of knowledge was to be excited2 what acquirements are most desirable1 and how they are to be most easily obtained1 are the next considerations4 ,in the chapter on ,books--,classical ,literature and ,grammar--,arithmetic and ,geometry--,geography and ,astronomy--,mechanics and ,chemistry--we have attempted to show1 how a taste for literature may early be infused into the minds of children1 and how the rudiments of science1 and some general principles of knowledge1 may be acquired1 without disgusting the pupil1 or fatiguing him by unceasing application4 ,we have1 in speaking of the choice of books for children1 suggested the general principles1 by which a selection may be safely made2 and by minute1 but we hope not invidious1 criticism1 we have illustrated our principles so as to make them practically useful4 ,the examination of ,m4 ,condillac's ,cours d',etude was meant to illustrate our own sentiments1 more than to attack a particular system4 ,far from intending to depreciate this author1 we think most highly of his abilities2 but we thought it necessary to point out some practical errours in his mode of instruction4 ,without examples from real life1 we should have wandered1 as many others of far superior abilities have already wandered1 in the shadowy land of theory4 ,in our chapters on ,grammar1 ,arithmetic1 ,mechanics1 ,chemistry1 c4 all that we have attempted has been to recall to preceptors the difficulties which they once experienced1 and to trace those early footsteps which time insensibly obliterates4 ,how few possess1 like ,faruknaz in the ,persian tale1 the happy art of transfusing their own souls into the bosoms of others6 ,we shall not pity the reader whom we have dragged through ,garretson's ,exercises1 if we can save one trembling little pilgrim from that slough of despond4 ,we hope that the patient1 quiet mode of teaching classical literature1 which we have found to succeed in a few instances1 may be found equally successful in others2 we are not conscious of having exaggerated1 and we sincerely wish that some intelligent1 benevolent parents may verify our experiments upon their own children4 ,the great difficulty which has been found in attempts to instruct children in science1 has1 we apprehend1 arisen from the theoretic manner in which preceptors have proceeded4 ,the knowledge that cannot be immediately applied to use1 has no interest for children1 has no hold upon their memories2 they may learn the principles of mechanics1 or geometry1 or chemistry2 but if they have no means of applying their knowledge1 it is quickly forgotten1 and nothing but the disgust connected with the recollection of useless labour remains in the pupil's mind4 ,it has been our object1 in treating of these subjects1 to show how they may be made interesting to young people2 and for this purpose we should point out to them1 in the daily1 active business of life1 the practical use of scientific knowledge4 ,their senses should be exercised in experiments1 and these experiments should be simple1 distinct1 and applicable to some object in which our pupils are immediately interested4 ,we are not solicitous about the quantity of knowledge that is obtained at any given age1 but we are extremely anxious that the desire to learn should continually increase1 and that whatever is taught should be taught with that perspicuity1 which improves the general understanding4 ,if the first principles of science are once clearly understood1 there is no danger that the pupil should not1 at any subsequent period of his life1 improve his practical skill1 and increase his knowledge to whatever degree he thinks proper4 ,we have hitherto proceeded without discussing the comparative advantages of public or private education4 ,whether children are to be educated at home1 or to be sent to public seminaries1 the same course of education1 during the first years of their lives1 should be pursued2 and the preparatory care of parents is essential to the success of the public preceptor4 ,we have admitted the necessity of public schools1 and1 in the present state of society1 we acknowledge that many parents have it not in their power properly to superintend the private education of a family4 ,we have earnestly advised parents not to attempt private education without first calculating the difficulties of the undertaking2 we have pointed out that1 by co-operating with the public instructer1 parents may assist in the formation of their children's characters1 without undertaking the sole management of their classical instruction4 ,a private education1 upon a calm survey of the advantages of both systems1 we prefer1 because more is in the power of the private than of the public instructer4 ,one uniform course of experience may be preserved1 and no examples1 but those which we wish to have followed1 need be seen by those children who are brought up at home4 ,when we give our opinion in favour of private education1 we hope that all we have said on servants and on acquaintance will be full in the reader's recollection4 ,no private education1 we repeat it1 can succeed without perfect unanimity1 consistency1 and steadiness1 amongst all the individuals in the family4 ,we have recommended to parents the highest liberality as the highest prudence1 in rewarding the care of enlightened preceptors4 ,ye great and opulent parents1 condescend to make your children happy3 provide for yourselves the cordial of domestic affection against that sickness of long life--old age4 ,in what we have said of governesses1 masters1 and the value of female accomplishments1 we have considered not only what is the fashion of to-day1 but rather what is likely to be the fashion of ten or twenty years hence4 ,mothers will look back1 and observe how much the system of female education has altered within their own memory2 and they will see1 with the prophetic eye of taste1 what may probably be the fashion of another spring--another race4#aab ,we have endeavoured to substitute the words domestic happiness instead of the present terms1 success in the world--fortunate establishments1 c4 ,this will lead1 perhaps1 at first1 to some confusion in the minds of those who have been long used to the old terms3 but the new vocabulary has its advantages2 the young and unprejudiced will1 perhaps1 perceive them1 and maternal tenderness will calculate with more precision1 but not with less eagerness1 the chances of happiness according to the new and old tables of interest4 ,sectary-metaphysicians1 if any of this description should ever deign to open a book that has a practical title1 will1 we fear1 be disappointed in our chapters on ,memory--,imagination and ,judgment4 ,they will not find us the partisans of any system1 and they will probably close the volume with supercilious contempt4 ,we endeavour to console ourselves by the hope1 that men of sense and candour will be more indulgent1 and will view with more complacency an attempt to collect from all metaphysical writers1 those observations1 which can be immediately of practical use in education4 ,without any pompous pretensions1 we have given a sketch of what we have been able to understand and ascertain of the history of the mind4 ,on some subjects1 the wisest of our readers will at least give us credit for knowing that we are ignorant4 ,we do not set that high value upon ,memory1 which some preceptors are inclined to do4 ,from all that we have observed1 we believe that few people are naturally deficient in this faculty2 though in many it may have been so injudiciously cultivated as to induce the spectators to conclude1 that there was some original defect in the retentive power4 ,the recollective power is less cultivated than it ought to be1 by the usual modes of education3 and this is one reason why so few pupils rise above mediocrity4 ,they lay up treasures for moths to corrupt2 they acquire a quantity of knowledge1 they learn a multitude of words by rote1 and they cannot produce a single fact1 or a single idea1 in the moment when it is wanted3 they collect1 but they cannot combine4 ,we have suggested the means of cultivating the inventive faculty at the same time that we store the memory2 we have shown1 that on the order in which ideas are presented to the mind1 depends the order in which they will recur to the memory2 and we have given examples from the histories of great men and little children1 of the reciprocal assistance which the memory and the inventive powers afford each other4 ,in speaking of ,taste1 it has been our wish to avoid prejudice and affectation4 ,we have advised that children should early be informed1 that the principles of taste depend upon casual1 arbitrary1 variable associations4 ,this will prevent our pupils from falling into the vulgar errour of being amazed and scandalized at the tastes of other times and other nations4 ,the beauties of nature and the productions of art1 which are found to be most generally pleasing1 we should associate with pleasure in the mind3 but we ought not to expect that children should admire those works of imagination which suggest1 instead of expressing1 ideas4 ,until children have acquired the language1 until they have all the necessary trains of ideas1 many of the finest strokes of genius in oratory1 poetry1 and painting1 must to them be absolutely unintelligible4 ,in a moral point of view1 we have treated of the false associations which have early influence upon the imagination1 and produce the furious passions and miserable vices4 ,the false associations which first inspire the young and innocent mind with the love of wealth1 of power1 or what is falsely called pleasure1 are pointed out2 and some practical hints are offered to parents1 which it is hoped may tend to preserve their children from these moral insanities4 ,we do not think that persons who are much used to children1 will quarrel with us for what we have said of early prodigies of wit4 ,people1 who merely talk to children for the amusement of the moment1 may admire their lively nonsense1 and will probably think the simplicity of mind that we prefer1 is downright stupidity4 ,the habit of reasoning is seldom learned by children who are much taken notice of for their sprightly repartees2 but we have observed that children1 after they have learned to reason1 as they grow up and become acquainted with the manners and customs of the world1 are by no means deficient in talents for conversation1 and in that species of wit which depends upon the perception of analogy between ideas1 rather than a play upon words4 ,at all events1 we would rather that our pupils should be without the brilliancy of wit1 than the solid and essential power of judgment4 ,to cultivate the judgment of children1 we must begin by teaching them accurately to examine and compare such external objects as are immediately obvious to their senses2 when they begin to argue1 we must be careful to make them explain their terms and abide by them4 ,in books and conversation1 they must avoid all bad reasoning1 nor should they ever be encouraged in the quibbling habit of arguing for victory4 ,prudence we consider as compounded of judgment and resolution4 ,when we teach children to reflect upon and compare their own feelings1 when we frequently give them their choice in things that are interesting to them1 we educate them to be prudent4 ,we cannot teach this virtue until children have had some experience2 as far as their experience goes1 their prudence may be exercised4 ,those who reflect upon their own feelings1 and find out exactly what it is that makes them happy1 are taught wisdom by a very few distinct lessons4 ,even fools1 it is said1 grow wise by experience1 but it is not until they grow old under her rigid discipline4 ,economy is usually understood to mean prudence in the management of money2 we have used this word in a more enlarged sense4 ,children1 we have observed1 may be economic of any thing that is trusted to their charge2 until they have some use for money1 they need not be troubled or tempted with it3 if all the necessaries and conveniences of life are provided for them1 they must spend whatever is given to them as pocket money1 in superfluities4 ,this habituates them early to extravagance4 ,we do not apprehend that young people should be entrusted with money1 till they have been some time used to manage the money business of others4 ,they may be taught to keep the accounts of a family1 from which they will learn the price and value of different commodities4 ,all this1 our readers will perceive1 is nothing more than the application of the different reasoning powers to different objects4 ,we have thus slightly given a summary of the chapters in the preceding work1 to recall the whole in a connected view to the mind2 a few simple principles run through the different parts2 all the purposes of practical education tend to one distinct object2 to render our pupils good and wise1 that they may enjoy the greatest possible share of happiness at present and in future4 ,parental care and anxiety1 the hours devoted to the instruction of a family1 will not be thrown away2 if parents have the patience to wait for their reward1 that reward will far surpass their most sanguine expectations3 they will find in their children agreeable companions1 sincere and affectionate friends4 ,whether they live in retirement1 or in the busy world1 they will feel their interest in life increase1 their pleasures multiplied by sympathy with their beloved pupils2 they will have a happy home4 ,how much is comprised in that single expression6 ,the gratitude of their pupils will continually recall to their minds the delightful reflection1 that the felicity of their whole family is their work2 that the virtues and talents of their children are the necessary consequences of good education4 ,,footnotes3 #aaj ,turn from the glittering bribe your scornful eye1 ,nor sell for gold what gold can never buy4 ,johnson's ,london4 #aaa ,emilius4 #aab ,another spring1 another race supplies4 ,pope's ,homer4 ,,notes1 ,,containing ,,conversations ,,and ,,anecdotes ,,of ,,children4 ,several years ago a mother1#aac who had a large family to educate1 and who had turned her attention with much solicitude to the subject of education1 resolved to write notes from day to day of all the trifling things which mark the progress of the mind in childhood4 ,she was of opinion1 that the art of education should be considered as an experimental science1 and that many authors of great abilities had mistaken their road by following theory instead of practice4 ,the title of ,practical ,education was chosen by this lady1 and prefixed to a little book for children1 which she began1 but did not live to finish4 ,the few notes which remain of her writing1 are preserved1 not merely out of respect to her memory1 but because it is thought that they may be useful4 ,her plan of keeping a register of the remarks of children1 has at intervals been pursued in her family2 a number of these anecdotes have been interspersed in this work2 a few1 which did not seem immediately to suit the didactic nature of any of our chapters1 remain1 and with much hesitation and diffidence are offered to the public4 ,we have selected such anecdotes as may in some measure illustrate the principles that we have endeavoured to establish2 and we hope1 that from these trifling1 but genuine conversations of children and parents1 the reader will distinctly perceive the difference1 between practical and theoretic education4 ,as some further apology for offering them to the public1 we recur to a passage in ,dr4 ,reid's#aad ,essays1 which encourages an attempt to study minutely the minds of children4 ,if we could obtain a distinct and full history of all that hath passed in the mind of a child from the beginning of life and sensation till it grows up to the use of reason1 how its infant faculties began to work1 and how they brought forth and ripened all the various notions1 opinions1 and sentiments1 which we find in ourselves when we come to be capable of reflection1 this would be a treasure of natural history which would probably give more light into the human faculties1 than all the systems of philosophers about them1 from the beginning of the world4 ,the reader1 we hope1 will not imagine that we think we can present him with this treasure of natural history2 we have only a few scattered notices1 as ,bacon would call them1 to offer2 perhaps1 even this slight attempt may awaken the attention of persons equal to the undertaking3 if able preceptors and parents would pursue a similar plan1 we might1 in time1 hope to obtain a full history of the infant mind4 ,it may occur to parents1 that writing notes of the remarks of children would lessen their freedom and simplicity in conversation2 this would certainly be the case if care were not taken to prevent the pupils from thinking of the note-book4#aae ,the following notes were never seen by the children who are mentioned in them1 and though it was in general known in the family that such notes were taken1 the particular remarks that were written down1 were never known to the pupils3 nor was any curiosity excited upon this subject4 ,the attempt would have been immediately abandoned1 if we had perceived that it produced any bad consequences4 ,the simple language of childhood has been preserved without alteration in the following notes2 and as we could not devise any better arrangement1 we have followed the order of time1 and we have constantly inserted the ages of the children1 for the satisfaction of preceptors and parents1 to whom alone these infantine anecdotes can be interesting3 ,we say nothing farther as to their accuracy2 if the reader does not see in the anecdotes themselves internal marks of veracity1 all we could say would be of no avail4 ,x---- 7a girl of five years old7 asked why a piece of paper fell quickly to the ground when rumpled up1 and why so slowly when opened4 ,y---- 7a girl of three years and a half old7 seeing her sister taken care of and nursed when she had chilblains1 said1 that she wished to have chilblains4 ,z---- 7a girl between two and three7 when her mother was putting on her bonnet1 and when she was going out to walk1 looked at the cat1 and said with a plaintive voice1 ,poor pussey6 you have no bonnet1 ,pussey6 ,x---- 7#e years old7 asked why she was as tall as the trees when she was far from them4 ,z---- 7#d years old7 went to church1 and when she was there said1 ,do those men do every thing better than we1 because they talk so loud1 and ,i think they read4 ,it was a country church1 and people sang2 but the child said1 ,she thought they didn't sing1 but roared1 because they were shut up in that place1 and didn't like it4 ,l---- 7a boy between #c and #d years7 was standing before a grate with coals in it1 which were not lighted2 his mother said to him1 ,what is the use of coals8 ,l----4 ,to put in your grate4 ,mother4 ,why are they put there8 ,l----4 ,to make fire4 ,mother4 ,how do they make fire8 ,l----4 ,fire is brought to them4 ,mother4 ,how is fire brought to them8 ,l----4 ,fire is brought to them upon a candle and put to them4 ,l----1 a little while afterwards1 asked leave to light a candle1 and when a bit of paper was given to him for that purpose1 said1 ,but1 mother1 may ,i take some light out of your fire to put to it8 ,this boy had more exact ideas of property than ,prometheus had4 ,z----1 when she was between five and six1 said1 ,water keeps things alive1 and eating keeps alive children4 ,z---- 7same age7 meddling with a fly1 said1 she did not hurt it4 ,were you ever a fly8 said her mother4 ,not that ,i know of1 answered the child4 ,z----'s father sent her into a room where there were some knives and forks4 ,if you meddle with them1 said he1 you may cut yourself4 ,z----4 ,i won't cut myself4 ,father4 ,can you be sure of that8 ,z----4 ,no1 but ,i can take care4 ,father4 ,but if you should cut yourself1 would it do you any good8 ,z----4 ,no--,yes4 ,father4 ,what good8 ,z----4 ,not to do so another time4 ---- 7same age47 ,z----'s mother said to her1 ,will you give me some of your fat cheeks8 ,z----4 ,no1 ,i cannot1 it would hurt me4 ,mother4 ,but if it would not hurt you1 would you give me some8 ,z----4 ,no1 it would make two holes in my cheeks that would be disagreeable4 ,a sentimental mother would1 perhaps1 have been displeased with the simple answers of this little girl4 7,vide ,sympathy and ,sensibility47 ,the following memorandums of ,mrs4 ,h----,e----'s 7dated #aggi7 have been of great use to us in our chapter upon ,toys4 ,the playthings of children should be calculated to fix their attention1 that they may not get a habit of doing any thing in a listless manner4 ,there are periods as long as two or three months at a time1 in the lives of young children1 when their bodies appear remarkably active and vigorous1 and their minds dull and inanimate2 they are at these times incapable of comprehending any new ideas1 and forgetful of those they have already received4 ,when this disposition to exert the bodily faculties1 subsides1 children show much restlessness and distaste for their usual plays4 ,the intervals between meals1 appear long to them2 they ask a multitude of questions1 and are continually looking forward to some future good2 if at this time any mental employment be presented to them1 they receive it with the utmost avidity1 and pursue it with assiduity2 their minds appear to have acquired additional powers from having remained inactive for a considerable time4 7,january #agha47 ,z----1 7#g years old47 ,what are bones made of8 ,my father says it has not been found out4 ,if ,i should find it out1 ,i shall be wiser in that respect than my father4 7,april #hth47 ,z----4 ,what becomes of the blood when people die8 ,father4 ,it stays in the body4 ,z----4 ,i thought it went out of the body2 because you told me1 that what we eat was turned into blood1 and that blood nourished the body and kept it alive4 ,father4 ,yes1 my dear2 but blood must be in motion to keep the body alive2 the heart moves the blood through the arteries and veins1 and the blood comes back again to the heart4 ,we don't know how this motion is performed4 ,what we eat1 is not turned at once into blood2 it is dissolved by something in the stomach1 and is turned into something white like milk1 which is called chyle2 the chyle passes through little pipes in the body1 called lacteals1 and into the veins and arteries1 and becomes blood4 ,but ,i don't know how4 ,i will show you the inside of the body of a dead pig3 a pig's inside is something like that of a man4 ,z---- 7same age7 when her father had given her an account of a large stone that was thrown to a considerable distance from ,mount ,vesuvius at the time of an eruption1 she asked1 how the air could keep a large stone from falling1 when it would not support her weight4 ,z----1 7same age7 when she was reading the ,roman history1 was asked1 what she thought of the conduct of the wife of ,asdrubal4 ,z---- said she did not like her4 ,she was asked why4 ,the first reason ,z---- gave for not liking the lady1 was1 that she spoke loud2 the next1 that she was unkind to her husband1 and killed her children4 ,we regret 7though perhaps our readers may rejoice7 that several years elapsed in which these little notes of the remarks of children were discontinued4 ,in #agib the following notes were begun by one of the same family4 7,march1 '#ib47 ,mr4 ---- saw an ,irish giant at ,bristol1 and when he came home1 ,mr4 ---- gave his children a description of the giant4 ,his height1 he said1 was about eight feet4 ,s---- 7a boy of five years old7 asked whether this giant had lived much longer than other men4 ,father4 ,no2 why did you think he had lived longer than other men8 ,s----4 ,because he was so much taller4 ,father4 ,well4 ,s----4 ,and he had so much more time to grow4 ,father4 ,people1 after a certain age1 do not grow any more4 ,your sister ,m----1 and ,i1 and your mother1 have not grown any taller since you can remember1 have we8 ,s----4 ,no2 but ,i have1 and ,b----1 and ,c----4 ,father4 ,yes2 you are children4 ,whilst people are growing1 they are children2 after they have done growing they are called men and women4 7,april1 '#ib47 ,at tea-time1 to-day1 somebody said that hot chocolate scalds worse than hot tea or hot water4 ,mr4 ---- asked his children if they could give any reason for this4 ,they were silent4 ,mr4 ----4 ,if water be made as hot as it can be made1 and if chocolate be made as hot as it can be made1 the chocolate will scald you the most4 ,can you tell me why6 ,c---- 7a girl between eight and nine years old47 ,because there is oil1 ,i believe1 in the chocolate2 and because it is thicker1 and the parts closer together1 than in tea or water4 ,father4 ,what you say is true2 but you have not explained the reason yet4 ,well1 ,h----4 ,h---- 7a boy between nine and ten47 ,because there is water in the bubbles4 ,father4 ,water in the bubbles8 ,i don't understand4 ,water in what bubbles8 ,h----4 ,i thought ,i had always seen1 when water boils1 that there are a great many little bubbles upon the top4 ,father4 ,well2 but what has that to do with the question ,i asked you8 ,h----4 ,because the cold air that was in the bubbles1 would cool the water next them1 and then--7he was quite confused1 and stopped47 ,b---- 7a girl of ten or eleven years old7 spoke next4 ,i thought that chocolate was much thicker than water1 and there were more parts1 and those parts were closer together1 and each could hold but a certain quantity of heat2 and therefore chocolate could be made hotter than water4 ,father4 ,that is a good chemical idea4 ,you suppose that the chocolate and tea can be saturated with heat4 ,but you have none of you yet told the reason4 ,the children were all silent4 ,father4 ,can water ever be made hotter than boiling hot8 ,b----4 ,no4 ,father4 ,why8 ,b----4 ,i don't know4 ,father4 ,what happens to water when it does what we call boil8 ,h----4 ,it bubbles1 and makes a sort of noise4 ,b----4 ,it turns into steam or vapour1 ,i believe4 ,father4 ,all at once8 ,b----4 ,no3 but what is at the top1 first4 ,father4 ,now you see the reason why water can't be made hotter than boiling hot3 for if a certain degree of heat be applied to it1 it changes into the form of vapour1 and flies off4 ,when ,i was a little boy1 ,i was once near having a dreadful accident4 ,i had not been taught the nature of water1 and steam1 and heat1 and evaporation2 and ,i wanted to fill a wet hollow stick with melted lead4 ,the moment ,i poured the lead into the stick1 the water in the wood turned into vapour suddenly1 and the lead was thrown up with great violence to the ceiling3 my face narrowly escaped4 ,so you see people should know what they are about before they meddle with things4--,but now as to the chocolate4 ,no one seemed to have any thing to say about the chocolate4 ,father4 ,water1 you know1 boils with a certain degree of heat4 ,will oil1 do you think1 boil with the same heat8 ,c----4 ,i don't understand4 ,father4 ,in the same degree of heat 7you must learn to accustom yourself to those words1 though they seem difficult to you7--,in the same heat1 do you think water or oil would boil the soonest8 ,none of the children knew4 ,father4 ,water would boil the soonest4 ,more heat is necessary to make oil boil1 or turn into vapour1 than to make water evaporate4 ,do you know of any thing which is used to determine1 to show1 and mark1 to us the different degrees of heat8 ,b----4 ,yes2 a thermometer4 ,father4 ,yes3 thermometer comes from two ,greek words1 one of which signifies heat1 and the other measure4 ,meter1 means measure4 ,thermometer a measurer of heat2 barometer1 a measurer of the weight of the air2 hygrometer1 a measurer of moisture4 ,now1 if you remember1 on the thermometer you have seen these words at a certain mark1 the heat of boiling water4 ,the quicksilver1 in a thermometer1 rises to that mark when it is exposed to that degree of heat which will make the water turn into vapour4 ,now the degree of heat which is necessary to make oil evaporate1 is not marked on the thermometer2 but it requires several degrees more heat to evaporate oil1 than is necessary to evaporate water4--,so now you know that chocolate1 containing more oil than is contained in tea1 it can be made hotter before it turns into vapour4 ,children may be led to acquire a taste for chemistry by slight hints in conversation4 7,july #bb;d1 #agid47 ,father4 ,s----1 can you tell me what is meant by a body's falling8 ,s---- 7seven years old47 ,a body's falling1 means a body's dying1 ,i believe4 ,father4 ,by body1 ,i don't mean a person1 but any thing4 ,what is meant by any thing's falling8 ,s----4 ,coming down from a high place4 ,father4 ,what do you mean by a high place8 ,s----4 ,a place higher than places usually are2 higher than the ground4 ,father4 ,what do you mean by the ground8 ,s----4 ,the earth4 ,father4 ,what shape do you think the earth is8 ,s----4 ,round4 ,father4 ,why do you think it is round8 ,s----4 ,because ,i have heard a great many people say so4 ,father4 ,the shadow4--,it is so difficult to explain to you1 my dear1 why we think that the earth is round1 that ,i will not attempt it yet4 ,it is better1 as we have often observed1 to avoid all imperfect explanations1 which give children confused ideas4 7,august #ahth1 #agid47 ,master ---- came to see us1 and taught ,s---- to fish for minnows4 ,it was explained to ,s----1 that fishing with worms for baits1 tortures the worms4 ,no other argument was used1 no sentimental exclamations made upon the occasion2 and ,s---- fished no more1 nor did he ever mention the subject again4 ,children sometimes appear cruel1 when in fact they do not know that they give pain to animals4 7,july #bgth1 #agid47 ,s---- saw a beautiful rainbow1 and he said1 ,i wish ,i could walk over that fine arch4 ,this is one of the pleasures of ,ariel1 and of the ,sylphs in the ,rape of the ,lock4 ,s---- was not praised for a poetic wish1 lest he should have learnt affectation4 7,september #c;d1 #agid47 ,mr4 ---- attempted to explain to ,b----1 ,h----1 ,s----1 and ,c----1 the nature of insurance1 and the day afterwards he asked them to explain it to him4 ,they none of them understood it1 except ,b----1 who could not1 however1 explain it1 though she did understand it4 ,the terms were all new to them1 and they had no ships to insure4 7,september #aith47 ,at dinner to-day1 ,s---- 7seven years old7 said to his sister ,c----1 ,what is the name of that man that my father was talking to1 that sounded like ,idem1 ,isdal1 or ,izard1 ,i believe4 ,izard6 said somebody at table1 that name sounds like ,lizard2 yes1 there is a family of the ,lizards in the ,guardian4 ,s----4 ,a real family8 ,mr4 ----4 ,no1 my dear3 a name given to supposed characters4 ,m----4 ,wasn't it one of the young ,lizards who would prove to his mother1 when she had just scalded her fingers with boiling water out of the tea-kittle1 that there's no more heat in fire that heats you1 than pain in the stick that beats you6 ,mr4 ----4 ,yes2 ,i think that character has done harm2 it has thrown a ridicule upon metaphysical disquisitions4 ,mrs4----4 ,are not those lines about the pain in the stick in the ',letter#aaf to my ,sisters at ,crux ,easton1' in ,dodsley's poems8 ,mr4 ----4 ,yes2 but they come originally from ,hudibras1 you know4 ,in slight conversations1 such as these1 which are not contrived for the purpose1 the curiosity of children is awakened to literature2 they see the use which people make of what they read1 and they learn to talk freely about what they meet with in books4 ,what a variety of thoughts came in a few instants from ,s----'s question about ,idem6 7,november #hth1 #agie47 ,mr4 ---- read the first chapter of ,hugh ,trevor to us2 which contains the history of a passionate farmer1 who was in a rage with a goose because it would not eat some oats which he offered it4 ,he tore off the wings of the animal1 and twisted off its neck2 he bit off the ear of a pig1 because it squealed when he was ringing it2 he ran at his apprentice ,hugh ,trevor with a pitch-fork1 because he suspected that he had drank some milk2 the pitch-fork stuck in a door4 ,hugh ,trevor then told the passionate farmer1 that the dog ,jowler had drank the milk1 but that he would not tell this before1 because he knew his master would have hanged the dog4 ,s---- admired ,hugh ,trevor for this extremely4 ,the farmer in his lucid intervals is extremely penitent1 but his fit of rage seizes him again one morning when he sees some milk boiling over4 ,he flies at ,hugh ,trevor1 and stabs him with a clasp knife1 with which he had been cutting bread and cheese2 the knife is stopped by half a crown which ,hugh ,trevor had sewed in his waistcoat2 this half crown he had found on the highway a few days before4 ,it was doubted by ,miss ,m4 ,s----1 whether this last was a proper circumstance to be told to children1 because it might lead them to be dishonest4 ,the evening after ,mr4 ---- had read the story1 he asked ,s---- to repeat it to him4 ,s---- remembered it1 and told it distinctly till he came to the half crown2 at this circumstance he hesitated4 ,he said he did not know how ,hugh ,trevor came to keep it1 though he had found it4 ,he wondered that ,hugh ,trevor did not ask about it4 ,mr4 ---- explained to him1 that when a person finds any thing upon the highway1 he should put it in the hand of the public crier1 who should cry it4 ,mr4 ---- was not quite certain whether the property found on the high road1 after it has been cried and no owner appears1 belongs to the king1 or to the person who finds it4 ,blackstone's ,commentaries were consulted2 the passage concerning ,treasuretrove was read to ,s----2 it is written in such distinct language1 that he understood it completely4 ,young people may acquire much knowledge by consulting books1 at the moment that any interest is excited by conversation upon particular subjects4 ,explanations about the law were detailed to ,s----1 because he was intended for a lawyer4 ,in conversation we may direct the attention of children to what are to be their professional studies1 and we may associate entertainment and pleasure with the idea of their future profession4 ,the story of the passionate farmer in ,hugh ,trevor was thought to be a good lesson for children of vivacious tempers1 as it shows to what crimes excess of passion may transport4 ,this man appears an object of compassion2 all the children felt a mixture of pity and abhorrence when they heard the history of his disease4 7,november #bc;d1 #agie47 ,this morning at breakfast ,miss ---- observed1 that the inside of the cream cover1 which was made of black ,wedgwood's ware1 looked brown and speckled1 as if the glazing had been worn away2 she asked whether this was caused by the cream4 ,one of the company immediately exclaimed1 ,oh6 ,i've heard that ,wedgwood's ware won't hold oil4 ,mr4 ---- observed1 that it would be best to try the experiment1 instead of resting content with this hearsay evidence2 he asked ,h---- and ,s---- what would be the best method of trying the experiment exactly4 ,s---- proposed to pour oil into a vessel of ,wedgwood's ware1 and to measure the depth of the oil when first put in2 to leave the oil in the vessel for some time1 and then to measure again the depth of the oil4 ,h---- said1 ,i would weigh the ,wedgwood's ware vessel2 then pour oil into it1 and weigh it 7them7 again2 then ,i would leave the oil in the vessel for some time1 and afterwards ,i would pour out the oil1 and would weigh the vessel to see if it had gained any weight2 and then weigh the oil to find out whether it had lost any weight since it was put into the vessel4 ,h----'s scheme was approved4 ,a black ,wedgwood's ware salt-cellar was weighed in accurate scales2 it weighed #aaif grains2 #aaj grains of oil were poured into it2 total weight of the salt-cellar and oil1 #acjf grs4 ,six months afterwards1 the salt-cellar was produced to the children1 who were astonished to see that the oil had disappeared4 ,the lady1 who had first asserted that ,wedgwood's ware would not hold oil1 was inclined to believe that the oil had oozed through the pores of the salt-cellar2 but the little spectators thought it was more probable that the oil might have been accidentally spilled2 the salt-cellar weighed as before #aaif grains4 ,the experiment was repeated1 and this time it was resolved to lock up the salt-cellar1 that it might not again be thrown down4 7,april #adth1 #agif47 ,into the same salt-cellar #ajj grains weight of oil was poured 7total weight #abif grains47 ,the salt-cellar was put on a saucer1 and covered with a glass tumbler4 7,june #c;d1 #agif47 ,mr4 ---- weighed the salt-cellar1 and found that with the oil it weighed precisely the same as before1 #abif grains2 without the oil1 #aaif grains1 its original weight3 therefore it was clear that the ,wedgwood's ware had neither imbibed the oil1 nor let it pass through its pores4 ,this little experiment has not been thus minutely told for philosophers1 but for children2 however trivial the subject1 it is useful to teach children early to try experiments4 ,even the weighing and calculating in this experiment1 amused them1 and gave some ideas of the exactness necessary to prove any fact4 7,dec4 #ast1 #agie47 ,s---- 7#h years old7 in reading ,gay's fable of the painter who pleased every body and nobody1 was delighted to hear that the painter put his pallet upon his thumb1 because ,s---- had seen a little pallet of his sister ,a----'s1 which she used to put on her thumb4 ,s---- had been much amused by this1 and he was very fond of this sister1 who had been absent for some time4 ,association makes slight circumstances agreeable to children2 if we do not know these associations1 we are surprised at their expressions of delight4 ,it is useful to trace them4 7,vide ,chap4 on ,imagination47 ,s---- seemed puzzled when he read that the painter dipped his pencil1 talked of ,greece4 ,why did he talk of ,greece8 said ,s---- with a look of astonishment4 ,upon inquiry1 it was found that ,s---- mistook the word ,greece for ,grease6 ,it was explained to him1 that ,grecian statues and ,grecian figures are generally thought to be particularly graceful and well executed2 that1 therefore1 painters attend to them4 7,dec4 #ast1 #agie47 ,after dinner to-day1 ,s---- was looking at a little black toothpick-case of his father's2 his father asked him if he knew what it was made of4 ,the children guessed different things2 wood1 horn1 bone1 paper1 pasteboard1 glue4 ,mr4 ----4 ,instead of examining the toothpick-case1 ,s----1 you hold it in your hand1 and turn your eyes away from it1 that you may think the better4 ,now1 when ,i want to find out any thing about a particular object1 ,i keep my eye fixed upon it4 ,observe the texture of that toothpick-case1 if you want to know the materials of which it is made2 look at the edges1 feel it4 ,s----4 ,may ,i smell it8 ,mr4 ----4 ,oh yes4 ,you may use all your senses4 ,s---- 7feeling the toothpick-case1 smelling it1 and looking closely at it47 ,it is black1 and smooth1 and strong and light4 ,what is1 let me see1 both strong and light1 and it will bend--parchment4 ,mr4 ----4 ,that is a good guess2 but you are not quite right yet4 ,what is parchment8 ,i think by your look that you don't know4 ,s----4 ,is it not paper pasted together8 ,mr4 ----4 ,no2 ,i thought you mistook pasteboard for parchment4 ,s----4 ,is parchment skin8 ,mr4 ----4 ,of what8 ,s----4 ,animals4 ,mr4 ----4 ,what animal8 ,s----4 ,i don't know4 ,mr4 ----4 ,parchment is the skin of sheep4 ,but ,s----1 don't keep the toothpick-case in your hand1 push it round the table to your neighbours1 that every body may look again before they guess4 ,i think1 for certain reasons of my own1 that ,h---- will guess right4 ,h----4 ,oh ,i know what it is now6 ,h---- had lately made a pump1 the piston of which was made of leather2 the leather had been wetted1 and then forced through a mould of the proper size4 ,h---- recollected this1 as ,mr4 ---- thought he would1 and guessed that the case might have been made of leather1 and by a similar process4 ,s----4 ,is it made of the skin of some animal8 ,mr4 ----4 ,yes2 but what do you mean by the skin of some animal8 ,what do you call it8 ,s---- 7laughing47 ,oh1 leather6 leather6 ,h----4 ,yes1 it's made the same way that the piston of my pump is made1 ,i suppose4 ,m----4 ,could not shoes be made in the same manner in a mould8 ,mr4 ----4 ,yes2 but there would be one disadvantage2 the shoes would lose their shape as soon as they were wet2 and the sole and upper leather must be nearly of the same thickness4 ,s----4 ,is the tookpick-case made out of any particular kind of leather8 ,i wish ,i could make one6 ,m----4 ,you have a bit of green leather1 will you give it to me8 ,i'll punch it out like ,h's piston2 but ,i don't exactly know how the toothpick-case was made into the right shape4 ,mr4 ----4 ,it was made in the same manner in which silver pencil-cases and thimbles are made4 ,if you take a thin piece of silver1 or of any ductile material1 and lay it over a concave mould1 you can readily imagine that you can make the thin1 ductile material take the shape of any mould into which you put it2 and you may go on forcing it into moulds of different depths1 till at last the plate of silver will have been shaped into a cylindrical form2 a thimble1 a pencil-case1 a toothpick-case1 or any similar figure4 ,we have observed 7,v4 ,mechanics7 that children should have some general idea of mechanics before they go into the large manufactories2 this can be given to them from time to time in conversation1 when little circumstances occur1 which naturally lead to the subject4 7,november #cjth1 #agie47 ,s---- said he liked the beginning of ,gay's fable of ,the man and the flea1 very much1 but he could not tell what was meant by the crab's crawling beside the coral grove1 and hearing the ocean roll above4 ,the ocean cannot roll above1 can it mother8 ,mother4 ,yes1 when the animal is crawling below he hears the water rolling above him4 ,m----4 ,coral groves mean the branches of coral which look like trees2 you saw some at ,bristol in ,mr4 ,b----'s collection4 ,the difficulty ,s---- found in understanding coral groves1 confirms what has been observed1 that children should never read poetry without its being thoroughly explained to them4 7,vide ,chapter on ,books47 7,january #ajth1 #agie47 ,s---- 7#h years old7 said that he had been thinking about the wind2 and he believed that it was the earth's turning round that made the wind4 ,m----4 ,then how comes it that the wind does not blow always the same way8 ,s----4 ,aye1 that's the thing ,i can't make out2 besides1 perhaps the air would stick to the earth as it turns round1 as threads stick to my spinning top1 and go round with it4 7,january #dth1 #agie47 ,as we were talking of the king of ,poland's little dwarf1 ,s---- recollected by contrast the ,irish giant whom he had seen at ,bristol4 ,i liked the ,irish giant very much1 because1 said ,s----1 though he was so large1 he was not surly2 and when my father asked him to take out his shoe-buckle to try whether it would cover my foot1 he did not seem in a hurry to do it4 ,i suppose he did not wish to show how little ,i was4 ,children are nice observers of that kind of politeness which arises from good nature2 they may hence learn what really pleases in manners1 without being taught grimace4 ,dwarfs and giants led us to ,gulliver's ,travels4 ,s---- had never read them1 but one of the company now gave him some general account of ,lilliput and ,brobdignag4 ,he thought the account of the little people more entertaining than that of the large ones2 the carriage of ,gulliver's hat by a team of ,lilliputian horses1 diverted him2 but1 when he was told that the queen of ,brobdignag's dwarf stuck ,gulliver one day at dinner into a marrow bone1 ,s---- looked grave1 and seemed rather shocked than amused2 he said1 ,it must have almost suffocated poor ,gulliver1 and must have spoiled his clothes4 ,s---- wondered of what cloth they could make him new clothes1 because the cloth in ,brobdignag must have been too thick1 and as thick as a board4 ,he also wished to know what sort of glass was used to glaze the windows in ,gulliver's wooden house2 because1 said he1 their common glass must have been so thick that it would not have been transparent to ,gulliver4 ,he thought that ,gulliver must have been extremely afraid of setting his small wooden house on fire4 ,m----4 ,why more afraid than we are8 ,his house was as large for ,gulliver as our house is for us4 ,s----4 ,yes1 but what makes the fire must have been so much larger6 ,one cinder1 one spark of theirs would have filled his little grate4 ,and how did he do to read their books8 ,s---- was told that ,gulliver stood at the topmost line of the page1 and ran along as fast as he read1 till he got to the bottom of the page4 ,it was suggested1 that ,gulliver might have used a diminishing glass4 ,s----immediately exclaimed1 ,how entertaining it must have been to him to look through their telescopes4 ,an instance of invention arising from contrast4 ,if the conversation had not here been interrupted1 ,s---- would probably have invented a greater variety of pleasures and difficulties for ,gulliver2 his eagerness to read ,gulliver's ,travels1 was increased by this conversation4 ,we should let children exercise their invention upon all subjects1 and not tell them the whole of every thing1 and all the ingenious parts of a story4 ,sometimes they invent these1 and are then interested to see how the real author has managed them4 ,thus children's love for literature may be increased1 and the activity of their minds may be exercised4 ,le secret d'ennuyer1 says an author#aag who never tires us1 ,le secret d'ennuyer est celui de tout dire4 ,this may be applied to the art of education4 7,v4 ,attention1 ,memory1 and ,invention47 7,january #agth1 #agif47 ,s----4 ,i don't understand about the tides4 ,h---- 7#ac years old47 ,the moon1 when it comes near the earth1 draws up the sea by the middle2 attracts it1 and as the middle rises1 the water runs down from that again into the channels of rivers4 ,s----4 ,but--,hum6--the moon attracts the sea2 but why does not the sun attract it by the middle as well as the moon8 ,how can you be sure that it is the moon that does it8 ,mr4 ----4 ,we are not sure that the moon is the cause of tides4 ,we should never force any system upon the belief of children2 but wait till they can understand all the arguments on each side of the question4 7,january #ahth1 #agif47 ,s---- 7#i years old47 ,father1 ,i have thought of a reason for the wind's blowing4 ,when there has been a hot sunshiny day1 and when the ground has been wet1 the sun attracts a great deal of vapour3 then that vapour must have room1 so it must push away some air to make room for itself2 besides1 vapour swells with heat1 so it must have a great1 great deal of room as it grows hotter1 and hotter2 and the moving the air to make way for it1 must make wind4 ,it is probable1 that if children are not early taught by rote words which they cannot understand1 they will think for themselves2 and1 however strange their incipient theories may appear1 there is hope for the improvement of children as long as their minds are active4 7,february #acth1 #agif47 ,s----4 ,how do physicians try new medicines8 ,if they are not sure they will succeed1 they may be hanged for murder1 mayn't they8 ,it is cruel to try them 7them meant medicines7 on animals2 besides1 all animals are not the same as men4 ,a pig's inside is the most like that of a man4 ,i remember my father showed us the inside of a pig once4 ,some time afterwards1 ,s---- inquired what was meant by the circulation of the blood4 ,how are we sure that it does move8 ,you told me that it doesn't move after we die1 then nobody can have seen it really moving in the veins2 that beating that ,i feel in my pulse does not feel like any thing running backwards and forwards2 it beats up and down4 ,the lady to whom ,s---- addressed these questions and observations1 unfortunately could not give him any information upon this subject1 but she had at least the prudence1 or honesty1 to tell the boy that she did not know any thing about the matter4 ,s---- should have been shown the circulation of the blood in fishes3 which he might have seen by a microscope4 ,children's minds turn to such inquiries2 surely1 if they are intended for physicians1 these are the moments to give them a taste for their future profession1 by associating pleasure with instruction1 and connecting with the eagerness of curiosity the hope of making discoveries2 a hope which all vivacious young people strongly feel4 7,february #afth47 ,s---- objected to that fable of ,phdrus in which it is said1 that a boy threw a stone at sop1 and that sop told the boy to throw a stone at another passenger1 pointing to a rich man4 ,the boy did as sop desired1 and the rich man had the boy hanged4 ,s---- said1 that he thought that sop should have been hanged1 because sop was the cause of the boy's fault4 ,how little suited political fables are to children4 ,this fable1 which was meant to show1 we suppose1 that the rich could not1 like the poor1 be insulted with impunity1 was quite unintelligible to a boy 7nine years old7 of simple understanding4 7,july #aith1 #agif47 ,amongst ,vulgar errours1 ,sir ,thomas ,browne might have mentioned the common notion1 that if you take a hen and hold her head down to the ground1 and draw a circle of chalk round her1 she will be enchanted by this magical operation so that she cannot stir4 ,we determined to try the experiment1 for which ,dr4 ,johnson would have laughed at us1 as he laughed at ,browne#aah for trying the hopeless experiment about the magnetic dials4 ,a hen's head was held down upon a stone flag1 and a chalk line was drawn before her2 she did not move4 ,the same hen was put into a circle of chalk that had been previously drawn for her reception2 her head was held down according to the letter of the charm1 and she did not move2 line or circle apparently operated alike4 ,it was suggested 7by ,a----7 that perhaps the hen was frightened by her head's being held down to the ground1 and that the chalk line and circle had nothing to do with the business4 ,the hen was carried out of sight of the magic line and circle1 her head was held down to the ground as before2 and when the person who had held her1 gently withdrew his hand1 she did not move4 ,she did not for some instants recover from her terror2 or1 perhaps1 the feeling of pressure seemed to her to remain upon her head after the hand was withdrawn4 ,children who are accustomed to doubt1 and to try experiments1 will not be dupes to ,vulgar errours4 7,july #bjth1 #agif47 ,s---- 7between #i and #aj7 when he heard a lady propose to make use of a small glass tumbler to hold pomatum1 made a face expressive of great disgust2 he was begged to give a reason for his dislike4 ,s---- said it appeared to him dirty and disagreeable to put pomatum into a tumbler out of which we are used to drink wine or water4 ,we have observed1 7,v4 ,chapter on ,taste and ,imagination7 that children may early be led to reflect upon the cause of their tastes4 7,july #bdth1 #agif47 ,s---- observed1 that the lachrymal sack is like ,aboulcasem's cup1 7in the ,persian tales47 ,it is emptied and fills again of itself2 though it is emptied ever so often1 it continues full4 ,the power of reasoning had been more cultivated in ,s---- than the taste for wit or allusion2 yet it seems his mind was not defective in that quickness of seizing resemblances which may lead to wit4 ,he was not praised for the lachrymal sack1 and ,aboulcasem's cup4 7,v4 ,chapter on ,wit and ,judgment47 7,august #c;d1 #agif47 ,c---- 7#aa years old7 after she had heard a description of a fire engine1 said1 ,i want to read the description of the fire engine over again1 for whilst my father was describing one particular part1 ,i recollected something that ,i had heard before1 and that took my attention quite away from what he was saying4 ,very often when ,i am listening1 something that is said puts me in mind of something1 and then ,i go on thinking of that1 and ,i cannot hear what is said any longer4 ,preceptors should listen to the observations that their pupils make upon their minds2 this remark of ,c----suggested to us some ideas that have been detailed in the ,chapter on ,attention4 7,august #ast1 #agif47 ,s----1 who had been translating some of ,ovid's ,metamorphoses to his father1 exclaimed1 ,i hate those ancient gods and goddesses1 they are so wicked6 ,i wish ,i was ,perseus1 and had his shield1 ,i would fly up to heaven and turn ,jupiter1 and ,apollo1 and ,venus into stone2 then they would be too heavy to stay in heaven1 and they would tumble down to earth2 and then they would be stone statues1 and we should have much finer statues of ,apollo and ,venus than any they have now at ,rome4 7,september #ajth1 #agif47 ,s---- 7within a month of ten years old7 read to his sister ,m---- part of ,dr4 ,darwin's chapter upon instinct2 that part in which there is an account of young birds who learn to sing from the birds who take care of them1 not from their parents4 ,s---- immediately recollected a story which he had read last winter in the ,annual ,register4 ,extract from ,barrington's ,remarks upon singing ,birds4 ,there was a silly boy once 7you know1 sister1 boys are silly sometimes7 who used to play in a room where his mother had a nightingale in a cage1 and the boy took out of the cage the nightingale's eggs1 and put in some other bird's eggs 7a swallow's1 ,i think7 and the nightingale hatched them1 and when the swallows grew up they sang like nightingales4 ,when ,s---- had done reading1 he looked at the title of the book4 ,he had often heard his father speak of ,zoonomia1 and he knew that ,dr4 ,darwin was the author of it4 ,s----4 ,oh1 ho6 ,zoonomia6 ,dr4 ,darwin wrote it2 it is very entertaining3 my father told me that when ,i read ,zoonomia1 ,i should know the reason why ,i stretch myself when ,i am tired4 ,but1 sister1 there is one thing ,i read about the cuckoo that ,i did not quite understand4 ,may ,i look at it again8 ,he read the following passage4 ,for a hen teaches this language with ease to the ducklings she has hatched from supposititious eggs1 and educates as her own offspring2 and the wag-tails or hedge-sparrows learn it from the young cuckoo1 their foster nursling1 and supply him with food long after he can fly about1 whenever they hear his cuckooing1 which ,linnus tells us is his call of hunger4 ,s---- asked what ,dr4 ,darwin meant by learns it4 ,m----4 ,learns a language4 ,s----4 ,what does foster nursling mean8 ,m----4 ,it here means a bird that is nursed along with another1 but that has not the same parents4 ,s----4 ,then1 does it not mean that the sparrows learn from their foster sister1 the cuckoo1 to say ,cuckoo6 ,m----4 ,no2 the sparrow don't learn to say cuckoo1 but they learn to understand what he means by that cry2 that he is hungry4 ,s----4 ,well1 but then ,i think this is a proof against what ,dr4 ,darwin means about instinct4 ,m----4 ,why8 ,how8 ,s----4 ,because the young cuckoo does say cuckoo6 without being taught1 it does not learn from the sparrows4 ,how comes it to say cuckoo at all1 if it is not by instinct8 ,it does not see its own father and mother4 ,we give this conversation as a proof that our young pupils were accustomed to think about every thing that they read4 7,nov4 #hth1 #agif47 ,the following are the ,curiosities of ,literature1 which were promised to the reader in the chapter upon ,grammar and ,classical ,literature4 ,translation from ,ovid4 ,the ,cave of ,sleep1 first edition4 ,no watchful cock ,aurora's beams invite2 ,no dog nor goose1 the guardians of the night4 ,dog and goose were objected to1 and the young author changed them into dogs and geese4 ,no herds nor flocks1 nor human voice is heard2 ,but nigh the cave a rustling spring appear'd4 ,when this line was read to ,s----1 he changed the epithet rustling into gliding4 ,and with soft murmurs faithless sleep invites1 ,and there the flying past again delights2 ,and near the door the noxious poppy grows1 ,and spreads his sleepy milk at daylight's close4 ,s---- was now requested to translate the beginning of the sentence1 and he produced these lines3 ,far from the sun there lies a cave forlorn1 ,which ,sol's bright beams can't enter eve nor morn4 ,can't was objected to4 ,mr4 ---- asked ,s---- what was the literal ,english4 ,s---- first said not1 and then nor2 and he corrected his line1 and made it ,which ,sol's bright beams nor visit eve nor morn4 ,afterwards3 ,far in a vale there lies a cave forlorn1 ,which ,phoebus never enters eve nor morn4 ,after an interval of a few days1 the lines were all read to the boy1 to try whether he could farther correct them2 he desired to have the two following lines left out3 ,no herds1 nor flocks1 nor human voice is heard1 ,but nigh the cave a gliding spring appeared4 ,and in the place of them he wrote1 ,no flocks nor herds disturb the silent plains3 ,within the sacred walls mute quiet reigns4 ,instead of the two following3 ,and with soft murmurs faithless sleep invites1 ,and there the flying past again delights4 ,s---- desired his secretary to write1 ,but murmuring ,lethe soothing sleep invites1 ,in dreams again the flying past delights4 ,instead of ,and near the doors the noxious poppy grows1 ,and spreads his sleepy milk at daylight's close1 the following lines were written4 ,s---- did not say doors1 because he thought the cave had no doors2 yet his ,latin1 he said1 spoke of squeaking hinges4 ,from milky flowers that near the cavern grow1 ,night scatters the collected sleep below4 ,we shall not make any further apology for inserting all these corrections1 because we have already sufficiently explained our motives4 7,v4 ,chapter on ,grammar and ,classical ,literature47 7,february1 #agig47 ,a little theatre was put up for the children1 and they acted ,justice ,poz4#aai ,when the scenes were pulled down afterwards1 ,s---- was extremely sorry to see the whole theatre vanish2 he had succeeded as an actor1 and he wished to have another play acted4 ,his father did not wish that he should become ambitious of excelling in this way at ten years old1 because it might have turned his attention away from things of more consequence2 and1 if he had been much applauded for this talent1 he would1 perhaps1 have been over-stimulated4 7,v4 ,chapter on ,vanity and ,ambition47 ,the way to turn this boy's mind away from its present pursuit1 was to give him another object1 not to blame or check him for the natural expression of his wishes4 ,it is difficult to find objects for children who have not cultivated a taste for literature2 but infinite variety can be found for those who have acquired this happy taste4 ,soon after ,s---- had expressed his ardent wish to have another play performed1 the trial of some poor man in the neighbourhood happened to be mentioned2 and it was said1 that the criminal had the choice of either going to ,botany ,bay1 or being hanged4 ,s---- asked how that could be4 ,i did'nt think1 said he1 that a man could have two punishments4 ,can the judge change the punishment8 ,i thought it was fixed by the law4 ,mr4 ---- told ,s---- that these were sensible questions2 and1 as he saw that the boy's attention was fixed1 he seized the opportunity to give him some general idea upon the subject4 ,he began with telling ,s----the manner in which a suspected person is brought before a justice of the peace4 ,a warrant and committal were described2 then the manner of trying criminals2 what is called the court1 the jury1 c4 the crier of the court1 and the forms of a trial2 the reason why the prisoner1 when he is asked how he will be tried1 answers1 ,by ,god and my country3 this led to an account of the old absurd fire and water ordeals1 and thence the advantages of a trial by jury became more apparent by comparison4 ,mr4 ---- told ,s---- why it is called empannelling a jury1 and why the jury are called a pannel2 the manner in which the jury give their verdict2 the duty of the judge1 to sum up the evidence1 to explain the law to the jury4 ,the judge is1 by the humane laws of ,england1 always supposed to be the protector of the accused2 and now1 ,s----1 we are come round to your question2 the judge cannot make the punishment more severe2 but when the punishment is fine or imprisonment1 the quantity or duration of the punishment is left to his judgment4 ,the king may remit the punishment entirely2 he may pardon the criminal2 he may1 if a man be sentenced to be hanged1 give him his choice1 whether he will be hanged or transported--7the word was explained47 ,but1 said ,s----1 since the judge cannot change the punishment1 why may the king8 ,i think it is very unjust that the king should have such a power1 because1 if he changes the punishment for one thing1 why mayn't he for another and another1 and so on8 ,mr4 ----4 ,i am inclined to believe1 my dear ,s----1 that it is for the good of a state1 that a king should have such a power2 but ,i am not sure4 ,if any individual should have this power1 ,i think it is most safely trusted to a king2 because1 as he has no connection with the individuals who are tried1 as he does not live amongst them1 he is not so liable as judges and jurymen might be to be prejudiced1 to be influenced by personal revenge1 friendship1 or pity4 ,when he pardons1 he is supposed to pardon without any personal motives4 ,but of all this1 ,s----1 you will judge for yourself1 when you study the law4 ,i intend to take you with me to ---- next assizes to hear a trial4 ,s---- looked full as eager to hear a trial1 as he had done1 half an hour before1 to act a play4 ,we should mention1 that in the little play in which he had acted1 he had played the part of a justice of the peace1 and a sort of trial formed the business of the play2 the ideas of trials and law1 therefore1 joined readily with his former train of thought4 ,much of the success of education1 depends upon the preceptor's seizing these slight connections4 ,it is scarcely possible to explain this fully in writing4 7,february #beth1 #agig47 ,s---- was reading in ,evenings at ,home1 the story of ,a friend in need1 is a friend indeed4 ,mr4 ,g4 ,cornish1 having raised a moderate fortune1 and being now beyond the meridian of life1 he felt a strong desire of returning to his native country4 ,s----4 ,how much better that is1 than to say he felt an irresistible desire1 or an insupportable desire1 as people sometimes say in books4 ,our pupils were always permitted to stop when they were reading loud1 to make whatever remarks they pleased upon whatever books they read4 ,they did not1 by this method1 get through so many books as other children of their age usually do2 but their taste for reading seemed to increase rapidly4 7,v4 ,books47 7,march #hth1 #agig47 ,h---- 7#ad7 told us that he remembered seeing1 when he was five years old1 some puppets packed up by a showman in a triangular box2 and for sometime afterwards1 said ,h----1 when ,i saw my father's triangular hat-box1 ,i expected puppets to come out of it4 ,a few days ago1 ,i met a man with a triangular box upon his head1 and ,i thought that there were puppets in the box4 ,we have taken notice of this propensity in children1 to believe that particular1 are general causes2 and we have endeavoured to show how it affects the temper1 and the habits of reasoning4 7,v4 ,temper1 and ,wit and ,judgment47 7,march #bgth1 #agig47 ,mr4 ---- showed little ,w----7#c years old7 a watch1 and asked him if he thought that it was alive4 ,w----4 ,yes4 ,mr4 ----4 ,do you think that the fire is alive8 ,w----4 ,yes4 ,mr4 ----4 7,the child was standing at the tea table47 ,do you think the urn is alive8 ,w----4 ,no4 ,mr4 ----4 ,do you think that book is alive8 ,w----4 ,no4 ,mr4 ----4 ,the horses8 ,w----4 ,yes4 ,mr4 ----4 ,do you think that the chaise is alive8 ,w----4 ,yes4 ,then1 after looking in ,mr4 ----'s face1 he changed his opinion1 and said no4 ,w---- did not seem to know what was meant by the word alive4 ,mr4 ---- called ,h4 7#e years old7 and asked her whether she thought that the watch was alive4 ,she at first said ,yes2 but1 as soon as she had time to recollect herself1 she said that the watch was not alive4 ,this question was asked1 to try whether ,reid was right in his conjecture as to the answers a child would give to such a question4 7,v4 ,reid's ,essays on the ,intellectual ,powers of ,man47 ,we frequently say1 that flowers1 c4 are dead3 we should explain to children that there are two kinds of life2 or rather1 that the word life is used to express two ideas2 vegetable life1 and animal life4 7,july1 #agig47 ,miss ,louisa ---- told us1 that when a rose bud begins to wither1 if you burn the end of the stalk1 and plunge it red hot into water1 the rose will be found revived the next day2 and by a repetition of this burning1 the lives of flowers may be fortunately prolonged many days4 ,miss ,louisa ---- had seen many surprising recoveries performed by this operation1 and several of her friends had adopted the practice with uniform success4 ,we determined to repeat the experiment4 ,children should never take any thing upon trust which they can verify4 ,two roses1 gathered at the same time1 from the same tree1 were put into separate glasses of water4 ,the stalk of one of these roses was burnt1 according to prescription2 they were left a night in water1 and the next day the rose that had been burnt1 appeared in much better health than that which had not been burnt4 ,the experiment was afterwards several times repeated2 and should be tried by others until the fact be fully ascertained4 7,july1 #agig47 ,little ,w---- 7three years old7 was shown ,miss ,b----'s beautiful copy of the ,aurora surgens of ,guido4 ,the car of ,apollo is encircled by the dancing hours1 so that its shape is not seen2 part of one wheel only is visible between the robes of the dancing figures4 ,we asked little ,w---- why that man 7pointing to the figure of ,apollo in his invisible car7 looked so much higher up in the air than the other people8 ,w----4 ,because he is in a carriage2 he is sitting in a carriage4 ,we pointed to the imperfect wheel1 and asked if he knew what that was8 ,he immediately answered1 ,yes1 the wheel of the carriage4 ,we wanted to see whether the imagination of a child of three years old1 would supply the invisible parts of the car3 and whether the wheel and horses1 and man holding the reins1 would suggest the idea of a phton4 7,v4 ,chapter on ,taste and ,imagination47 ,we shall not trespass upon the reader's patience with any more anecdotes from the nursery4 ,we hope1 that candid and intelligent parents will pardon1 if they have discovered any desire in us to exhibit our pupils4 ,we may mistake our own motives1 and we do not pretend to be perfectly impartial judges upon this occasion2 but we have hoped1 that only such conversations or anecdotes have been produced1 as may be of some use in ,practical ,education4 ,from conversation1 if properly managed1 children may learn with ease1 expedition1 and delight1 a variety of knowledge2 and a skilful preceptor can apply in conversation all the principles that we have laboriously endeavoured to make intelligible4 ,,footnotes3 #aac ,mrs4 ,honora ,edgeworth1 daughter of ,edward ,sneyd1 ,esq4 of ,litchfield4 ,as this lady's name has been mentioned in a monody on the death of ,major ,andr1 we take this opportunity of correcting a mistake that occurs in a note to that performance4 ,till busy rumour chas'd each pleasing dream1 ,and quench'd the radiance of the silver beam4 ,monody on ,major ,andr4 ,the note on these lines is as follows3 ,the tidings of ,honora's marriage4 ,upon that event ,mr4 ,andr quitted his profession as a merchant1 and joined our army in ,america4 ,miss ,honora ,sneyd was married to ,mr4 ,edgeworth in ,july1 #aggc1 and the date of ,major ,andr's first commission in the ,welch ,fusileers is ,march #dth1 #agga4 #aad ,this has been formerly quoted in the preface to the ,parent's ,assistant4 #aae ,the anecdotes mentioned in the preceding pages1 were read to the children with the rest of the work4 #aaf ,soame ,jennings's4 #aag ,voltaire4 #aah ,v4 ,johnson's ,life of ,browne4 #aai ,parent's ,assistant4 ,,the ,,end4