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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Practical Enquiry into the Philosophy of
+Education, by James Gall
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: A Practical Enquiry into the Philosophy of Education
+
+Author: James Gall
+
+Release Date: January 13, 2009 [EBook #27790]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Barbara Kosker, Nick Wall and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ A
+
+ PRACTICAL ENQUIRY
+
+ INTO
+
+ THE PHILOSOPHY
+
+ OF
+
+ EDUCATION.
+
+
+ BY JAMES GALL,
+
+ INVENTOR OF THE TRIANGULAR ALPHABET FOR THE BLIND; AND
+ AUTHOR OF THE "END AND ESSENCE OF SABBATH
+ SCHOOL TEACHING," &c.
+
+ "_The Works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have
+ pleasure therein._"--PSAL. cxi. 2.
+
+
+
+
+ EDINBURGH:
+ JAMES GALL & SON,
+ 24, NIDDRY STREET.
+ LONDON: HOULSTON & STONEMAN, 65, PATERNOSTER-ROW.
+ GLASGOW; GEORGE GALLIE. BELFAST: WILLIAM M'COMB.
+
+ MDCCCXL
+
+
+
+
+Printed by J. Gall & Son. 22, Niddry Street.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+The Author of the following pages is a plain man, who has endeavoured to
+write a plain book, for the purpose of being popularly useful. The
+philosophical form which his enquiries have assumed, is the result
+rather of accidental circumstances than of free choice. The strong
+desire which he felt in his earlier years to benefit the Young, induced
+him to push forward in the paths which appeared to him most likely to
+lead to his object; and it was not till he had advanced far into the
+fields of philosophy, that he first began dimly to perceive the
+importance of the ground which he had unwittingly occupied. The truth
+is, that he had laboured many years in the Sabbath Schools with which he
+had connected himself, before he was aware that, in his combat with
+ignorance, he was wielding weapons that were comparatively new; and it
+was still longer, before he very clearly understood the principles of
+those Exercises which he found so successful. One investigation led to
+another; light shone out as he proceeded; and he now submits, with full
+confidence in the truth of his general principles and deductions, the
+results of more than thirty years' experience and reflection in the
+great cause of Education.
+
+He has only further to observe, that the term "NATURE," which
+occurs so frequently, has been adopted as a convenient and popular mode
+of expression. None of his readers needs to be informed, that this is
+but another manner of designating "THE GOD OF NATURE," whose
+laws, as established in the young mind, he has been endeavouring humbly,
+and perseveringly to imitate.
+
+ _Myrtle Bank, Trinity, Edinburgh, 8th May, 1840._
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+ PART I.
+
+ ON THE PRELIMINARY OBJECTS NECESSARY FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT AND
+ IMPROVEMENT OF EDUCATION.
+
+
+ CHAP. I.                                                            Page
+
+ On the Importance of establishing the Science of Education on a
+ solid Foundation,                                                     13
+
+
+ CHAP. II.
+
+ On the Cultivation of Education as a Science,                         16
+
+
+ CHAP. III.
+
+ On the Improvement of Teaching as an Art,                             25
+
+
+ CHAP. IV.
+
+ On the Establishment of Sound Principles in Education,                32
+
+
+ PART II.
+
+ ON THE GREAT DESIGN OF NATURE'S TEACHING, AND THE METHODS SHE
+ EMPLOYS IN CARRYING IT ON.
+
+
+ CHAP. I.
+
+ A Comprehensive View of the several Educational Processes
+ carried on by Nature,                                                 37
+
+
+ CHAP. II.
+
+ On the Method employed by Nature for cultivating the Powers of
+ the Mind,                                                             45
+
+
+ CHAP. III.
+
+ On the Means by which Nature enables her Pupils to acquire
+ Knowledge,                                                            52
+
+
+ CHAP. IV.
+
+ On Nature's Method of communicating Knowledge to the Young by
+ the Principle of Reiteration,                                         56
+
+
+ CHAP. V.
+
+ On the Acquisition of Knowledge by the Principle of
+ Individuation,                                                        65
+
+
+ CHAP. VI.
+
+ On the Acquisition of Knowledge by the Principle of Association,
+ or Grouping,                                                          72
+
+
+ CHAP. VII.
+
+ On the Acquisition of Knowledge by the Principle of Analysis,
+ or Classification,                                                    83
+
+
+ CHAP. VIII.
+
+ On Nature's Methods of Teaching her Pupils to make use of their
+ Knowledge,                                                            95
+
+
+ CHAP. IX.
+
+ On Nature's Methods of Applying Knowledge by the Principle of
+ the Animal, or Common Sense,                                         101
+
+
+ CHAP. X.
+
+ On Nature's Method of applying Knowledge, by means of the
+ Moral Sense, or Conscience,                                          111
+
+
+ CHAP. XI.
+
+ On Nature's Method of Training her Pupils to Communicate
+ their Knowledge,                                                     129
+
+
+ CHAP. XII.
+
+ Recapitulation of the Philosophical Principles developed
+ in the previous Chapters,                                            141
+
+
+ PART III.
+
+ ON THE METHODS BY WHICH THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESSES OF NATURE MAY BE
+ SUCCESSFULLY IMITATED.
+
+
+ CHAP. I.
+
+ On the Exercises by which Nature may be imitated in cultivating
+ the Powers of the Mind,                                              148
+
+
+ CHAP. II.
+
+ On the Methods by which Nature may be imitated in the Pupil's
+ Acquisition of Knowledge; with a Review of the Analogy between
+ the Mental and Physical Appetites of the Young,                      170
+
+
+ CHAP. III.
+
+ How Nature may be imitated in Communicating Knowledge to the
+ Pupil, by the Reiteration of Ideas,                                  177
+
+
+ CHAP. IV.
+
+ On the Means by which Nature may be imitated in Exercising the
+ Principle of Individuation,                                          192
+
+
+ CHAP. V.
+
+ On the Means by which Nature may be imitated in Applying the
+ Principle of Grouping, or Association,                               204
+
+
+ CHAP. VI.
+
+ On the Methods by which Nature may be imitated in Communicating
+ Knowledge by Classification, or Analysis,                            218
+
+
+ CHAP. VII.
+
+ On the Imitation of Nature in Teaching the Practical Use of
+ Knowledge,                                                           233
+
+
+ CHAP. VIII.
+
+ On the Imitation of Nature in Teaching the Use of Knowledge
+ by Means of the Animal, or Common Sense,                             245
+
+
+ CHAP. IX.
+
+ On the Imitation of Nature in Teaching the Practical Use of
+ Knowledge by means of the Moral Sense, or Conscience,                257
+
+
+ CHAP. X.
+
+ On the Application of our Knowledge to the Common Affairs of
+ Life,                                                                274
+
+
+ CHAP. XI.
+
+ On the Imitation of Nature, in training her Pupils fluently to
+ communicate their Knowledge,                                         288
+
+
+ PART IV.
+
+ ON THE SELECTION OF PROPER TRUTHS AND SUBJECTS TO BE TAUGHT IN
+ SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES.
+
+
+ CHAP. I.
+
+ On the General Principles which ought to regulate our choice
+ of Truths and Subjects to be taught to the Young,                    306
+
+
+ CHAP II.
+
+ On the particular Branches of Education required for Elementary
+ Schools,                                                             317
+
+
+ CHAP. III.
+
+ On the Easiest Methods of Introducing these Principles, for
+ the first time, into Schools already established,                    326
+
+
+ Notes,                                                               331
+
+
+
+
+ PRACTICAL ENQUIRY, &c.
+
+
+
+
+ PART I.
+
+ ON THE PRELIMINARY OBJECTS NECESSARY FOR
+ THE ESTABLISHMENT AND IMPROVEMENT
+ OF EDUCATION.
+
+
+
+
+ CHAP. I.
+
+ _On the Importance of establishing the Science of
+ Education on a solid Foundation._
+
+
+Education is at present obviously in a transition state. The public mind
+has of late become alive to the importance of the subject; and all
+persons are beginning to feel awake to the truth, that something is yet
+wanting to insure efficiency and permanence to the labours of the
+teacher. The public will not be satisfied till some decided change has
+taken place; and many are endeavouring to grope their way to something
+better. It is with an earnest desire to help forward this great
+movement, that the writer of the following pages has been induced to
+publish the result of much study, and upwards of thirty years'
+experience, in the hope that it may afford at least some assistance in
+directing the enquiries of those who are prosecuting the same object.
+
+On entering upon this investigation, it will be of use to keep in mind,
+that all the sciences have, at particular periods of their history, been
+in the same uncertain and unsettled position, as that which Education at
+present occupies; and that each of them has in its turn, had to pass
+through an ordeal, similar to that which education is about to undergo.
+They have triumphantly succeeded; and their subsequent rapid
+advancement is the best proof that they are now placed on a solid and
+permanent foundation. It is of importance, therefore, in attempting to
+forward the science of education, that we should profit by the
+experience of those who have gone before us. They succeeded by a strict
+observation of facts, and a stern rejection of every species of mere
+supposition and opinion;--by an uncompromising hostility to prejudice
+and selfishness, and a fearless admission of truth wherever it was
+discovered. Such must be the conduct of the Educationist, if he expects
+to succeed in an equal degree. The history of astronomy as taught by
+astrologers, and of chemistry in the hands of the alchymist, should
+teach both the lovers and the fearers of change an important lesson.
+These pretended sciences being mere conjectures, were of use to nobody;
+and yet the boldness with which they were promulgated, and the
+confidence with which they were received, had the effect of suppressing
+enquiry, and shutting out the truth for several generations. Similar may
+be the effects of errors in education, and similar the danger of too
+easily admitting them. The adoption of plausible theories, or of
+erroneous principles, must lead into innumerable difficulties; and
+should they be hastily patronized, and authoritatively promulgated, the
+improvement of this first and most important of the sciences may be
+retarded for a century to come.
+
+The other sciences, during the last half century, have advanced with
+amazing rapidity. This has been the result of a strict adherence to well
+established facts, and their legitimate inferences.--A docile subjection
+of the mind to the results of experiment, and a candid confession and
+abandonment of fallacies, have characterized every benefactor of the
+sciences;--and the science of education must be advanced by an adherence
+to the same principles. The Educationist must be willing to abandon
+error, as well as to receive truth; and must resolutely shake off all
+conjecture and opinions not founded on fair and appropriate experiment.
+This course may appear tedious;--but it is the shortest and the best. By
+this mode of induction, all the facts which he is able to glean will
+assuredly be found to harmonize with nature, with reason, and with
+Scripture; and with these for his supporters, the Reformer in education
+has nothing to fear. His progress may be slow, but it will be sure; for
+every principle which he thus discovers, will enable him, not only to
+outrun his neighbours, but to confer a permanent and valuable boon upon
+posterity.
+
+That any rational and accountable being should ever have been found to
+oppose the progress of truth, is truly humiliating; yet every page of
+history, which records the developement of new principles, exhibits also
+the outbreakings of prejudice and selfishness. The deductions of
+Galileo, of Newton, of Harvey, and innumerable others, have been opposed
+and denounced, each in its turn; while their promoters have been
+vilified as empyrics or innovators. Nor has this been done by those only
+whose self love or worldly interests prompted them to exclude the truth,
+but by good and honourable men, whose prejudices were strong, and whose
+zeal was not guided by discretion. Such persons have frequently been
+found to shut their eyes against the plainest truths, to wrestle with
+their own convictions, and positively refuse even to listen to evidence.
+The same thing may happen with regard to education;--and this is no
+pleasing prospect to the lover of peace, who sets himself forward as a
+reformer in this noble work.--Change is inevitable. Teaching is an art;
+and it must, like all the other arts, depend for its improvement upon
+the investigations of science. Now, every one knows, that although the
+cultivation of chemistry, and other branches of natural science, has, of
+late years, given an extraordinary stimulus to the arts, yet the science
+of education, from which the art of teaching can alone derive its
+power, is one, beyond the threshold of which modern philosophy has
+scarcely entered. Changes, therefore, both in the theory and practice of
+teaching, may be anticipated;--and that these changes will be
+inconvenient and annoying to many, there can be no doubt. That
+individuals, in these circumstances, should be inclined to deprecate and
+oppose these innovations and improvements, is nothing more than might be
+expected; but that the improvements themselves should on that account be
+either postponed or abandoned, would be highly injurious. An enlightened
+system of education is peculiarly the property of the public, on which
+both personal, family, and national happiness in a great measure
+depends. These interests therefore must not be sacrificed to the wishes
+or the convenience of private individuals. The prosperity and happiness
+of mankind are at stake; and the welfare of succeeding generations will,
+in no small degree, be influenced by the establishment of sound
+principles in education at the present time. Nothing, therefore, should
+be allowed to mystify or cripple that science, upon which the spread and
+the permanence of all useful knowledge mainly rest.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. II.
+
+_On the Cultivation of Education as a Science._
+
+
+From numerous considerations, it must be evident, that education claims
+the first rank among the sciences; and, in that case, the art of
+Teaching ought to take precedence among the arts;--not perhaps in
+respect of its difficulties, but most certainly in respect of its
+importance.
+
+The success of the teacher in his labours, will depend almost entirely
+on the extent and the accuracy of the investigations of the philosopher.
+The science must guide the art. Experience shews, that where an artist
+in ordinary life is not directed by science,--by acknowledged
+principles,--he can never make any steady improvement. In like manner,
+when the principles of education are unknown, no advancement in the art
+can be expected from the teacher. Every attempt at change in such
+circumstances must be unsatisfactory; and even when improvements are by
+chance accomplished, they are but partial, and must be stationary.--When,
+on the contrary, the teacher is directed by ascertained principles, he
+never can deviate far from the path of success; and even if he should,
+he has the means in his own power of ascertaining the cause of his
+failure, and of retracing his steps. He can, therefore, at his pleasure,
+add to or abridge, vary or transpose his exercises with his pupils,
+provided only that the great principles of the science be kept steadily
+in view, and be neither outraged, nor greatly infringed. No teacher,
+therefore, should profess the art, without making himself familiar with
+the philosophical principles upon which it is founded. In the mechanical
+arts, this practice is now generally followed, and with the happiest
+effects. The men of the present generation have profited by the painful
+experience of thousands in former times; who, trusting to mere
+conjectures, tried, failed, and ruined themselves. The mechanics of our
+day, instead of indulging in blind theories of their own, and hazarding
+their money and their time upon speculation and chance, are willing to
+borrow light for their guidance from those who have provided it. They
+slowly, but surely, follow in the path opened up to them by the
+discoveries of science,--and they are never disappointed.
+
+The unexampled success of the mechanical arts, would, upon the above
+principles, naturally lead us to conclude, that the sciences, from which
+they have derived all that they possess, must have been cultivated with
+corresponding energy. And such is the fact. Since the adoption of the
+inductive method of philosophizing, nearly all the sciences have been
+advancing rapidly and steadily; and the cause of this is to be found in
+adhering to the rules of induction. No science has been allowed to rest
+its claims upon mere theory, or authority of any kind, but upon evidence
+derived from facts. Mere opinions and suppositions have been rigidly
+excluded; and that alone which was acquired by accurate investigation,
+has been acknowledged in science as having the stamp of truth. The
+inductive philosophy takes nothing for granted. Every conclusion must be
+legitimately drawn from ascertained facts, or from principles
+established by experiment; and the consequence has been, not only that
+what has been attained is permanent, and will benefit all future
+generations, but the amount of that attainment, in the short time that
+has already elapsed, is actually greater than all that had been
+previously gained during centuries. In this general improvement,
+however, the science of Education has till lately formed an exception.
+The principles of true philosophy do not appear to have been brought to
+bear upon it, as they have upon the other sciences; and the consequences
+of this neglect have been lamentable. In every branch of natural
+philosophy, there are great leading principles already established. But
+where were there any such principles established by the philosopher for
+the guidance of the teacher? By what, except their own experience, and
+conjectures, were teachers directed in the training of the
+young?--Thirty or forty years ago, what was called "education" in our
+ordinary week-day schools, was little more than a mechanical round of
+barren exercises. The excitement of religious persecution, which had
+been the means of disciplining the intellectual and moral powers of
+Scotsmen for several previous generations, had by that time gradually
+subsided, and had left education to do its own work, by the use of its
+own resources. But these were perfectly inadequate to the task. The
+exercises almost universally employed in the education of the young,
+had neither been derived from science, nor from experience of their own
+inherent power; and they would, from the beginning, have been found
+perfectly inefficient, had they not been aided, as before noticed, by
+the stimulant of religious persecution.--The state of education, at the
+time we speak of, is still fresh on the memory of living witnesses who
+were its victims; and some of the absurdities which were then universal,
+are not even yet altogether extinct.
+
+Soon after the period above stated, an important change began to take
+place in the art of teaching,--but still unaided and undirected by
+science. Some of the more thinking and judicious of its professors,
+roused by the flagrant failures of their own practice, made several
+noble and exemplary efforts to place it on a better footing. Had these
+efforts been guided by scientific research, much more good would have
+been done than has been accomplished, and an immense amount of
+misdirected labour would have been saved. But although many of the
+attempts at a change failed, yet some of them succeeded, and have
+gradually produced ameliorations and improvements in the art of
+teaching. Still it must be observed, that philosophy has had little or
+no share in the merit. Her labours in this important field have yet to
+be begun. Valuable exercises have no doubt been introduced; but the
+principles upon which the success of these exercises depends, remain in
+a great measure concealed from the public generally:--And the reason of
+this is, that the public have been indebted for them to the _art_ of the
+teacher, and not to the _science_ of the philosopher.
+
+That this is not the position in which matters of so much public
+importance should continue, we think no one will deny. Education must be
+cultivated as a science, before teaching can ever flourish as an art.
+The philosopher must first ascertain and light up the way, before the
+teacher can, with security, walk in it. Experiment must be employed to
+ascertain facts, investigate causes, and trace these causes to their
+effects. By fair and legitimate deductions drawn from the facts thus
+ascertained, he will be enabled to establish certain principles, which,
+when acted upon by the teacher, will invariably succeed. But without
+this, the history of all the other arts and sciences teaches us, that
+success is not to be expected;--for although chance may sometimes lead
+the teacher to a happy device, there can be no steady progress. Even
+those beneficial exercises upon which he may have stumbled, become of
+little practical value; because, when the principles upon which they are
+based are unknown, they can neither be followed up with certainty, nor
+be varied without danger.
+
+There will no doubt be a difficulty in the investigation of a science
+which is in itself so complicated, and which has hitherto been so little
+understood; but this is only an additional reason why it should be begun
+in a proper manner, and pursued with energy. The mode of procedure is
+the chief object of difficulty; but the experience and success of
+investigators in the other sciences, will be of great advantage in
+directing us in this. In the sciences of anatomy and physiology, for
+example, the investigations of the philosopher are designed to direct
+the several operations of the physician, the surgeon, and the dentist;
+in the same way as the investigations of the Educationist are intended
+to direct the operations of the Teacher. Now the mode of procedure in
+those sciences for such purposes is well known, and forms an excellent
+example for us in the present case. The duty of the anatomist, or
+physiologist, is simply to examine the operations of Nature in the
+animal economy, and the plans which she adopts for accomplishing her
+objects during health, and for throwing off impediments during disease.
+In conducting his investigations, the enquirer begins by taking a
+general view of the whole subject, and then separating and defining its
+leading parts. Pulsation, respiration, digestion, and the various
+secretions and excretions of the body, are defined, and their general
+connection with each other correctly ascertained. These form his
+starting points; and then, taking each in its turn, he sets himself to
+discover the principles, or laws, which regulate its working in a
+healthy state;--what it is that promotes the circulation or stagnation
+of the blood, the bracing or relaxing of the nerves, the several
+processes in digestion, and the various functions of the skin and
+viscera. These are all first ascertained by observation and experience,
+and then, if necessary, established by experiment.
+
+These principles, having thus been established by science, are available
+for direction in the arts. The physician acts under their guidance; and
+his object is simply to regulate his treatment and advice in accordance
+with them. In other words, _he endeavours to imitate Nature_, to remove
+the obstructions which he finds interfering with her operations, or to
+lend that aid which a knowledge of these principles points out as
+necessary. The surgeon and the dentist follow the same course, but more
+directly. In healing a wound, for example, the surgeon has to ascertain
+from science how Nature in similar cases proceeds when left to herself;
+and all his cuttings, and lancings, and dressings, are nothing more than
+_attempts to imitate her_ in her healing operations. So well is this now
+understood, that every operation which does not at least recognise the
+principle is denounced--and justly denounced--as quackery; and the
+reason is, that uniform experience has convinced professional men, that
+they can only expect success when they follow with docility in the path
+which Nature has pointed out to them.
+
+Precisely similar should be the plan of operation pursued by the
+Educationist. He should, in the first place, take a comprehensive view
+of the whole subject, and endeavour to map out to himself its great
+natural divisions;--in other words, he should endeavour to ascertain
+what are the things which Nature teaches, that he may, by means of this
+great outline, form a general programme for the direction of the
+teacher. His next object ought to be, to ascertain the mode, and the
+means, adopted by Nature in forwarding these several departments of her
+educational process; the powers of mind engrossed in each; the order in
+which they are brought into exercise; and the combinations which she
+employs in perfecting them. In ascertaining these principles which
+regulate the operations of Nature in her educational processes, the same
+adherence to the rules prescribed by the inductive philosophy, which has
+crowned the other sciences with success, must be rigidly observed. There
+must be the same disregard of mere antiquity; there must be the same
+scrupulous sifting of evidence, and strict adherence to facts; there
+must be a discarding of all hypotheses, and a simple dependence upon
+ascertained truths alone. Adherence to these rules is as necessary in
+cultivating the science of education, as it has been in the other
+sciences; and the neglect of any one of them, may introduce an element
+of error, which may injure the labours of a whole lifetime.
+
+We have some reason to fear, that although all this will be readily
+admitted in theory, it will be found somewhat difficult to adopt it in
+practice. The reason of this will be obvious when we reflect on the deep
+interest which the best and most philanthropic individuals in society
+take in this science. The other sciences are in some measure removed
+from the busy pursuits of life; they are the concern of certain persons,
+who are allowed to investigate and to experiment, to judge and to decide
+as they please, without the public in general caring much about the
+matter.--But education is a science of a different kind. Its value is
+acknowledged by every one, and its interests are dear to every
+benevolent heart. The individual who undertakes to examine, and more
+especially to promulgate, any new principle upon which education rests,
+will have a harder task to perform, and a severer battle to fight, than
+the philosopher who attempts to overturn a false conclusion in
+chemistry, or an erroneous principle in mechanics. Among the learned
+community, not more than one in a thousand perhaps is personally
+interested either in mechanics or in chemistry; and few others will
+enter the lists to oppose that which appears legitimate and fair. The
+enemies and opponents of the chemical reformer in that case may be
+zealous and even fierce; but they are few, and he enjoys the sympathy
+and the countenance of the great majority of those whose countenance is
+worthy of his regard. But when we calculate the number of those who take
+an interest in the subject of education, and those who do not, the above
+numbers will be reversed. Nine hundred and ninety-nine among the
+educated public will be found who take a real interest in the progress
+of education, for one who cares nothing about it.
+
+This is a fearful odds where there is a likelihood of opposition;--and
+opposition may be expected. For there will be influences in many of the
+true friends of education, derived from old prejudices within, combined
+with the pressure of conflicting sentiments in their friends from
+without, which will render the task of establishing new and sound
+principles in this first of the sciences an irksome, and even a
+hazardous employment. Coldness or opposition from those whom we honour
+and love is always painful; and yet it should be endured, rather than
+that the best interests both of the present and future generations
+should be sacrificed. The opinions of all good men deserve
+consideration;--but when they are merely opinions, and are not founded
+on reason, they are at best but specious; and when they are opposed to
+truth, and are contrary to experience, a zealous adherence to them
+becomes sinful and dangerous. Such persons ought to commend, rather than
+blame, the reformer in education, when he declines to adopt ancient
+dogmas which he finds to be useless and hurtful: And at all events, if
+all have agreed to disregard the authority of an Aristotle or a Newton,
+when opposed to new facts and additional evidence, the Educationist must
+not allow himself to be driven from the path of fact and experience by
+either friends or enemies. No authority can make darkness light;--and
+although he may be opposed for a time, and the public mind may be abused
+for a moment, it will at last correct itself, and truth will prevail.
+
+But the friends of education ought in no case to put the perseverance of
+those who labour for its improvement to so severe a trial. They ought in
+justice, as well as charity, to cultivate a forbearing and a candid
+spirit; and they will have many opportunities of exercising these
+virtues during the progress of this science. Education is confessedly
+but in its infancy; and therefore it must grow much, and change much,
+before it can arrive at maturity. But if there be an increasing
+opposition to all advance, and if a stumbling-block be continually
+thrown in the way of those who labour to perfect it, the labourers may
+be discouraged, and the work be indefinitely postponed. Let all such
+then guard against a blind opposition, or an attempt to explain away
+palpable facts, merely because they lead to principles which are new, or
+to conclusions which are at variance with their pre-conceived opinions.
+If they persevere in a blind opposition, they may find at last that they
+have been resisting truth, and defrauding their neighbour. Truth can
+never be the enemy of man, although many inadvertently rank themselves
+among its opponents. The resistance which has invariably been offered to
+every important discovery hitherto, should be a beacon to warn the
+inconsiderate and the prejudiced against being over-hasty in rejecting
+discoveries in education; and the obloquy that now rests on the memory
+of such persons, should be a warning to them, not to plant thorns in
+their own pillows, or now to sow "the wind, lest they at last should
+reap the whirlwind."
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. III.
+
+_On the Improvement of Teaching as an Art._
+
+
+As Education on account of its importance takes precedence in the
+sciences, so Teaching should rank first among the arts. The reasons for
+this arrangement are numerous; but the consideration of two will be
+sufficient.--The first is, that all the other arts refer chiefly to
+time, and the conveniences and comforts of this world; while the art of
+teaching not only includes all these, but involves also many of the
+interests of man through eternity.--And the second is, that without this
+art all the other arts would produce scarcely any advantage. Without
+education of some kind, men are, and must continue to be savages,--it
+being the only effectual instrument of civilization. It is the chief, if
+not the only means for improving the condition of the human family, and
+for restoring man to the dignity of an intelligent and virtuous being.
+
+As "Science" is the investigation and knowledge of principles, so an
+"art" may be defined as a system of means, in accordance with these
+principles, for attaining some special end. Teaching is one of the arts;
+and it depends as entirely for its success upon a right application of
+the principles of the science of education, as the art of dying does
+upon the principles of chemistry. As an art, therefore, teaching must be
+subjected to all those laws which regulate the improvement of the other
+arts, and without which it can never be successfully carried on, far
+less perfected. These laws are now very generally understood; and we
+shall briefly advert to a few of them, which are necessary for our
+present purpose, and endeavour to point out their relation to the art of
+teaching.
+
+1. One of the first rules connected with the improvement of the arts is,
+that the artist have _a specific object in view, for the attainment of
+which all his successive operations are to be combined_.--The
+manufacturer has his _cloth_ in prospect, before he has even purchased
+the wool of which it is to be composed; and it is the desire of
+procuring cloth of the most suitable quality, and by the easiest means,
+that compels him to draw liberally and constantly from the facts
+ascertained, and the principles developed, by the several sciences. From
+the science of mechanics he derives the various kinds of machinery used
+in the progressive stages of its production; and from the science of
+chemistry he obtains the processes of dying, and printing, and dressing.
+But he never troubles himself about the science of mechanics or of
+chemistry in the abstract; he thinks only of his cloth, and of these
+sciences as means to assist him in procuring it. He is careful of his
+machinery, and is constantly alive to the mode of its working, and is
+thus prompted to adopt such improvements as observation or experience
+may suggest; but it is not the machinery of itself that he either cares
+for, or thinks about. No; it is still the cloth that he keeps in view;
+and his machinery is esteemed or slighted, adopted or abandoned, exactly
+in proportion as it forwards his object. The processes necessary in the
+different departments of his establishment, are complicated and various,
+and to a stranger they are both curious and instructive; but it is
+neither the labour nor the variety that he is seeking. His is a very
+different object; and of this object he never loses sight; for the
+varied operations of stapling and carding, of spinning and weaving, are
+nothing more than means which he employs for accomplishing his end. He
+knows the uses of the whole complicated operations; and he sees at a
+glance, and can tell in a moment, how each in its turn contributes to
+the great object of all,--the production of a good and marketable cloth.
+
+Now this law ought to be applied with the utmost strictness to the art
+of teaching. For if teaching be really an art,--that is, a successive
+combination of means,--it should undoubtedly be a combination of means
+to some specific end. Nothing can be more obvious, than that a man who
+sits down to work, should know what he intends to do, and how he is to
+do it. Such a line of conduct should be imperatively demanded of the
+teacher, both on account of the importance of his work, and of the
+immense value of the material upon which he is to operate. The end he
+has in view, whatever that end may be, ought to be correctly defined
+before he begins; and no exercise should upon any account be prescribed
+or demanded from his pupils, which does not directly, or indirectly at
+least, conduce to its attainment. To do otherwise is both injudicious
+and unjust. For if the operations of the husbandman during spring have
+to be selected and curtailed with the strictest attention to time and
+the seasons, how carefully ought the energies and the time of youth to
+be economized, when they have but one short spring time afforded them,
+during which they are to sow the seed which shall produce good or evil
+fruit for eternity? As to what this great end which the teacher ought
+steadily to contemplate should be, we shall afterwards enquire; at
+present we are desirous only of establishing this general law in the art
+of teaching, that there should be an end accurately defined, and
+constantly kept in view; and for the attainment of which every exercise
+prescribed in the school should assist. The teacher who does otherwise
+is travelling in the dark, and compelling labour for labour's
+sake;--like the manufacturer who would keep all his machinery in motion,
+not to make cloth, but to appear to be busy.
+
+2. Another law adopted in the successful prosecution of the arts is, _to
+use the best known means for attaining any particular end_.--This law
+is well known in all the other arts, and success invariably depends upon
+its adoption. The fields are not now tilled by the hoe, nor is cotton
+spun by the hand. These modes of operating have no doubt the
+recommendation of antiquity; but here antiquity is always at a discount,
+and no one doubts the propriety of its being so. The arts are advancing;
+and they who would impede their progress on the plea of not departing
+from the usages of antiquity, would be pitied or laughed at.
+
+The art of teaching, like the other arts, depends for its success on a
+strict adherence to this law; and the fear of departing in this case
+from the particular usages of our ancestors is equally unreasonable.
+Soft ground in the valleys compelled them to travel their pack horses
+right over the hills, and the want of the "Jenny" made them spin their
+yarn by the hand; but still, the same principle which guided them in the
+adoption of those methods, was strictly the one which we are here
+recommending, that of "using the best _known_ means for accomplishing
+the particular end." Those who adopt the principle do most honour to
+their sagacity; while their shallow admirers, by abandoning the
+principle, and clinging to their necessarily imperfect mode of applying
+it, at once libel their good sense, and dishonour those whom they
+profess to revere. As society is rapidly advancing, paternal affection
+would undoubtedly have prompted them to advise their descendants to take
+the benefits of every advance;--and it would be as reasonable for us to
+suppose, that if they were now alive, they would advise us to travel
+over the hills on their old roads, or make our cloth in the old way, as
+to think they would be gratified by our continuing to use exercises in
+education, which sound philosophy and experience have shewn to be
+fallacious and hurtful, or that they would be displeased by the use of
+those which extensive experiment has now proved to be natural, easy, and
+efficient.
+
+These ancestral trammels have all been shaken off, wherever the
+acquisition of money is concerned. The mechanical processes of his
+forefathers have no charm for the modern manufacturer, when he can
+attain his object more economically by a recent improvement. Neither
+does he go blindfold upon a mere chance,--seldom even upon a sagacious
+conjecture,--unless there be some good grounds for its formation. In
+every successive stage of his operations, he is awake to the slightest
+appearance of defect; and he hesitates not a moment in abandoning a
+lesser good for a greater, whenever he perceives it. He husbands
+time;--he husbands expense;--he husbands supervision and risk. Every
+step with him is a step in advance;--every operation has a
+design;--every movement has a meaning;--and he makes all unite for the
+attainment of one common object. Can we doubt that, in like manner, the
+most rigid economy of time and labour ought to be adopted in the art of
+teaching? When the end has once been distinctly defined, it ought
+steadily to be kept in view; and no exercise should be prescribed which
+does not contribute to its attainment. There should be no bustling about
+nothing; no busy idleness; no fighting against time; no unnecessary
+labour, nor useless exhaustion of the pupil's energies. The time of
+youth is so precious, and there is so much to be done during it, that
+economy here is perhaps of more importance than in any thing else. Every
+book or exercise, therefore, which has not a palpable tendency to
+forward the great object designed by education, should by the teacher be
+at once given up.
+
+3. Another law which experience has established as necessary for the
+perfecting of any of the arts is, _a fair and honest application of the
+successive discoveries of science to its improvement_.--This has been
+the uniform practice in those arts which have of late been making such
+rapid progress. The artist and mechanic are never indifferent to the
+various improvements which are taking place around them; nor do they
+ever stand apart, till they are forced upon their notice by third
+parties, or public notoriety. There is, in the case of the manufacturer,
+no nervous timidity about innovation; nor does he ever attempt to
+deceive himself by ignorantly supposing that the change can be no
+improvement.--Nor will he suffer himself to be deceived by others. His
+workmen are not allowed, to save themselves future trouble, to be
+careless or sinister in their trials of the improvement; for he knows,
+that however it may be with them, yet if his neighbour succeeds, and he
+fails, it may prove his ruin.
+
+Such also should be the conduct of the teacher. The time has now gone by
+when parents were ignorant, either of what was communicated at school,
+or the manner in which it was taught. The improvement of their children
+by education, has become a primary object with all sensible parents; and
+they will never again be satisfied with a school or a teacher, where
+solid instruction, and the most useful kind of knowledge are not
+imparted. Ameliorations in his art, therefore, is now as necessary to
+the teacher, as improvements in machinery are to the mechanic and the
+manufacturer. It will no longer do for him to say, "I can see no
+improvement in the change," if the parents of his pupils have been able
+to discover it; and the teacher who stands still in the present forward
+march of society, will soon find himself left alone. The practical
+Educationist, like the mechanician, ought no doubt to be cautious in
+adopting changes upon chance; but wherever an improvement in his art has
+been sufficiently proved by fair experiment or long experience, and
+particularly, when the principle upon which its success depends has been
+fully ascertained, his rejecting the change on the plea of
+inconvenience, or from the fear of trouble, is not only an act of
+injustice to the parents of his pupils, but is a wrong which will very
+soon begin to re-act upon his own interests. The effect of indifference
+to improvement in this, as in other arts, may not be felt for a time;
+but as soon as _others_ have made themselves masters of the improvements
+which he has rejected, the successive departure of his pupils, and the
+melting away of his classes, will at last awaken him to a sense of his
+folly, when it may be too late. Such has usually been the effect of
+remissness in the other arts; and the present state of the public mind
+in regard to education, indicates a similar result in similar
+circumstances.
+
+In connection with this part of our subject, it may here be necessary to
+remark, that as the experience of all teachers may not be alike in the
+_first working_ of a newly applied principle,--the principle itself,
+when fully ascertained, is not on that account to be either belied or
+abandoned. There are many concurring circumstances, which may make an
+exercise that succeeds well in the hands of one person, fail in the
+hands of another; but to refuse credence to the principle itself,
+because he cannot as yet successfully apply it, is neither prudent nor
+wise. There are chemical experiments so exceedingly nice, and depending
+on so many varying circumstances, that they frequently fail in the hands
+of even good operators. But the chemical principles upon which they rest
+remain unchanged, although individual students may have not been able
+successfully to apply them. If their professor has but _once_ fairly and
+undoubtedly succeeded in ascertaining the facts on which the principle
+is based, their failure for a thousand times is no proof that the
+ascertained principle is really a fallacy. In like manner, any important
+principle in education, if once satisfactorily ascertained, is a truth
+in the science, and will remain a truth, whoever may believe or deny it.
+If it has been proved to produce certain effects in certain given
+circumstances, it will in all future times do the same, when the
+circumstances are similar. The inability, therefore, of a parent or
+teacher, to produce equal effects by its means, may be good enough
+proof of his want of skill, but it is no proof of the want of inherent
+power in the principle itself. The rings of Saturn which my neighbour's
+telescope has clearly brought to view, are not blotted from the heavens
+because my pocket glass has failed to detect them.
+
+It has been by attention to these, and similar rules, that all the
+secular arts have advanced to their present state; and the art of
+teaching must be perfected by similar means. There ought therefore to be
+a distinct object in view on the part of the teacher,--a specific end
+which he is to endeavour to arrive at in his intercourse with his pupil.
+For the attainment of this end, he must employ the best and the surest
+means that are in his power; for the same purpose, he ought honestly and
+fairly to apply the successive discoveries of science as they occur; and
+should never allow himself to abandon an exercise founded upon
+ascertained principles, merely because he at first finds difficulty in
+putting it in operation.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. IV.
+
+_On the Establishment of Sound Principles in Education._
+
+
+The application of the foregoing remarks to our present purpose, is a
+matter of great practical importance. It has indeed been owing chiefly
+to their having been hitherto overlooked, that education has been left
+in the backward state in which we at present find it.
+
+But if, as we have seen, education must bend to the same rigid
+discipline to which the other sciences have had to submit,--and if
+teaching can be improved only by following the laws which have
+determined the success of the other arts--the question naturally
+arises, "What is to be done now for education?"--"Where are we to
+begin?"--"How are we to proceed?"--"In what manner are the principles of
+the science to be investigated, so that they shall most extensively
+promote the success of the art? and how is the art to be cultivated, so
+that it may, to the fullest extent, be benefited by the science?" To
+these enquiries we shall in the present chapter direct our attention.
+
+The method of investigating the operations of Nature in the several
+sciences is very nearly alike in all. For example, in the science of
+chemistry, as we have formerly noticed, the first object of the
+philosopher would be to take a comprehensive view of his whole subject,
+and endeavour to separate the substances in Nature according to their
+great leading characteristics. He would at once distinguish mineral
+substances as differing from vegetables;--and vegetable substances as
+differing from animals;--thus forming three distinct classes of objects,
+blending with each other, no doubt, but still sufficiently distinct to
+form what have been called the three kingdoms of Nature. The various
+objects included under each of these he would again subdivide according
+to their several properties;--and as he went forward, he would
+endeavour, by careful examination and experiment, to ascertain, not only
+their combinations, but also the characteristic properties of their
+several elements. The chemist, in this method of investigating Nature,
+almost always proceeds upwards, analytically, advancing from the general
+to the special, from the aggregate to its parts, endeavouring to
+ascertain as he proceeds the laws which regulate their composition and
+decomposition, for the purpose simply of endeavouring to imitate them.
+By this means alone he expects to perfect the science, and to benefit
+the arts.
+
+In the science of Botany, Zoology, Anatomy, Physiology, and almost all
+the others, the same plan has been adopted with invariable success. The
+subject, whatever it be, is looked upon as a whole, and then separated
+into its great divisions;--these again, are subdivided into classes; and
+these again, into orders, genera, species, and varieties, by which means
+each minute part can be examined by itself in connection with the whole;
+the memory and the judgment are assisted in their references and
+application; and order reigns through the whole subject, which otherwise
+would have been involved in inextricable confusion.
+
+In education, as in the other sciences, Nature is our only sure teacher;
+and the Educationist, therefore, who desires success, must proceed in
+the investigation in a similar way. He must first take a comprehensive
+view of Nature's educational processes; divide them into their several
+kinds; and subdivide these again when necessary, that each may be viewed
+alone. He must then ascertain the nature and the object of these
+processes, and observe the means and the methods employed for
+accomplishing them, that he may, if possible, be enabled to _imitate_
+them. In this way, and in this way alone, he is to perfect the science
+of education, and benefit the art of teaching.
+
+That this is the best way yet known of proceeding in investigating and
+improving the science of education, experience has already proved; and
+that it must theoretically be so, we think can admit of little doubt.
+The operations of Nature exhibit the soundest philosophy, and the most
+perfect examples of art. The materials she selects are the most suitable
+for the purpose; the means she employs are always the most simple and
+efficient; and her ends are invariably gained at the least expense of
+material, labour, and time. In the pursuit, therefore, of any object or
+end similar to that in which we find Nature engaged, man's truest wisdom
+is to distrust his own speculations, and to learn from her teaching. He
+should, with a child-like docility, follow her leadings and imitate her
+operations, both as it respects the materials he is to employ, and the
+mode and order in which he is to use them. Were an artist to find
+himself at a loss for the want of an instrument to accomplish some
+particular purpose, or some new material upon which to operate, or some
+special, but as yet unknown means for attaining some new and important
+object,--we are warranted by facts to say, that the natural philosopher
+would be his best instructor. For if he can be directed to some similar
+operation of Nature, or have pointed out to him some one or more of
+Nature's pupils,--some animal or insect, perhaps,--whose labour or
+object is similar to his own, he will most probably find there, or have
+suggested to him by their mode of procedure, the very thing he is in
+search of. By studying their methods of operating, and the means
+employed by them for accomplishing their end, some principle or device
+will be exhibited, by the imitation of which his own special object will
+most readily and most successfully be attained. Every day's experience
+gives us additional proof of the importance and soundness of this
+suggestion. For it is a remarkable fact, that there is scarcely a useful
+mechanical invention to which genius has laid claim,--and deservedly
+laid claim,--that has not its prototype somewhere in nature. The same
+principles, working perhaps in the same manner, have been silently in
+operation, thousands of years before the inventor was born; but which,
+from want of observation, or the neglect of its practical application to
+useful purposes, lay concealed and useless. This culpable neglect in
+practically applying the works and ways of God as he intended, has
+carried with it its own punishment; for thousands of the conveniences
+and arts, which at present smooth and adorn the paths of civilized life,
+have all along been placed within the reach of intelligent man. If he
+had but employed his intelligence, as he ought to have done, in
+searching them out, and had asked himself when he perceived them, "What
+does this teach me?" the very question would have suggested a use. This
+accordingly will be found to be the true way of studying nature, and one
+especial design for which a beneficent Creator has spread out his works
+for our inspection. In proof, and in illustration of this fact, we may
+refer to the telescope, which has from the beginning had its type in the
+human eye;--to the formation of paper, which has been manufactured for
+thousands of years by the wasp;--to the levers, joints, and pulleys of
+the human body, of which the mechanist has as yet only made imperfect
+imitations;--and to the saw of an insignificant insect, (the saw-fly)
+which has never yet been successfully imitated by man.
+
+In prosecuting our investigations into the science of education,
+therefore, our business is to study Nature in all the educational
+processes in which we find her occupied, and of which we shall find
+there are many;--to observe and collect facts;--to detect principles,
+and to discover the means employed in carrying them out, and the modes
+of their working;--to trace effects back to their causes, and then again
+to follow the effects through their various ramifications, to some
+ultimate end. These are the things which it is the business of the
+Educationist to investigate, and to record for the benefit of the
+teacher and his art.
+
+The duty of the teacher, on the other hand, is to apply to his own
+purposes, and to turn to use in the prosecution of his objects, those
+facts discovered by the philosopher in the study of Nature. He should by
+all means understand the principles upon which Nature works, and the
+means which she employs for attaining her ends. He ought, as far as
+circumstances will allow, to arrive at his object by similar means;
+chusing similar materials, and endeavouring invariably to work upon the
+same model. By honestly following out such a mode of procedure, he must
+be successful; for although he can never attain to the perfection of
+Nature, yet this is obviously the best, if not the only method by which
+he can ever approximate towards it.
+
+
+
+
+PART II.
+
+ON THE GREAT DESIGN OF NATURE'S TEACHING, AND THE METHODS SHE EMPLOYS IN
+CARRYING IT ON.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. I.
+
+_A Comprehensive View of the several Educational Processes carried on by
+Nature._
+
+
+We have seen in the former chapters, that the most probable method of
+succeeding in any difficult undertaking is to learn from Nature, and to
+endeavour to imitate her. The first great question with the Educationist
+then should be, "Does Nature ever teach?" If he can find her so
+employed, and if he be really willing to learn, he may rest assured,
+that by carefully studying her operations, he will be able to detect
+something in the ends which she aims at, and the methods which she
+adopts for attaining these ends, that will lead him to the selection of
+similar means, and crown him ultimately with similar success.
+
+Now we find that Nature does teach; and in so far as rational beings are
+concerned, whether angelic or human, it appears to be her chief and her
+noblest employment. In regard to the human family, she no doubt, at a
+certain period, intends that the task should be taken up and carried on
+by parents and teachers, under her controul; but when we compare the
+nature and success of their operations with hers, we perceive the
+immense inferiority of their best endeavours, and are obliged to
+confess, that in many instances, instead of forwarding her work, they
+either mar or destroy it. For in regard to the _matter_ of their
+teaching, it may be observed, that they can teach their pupils nothing,
+except what they or their predecessors have learned of Nature
+before;--and as to the _manner_ in which it is taught, it is generally
+so very imperfect, that for their success, teachers are often indebted
+in no small degree to the constant interference of Nature, in what is
+ordinarily termed the "common sense" of their pupils, for rectifying
+many of their errors, and supplying innumerable deficiencies. Of this we
+shall by and by have to advert more particularly.
+
+The educational operations of Nature are universal; and she attaches
+large rewards to diligence in attending to them. She evidently intends,
+as we have said, that the parent and teacher should take up, and follow
+out her suggestions in this great work; but even when this is delayed,
+or altogether neglected, her part of the proceedings is not abandoned.
+Nature is so strong within the pupil, and her educational promptings are
+so powerful, that even without a teacher, he is able for a time to teach
+himself. In man, and even among many of the more perfect specimens of
+the lower creation, Nature has suspended the larger portion of their
+comforts and their security, upon attention to her lessons, and the
+practical application of that which she teaches. The dog which shuns the
+person who had previously beaten him; the infant that clings to its
+nurse, and refuses to leave her; the boy who refuses to cross the ditch
+he never tried before; the savage who traces the foot-prints of his
+game; the man who shrinks from a ruffian countenance; and Newton, when
+the fall of an apple prompted him to pursue successively the lessons
+which that simple event suggested to him, are all examples of the
+teachings of Nature,--specimens of the manner in which she enables her
+pupils to collect and retain knowledge, and stimulates them to apply it.
+Wherever these suggestions of Nature are individually neglected, there
+must be discomfort and danger, and wretchedness to the _person_ doing
+so; and wherever they are not taken up by communities, and socially
+taught by education of some kind or another, _society_ must necessarily
+remain little better than savage.--The opposite of this is equally true;
+for wherever they are personally attended to, the individual promotes
+his own safety and comfort; and when they are socially taken up and
+followed out by education, however imperfectly, then civilization, and
+national security, prosperity, and happiness, are the invariable
+consequences.
+
+The information which we are to derive from the Academy of Nature, is to
+be found chiefly in those instances where she is least interfered with
+by the operations of others. In these we shall endeavour to follow her;
+and, by classifying her several processes, and investigating each of
+them in its order, we shall assuredly be able to arrive at some first
+principles, to guide us in imitating the modes of her working, and which
+will enable us, in some measure, to share in her success.
+
+When we take a comprehensive view of the educational processes of
+Nature, we find them arranging themselves under four great divisions,
+blending into each other, no doubt, like the kingdoms of Nature and the
+colours of the rainbow, but still perfectly distinct in their great
+characteristics.
+
+The _first_ educational process which is observable in Nature's Academy,
+is the stimulating of her pupil to such an exercise of mind upon
+external objects, as tends powerfully and rapidly to expand and
+strengthen the powers of his mind. This operation begins with the first
+dawning of consciousness, and continues under different forms during the
+whole period of the individual's life.
+
+The _second_ educational process, which in its commencement is perhaps
+coeval with the first, is Nature's stimulating her pupil to the
+acquisition of knowledge, for the purpose of retaining and using it.
+
+The _third_ consists in the disciplining of her pupil in the practical
+use, and proper application of the knowledge received; by which means
+the knowledge itself becomes better understood, better remembered, and
+much more at the command of the will than it was before:--
+
+And her _fourth_ educational process consists, in training her pupil to
+acquire facility in communicating by language, his knowledge and
+experience to others.
+
+The _first_ of these four general departments in Nature's educational
+process, _is the developement and cultivation of the powers of her
+pupil's mind_.--This part of Nature's work begins at the first dawn of
+intelligence; and it continues through every other department of her
+educational process. For several months during infancy, sensation itself
+is but languid. The first indistinct perceptions of existence gradually
+give place to a dreamy and uncertain consciousness of personal
+identity.--Pain is felt; light is perceived; objects begin to be
+defined, and distinguished; ideas are formed; and then, but not till
+then, reflection, imagination, and memory, are gradually brought into
+exercise, and cultivated. It is the extent and strength of these
+faculties, as we shall afterwards see, that is to measure the
+educational progress of the child; and therefore it is, that the first
+object of Nature seems to be, to secure their proper developement. The
+child feels and thinks; and it is these first feelings and thoughts,
+frequently repeated, that enable it gradually to extend its mental
+operations. It is in this way only that the powers, of the mind in
+infants are expanded and strengthened, as there can be no mental culture
+without mental exercise. While a child is awake, therefore, Nature
+prompts him to constant and unwearied mental exertion; by which means he
+becomes more and more familiar with external objects; acquires a better
+command over his own mind in perceiving and remembering them; and
+becomes more and more fitted, not only for receiving constant accessions
+of knowledge, but also for putting that knowledge to use.
+
+The _second_ part of Nature's educational process, we have said,
+consists in her powerfully stimulating her pupil to _the acquisition of
+knowledge_.--This, which we call the second part of Nature's operations,
+has been going on from an early period of the child's history, and it
+acts usually in conjunction with the first. As soon as an infant can
+distinguish objects, it begins to form ideas regarding them. It
+remembers their shape; it gradually acquires a knowledge of their
+qualities; and these it remembers, and, as we shall immediately see, is
+prompted to put to use upon proper occasions.--It is in the acquisition
+of this kind of knowledge that the principle of curiosity begins to be
+developed. The child's desire for information is increased with every
+new accession; and for this reason, its mental activity and
+restlessness, while awake, have no cessation. Every glance of the eye,
+every motion of the hands or limbs made to gratify its curiosity, as it
+is called, is only an indication of its desire for information:--Every
+sight or sound calls its attention; every portable object is seized,
+mouthed, and examined, for the purpose of learning its qualities. These
+operations at the instigation of Nature are so common, that they are
+scarcely observed; but when we examine more minutely into their effects,
+they become truly wonderful. For example, were we to hear of an infant
+of two or three years of age, having learned in the course of a few
+months to distinguish each soldier in a regiment of Negroes, whose
+features their very parents perhaps would have some difficulty in
+discriminating; if he could call each individual by his name; knew also
+the names and the uses of their several accoutrements; and, besides all
+this, had learned to understand and to speak their language;--we would
+be surprised and incredulous. And yet this would be an accumulation of
+knowledge, not much greater than is attained in the same space of time
+by many of the feeble unsophisticated pupils of Nature.--Infants, having
+no temptation to depart from her mode of discipline, become in a short
+period acquainted with the forms, and the uses, and even the names, of
+thousands of persons and objects, not only without labour, but with vast
+satisfaction and delight.
+
+The training of her pupils to _the practical use of their knowledge_,
+forms the _third_ department in Nature's educational process.--This is
+the great end which the two previous departments were designed to
+accomplish. This is Nature's _chief_ object;--all the others are
+obviously subordinate. The cultivation of the mind, and the acquisition
+of knowledge were necessary;--but that necessity arose from the
+circumstance of their being preparatory to this. Nature, in fact,
+appears to have stamped this department of her operations almost
+exclusively with her own seal;--repudiating all knowledge that remains
+useless, and in a short time blotting it entirely from the memory of her
+pupils; while that portion of their acquired knowledge, on the contrary,
+which is useful and is put to use, becomes in proportion more familiar,
+and more permanent. It is also worthy of remark, that the knowledge
+which is most useful, is always most easily and pleasantly acquired.
+
+The superior importance of this department of education is very
+observable. In the previous departments of Nature's educational process,
+the child was induced to _acquire_ new ideas;--in this he is prompted to
+_make use of them_. In the former he was taught to _know_;--in this he
+is trained to _act_. For example, if he has learned that his nurse is
+kind, Nature now prompts him to act upon that knowledge, and he
+accordingly strains every nerve to get to his nurse;--if he has learned
+that comfits are sweet, he acts upon that knowledge, and endeavours to
+procure them;--and if he has once experimentally learned that the fire
+will burn, he will ever afterwards keep from the fire.
+
+Last of all comes the _fourth_, or supplementary step in this beautiful
+educational process of Nature. It consists in gradually training her
+pupil to _communicate the knowledge and experience which he has
+attained_.--It is probable that Nature begins this part of her process
+before the child has acquired the use of language;--but as it is by
+language chiefly that man holds fellowship with man, it is not till he
+has learned to speak that the mental exercise on which its success
+depends, becomes sufficiently marked and obvious. It consists, not in
+the acquisition of language so much, as in the use of language after it
+has been gained. The pupil is for this purpose prompted by Nature to
+think and to speak at the same moment;--mentally to prepare one
+sentence, while he is giving utterance to its predecessor. That this is
+not the result of instinct, but is altogether an acquisition made under
+the tuition of Nature by the mental exertions of the infant himself, is
+obvious from the fact, that he is at first incapable of it, and never
+pronounces three, and very seldom two words consecutively without a
+pause between each. This the child continues to do after he is perfectly
+familiar with the meaning of many words, and after he can also pronounce
+each of them individually. In giving utterance to the first words which
+he uses, there is an evident suspension of the mind in regard to every
+thing else. His whole attention appears to be concentrated upon the word
+and its pronunciation. He cannot think of any thing else and pronounce
+the word at the same time; and it is not till after long practice that
+he can utter two, three, or more words in a sentence, without hesitation
+and a decided pause between them. It is only by degrees that he acquires
+the ability to utter a phrase, and at last a short sentence, without
+interruption. Nature prompts the child to this exercise, which from the
+first attempt, to the full flow of eloquence in the extemporaneous
+debater, consists simply in commanding and managing one set of ideas in
+the mind, at the moment the person is giving utterance to others. This
+cannot be done by _the child_, but it is gradually acquired by _the
+man_; and we shall see in its proper place, that this acquisition is
+entirely the result of a mental exercise, such as we have here
+described, and to which various circumstances in childhood and youth are
+made directly subservient.
+
+Here then we have the highway of education, marked off, and walled in by
+Nature herself. That these four great departments in her educational
+process will be much better defined, and their parts better understood,
+when experience has given more ample opportunities for their
+observation, cannot be doubted; and it is not improbable, that future
+investigations will suggest a different arrangement of heads, and a
+different modification of their parts also; but still, the great outline
+of the whole, we think, is so distinctly marked, that, so far as they
+go, there can be little mistake; and by following them, we are most
+likely to obtain a large amount of those benefits which education is
+intended to secure.--To excel Nature is impossible; but by endeavouring
+to imitate her, we may at least approach nearer to her perfections.
+
+It is not enough, however, for us to perceive the great outlines of
+Nature's operations in education; we must endeavour to follow her into
+the details, and investigate the means which she employs for carrying
+them into practical effect. We shall therefore take up the several
+departments above enumerated in their order, and endeavour to trace the
+laws which regulate her operations in each, for the purpose of assisting
+the teacher in his attempts to imitate them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. II.
+
+_On the Method employed by Nature for cultivating the Powers of the
+Mind._
+
+
+The _first_ step in Nature's educational process, is the cultivation of
+the powers of the mind; and, without entering into the recesses of
+metaphysics, we would here only recall to the recollection of the
+reader, that the mind, so far as we yet know, can be cultivated in no
+other way than by voluntary exercise:--not by mere sensation, or
+perception, nor by the involuntary flow of thought which is ever passing
+through the mind; but by the active mental operation called
+"thinking,"--the voluntary exertion of the powers of the mind upon the
+idea presented to it, and which we have denominated "reiteration,"[1] as
+perhaps best descriptive of that thinking of the presented idea "over
+again," by which alone, as we shall see, the mind is cultivated, and
+knowledge increased.
+
+It is also here worthy of remark, that the cultivation of the powers of
+her pupil's mind, as a preliminary to their acquiring and applying of
+knowledge, appears to be a settled arrangement of Nature, and one which
+must be rigidly followed by the teacher, wherever success is to be hoped
+for. Analogy, in other departments of Nature's operations, proves its
+necessity, and points out its wisdom; for she is never premature, and
+never stimulates her pupils to any work, till they have been properly
+prepared for accomplishing it. Hence the consistency and importance of
+commencing the process of education, by expanding and cultivating the
+powers of the mind, preparatory to the future exertions of the pupil;
+and hence also the wisdom of requiring no more from the child, than the
+state of his mental powers at the time are capable of performing. Our
+object, at present, is to discover the means employed by Nature for
+accomplishing this preliminary object, that we may, by imitating her
+plans, obtain the greatest amount of benefit.
+
+In infancy, and during the early part of a child's life, each of the
+thousands of objects and actions which are presented to its observation,
+falls equally on the organs of sense, and each of them _might_, if the
+child had pleased, have become objects of perception, as well as objects
+of sensation. But it is evident, that till the mind occupy itself upon
+one or more of these objects, there can be no mental exercise, and, of
+course, no mental culture. On the contrary, if the mind shall single out
+any one object from the mass that surrounds it,--shall entertain the
+idea suggested by its impression on the organs of sense, and think of
+it--that is, review it on the mind--there is then mental exercise, and,
+in consequence, mental cultivation. From this obvious truth it
+necessarily follows, that the cultivation of the mind does not depend
+upon the multitude of objects presented to the observation of a child,
+but only on those which it really does observe,--which it looks at, and
+thinks upon, by an active voluntary exercise of its own powers. The
+child, no doubt, _might_ have smelt every odour; it _might_ have
+listened to every sound that entered the ear; and it _might_ have looked
+upon every image that entered the eye; but we know that it did not. A
+few of them only were thought of,--the ideas which they suggested were
+alone "reiterated" by the mind,--and therefore they, and they alone,
+tended to its cultivation.
+
+As this act of the mind lies at the root of all mental improvement,
+during every stage of the pupil's education, it becomes a matter of
+considerable importance, that its nature, and mode of operation, should
+be thoroughly understood.
+
+Let us for this purpose suppose that a lighted candle is suddenly
+presented before a young infant. He looks at it; he thinks of it; his
+mind is employed with the flame of the candle in a manner quite
+different from what it is upon any thing else in the room. All the other
+images which enter the eye fail to make an impression upon the mind; but
+this object which the child looks at,--observes,--does this; and
+accordingly, while it is passive as to every thing else, the mind is
+found to be actively engaged with the candle. He not only sees it, but
+he looks at it. This, and similar "reiterations" of ideas by the mind,
+frequently repeated by the infant, gradually communicate to it a
+consciousness of mental power, and enable him more and more easily to
+wield it. Every such instance of the reiteration of an idea,--of the
+voluntarily exercise of active thought,--strengthens the powers of the
+mind, so that he is soon able to look at and follow with his eyes other
+objects, although they are much less conspicuous than the glare of a
+candle.
+
+When we examine the matter a little farther in regard to infants, we
+perceive, that all the little arts used by the mother or the nurse, to
+"amuse the child," as it is called, are nothing more than means employed
+to excite this reiteration of ideas by the mind. A toy, for example, is
+presented to the infant, and his attention is fixed upon it. He is not
+satisfied with passively seeing the toy, as he sees all the other
+objects in the room, but he actively looks at it. Nor is this enough;
+the toy is usually seized, handled, mouthed, and turned; and each
+movement prompts the mind to active thought,--to reiterate the idea
+which each of the sensations suggests. These impressions are no doubt
+rapid, but they are real; and each of them has been reiterated,--actively
+thought of,--before they could either be received, or remembered; and it
+is only by these impressions frequently repeated, in which the mind is
+vigorously and delightfully engaged, that it acquires that activity and
+strength which we so frequently witness in the young.
+
+At a more advanced period during childhood and youth, we find the
+cultivation of the mind still depending upon the same principle. It is
+not enough that numerous objects be presented to the senses of the
+pupil; or that numerous words or sounds be made to vibrate in his ears;
+or even that he himself be made mechanically to utter them. This may be
+done, and yet the mind may remain perfectly inactive with respect to
+them all:--Nay, experience shews, that during such mechanical exercises,
+his mind may all the time be actively employed upon something else.
+There must therefore, not only be a hearing, or a reading of the words
+which convey an idea, but he must make the idea his own, by thinking it
+over again for himself. Hence it is that mental vigour is not acquired
+in proportion to the number of pages that the pupil is compelled to
+read; nor to the length of the discourses which are delivered in his
+hearing; nor to the multiplicity of objects placed before him. It is
+found entirely to depend upon his diligence in thinking for himself;--in
+reiterating in his own mind the ideas which he hears, or reads, or which
+are suggested to his mind by outward objects. This is still the same act
+of the mind which we have described in the infant, with this very
+important difference, however, that a large portion of his ideas is now
+suggested by _words_, instead of _things_; but it is the ideas, and not
+the words, that the mind lays hold of, and by which its powers are
+cultivated. When this act therefore is successfully forced upon a child
+in any of his school operations, the mind will be disciplined and
+improved;--but wherever it is not produced, however plausible or
+powerful the exercise may _appear_ to be, it will on scrutiny be found
+to be totally worthless in education,--a mere mechanical operation, in
+which, there being no mental exertion, there can be no mental culture.
+
+In the adult, as well as in the young and the infant, the culture of the
+mind is carried on in every case by the operation of the same
+principle.--However various the means employed for this purpose may be,
+they all depend for their success upon this kind of active
+thought,--this reiteration of the _ideas_ suggested in the course of
+reading, hearing, observation, or reasoning. A man may turn a wheel, or
+point pins, or repeat words from infancy to old age, without his mind's
+being in the least perceptible degree benefited by such operations;
+while the mill-wright, the engineer, or the artist, whose employments
+require varied and active thought, cannot pursue his employment for a
+single day, without mental culture, and an acquisition of mental
+strength.--The reason is, that in mere mechanical operations there is
+nothing to induce this act of reiteration,--this active mental exercise
+of which we are speaking. In the former case, the individual is left to
+the train of thought in the mind, which appears to afford no mental
+cultivation;--whereas, in the latter, the mind is, by the acts of
+comparing, judging, trying, and deciding, which the nature of his
+occupation renders necessary, constantly excited to active
+thought,--that is, to the reiteration of the several ideas presented to
+it.
+
+These remarks may be thought by some to be exceedingly commonplace and
+self-evident.--It may be so. If they be admitted, we ask no more.--Our
+purpose at present is answered, if we have detected a principle in
+education, by the operation of which the powers of the mind are
+invariably expanded and strengthened;--an effect which, so far as we yet
+know, in its absence never takes place. It is by means of this principle
+alone that Nature accomplishes this important object, both in young and
+old; but its effects are especially observable in the young, where, her
+operations not being so much interfered with, we find her producing by
+its means the most extraordinary effects, and that even during the most
+imbecile period of her pupil's existence.
+
+In concluding this part of our investigation, we would very briefly
+remark, that the existence of this principle in connection with the
+cultivation of the mind, accounts in a very satisfactory manner for the
+beneficial results which usually accompany the study of languages,
+mathematics, and some other branches of education similar in their
+nature.--These objects of study, when once acquired, may never
+afterwards be used, and will consequently be lost; but in learning them
+the pupil was compelled to think,--to exercise his own mind on the
+subjects taught,--to reflect, and to reiterate the ideas communicated to
+him, till they had been fully mastered. The mental vigour which was at
+first forced upon the pupil, by these beneficial exercises, remains with
+him, and is exercised upon other objects, as they are presented to his
+observation in ordinary life.--The mind in commencing these studies
+gradually emancipates itself from the mechanical tendencies which an
+improper system of teaching had previously formed, and now gathers
+strength daily by this natural mode of exercising its powers. It is the
+effects of this kind of discipline that constitute the chief element of
+a cultivated mind. In this principally consists the difference between a
+man of "liberal education," and others who have been less highly
+favoured.--His superiority does not lie in his ability to read Latin and
+Greek,--for these attainments may long ago have been forgotten and
+lost;--but in the state of his mind, and the superior cultivation of the
+mental powers.--He possesses a clearness, a vigour, and a grasp of mind
+above others, which enable him at a glance to comprehend a
+statement;--to judge of its accuracy;--and, without effort, to arrange
+and communicate his ideas concerning it. This ability, as we have seen,
+can be acquired only by active mental exercise, and is not necessarily
+the result of extensive reading, nor is it always accompanied by
+extensive knowledge. It is the natural and the necessary product of
+mental discipline, through which the above described act of
+"reiteration," like a golden thread, runs from beginning to end. It is
+the fire of intellect, kindled at first perhaps by classical, and
+mathematical studies; but which now, collecting force and fuel from
+every circumstance of life, glows and shines, long after the materials
+which first excited the flame have disappeared.
+
+If then, as we formerly explained, the arts are to derive benefit from
+the investigations of science, we are led to the conclusion, that the
+wisdom of the Teacher will consist in taking advantage of the principle
+which has been here exhibited. He should not speculate nor theorize, nor
+go forward inconsiderately in using exercises, the benefits of which are
+at least questionable; but he ought implicitly to follow Nature in the
+path which she has thus pointed out to him. One chief object with him
+should be, the cultivation of the minds of his pupils; and the only
+method by which he can attain success in doing so has now been stated.
+He must invent, or procure some exercise, or series of exercises, by
+which the act of "reiteration" in the minds of his pupils shall be
+regularly and systematically carried on.--He must induce them to think
+for themselves, and to exercise the powers of their own minds
+deliberately and frequently,--in the same manner as we see Nature
+operating in the mind of a lively and active child. When he can
+accomplish this, he will, and he must succeed; whereas, if he allow an
+exercise to be prepared where this act of the mind is absent, he may
+rest assured that he is deceiving both himself and the child.--The laws
+of Nature are inflexible; and while she will undoubtedly countenance and
+reward these who act upon the principles which she has established, she
+will as certainly leave those who neglect them to eat the "fruit of
+their own doings."--But the pupil, more than the Teacher is the
+sufferer. Under the pure discipline of Nature in the infant and the
+child, learning is not only their business, but their delight; and it is
+only when her principles are unknown, or violently outraged, that
+education becomes a burden, and the school-house a prison.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[1] Note A.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. III.
+
+_On the Means by which Nature enables her Pupils to acquire Knowledge._
+
+
+The _second_ stage of the pupil's advance under the teaching of Nature
+is that in which she prompts and assists him in the acquisition of
+knowledge.--The importance of this department of a child's education has
+uniformly been acknowledged;--so much so, indeed, that it has too
+frequently absorbed the whole attention of the Teacher, as if the
+possession of knowledge were the whole of education.--That this is a
+mistake we shall afterwards see; because the value of knowledge must
+always be in proportion to the use we can make of it; but it is equally
+true, that as we cannot use knowledge till we have acquired it, its
+acquisition as a preliminary step is of the greatest importance. Our
+intention is at present, to enquire into the means employed by Nature,
+for enabling her pupils to acquire, to retain, and to classify their
+knowledge; so that, by ascertaining and imitating her methods, we may in
+some degree share in her success.
+
+For some time during the early years of childhood Nature is the chief,
+or the only Teacher; and the contrast between her success at that time,
+and the success of the parent or teacher who succeeds her, is very
+remarkable, and deserves consideration.
+
+When we examine this process in the case of infants, we see Nature
+acting without interference, and therefore with undeviating success.
+Within a few months after the child has attained some degree of
+consciousness, we find that Nature, under every disadvantage of body and
+mind, has succeeded in communicating to the infant an amount of
+knowledge, which, when examined in detail appears very wonderful.--The
+child has been taught to know his relations and friends; he has acquired
+the ability to use his limbs, and muscles, and organs, and the knowledge
+how to do so in a hundred different ways. He has become familiar with
+the form, the colour, the texture, and the names of hundreds of articles
+of dress, of furniture, of food, and of amusement, not only without
+fatigue, but in the exercise of the purest delight, and with increasing
+energy. He has begun to contrast objects, and to compare them; and this
+capacity he evinces by an undeviating accuracy in choosing those things
+which please him, and in rejecting those things which he dislikes. But
+above all, the infant, along with all this substantial knowledge, has
+been taught to understand a language, and even to speak it. The fact of
+all this having been accomplished by a child of only two or three years
+of age, is so common, that the mysterious principles which it involves,
+are too generally overlooked. We thoughtlessly allow them to escape
+observation, as if they were mere matters of instinct, and were to be
+ranked with the spider's catching its prey, or the sparrow's building
+its nest. But the principles which regulate these different operations
+are perfectly dissimilar. In the case of the spider and the sparrow
+there is no teaching, and, of course, no learning. Their first web, and
+their first nest, are as perfect as the last; but in the case of the
+infant, with only two or three exceptions, there is nothing that he
+does, and nothing that he knows, which he has not really
+learned,--acquired by experience under the tuition of Nature, by the
+actual use of his own mental and physical powers.
+
+The benefits accruing to education, from successfully imitating Nature
+in this department of her process, will be incalculable; not only in
+adding to the amount of knowledge communicated, but in the ease and
+delight which the young will experience in acquiring it. All must admit
+that the pleasure, as well as the rapidity, of the educational process
+in the young, continues only during the time that Nature is their
+teacher;--and that her operations are generally checked, or neutralized
+by the mismanagement of those who supersede her work, and begin to
+theorize for themselves. The proof of this is to be found in the fact,
+that although a child is much less capable of acquiring knowledge
+between one and three years of age, than he is between eight and ten;
+yet, generally, the amount of his intellectual attainments by his school
+exercises, during the two latter years, bears no proportion to those of
+the former, when Nature _alone_ was his teacher. In the one case, too,
+his knowledge was acquired without effort or fatigue, and in the
+exercise of the most delightful feelings;--in the other, quite the
+reverse.
+
+That we shall ever be able to equal Nature in this part of her
+educational process, is not to be expected; but that, by following up
+the principles which she has developed, and imitating the methods by
+which she accomplishes her ends, we shall become more and more
+successful, there can be no doubt. The method, therefore, to be adopted
+by us is, to examine carefully the principles which she employs with the
+young, through the several stages of her process, and then, by adopting
+exercises which embody these principles, to proceed in a course similar
+to that which she has pointed out.
+
+In prosecuting this plan, then, our object must be, first, to examine
+generally the various means employed by Nature, in the acquisition of
+knowledge by the young,--and then to attend more in detail to the mode
+by which she applies the principles involved in each.
+
+These general means appear to consist of four distinct principles,
+which, for want of better definitions, we shall denominate
+"Reiteration," "Individuation, or Abstraction," "Grouping, or
+Association," and "Classification, or Analysing."[2]
+
+The _first_ is the act of "Reiteration," of which we have already
+spoken, as the chief instrument in cultivating the powers of the mind,
+and without which, we shall also find, there can be no acquisition of
+knowledge. The _second_ is the principle of "Individuation," by which
+Nature communicates the knowledge of single ideas, or single objects, by
+constraining the child to concentrate the powers of its mind upon one
+object, or idea, till that object or idea is familiar, or, at least,
+known. The _third_ is the common principle of "Grouping, or
+Association," and appears to depend, in some degree, on the imaginative
+powers, by which a child begins to associate objects or truths together,
+after they have become individually familiar; so that any one of them,
+when afterwards presented to the mind, enables the pupil at a glance, to
+command all the others which were originally associated with it. The
+_fourth_ is the principle of "Classification, or Analysing," by which
+the mind distributes objects or truths according to their nature,--puts
+every truth or idea, as it is received, into its proper place, and among
+objects or ideas of a similar kind. This classification of objects is
+not, as in the principle of grouping, regulated according to their
+accidental relation to each other, by which the canary and the cage in
+which it is confined would be classed together; but according to their
+nature and character, by which the canary would be classified with
+birds, and the cage among other articles of household furniture. All
+knowledge, so far as we are aware, appears to be communicated and
+retained for use, by means of these four principles; and we shall now
+proceed to examine the mode in which each of them is employed by Nature
+for that purpose.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[2] Note A.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. IV.
+
+_On Nature's Method of communicating Knowledge to the Young by the
+Principle of Reiteration._
+
+
+We have, in a former chapter, endeavoured to describe that particular
+act of the mind which generally follows simple perception, and by which
+an idea, when presented to it, is made the subject of _active thought_,
+or is "_reiterated_" again to itself. We have found upon good evidence,
+that it is by this process, whether simple or complex, that the powers
+of the mind are cultivated; and we now proceed to shew, that it is by
+the same act, and by it alone, that any portion of knowledge is ever
+communicated.[3] No truth, or idea of any kind, can make an effective
+entrance into the mind, or can find a permanent lodgement in the memory,
+so as to become "knowledge," until it has successfully undergone this
+process.
+
+There are two ways by which we usually acquire knowledge:--The one is by
+_observation_, without the use of language, and which is common to us
+with those who are born deaf and dumb; and the other is _through the
+medium of words_, either heard or read. In both cases, however, the
+knowledge retained consists entirely of the several _ideas_ which the
+objects or the words convey; and what we are now to shew, is, that these
+ideas thus conveyed, can neither be received by the mind, nor retained
+by the memory, till they have undergone this process of "reiteration."
+While, on the contrary, it will be seen that, whenever this process
+really takes place, the idea thus reiterated does become part of our
+knowledge, and is, according to circumstances, more or less permanently
+fixed upon the memory. We shall for this purpose endeavour to trace the
+operation of the principle, both in the case of ideas communicated by
+objects without language, and in those conveyed to the mind by means of
+words.
+
+That this act of reiteration of an idea by the mind, must take place,
+before objects of perception can become part of our knowledge, will, we
+think, be obvious, from a consideration of the following facts.--When,
+for example, we are in a crowded room, or in the fields, numerous sounds
+enter the ear,--thousands of images enter into and impress the eye, yet
+not one of these becomes part of our knowledge till it is _thought
+of_;--that is, till the idea suggested by the sensation, has not only
+been perceived, but reiterated by the mind. This will appear to many so
+plain, that any farther illustration of the fact may be deemed useless.
+But experience, has shewn, that the illustration of this important
+process in education, is not only expedient, but is really necessary; as
+the overlooking of this simple principle has often been the cause of
+great inconsistencies on the part of teachers. We shall therefore
+endeavour to exhibit the working of the principle in various forms, that
+it may be fully appreciated when we come to apply it.
+
+Let us then suppose two children taken silently through a museum of
+curiosities, the one active and lively, the other dull and listless. It
+would be found on retiring, that the former would be able to give an
+account of many things which he saw, and that the other would remember
+little or nothing. In this case, all the objects in the exhibition were
+seen by both; and the question arises, "Why does the knowledge of the
+one, so much exceed that of the other?" The reason is, that the mind of
+the one was active, while the mind of the other was in a great measure
+inactive. Both _saw_ the objects; but only one _looked at_ them. The one
+actively employed his mind--fixed his eye on an object, and thought of
+it; that is, he reiterated the ideas it suggested to him, whether as to
+form, or colour, or movement, and by doing so, the ideas thus
+reiterated, were effectively received, and given over to the keeping of
+the memory. The other child saw the whole; they were perhaps objects of
+perception; but he allowed his sensations to die away as they were
+received; and his mind was left to wander, or to remain under the dreamy
+influence of a mere passive and evanescent train of thought. His
+"attention" was not arrested;--his mind was not actively engaged on any
+of the articles he saw; in other words, the ideas which they suggested
+were not "reiterated."[4]
+
+Now, that it was the want of this mental reiteration which was the
+cause, and the only cause, why this very usual means of acquiring
+knowledge failed to communicate it, may be proved we think by a very
+simple experiment. For if we shall suppose that the child who was
+obtaining no knowledge by means of the various curiosities around him,
+had been asked at the time a question respecting any of them,--a stuffed
+dog, for example,--his attention would have been arrested, and his mind
+would have been roused to active thought. The words, "What is that?"
+from his teacher, or companion, would have made him look at it, and
+reiterate the ideas of its form and colour, so far as to enable him to
+give an answer. And if he does so, it will be found afterwards, on
+leaving the place, that although he might have remained unconscious of
+the presence of all the other objects in the museum, he will remember
+the stuffed dog, merely because, by the question, the idea it suggested
+was taken up, and reiterated by the mind; while the sensations caused
+by all the rest, were allowed to pass away.
+
+There is another circumstance of daily occurrence, which adds to the
+evidence that it is this principle which we have called "reiteration,"
+which forms the chief, if not the only avenue, by which ideas find
+access to the mind; and it is this:--That when at any time we bring to
+recollection some former circumstance of life, however remote, or when
+we recall any part of our former knowledge or experience, it comes up to
+the mind, accompanied with the perfect consciousness, that, at the time
+we are thinking of, this act of reiteration had taken place upon it;
+that we most assuredly have thought of it before. We are not more
+certain that it occupies our thoughts now, than we are that it did so
+when it occurred;--that the operation of which we are at present
+speaking, did actually then take place; and that it was by our doing so
+then, that it is remembered now. This circumstance, when duly
+considered, is of itself, we think, a sufficient proof, that no part of
+our knowledge,--not a single idea,--can be acquired, or retained on the
+memory by any other process, than by this act of reiteration.
+
+Hence then it is plain, that all the knowledge which we receive by
+observation, without the use of language, is received and retained on
+the memory by the operation of this principle; and we will now proceed
+to shew, that the same process must also take place, when our ideas are
+received by means of _words_, whether these be spoken or read.
+
+It is of great importance for us to remember, that the only legitimate
+use of words is to convey ideas; and that Nature rigidly refuses to
+acknowledge any other use to which they may be put. Hence it is, that in
+conversation, we are quite unconscious of the words which our friend
+uses in communicating his ideas. Nature impels us to lay hold of the
+ideas alone; and in proof of this we find, that we have only to attempt
+to concentrate our attention upon the _words_ he uses, and then we are
+sure to lose sight of the _ideas_ which the words were intended to
+convey. Hence it is, that our opinion of the style, and the language,
+and the manner of a speaker, when the subject itself is not familiar,
+are formed more by indirect impressions, than by direct attention to
+these things while he speaks; and oftener by reflection afterwards, than
+by any critical observation during the time. The reason of this, we may
+remark once for all, is, that what the mind reiterates it
+remembers,--but nothing more. If during the hearing, it reiterates the
+ideas, it will then remember the ideas; but if it reiterates the words
+without the ideas, it will remember nothing but words. Those therefore
+who sow words in the minds of the young, hoping afterwards to reap
+ideas, are as inconsistent as those who seek to "gather grapes of
+thorns, or figs of thistles."[5]
+
+Knowledge is received by the use of words in two ways,--either by oral
+speech, or by written language; but in both cases, the reception of the
+ideas is still governed by reiteration. We shall endeavour to examine
+the operation in both cases.
+
+Let us suppose that a teacher announces to a class of young children,
+that "Cain killed his brother Abel,"--and then examines the state of
+each child's mind in regard to it. All of them heard the words, but some
+only perhaps are now in possession of the truth communicated. Those who
+are so, followed the teacher in his announcement, not so much in
+reiterating the words, as in reiterating the idea,--the truth itself;
+and therefore it is, that they are now acquainted with the fact. Of
+those who heard, but have failed to add this truth to their stock of
+knowledge, there may be two classes;--those who attended to what was
+said, but failed to interpret the words; and those whose attention was
+not excited at all. Those who failed to interpret the words, or to
+extract the idea from them, reiterated the _words_ to themselves, and
+would perhaps be able to repeat the words again, but they do so in the
+same manner that a person reads or repeats words in an unknown tongue.
+The idea,--the truth,--is not yet perceived, and therefore cannot be
+remembered. The others who remember nothing, have reiterated nothing;
+their minds remained inactive. They also heard the words, but they
+failed to listen to them; in the same way as they often see objects, but
+do not look at them. Here it is evident that every child who reiterated
+the idea in his own mind, is in possession of the fact communicated; and
+all who did not do so, even although they reiterated the words, have no
+addition made to their knowledge; which shews that it is only by this
+act of the reiteration of the ideas, that any portion of our knowledge
+is ever acquired.
+
+That this is a correct exhibition of the principle, and a legitimate
+inference from the phenomena, may be still farther proved by an
+experiment similar to one formerly recommended. Let the teacher, in the
+middle of a story, ask some of the inattentive pupils a question
+respecting some of the persons or things he is speaking about, and force
+the reiteration of that part of the narrative in the child's mind by
+getting an answer, and it will be found at the close, that although he
+may remember nothing else of all that he heard, yet he will most
+perfectly remember that part about which he was questioned, and
+respecting which he returned an answer.
+
+The same thing may be ascertained by our own experience, in hearing a
+lecture or sermon, or even in conversation with a friend. In these
+cases, as long as our attention is kept up,--that is, as long as we
+continue to reiterate the ideas that we hear,--we may remember them; but
+when our minds flag, or wander; in other words, when we cease to
+reiterate the ideas of the speaker, the sounds enter our ear, but the
+matter is gone. All that has been said during that period of inattention
+has been lost; it never has formed, and never can form, part of our
+knowledge.
+
+Thus we see, that in the act of hearing oral communications, the
+principle of reiteration of the ideas is obviously necessary for the
+acquiring of knowledge; and we shall now shew, that it is equally
+necessary in the act of reading.
+
+Many persons must have witnessed children reading distinctly, and
+fluently perhaps, who yet were not made one whit wiser by what they
+read. The act of reading was correctly performed, and yet there was no
+accession to their knowledge. The cause of this is easily explained. The
+_ideas_ conveyed by the words have not been reiterated by the
+mind,--perhaps they were never perceived. For as long as the act of
+reading is difficult, the words undergo this process first, and the
+ideas must be gleaned afterwards. Hence it is, that children, when
+hurried from lesson to lesson before they can read them so easily as to
+perceive and reiterate the ideas while reading, acquire the habit of
+decyphering the words alone, and the eye from practice reads
+mechanically, while the mind at the moment is usually wandering, or is
+engaged in attending to something else. Nature, as we have before shewed
+in the act of hearing, does not intend that the mind should pay
+attention both to the words and the ideas at the same time; and reading
+being only an artificial substitute for hearing, is made subject to the
+same law. It is the _ideas_ that Nature induces us to grapple with; and
+the reading of words like the hearing of language, is merely the means
+employed to get at them. Hence the necessity of children being taught to
+read fluently, and with perfect ease, before they leave the school; and
+the neglect of this is the reason why so many after leaving school,
+derive so little instruction from the use of books. Of these
+individuals, experience shews, that many, who on leaving school could
+not collect ideas by their mode of mechanical reading, yet persevere,
+and at last teach themselves by long practice to understand what they
+read; while there are not a few who, in similar circumstances, become
+discouraged, abandon the practice of reading, and soon forget the art
+altogether.
+
+Of the correctness of these facts, every one may be convinced, by
+recollecting what must often have taken place with himself. When at any
+time the mind is exhausted while reading, we continue to read on, page
+after page, and when we have finished, we find, that not a single truth
+has made its way to the memory. Now this did not arise from any
+difficulty in comprehending the ideas in the book, because it does not
+make much difference whether the subject has been simple or otherwise;
+neither did it arise from the want of all mental activity, for the mind
+was so much engaged as to read every word and every letter in the pages
+upon which we were occupied. But it arose entirely from the want of that
+principle of which we are here speaking. The words were read
+mechanically, and the ideas were either not thought of, or at least they
+were not reiterated by the mind, and therefore it is that they are
+lost,--and no effort can ever again recall them. The proof of the
+accuracy of these views will still be found in the circumstance, that
+if, while the person is reading, this act of the reiteration of some one
+or more of the ideas be in any way forced upon him, _these_ ideas thus
+reiterated will afterwards be remembered, although all the others are
+lost.
+
+Here then we have arrived at a principle connected with the acquisition
+of knowledge, by attending to which education may be made most efficient
+for that purpose; but without which, education must remain a mere
+mechanical routine of barren exercises. No idea, no truth, we have seen,
+can ever form part of our knowledge, till it has undergone this
+particular mental process, which we have called "reiteration." If the
+idea, or truth, intended to be communicated, be reiterated by the
+mind,--thought over again,--it will then be remembered:--but if it be
+not reiterated by the mind, it never can. It is also worthy of remark,
+that the tenacity with which the memory keeps hold of any idea or truth,
+depends greatly upon the vigour of the mind at the time, and still more
+perhaps upon the frequency of its reiteration. If a child, however
+languid, is forced to this act of reiteration of an idea but once, it
+will be remembered for a longer or a shorter time; but if his mind be
+vigorous and lively, and more especially if he can be made _repeatedly_
+to reiterate the same idea in his mind at intervals, he will on that
+account, retain it much more tenaciously, and will have it at the
+command of the will more readily. Hence the vividness with which the
+scenes and the circumstances of youth arise upon the mind, and the
+tenacity with which the memory holds them. These scenes were of daily
+occurrence; and the small number of remarkable circumstances connected
+with childhood and youth having few rivals to compete with them in
+attracting the attention, were witnessed frequently with all the vigour
+and liveliness of the youthful mind, as yet unburdened with care. They
+were of course frequently subjected to observation, and as frequently
+reiterated by the mind, and have on these accounts ever since been
+vividly pictured by the imagination, and continue familiar to the
+memory. It also accounts for another circumstance of common occurrence.
+For when, even in early infancy, any event happened which made a deeper
+impression upon the mind than usual, that simple circumstance will
+generally outlive all its neighbours, and will take precedence in point
+of distinct recollection to the close of life. The reason of this is,
+not only the deep impression it made upon the mind at the moment, but
+principally because it had so strongly excited the feelings, that it was
+oftener thought of then and afterwards;--in other words, this act of
+reiteration occurred more frequently with respect to it than the
+others, and therefore it is now better remembered.
+
+This is a principle then of which the Educationist should take
+advantage. For if Nature invariably communicates knowledge by inducing
+her pupils to exercise their own minds on the subject taught, it is
+plain that the teacher should follow the same plan. His pupils cannot
+remain mentally inactive, and yet learn; neither can the mere routine of
+verbal exercises either cultivate the mind or increase knowledge. These
+are but the husks of education, which may tantalize and weaken, but
+which can never satisfy the cravings of the young mind for information.
+Their mental food must be of a perfectly different kind, consisting of
+_ideas_, and not of _words_; and these ideas they must receive and
+concoct by the active use of their own powers. The teacher must no doubt
+select the food for his pupils, and prepare it for their reception, by
+breaking it down into morsels, suited to their capacities. But this is
+all. They must eat and digest it for themselves. The pupil must think
+over in his own mind, and for himself, all that he is either to know or
+remember. The ideas read or heard must be reiterated by
+himself,--thought over again,--if he is ever to profit by them. Without
+this, no care or pains on the part of the teacher, no exertion on the
+part of the pupil, will be of any avail. All the knowledge that he seems
+to acquire in any other way is repudiated by Nature; and however
+plausible the exercise may appear, it will ultimately be found fruitless
+and vain.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[3] Note B.
+
+[4] Note C.
+
+[5] Note D.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. V.
+
+_On the Acquisition of Knowledge by the Principle of Individuation._
+
+
+Nature, as we have seen, has rendered it imperative that the act of
+reiteration should be performed upon every idea before it can have an
+entrance into the mind, or be retained by the memory; but as the
+individual cannot reiterate, or think over, all the ideas suggested to
+him by the innumerable objects of sensation with which he is surrounded,
+it next becomes a matter of importance to ascertain the means employed
+by Nature for enabling her pupils to receive and retain the greatest
+number of ideas, so that they shall ever afterwards remain at the
+command of the will. This she accomplishes by the operation of the three
+other principles to which we have adverted; namely, "Individuation," or
+"Abstraction," "Grouping," or "Association," and "Classification," or
+"Analysis."--We shall in this chapter attend to the principle of
+"Individuation," and endeavour to trace its nature and uses in the
+acquisition of knowledge by the young.
+
+The first thing in an infant that will be remarked by a close observer
+of Nature is, that while adding to its knowledge by observation, it
+always confines its attention to one thing at a time, till it has
+examined it. Before the period when this principle becomes conspicuous
+in an infant, the eye, and the other senses are in a great measure
+inactive, so far as the mind is concerned; and the first indication of
+the senses really ministering to the mind is the eye chusing an object,
+and the infant examining that object by itself, without allowing its
+attention to be distracted by any thing else.
+
+This operation takes place as soon as an infant is capable of
+observation. It fixes its eye upon an object, generally one that is new
+to it, and it continues to look upon it till it has collected all the
+information that this object can give, or which the limited capacity of
+the infant will enable it to receive. Hence with stationary objects this
+information is soon acquired; but with moveable objects, or toys, or
+things which are capable of varying, or multiplying the ideas received
+by the child, the look is more intense, and the attention is sustained
+without fatigue for a longer time. Till this information has been
+received, the child continues to look on; and if the object be removed,
+the eye still follows it with interest, and gives it up at last with
+reluctance. That by this concentration of its mind upon one object, the
+infant is adding to its knowledge, appears evident from the fact, that
+objects which have already communicated their stock of information, and
+have become familiar, are less heeded than those that are new or
+uncommon. Every new thing excites the curiosity of the child, who is not
+content till that curiosity be gratified. This has been called "the love
+of novelty;"--but it is not the love of novelty in the very questionable
+sense in which many understand that term. On the contrary, it is
+obviously a wise provision of Nature, suited to the capacity and
+circumstances of children, which is to be taken advantage of, for
+conveying such crumbs and morsels of knowledge as their limited powers
+are able to receive; and which should never be abused, by presenting to
+them an unceasing whirl of names and objects,--a process which fatigues
+the mind, and leaves them without any specific information. It is the
+same principle, and is to be considered in the same light, as that which
+induces the philosopher to confine himself to the investigation of one
+phenomenon till he understands it. The information which the child is
+capable of receiving from each of the impressions then made is no doubt
+small; but it is still information--knowledge.--This is what he is
+seeking; and, at this stage of his progress, it is only acquired by the
+concentration of the powers of the mind upon one thing at a time.
+
+The effect of this principle in the infant is worthy of remark.--While
+the pupil remains under the teaching of Nature, there is no
+confusion,--no hurry,--no failure. The tasks which she prescribes for
+him are never oppressive, and are constantly performed with ease and
+with pleasure.--Although there be no selection made by the parent or
+teacher for the child to exercise his faculties upon, yet he
+instinctively selects for himself, without hesitation, and without
+mistake. All the objects in a room or in a landscape are before him: yet
+he is never oppressed by their number, nor bewildered by their
+variety.--His mind is always at ease.--He chooses for himself; but he
+never selects more for his special observation at one time than he can
+conveniently attend to. When the objects are new, his attention is
+restricted to one till it be known; and then, but not till then, as we
+shall immediately see, he is able, and delights to employ himself in
+grouping it with others.
+
+In early infancy this attention to one object is protracted and slow,
+till he gradually acquires sufficient energy of mind by practice.--Every
+one must have observed how slowly the eye of an infant of two or three
+months old moves after an object, in comparison with one of ten.--But
+even in the latter case, when the glance is lively and rapid, the same
+principle of individuation continues to operate. The information from an
+unknown object must still be received alone, and without distraction,
+although by that time the child is capable of receiving it more quickly.
+He is not now satisfied with viewing an object on one side, but he must
+view it on all sides. He endeavours by various means to acquire every
+one of the ideas which it is capable of communicating. His new toy is
+viewed with delight and wonder; and his eye by exercise can now scan in
+a moment its different parts.--But this is not enough; he has now
+learned to make use of his other senses, and he employs them also, for
+the purpose of becoming better acquainted with the object which he is
+contemplating. His toy is seized, mouthed, handled, turned, looked at on
+all sides, till all the information it can communicate has been
+received;--and then only is it cast aside for something else, which is
+in its turn to add to his stock of knowledge.
+
+The circumstance to which we would especially call attention at present
+is, the singleness of thought exercised upon the object, during the time
+that the child is amused by it.--He attends to nothing else, and he will
+look at nothing else; and were his attention forced from it for a
+moment, this is evidently done unwillingly; and, when allowed, it
+immediately returns to the object. It is also worthy of notice, that if,
+while he is so engaged, we attempt to teach him something else, or in
+other words, to induce him to divide his attention upon some other new
+object, the distraction of his mind is at once apparent; we perceive
+that it is unnatural; and we find by experience that he does not profit
+by either. Now, from these indications it must be evident, that any
+interference with this principle of individuation in teaching any thing
+for the first time, must always be hurtful:--on the contrary, by
+attending to the principle, and acting upon it in the training of the
+young, it must be productive of the happiest effects.--While acted upon,
+under the guidance of Nature, its efficiency and power are astonishing.
+It is by means of this principle, that the infant mind, with all its
+imbecility and want of developement, acquires and retains more real
+knowledge in the course of a few months, than is sometimes received at
+school afterwards during as many years.--Few things are more cheering in
+prospect than the knowledge of this fact; for what may we not expect
+from the _man_, when his education while a _child_ shall have been
+improved, and approximated to that of Nature!
+
+The operation of the principle of individuation, is not confined to the
+infant, but continues to maintain its place during all the after stages
+of life, whenever any thing new and uncommon is presented as an object
+of knowledge. Every thing is new to the infant, and therefore this
+principle is more conspicuous during the early stages of education.--But
+it is still equally necessary for the child or the youth in similar
+circumstances; and Nature compels him, as it were, still to concentrate
+the powers of his mind upon every new object, till he has received and
+become familiar with the information it is calculated to furnish.--Every
+one must have observed the intensity with which a child examines an
+object which he has never seen before, and the anxiety which he evinces
+to know all about it.--It requires a considerable effort on his own
+part, and still greater on the part of others, to detach his mind from
+the object, till it has surrendered the full amount of information which
+the young enquirer is seeking. The boy with his new drum will attend to
+nothing else if he can help it, as long as he has any thing to learn
+concerning it, and the noises it is capable of producing.--And even when
+he has tired himself with beating it, he is not satisfied till he has
+explored its contents, to find out the cause which has created the
+sounds. The girl with her doll, in the same way, will voluntarily think
+of nothing else, as long as it can provide her with mental exercise;
+that is, as long as it can add something new to her present stock of
+knowledge. And it is here worthy of remark, that the apparent exception
+in this case, arising from the greater length of time that a doll and a
+few other similar toys will amuse a child, is in reality a striking
+confirmation, and illustration of the principle of which we are
+speaking.--Such toys amuse longer, because it is longer before the
+variety of which they are capable is exhausted.--The doll is fondled,
+and scolded, and cradled, and dressed, and undressed in so many
+different ways, that the craving for new ideas continues for a long
+period to be amply gratified;--but the effect would be quite different,
+were the very same doll placed where it could only be looked at. Every
+new movement with the toy is employed by Nature, for the cultivation of
+the mental powers, by reiterating the ideas thus imparted, and on which
+the imagination delights to dwell; and also in receiving a knowledge of
+individual objects and ideas, which, when once known, are to form the
+elements of future groupings, and of an endless variety of information.
+
+It is here of importance to recollect, that almost all the information
+received by children, is of a sensible kind. They can form little or no
+idea of abstract truths. The mind and the memory must be stored with
+sensible objects,--first individually, and then by grouping,--before the
+child can arrive at a capacity for abstraction. Nature's first object,
+therefore, is to store the memory and imagination of the young with the
+names and images of things, which, as we have seen, are acquired
+individually, and, when once known, are remembered for future use. But
+those things which they have not yet seen, or felt, or heard, or tasted,
+are totally beyond their conception, and cannot be of any service,
+either in grouping, or classification.--Hence the great importance of
+allowing the young mind to act freely in acquiring new ideas by this
+principle of individuation; as without this, all the lessons into which
+such ideas shall afterward be introduced, must be in a great measure
+lost. Even adults can form no idea of an unknown object, except by
+compounding it of something that they already know. And this is at least
+equally the case with children; who, till they can group and compare
+objects which they have seen, can realize no idea of any thing, however
+simple, that has not previously been subjected to the senses.--Hence,
+therefore, the importance at this period of a child's education, of
+confining the attention chiefly to sensible objects, and of not
+confounding his faculties, by too early an introduction of abstract
+ideas.
+
+Here then we have been able to detect the method by which Nature
+selects, and enables her pupils to prepare the materials of which their
+future knowledge is to be compounded. These materials are the ideas of
+sensible objects, and their properties and uses; which must be gathered
+and stored one by one. By inducing them to attempt to seize even two at
+a time, they will most probably lose both, and their powers of
+collecting and storing will, by the same attempt, be injured and
+weakened. It is by means of this principle of individuation, that, with
+the most intense craving for information, and while placed among
+innumerable objects calculated to gratify it, the infant and the child
+remain perfectly collected, without the slightest appearance of
+distraction of mind, or confusion of ideas. With his thirst of knowledge
+ardent and constant, it enables him with the greatest delight to add
+hourly to his stores of knowledge, without difficulty, without
+irritation, and without fatigue.
+
+The application of these truths to the business of education, we shall
+attend to in its proper place; in the meantime we may remark, of how
+much importance it is, that all knowledge communicated to the young be
+simple, and that for some time it consist chiefly of sensible objects,
+and their qualities;--objects which they either know, or can have access
+to. Abstract subjects are not suited for children, till they can group,
+and classify, and compare the sensible objects with which they are
+already acquainted. The aim of the teacher, therefore, ought to be,
+strictly to follow Nature in this early stage of her operations, and to
+furnish food for his pupils, of the proper kind, and in proper
+proportions;--keeping the thinking powers constantly in healthful
+exercise, by giving as many ideas as the mind can reiterate without
+fatigue; but carefully avoiding all hurry or force, seeing that the
+powers of the mind are greatly weakened and injured by a multiplicity of
+objects, particularly when they are presented so rapidly, that the
+thoughts have not time to settle upon them, nor the mind to reiterate
+the ideas which they suggest.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. VI.
+
+_On the Application of Knowledge by the Principle of Association, or
+Grouping._
+
+
+Another principle which exhibits itself in the acquisition of knowledge
+by Nature's pupils, is that of "grouping," or associating objects
+together, after they are individually known. A child, or even an infant,
+who is frightened, or alarmed, or who suffers any severe injury,
+remembers the several circumstances, and has the place, the persons, and
+the things connected with the event, all associated together, and
+grouped into one scene or picture on the memory. These objects may have
+been numerous; but by the operation of this principle, they have all
+been apprehended, and united so powerfully with each other, that no
+future effort of the child can either separate or obliterate any portion
+of them; and so comprehensive, that the recollection of any one of the
+circumstances instantly recalls all the others.
+
+These groupings in the mind of a child, formed chiefly by means of the
+imagination, are almost wholly compounded of sensible objects; and the
+only necessary prerequisite for their formation appears to be a
+knowledge of the individual elements of which they are to be composed.
+If an unknown object be presented to the mind in connection with the
+others that are known, it is generally excluded, and the things
+previously known retained. For example, in the case supposed above, of
+an accident occurring to a child, there would be thousands of objects
+present, and all cognisable by the senses; but not one of all these that
+were unknown, that is, that had not previously undergone the process of
+individuation, is found to form part of the remembered group.
+
+There is another circumstance connected with the operation of this
+principle in the young, which is of importance. Almost the whole of a
+child's knowledge is composed of these groupings. Before the
+developement of the reasoning powers, by which the individual is enabled
+to _classify_ the elements of his knowledge, there is no way of
+remembering these elements in connection with each other, except by this
+principle. If, therefore, we change the order or relative position of
+the elements or objects which compose the scene, or group, we draw the
+attention of the pupil altogether from the former, and create another
+which is entirely new;--in the same way as the transposition of the
+figures in any sum, forms another of an entirely different amount. The
+drawing-room, for example, is seen by the children of the family with
+the fire-place, the cabinet, the sofas, the tables, and other stationary
+ornaments, in certain relative positions, and this grouping of those
+objects is to them in reality all that they know of the room. Any
+material change in shifting these objects to other places in the
+apartment, would, to the _parent_, whose judgment is ripened, produce
+feelings comparatively slight; but, to the younger branches of the
+family who group, but cannot as yet classify, it would appear like the
+complete annihilation of the former apartment. The different arrangement
+of a few of the articles only, would to them create another, and an
+entirely different room.
+
+This leads us to observe another circumstance connected with the
+operation of this principle, in the instruction of the young, which is
+the remarkable fact, that, by making the child familiar with a very few
+primitive elements, a parent or teacher may communicate an almost
+infinite variety of groupings, or stories, for cultivating the mind, and
+increasing the knowledge of his pupil. Hence it is, that hundreds of
+agreeable and useful little histories have been composed for children,
+with no other machinery than a mamma and her child, and the occasional
+introduction of a doll or a dog, a cat or a canary bird. To the child,
+there is in these numerous groupings no appearance of sameness, nor want
+of variety; and although so much circumscribed in their original
+elements, they never fail to amuse and delight.
+
+The most important circumstance, however, connected with the working of
+this principle in the education of the young, appears to be the
+necessity of a previous familiarity with the individual objects, before
+the child is called upon to group them. If this has been attended to,
+the grouping of these into any combination will be easy and
+pleasant;--but if his attention be called from the group, to examine
+exclusively even but one of its elements, the operation is checked, the
+mind becomes confused, its powers are weakened, and the grouping has
+again to commence under serious disadvantages.
+
+To illustrate this point, let us suppose a child introduced to the
+bustle and sports of a common fair. Here he sees thousands both of
+familiar and strange objects, all of which are calculated to excite his
+mind to increased attention; and yet the child, while greatly amused, is
+still perfectly at his ease. There is not the slightest indication of
+his being incommoded by the numerous objects about him; no confusion of
+ideas, no distraction of mind, no mental distress of any kind; but, on
+the contrary, in the midst of so much to see and to learn, the young
+looker-on is not only at his ease, but appears to be delighted. The
+reason of this is, that he is not by any external force compelled to
+attend to _all_ that he sees; and Nature within directs him to attend to
+no more than he is able to group, or reiterate in his thoughts. We shall
+endeavour to examine this condition of the child's mind in such
+circumstances a little more particularly.
+
+The child in the circumstances supposed, must either be a spectator in
+general, or an examiner in particular; in other words, he must either
+employ himself with the principle of combination or grouping, or with
+the principle of individuation,--but he never attempts to employ himself
+with both at the same time. If he amuses himself as an observer in
+general, he is engaged in grouping objects which are already familiar to
+him; but while he is so engaged, he never directs his attention to any
+one unknown object for the purpose of examining it for the first time by
+itself. He passes over all the minute and unknown objects with a glance,
+and attends only to the grouping or associating of those which are
+already familiar. Nature induces him, while thus employed, to pass by
+all these minute and unknown objects; because, if he were to do
+otherwise, his observation in general would instantly be recalled, and
+his whole attention would be monopolized by the object which he had
+resolved to examine, to the exclusion of every other for the time. This,
+however, is not what he seeks; and he employs himself entirely in the
+grouping of things which are already known. His mind is left at ease,
+and in the possession of all its powers; he looks only at those things
+which please him; and he passes over all the others without effort or
+difficulty.
+
+But if the boy shall come to something strange and new, which he is
+desirous of studying more closely, he immediately becomes an examiner in
+particular; but, at the same moment, he ceases to be an observer in
+general. The extended business of the fair, and the several groupings of
+which it is composed, are lost sight of for the moment;--the principle
+of individuation begins to act, and the operation of the principle of
+association, or grouping, is at the same moment brought to a stand. The
+two are incompatible, and cannot act together; and therefore Nature
+never allows the one to interfere with the other.
+
+To shew the evil effects of overlooking this important law of Nature in
+the education of a child, we have only to attend to the painful results
+which would be the consequence of acting contrary to it, even in the
+vigorous mind of an adult. Let us for this purpose suppose a person of a
+powerful understanding, and a capacious mind, ushered for the first
+time, and for only five minutes into a crowded apartment in some eastern
+caravansary, or eastern bazaar, in which every thing to him was new and
+strange; and let us also suppose that it was imperatively demanded of
+him, that he should, in that short space of time, make himself
+acquainted with all that was going on, and be able, on his retiring,
+minutely to describe all that he saw. The first moment he entered, and
+the first strange object that caught his eye, would convince him that
+_the thing was impossible_. If, without such a demand, he had been
+introduced into such a place, and had seen various groups of strange
+persons differently employed, each engaged in a manner altogether new to
+him, and the nature of which was wholly unknown, he might look on with
+perfect composure, and considerable amusement, because he could attend,
+like the boy in the fair, either to the general mass, to isolated
+groups, or to individual things. He would in that case attend to no more
+than he was able to understand; and would placidly allow the other parts
+of the scene to pass without any particular attention. But the
+imperative injunction here supposed,--this pressure from without,--this
+artificial and unnatural demand upon him,--entirely alters the case. If
+he even attempted to make himself master of all the particulars of the
+scene in a circumscribed portion of time, he would find himself
+bewildered and confounded. The very attempt to individualize and to
+group so many various objects at the same moment, within such a limited
+period, would be enough to prostrate all the powers of his mind. He
+might perhaps be able to observe the persons and their costume, because
+varieties of persons and dresses are daily and constantly objects of
+observation, and are grouped without difficulty; but of their several
+employments, of which he was previously ignorant, he could know nothing,
+and on retiring, he would neither be able to remember nor to describe
+them. In such an experiment, it would be found, that the more anxious he
+was to perfect his task and to answer the demand, in the same proportion
+would he find himself harassed and distressed, and the powers of his
+mind overstretched and weakened. And if this would be the result of
+confounding the principles of individuation and grouping in an
+adult,--a person of good understanding, and of vigorous mind,--how much
+more hurtful must such a task be, when demanded from children or youths
+of ordinary capacity, during their attendance at school!
+
+Few we believe will doubt the general accuracy of the above results in
+the cases supposed;--but some may perhaps question, whether they really
+do arise from the interference of these two antagonist principles during
+the experiment. To shew that this is the real cause of the distress
+felt, and the weakness and prostration of mind produced during it, we
+have only to institute another experiment which is exactly parallel. Let
+us suppose the same person, and for the same limited period, ushered
+into the traveller's room in a well frequented hotel, and let us also
+suppose, that the very same demand is made imperative, that he shall
+observe, and again detail when he retires, all that he sees. Let us also
+suppose, that the number of persons here is equally great, and that
+their employments are all equally diversified, but that each is familiar
+to him; and we will at once see that the difficulty of the task is
+really as nothing. A child could accomplish it. His eye would be able to
+group the whole in an instant, without effort, and without fatigue. If
+he saw one party at supper, another at tea, another group at cards, and
+others amusing themselves at draughts and backgammon; one minute instead
+of five, would be quite enough to make him master of the whole. On
+retiring, he would be able to tell the employment of every group in the
+room; and if any of his acquaintances had made part of the number, he
+would be able to tell who they were, where they were sitting, and how
+they were occupied. In doing all this he would find no difficulty; and
+yet the knowledge he has received is entirely new, and so extensive,
+that it would take at least ten fold more time to rehearse it, than it
+took to acquire it. The entire scene also would be permanently imprinted
+by the imagination upon the memory; and the whole, or any part of it,
+could be recalled, and reviewed, and rehearsed, at any future period.
+Here then are two cases, precisely similar in their nature, and
+undertaken by the very same person, where the results are widely
+different; and we now see, that the difference arises entirely from the
+principle of individuation having prepared the way in the one case,
+while it was not allowed to operate in the other.
+
+From these circumstances taken together, we perceive, that the grouping
+of objects, when once they are individually familiar, is never a
+difficult task, but is rather one of gratification and pleasure;--and we
+also are taught, that the amount of knowledge thus pleasantly
+communicated to a child may be most extensive and valuable, while the
+materials necessary for the purpose, being comparatively few, may be
+previously rendered familiar with very little exertion. It is the
+confounding of these two principles in the communication of knowledge,
+that makes learning appear so forbidding to the young, and prevents that
+cultivation of the mental powers by their exercises which these would
+otherwise infallibly produce. By keeping each in its proper place, a
+child will soon acquire a thorough knowledge of the few elements
+necessary for the purpose; and these, when acquired, may be grouped by
+the teacher into thousands of forms, for extending the knowledge, and
+for invigorating the mind of his delighted pupil.
+
+The benevolence and wisdom of this beautiful arrangement in the
+educational process of Nature, are truly wonderful; and in proportion as
+it is so, every deviation from it on our parts will be attended with
+disappointment and evil. If all our ideas were to be acquired and
+retained by the principle of individuation alone, the memory being
+without help or resting place, would soon become so overpowered by their
+number, that our knowledge would be greatly circumscribed, and its use
+impeded. Of the benefits arising from attention to the principle we
+have many apt illustrations in ordinary life, among which the various
+groupings of the ten numeral figures into sums of any amount, and the
+forming of so many thousands of words by a different arrangement of the
+letters of the alphabet, are familiar examples. When a child knows the
+ten numerals, he requires no more teaching to ascertain the precise
+amount of any one number among all the millions which these figures can
+represent. The value of such an acquirement can only be appreciated by
+considering the labour it would cost a child to gain a knowledge of all
+these sums individually, and the overwhelming burden laid upon his
+memory if each of the millions of sums had to be remembered by a
+separate character. By the knowledge and various groupings of only ten
+such characters, the whole of this mighty burden is removed.
+
+In the art of writing, the same principle is brought into operation with
+complete success, by the combination, or various groupings of the
+twenty-six letters of the common Roman alphabet in the formation of
+words. The value of this adaptation of the principle will be obvious, if
+we shall suppose, that a person who is acquainted with all the modern
+European languages, had been compelled to discriminate, and continue to
+remember, a distinct arbitrary mark or character for the many thousands
+of words contained in each. We may not be warranted, perhaps, to say
+that such a task would be impossible; but that it would be inconceivably
+burdensome can admit of no doubt. We have, indeed, in the writings of
+the Chinese, although it is but one language, a living monument of the
+evil effects of the neglect of this principle in literature, and the
+unceasing inconveniences which daily arise from that empire continuing
+to persevere in it. There is comparatively but little combination of
+characters in their words, and the consequences are remarkable. In that
+extensive empire, the highest rewards, and the chief posts of honour
+and emolument, are held out to those who are most learned, whatever be
+their rank or their station; and yet, amidst a population immersed in
+poverty and wretchedness, not one person in a thousand can master even
+one of their books; and not one in ten thousand of those who profess to
+read, is able to peruse them all. The reason of this simply is, the
+neglect of this natural principle of grouping letters, or the signs of
+sounds, in their written language. With us, the elements of all the
+words in all the European languages are only twenty-six; and the child
+who has once mastered the combination of these, in any one of our books,
+has the whole of our literature at his command.
+
+The application of this principle to the elements of general knowledge
+is equally necessary, as its application to written language. The
+difficulty of remembering the many thousands of unconnected characters
+in Chinese literature, is an exact emblem of what will always be the
+case with children in respect to their general knowledge, when this
+principle of association, or grouping, is neglected. Adults acquire and
+retain a large portion of _their_ knowledge, as we shall afterwards see,
+by the principle of classification and analysis; but _children_ are not
+as yet capable of this; and they must receive their knowledge by the
+grouping of a few simple elements previously known, or they will not be
+able to receive and retain knowledge at all. The amount of this
+knowledge also, it should be kept in mind, is not at all in proportion
+to the number or the variety of the elements of which that knowledge is
+composed. We have formerly alluded to this, and it may be farther
+illustrated by a circumstance of daily occurrence. A seaman when he
+observes a vessel at a distance knows her class and character in an
+instant, whether she be a sloop or a brig, a schooner or a ship, and he
+forms an instantaneous idea of all her parts grouped into a whole. His
+memory, instead of being harassed in remembering the shape, and place,
+and position of each of its several parts, is relieved of the whole by
+the operation of this principle of association. The whole rigging, about
+which his mind is occupied, is composed of only _three_ elements,--ropes,
+and spars, and sails,--with each of which he has long ago made himself
+familiar. All the remaining parts of this kind of knowledge are a mere
+matter of grouping. By previously observing the varied arrangement of the
+spars, and ropes, and sails, on the several masts of the different kinds
+of vessels, he has already grouped them into one whole, and each is
+remembered by itself without effort, and without mistake. They are
+retained, as it were, painted by the imagination upon the memory, and may
+at any after period be recalled and reviewed at pleasure. Hence the sight
+of a vessel in the distance calls up the former pictures to the mind, and
+enables the practised eye of the mariner to decide at once as to the kind
+and character of what he so imperfectly sees.--This helps also to explain
+the reason why children are so gratified with pictures when presented to
+the eye; and why they are best pleased when the figures are most simple
+and distinct, and particularly, when the objects grouped in the picture
+have previously been familiar. Pictures are indeed a pretty close
+imitation of Nature in this part of her work; and they are defective
+chiefly on account of their want of _motion_ and _continuity_.
+These last are two great and inimitable characteristics in all the
+groupings painted upon the memory by the imagination.
+
+From all this it is obvious, that there is an essential difference
+between a child's acquiring the knowledge of things individually, and
+acquiring a knowledge of their several associations. The two must never,
+if possible, be confounded with each other. When they are kept distinct
+in the education of a child, he has an evident pleasure in attending to
+either; but as soon as they are allowed to interfere, and more
+especially when they are systematically blended together in the same
+exercise, he experiences confusion, irritation, and fatigue. There is no
+necessity, however, for this ever being the case. All that is required
+is, that the few individual elements that are to be grouped or
+associated in a lesson, whether they be objects or ideas, shall
+previously be made familiar to the pupil. These, when once known, may be
+brought before the mind of the child in any variety of order or form,
+and will be received readily and pleasantly, and will be retained by the
+memory without confusion, and without effort. By attention to these two
+principles, keeping each in its proper place, and bringing each to aid
+and uphold the other in its proper order, it will be found, that a child
+may be taught more real knowledge in one week, than is often
+communicated in other circumstances in the course of a year.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. VII.
+
+_On the Acquisition of Knowledge by the Principle of Analysis, or
+Classification._
+
+
+There is yet another principle brought into operation by Nature to
+enable her pupils to receive, to retain, and to make use of their
+knowledge. This is the principle of Classification, or Analysis.[6] The
+difference between this and the former principle described we think is
+sufficiently marked. The principle of Association, or Grouping, is
+carried on chiefly by means of the imagination, and begins to operate as
+soon as the mind is capable of imagining any thing; but the principle of
+Classification, or Analysis, is more intimately connected with the
+judgment. The consequence of this is, that it is but very partially
+called into action during the early stages of a child's education, and
+is never able to operate with vigour, till the reasoning powers of the
+pupil begin to develope themselves.
+
+The characteristic differences between the two principles, and their
+respective uses in education, may be illustrated by a circumstance of
+every-day occurrence. For example, a child who from infancy has been
+brought up in a house of several apartments, gets acquainted with each
+of the rooms by means of its contents. He has been in the habit of
+seeing the heavy pieces of furniture in each apartment in a certain
+place and order, and the room and its furniture, therefore, are
+identified together, and remain painted upon his imagination exactly as
+he has been in the habit of seeing them. In this case, the articles of
+furniture in the room are grouped, and not classified; and are
+remembered together, not on account of their nature and uses, but purely
+on account of their position, and their relative arrangement in the
+room. Most of our readers perhaps, will remember the strange feelings
+produced in their minds during some period of their childhood, when in
+the house of their infancy, some material alteration of this kind was
+effected in one or more of the rooms. A change in the position of a bed,
+or the abstraction or introduction of a chest of drawers, a wardrobe, or
+other bulky piece of furniture, causes in the mind of the child an
+effect much deeper, and more extensive, than in the adult. The former
+picture of the place never having been observed or contemplated in any
+other aspect, is painted by the imagination, and fixed upon his memory,
+by long continued familiarity. But by this change it is suddenly
+defaced; and the new group, partaking as it will do of some of the
+elements of the old, produces feelings which are strange and
+unaccountable, and entirely different from those of his parents, who
+have been in the habit of contemplating the room and its furniture more
+by the exercise of the judgment, than of the imagination; that is, more
+by their uses, than by their appearance.
+
+The cause of this strangeness of feeling in a child, arises from the
+predominance of the principle of grouping, over that of classification.
+He has as yet no knowledge of any of the apartments in the house, except
+what he has received by grouping their contents. When, therefore, their
+arrangement is materially altered, the reasoning powers not being as yet
+able to soften down the effect, the former apartment appears to the
+child as if it had ceased to exist. He can scarcely believe it to be the
+same. He never thinks of the _uses_ of the articles in the apartment,
+but only of their _appearance_;--the first being an act of the
+judgment,--the latter of the imagination. In a similar manner he thinks
+of the kitchen and its furniture, not as a part of the household
+economy, but only in connection with the articles it contains. The
+dresser, the jack, and the tin covers, are never thought of in
+connection with their uses; but are identified with the kitchen, merely
+because they have always been seen there, and seen together. In like
+manner, the seats, the tables, and the ornaments of the drawing-room,
+are not connected in the child's mind because they are what are commonly
+called "drawing-room furniture," for that would imply a degree of
+reasoning of which he is as yet unacquainted; but they are remembered
+together, as they have always been observed in that particular place,
+and are now pictured on the mind, in the position in which they are
+usually beheld. Their particular locality in the room, and their
+relative position with respect to each other, are of far more importance
+in assisting the memory of the child, than any knowledge which he has as
+yet acquired of their respective uses.
+
+Though a child had in this way gained an exact knowledge of every
+apartment in a house, it is obvious that there may not have been, during
+the whole process, a single act of the understanding. Many of the lower
+animals are capable of collecting all the knowledge he has received; and
+even infants are, to a certain extent, in the daily habit of acquiring
+it. But the classification of objects, according to their nature and
+uses, is an operation of a perfectly different kind. Hence it is, that a
+change in the arrangement of the furniture of a room acts so slightly on
+the feelings of the adult, and so powerfully on the young. In the
+former, the reasoning powers neutralize the effect produced; to the
+latter, the change appears a complete revolution.
+
+This principle of classification, though peculiar to the mature mind, is
+not restricted to any particular class of men. It is found to be
+universal, wherever the reasoning powers are capable of acting. It is no
+doubt conspicuous in civilized societies, because there it is more
+cultivated; but it is not confined to them. The savage is prompted to
+its exercise under the tuition of Nature. For example, the various
+articles and arts which he employs in hunting, are all regularly
+classified in his mind, and retained upon his memory, as perfectly
+distinct from those which he employs in fishing; and neither of these
+classes of articles are ever confounded with his implements and weapons
+of war. His hooks and lines, are as naturally classified in his mind
+with his nets and his canoe, as his club or his tomahawk is with his
+other weapons used in battle. It is by this means that Nature aids the
+memory in the retention of knowledge, and keeps all the successive
+accumulations of the individual at the command of the will. When
+cultivated, as Nature designs that it should be, it forms an extensive
+cabinet in the mind, where every department of knowledge has its
+appropriate place; and which, when once systematically formed, can be
+furnished at leisure. When a new idea is acquired, it is immediately put
+in its place, and associated with others of the same kind; and when any
+portion of the knowledge which we have accumulated is required, we know
+at once the particular place where it is to be found.
+
+The benefits of this principle in the above form are extensively felt
+and acted upon in society, even where the principle itself is neither
+observed nor known; for in the family, in the work shop, and in the
+manufactory, it is of the last importance. It is upon this principle
+that a clergyman, for the help of his own memory, as well as for
+assisting the memory of his hearers, arranges the subject of his sermons
+in a classified form;--his text is the root of the classification. This
+he divides into heads, which form the first branch in this table; and
+these again he sometimes sub-divides into particulars, which form a
+second branch depending on the first, and all proceeding from the
+root,--the original text. Similar, but more extensive, is the plan
+adopted in the divisions and subdivisions of objects in the Sciences,
+such as Botany, Zoology, Chemistry, &c. in all of which the existence of
+this principle in Nature's educational process is acknowledged and
+exemplified. In these sciences, the efficiency of the principle in
+facilitating the reception of knowledge, and in assisting the memory in
+retaining it, and in putting it to use, is universally acknowledged.
+
+But there is another form in which the same principle appears, not so
+obvious indeed, but it is one which is at least equally important in the
+education of the young. Nature always brings it into operation when a
+teacher, while communicating any series of _connected truths_, such as a
+portion of history or of science, gives more of the details than the
+mind of his pupil can receive, or his memory retain at one time. It may
+be desirable that the pupil should be made thoroughly acquainted with
+all the minute, as well as with the general circumstances of a history
+or a science; but if so, it must be done, not at once, but by degrees,
+or steps. It is usually done by repeating the course,--"revising," as it
+is called,--and that perhaps more than once;--going over all the
+exercises again and again, till the several parts are perceived and
+remembered in their connection. In these "revisings," the mind forms an
+analytical table of the subject for itself, consisting of successive
+steps, formed by the successive courses. By the first course, or
+hearing, it is chiefly the great outlines of the subject that are
+perceived; and these form the first branch of a regular analytical
+table, which every succeeding course of reading or hearing tends to fill
+up. This will perhaps be best understood by an example.
+
+Let us suppose that a young person sits down to read a history for the
+first time, and that he reads it with attention and care. When we
+examine the state of his mind after he has finished it, we find that,
+independently of what, by the principle of grouping, he has got in the
+form of episode, he has been able to retain only the great outlines of
+the history, and no more. He remembers perhaps of whose reign he has
+been reading, and the principal events that took place during it; but
+the intermediate and minor events, as connected with the history, he has
+not been able to remember. Nothing has been imparted by this first
+reading, but the great landmarks of the narrative. These are destined to
+form the first branch of a regular analytical table, of which the reign
+of the particular monarch is the root. This is the frame-work of the
+whole history of that period, however numerous the minor circumstances
+may be; and a second reading will only enlarge his knowledge of the
+circumstances under each of the heads. In other words, it will enable
+him to sub-divide them into more minute details or periods, and thus
+form a series of second branches from each. Now it is quite obvious,
+that when this analysis of the circumstances of that period is once
+formed in the mind, no new event connected with it can ever come to his
+knowledge without being classed with some of the others. It will be
+disposed of according to the relation which it bears to the parts
+already existing; and thus the whole texture will be regularly framed,
+and every event will have its proper place, and be readily available for
+future use. One part may be filled up and finished before another; but
+the regular proportions of the whole remain undisturbed. The pupil has,
+by the original outline and its several branches, got a date and a place
+for every new fact which he may afterwards glean, either in his reading
+or his conversation; and he has a place in which to put it, where it can
+easily be found. When placed there, it is safe in the keeping of the
+memory, and will always afterwards be at the command of the will.
+
+The connection of these circumstances, with the principle in education
+which we are at present endeavouring to illustrate, may not to some be
+very apparent. We shall therefore take another example from a
+circumstance similar to what occurs every day in ordinary life, and in
+which the principle, in the hands of Nature, is abundantly conspicuous.
+In the example we are here to give, she forms the several steps of the
+classification in a number of hearers by _once_ reading a subject, very
+similar to what she does successively in the mind of one individual by
+_repeated_ readings.
+
+Let us then suppose a teacher with two or three hundred pupils,
+including every degree of mental capacity, from the youngest child who
+is able to understand, up to his own classical assistant; and that he
+reads to them the history of Joseph as given in the Book of Genesis. Let
+us also suppose, that they all give him their best attention, and that
+they all hear the narrative for the first time. Such an experiment, let
+it be observed, has its parallel every day, in the church, in the class
+room, and in the seminary; and similar effects to those we are about to
+describe invariably take place in each of them.
+
+When the teacher has read and concluded this lengthened exercise, it
+will be found, that no two individuals among his hearers have acquired
+the same amount of knowledge. Some will have received and retained more
+of the circumstances, and some less, but no two, strictly speaking, will
+be alike. Those whose minds were incapable of connecting the several
+parts of the narrative into a whole, will retain what they have received
+in disjointed groups and patches,--episodes, as it were, in the
+narrative,--without being able very clearly to perceive its general
+design. This class, upon whom the principle of association chiefly has
+been at work, we leave out, and confine ourselves to the state of
+knowledge possessed by those who are in a greater or less degree capable
+of classification, and of taking some cognisance of the narrative as a
+connected whole.
+
+Among this latter class, some will have retained no more than the bare
+outline of the history, interspersed with groupings, as in the younger
+children. They will remember little more than that Joseph was at first a
+boy in his father's house;--that he was afterwards a slave, and in
+prison;--and at last, a great man and a governor. Here the _whole
+history_ is divided into three distinct heads, or eras,--the first
+branch of an analytical table of the whole story, from one or other of
+which all the other particulars, of whatever kind, must of necessity
+take their rise, and branch off in their natural order. An advanced
+class of the auditors will have retained some of the more obvious
+circumstances connected with _each of these three great divisions_, as
+well as the divisions themselves. They will not only remember that
+Joseph was a boy in his father's house, but they will also be able to
+remember the more prominent subdivisions of the narrative regarding him
+while there; such as his father's partiality, his dreams, and his
+brothers' hatred. The second great division will be recollected as
+including the particulars of his being sold, his serving in Potiphar's
+house, and his conduct in prison; and the third division will be
+remembered as containing his appearance before Pharoah, his laying up
+corn, his conduct to his brothers, and his reception of his father and
+family. These subdivisions, it will at once be perceived, form the
+_second branch_ of a regular analytical table, each of which has sprung
+from, and is intimately connected with, some one or other of the three
+great divisions forming the first branch, of which the "History of
+Joseph" is the comprehensive root.
+
+In like manner, a third class of the pupils, whose minds have been
+better cultivated, and whose memories are more retentive, will not only
+remember all this, but they will also remember, in connection with each
+of these subdivisions, many of the more specific events included in, or
+springing from them, and which carry forward this regular analytical
+table one step farther. As for example, under the subdivision entitled
+"Joseph's conduct to his brethren," they will remember the "detention of
+Simeon,"--"the feast in the palace,"--"the scene of the cup in the
+sack," and "Joseph's making himself known." Even these again might be
+subdivided into their more minute circumstances, as a fourth, or even a
+fifth branch, if necessary, all of which might be exactly delineated
+upon paper, as a regular analytical table of the history of Joseph.
+
+Here, then, we have an example of Nature herself dividing an audience
+into different classes, and that by one and the same operation,--by one
+reading,--forming in each class part of a regular analytical table of
+the whole history, each class being one step in advance of the other.
+The first has the foundation of the whole fabric broadly and solidly
+laid; and it is worthy of remark, that there is not one of the ideas
+acquired by the most talented of the hearers, that is not strictly and
+regularly derived from some one or other of the three general divisions
+possessed by the first and the least advanced; and any one of the ideas
+may be regularly traced back through the several divisions to the root
+itself. The additional facts possessed by the second class, are nothing
+more than a more full developement of the circumstances remembered by
+the first; and those obtained by the third, are but a more extensive
+developement of the facts remembered by the second.
+
+This being the state of the several classes into which Nature divides
+every audience, it is of importance to trace the means which she employs
+for the purpose of _advancing_ each, and of ultimately completing the
+analysis; or, in other words, perfecting the knowledge of the narrative,
+in each individual mind. This is equally beautiful, and equally simple.
+It is, if we may be allowed the expression, by a regular system of
+building. The foundation being laid, and the frame-work of the whole
+being erected, in the knowledge of the great general outline, confusion
+is ever after completely prevented. Every piece of information connected
+with the history, which may be afterwards received, has a specific place
+provided for it. It must belong to some one or other of the three great
+divisions; and it is there inserted as a part of the general building.
+It is now remembered in its connection, till all the circumstances,--the
+whole of the information,--gradually, and perhaps distantly received,
+complete the narrative.
+
+To follow out this plan of Nature regularly, as in a school education,
+the method must be exceedingly obvious; for if the first class, by once
+hearing the chapters read, have received merely the outline,--the
+frame-work of the narrative,--it must be obvious, that when this has by
+reflection become familiar, a second reading would enable them to fill
+up much of this outline, by which they would be on a par with the
+second. Another reading would, in like manner, add to the second, and
+form a third; and so forth of all the others. Each reading would add
+more and more to the knowledge of the pupil; and yet, every idea
+communicated would be nothing more than a fuller developement of the
+original outline,--the frame-work,--the skeleton of the story which he
+had acquired by the first reading. By successive readings, therefore,
+the first class will take the place of the second, the second of the
+third, and so on to the end. This is Nature's uniform method of
+perfecting her pupils in any branch of _connected_ knowledge;--a method
+which, therefore, it should be the object of the Educationist to
+understand, and closely to imitate.
+
+From the cases which we have in this chapter supposed as examples, there
+are several important practical inferences to be derived, to which we
+shall here very briefly advert.
+
+In the first place, we are led to infer, from all the cases brought into
+notice, that every kind of external force, or precipitation in
+education, is abhorrent to Nature. In each of the cases supposed, we
+have a remarkable exhibition of the calm serenity of Nature's operations
+in the education of the young. For instance, in the last case supposed,
+the children all listened,--they all heard the same words,--the mental
+food was the same to each, however diversified their abilities might be;
+and it was indiscriminately offered in the same form to all, although
+all were not equally prepared to receive and digest it. The results
+accordingly were, in fact, as various as the number of the persons
+present. And yet, notwithstanding of all this, there was no hurry, no
+confusion, no attempt to stretch the mind beyond its strength. Each
+individual, according to his capacity, laid hold of as much as his mind
+could receive, and silently abandoned the remainder.--But if there had
+been any external urgency or force employed, to compel the child to
+accomplish more than his mind was capable of, this serenity and
+composure would have been destroyed; irritation, and confusion, and
+mental weakness, would have been the consequence; and altogether,
+matters would not have been made better, but worse, by the attempt.
+
+Another inference, which we think may legitimately be drawn from the
+above examples, is this, that although Nature prompts the child silently
+to throw off or reject that which the mind at the time cannot receive,
+yet it would be better for the child if no more had been pressed upon
+him than he was capable of receiving. The very rejection of any portion
+of the mental food presented for acceptance, must in some measure tend
+to dissipate the mind, and exhaust its strength. This we think is
+demonstrated by the fact, that the child had to listen for _an hour_,
+and yet retained on his memory no more than experience shews us could
+have been much more successfully communicated in _five minutes_.
+
+This leads us to another remark, almost equally important; which is,
+that the want of classification among the children, will not only hurt
+them, but tend to waste the time, and unnecessarily to exhaust the
+strength of the teacher. The teacher's success with any one child, is
+not to be estimated by the pains he takes, or the extent of his labour,
+but by the amount of knowledge actually retained by the child. To employ
+an hour's labour, therefore, to communicate that knowledge which could
+with much better effect be given in five minutes, is both unreasonable
+and improper; and every one who will for a moment think on the subject
+must see, that a lesson, which in that short space of time conveyed the
+whole of the knowledge that the pupils had been able to pick up during
+the hour's exercise, would leave the teacher eleven-twelfths of his time
+to benefit the other classes. The nurseryman follows this plan with his
+trees, and with evident success, both in saving time, and room, and
+labour. When he sows his acorns, one square yard will contain more
+plants than will ultimately occupy an acre. It is only as they increase
+in growth, that they are thinned out and transplanted; and such should
+be the case in communicating knowledge to children. To attempt to teach
+the whole history at once, is like sowing the whole acre with acorns,
+and thinning them out during a quarter of a century. The loss of seed in
+this case is the least of the evils; for the ground would be robbed of
+its strength, nine-tenths of it would be rendered unnecessarily useless
+during a large portion of the time; and much of the anxiety, and care,
+and labour of the nurseryman would be thrown away. Ultimately he would
+find, that of the many thousands of oaks he had sowed, he had been able
+to rear no more _than the acre could carry_. By following out this
+principle in education, and giving the child as much as he can receive,
+and no more, of the whole series of truths to be communicated, his mind,
+at the close of the exercise, will be much more vigorous, the ideas
+received will be much better understood, more firmly rivetted upon the
+memory, and much more at the command of the will, while the quantity of
+knowledge really communicated, is at least equal in amount.--The only
+thing indeed that renders a contrary plan of procedure even tolerable to
+a child, is the wise provision of Nature, by which she induces him to
+throw off, with some degree of ease, the superfluous matter; but had the
+reception and retention of the whole by each child been demanded by the
+teacher, the very attempt to do so on the part of the pupil, would not
+only have been irritating and burdensome, but it would have been
+extremely hurtful to the mind, by stretching its powers beyond its
+strength.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[6] Note E.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. VIII.
+
+_On Nature's Methods of Teaching her Pupils to make use of their
+Knowledge._
+
+
+We come now to another operation of Nature with the young, to which she
+appears to attach more importance than she does to any of her previous
+educational processes, and to which she obviously intends that a more
+than ordinary attention should be paid on our parts. This is the
+training of her pupils to make use of their knowledge, and to apply the
+information they possess to guide them in the common affairs of life.
+This is obviously the great end which she has all along had in view; and
+to which the cultivation of the mind, and the acquisition of knowledge
+are merely preparatives. We shall first direct attention to a few of the
+indications of this principle as they actually appear in ordinary life;
+and then we shall endeavour to point out some of the laws by which she
+appears to regulate them.
+
+In the early periods of infancy we can plainly distinguish between
+certain actions which depend upon _instinct_, and which are performed by
+the infant perfectly and at once, without experience, and without
+teaching;--and others of which the infant at first appears to be
+incapable, but which it gradually _acquires_ by experience, or more
+correctly, which it _learns_ by an application of the knowledge which it
+is daily realizing. Among the former, or instinctive class, we may rank
+the acts of sucking, swallowing, and crying, which are purely acts of
+instinct; while among the numerous class belonging to the latter, we
+include all those actions which are progressively improved, and which
+are really the result of experience, derived from the application of
+their acquired knowledge. As an example of these, we may instance the
+acts of winking with the eyelids on the approach of an object to the
+eye; the avoiding of a blow; the rejection of what is bitter or
+unpalatable; the efforts made to possess that which has been found
+pleasant; and the shunning of those acts for which it has been reproved
+or punished. All these, and thousands of similar acts, are really the
+result of a _direct application of previous knowledge_, and which,
+without the possession of that knowledge, never are, nor could be
+performed.
+
+Mankind in infancy being, in the intention of Nature, placed under the
+care of tender and intelligent parents are not provided with many
+instinctive faculties. Their physical welfare is at first left
+altogether to the care of the nurse; but, from a very early period of
+consciousness, they intellectually become the pupils of Nature. Almost
+all their actions are the results of experience;--of knowledge acquired,
+and knowledge applied. Their attainments at the beginning are no doubt
+few;--but, from the first, they are well marked, and go on with
+increasing rapidity. The acquisition of knowledge by them, and
+especially the application of it, are evident to the most cursory
+observer. For example, we see a child cling to its keeper, and refuse to
+go to a stranger;--we see it when hungry stretch out its arms, and cry
+to get to its nurse;--and when it has fallen in its efforts to walk, it
+will not for some time attempt it again. These, and many more which will
+occur to the reader, are the results of Nature's teaching;--her
+suggestions to her pupil for the right application of its knowledge. The
+child has been taught from experience that it is safe and comfortable
+with its keeper, and it applies this knowledge by refusing to leave her.
+It has learned how, and by whom, its hunger is to be satisfied; and it
+applies this knowledge by seeking to be with its nurse. It has learned
+by experience, that the attempt to walk is dangerous; and it applies
+that knowledge by avoiding the danger. Here the child is wholly as yet
+in the hands of Nature; and it is quite evident, that her design in
+first enabling the pupil to acquire those portions of knowledge, was,
+that she might induce him to apply them for his safety and comfort. No
+doubt the mental powers of the child were cultivated and disciplined by
+the acquisition of the knowledge, and still more by its application; but
+this disciplining of the mind, and accumulation of knowledge, were
+evidently a secondary object, and not the primary one. Health and
+cheerfulness are gained by tilling the ground; yet the ground is not
+tilled for the purpose of securing health and cheerfulness. It is for
+the produce of the harvest. So, in like manner, the cultivation of the
+child's mind, and the reception of the seeds of knowledge, are merely
+means employed for a further end,--the harvest of comfort and usefulness
+to be afterwards reaped. From all this we are directly led to the
+conclusion, that it is the intention of Nature, that all the knowledge
+acquired should be put to use; and therefore, that nothing should be
+taught the young, in the first place at least, except that which is
+really useful; while the proper use of all that they learn should be
+diligently pointed out.
+
+It may appear to some, that this truth is so plain and obvious, as to
+require no further illustration or enforcement.--We sincerely wish that
+it were so. But long experience justifies us in being sceptical on the
+point. And as the establishment of this principle, and a thorough
+knowledge of its working, are perhaps of more value than any other truth
+in the whole range of educational science, we shall offer a few remarks
+on its validity and importance, before proceeding to examine the means
+by which Nature carries it into operation.
+
+That knowledge, when once acquired, is intended by Nature to be put to
+use, is proved negatively by the well known fact, that almost all our
+_mental_ acquirements, when not used, are soon lost. They gradually fade
+from the mind, and are at last blotted from the memory. Hence the
+disappearance in after life of all the academical and collegiate
+acquirements of those youths who move in a sphere where their use is not
+required; and of those portions of the early attainments of even
+professional men, which are not necessary for their particular pursuits.
+By the universal operation of this principle, Nature gives fair warning
+of the folly of useless learning; and plainly indicates, that whenever
+the benefits which she confers are not put to use as she designed, they
+will gradually, but most certainly, be withdrawn.
+
+The same fact is also proved positively:--For we find, that the proper
+use of any portion of our knowledge, is invariably rewarded by its
+becoming still more familiar. The student who puts a principle in
+chemistry to the test of experiment, will understand it better, remember
+it longer, and be able to apply it to useful purposes, much more readily
+than his companion who merely reflects upon it. And of two individuals,
+who by a lecture have been taught the duty and the delights of mercy,
+that one will learn it best, and remember it longest, who, immediately
+on hearing it, is prompted to relieve a fellow creature from distress,
+or to save a family from ruin.
+
+This principle of making every thing conduce to the promotion of
+practical good, seems to pervade all the works of God; and there is no
+department in Nature, mineral, vegetable, or animal, that does not
+afford proofs of its existence. Every thing that the Almighty has formed
+is practically useful; and is arranged in such a manner as to give the
+clearest indications, that it was designed to be turned to some useful
+purpose by man. The annual and diurnal motions of the earth in its
+orbit; the obliquity of its axis; the inequality of its surface, and the
+disposition and disruption of its strata, all shew the most consummate
+wisdom, and are severally a call to intelligent man to turn them to use.
+On these, and on every other department of Nature's works, there is
+written in legible characters, that it is the _use_ of knowledge, and
+not the _possession_ of it merely, that is recommended. This she teaches
+by every operation of her hand, both directly, and by analogy. For could
+we suppose that the vegetable creation were capable of receiving
+knowledge, we might conclude from various facts, that this principle was
+not confined to the animal kingdom alone, but that it regulated the
+operations of all organic existences. The living vegetable has at least
+the appearance of acting under its influence; for, as if it knew that
+light was necessary for its health and growth, it invariably turns
+towards the light;--as if it knew that certain kinds of decayed matter
+were better fitted for its nourishment than others, it pushes out new
+fibrous roots in the direction of the spot where they are to be
+found;--and even when isolated on a rock, or a wall, at a distance from
+sufficient soil and moisture, it husbands its scanty means, and sends
+down from its elevation an extra root to the ground, to collect
+additional nourishment where it is to be had.
+
+In every department of animal life, also, the principle appears to
+exist, and exhibits itself in the conduct of all free agents, from the
+insect to the elephant. The dog that has been kindly treated in a
+particular house, seldom fails to visit it again; and when he is
+violently driven from another, the same principle indisposes him to
+return. It is upon record, that a surgeon who had bandaged the broken
+leg of a dog, was afterwards visited by his patient, who brought
+another, requiring a similar operation. The horse, in like manner, is
+proverbially sagacious in the application of his knowledge.
+Mismanagement in a groom in one instance, may create a "vice," which may
+lessen his value during life. This "vice," which is confirmed by
+practice, is nothing more than the repeated application of his
+knowledge. Such a "vice," accordingly, is best cured by avoiding the
+circumstances which originally gave rise to it, till it dies from his
+memory. Many other instances of a similar kind in the lower animals will
+readily occur to the reader, all of which lead directly to the
+conclusion, that, even in the brute creation, Nature not only prompts
+them to collect information from what happens around them, and to act in
+correspondence to its indications; but that, in fact, all the knowledge
+they receive, or are capable of acquiring above instinct, is retained or
+lost, exactly in proportion as it is, or is not, put to use.
+
+In the case of rational creatures, this great design of Nature is still
+more distinctly marked,--is intended for more important purposes,--and
+is carried on by a separate system of internal machinery, part of which
+at least is peculiar to man. This system of mental machinery consists of
+two kinds, one of which may, we think, with propriety get the popular
+name of the "Animal, or Common Sense," and the other has already
+received the appropriate name of "The Moral Sense," or conscience. To
+Nature's method of using these principles, for prompting and directing
+us in the use of our knowledge, we shall now shortly advert.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. IX.
+
+_On Nature's Methods of Applying Knowledge by the Principle of the
+Animal, or Common Sense._
+
+
+When an infant, by laying hold of a hot tea-pot burns its hand, it
+refuses to touch it again;--when a child has been frightened from a park
+or field, he will not willingly enter it a second time;--and when any
+thing is thrown in the direction of the head, we instantly stoop, or
+bend to one side, to evade it. These are instances of the application of
+knowledge, by the principle of "common sense," which do not belong to
+instinct; and, in many cases at least, anticipate the exercise of
+reason. Our object at present, however, is with the principle, and not
+with its name.
+
+When we analyze these operations, together with their causes, we find,
+that there are certain portions of knowledge daily and hourly acquired
+by the senses, which become so interwoven with our sentiments and
+feelings, that they usually remain unobserved, till some special
+occasion calls for their application. Now the principle we speak of, if
+it indeed be a separate principle, is employed by Nature to apply this
+latent knowledge, and to induce her pupil instantly, and without
+waiting for the decisions of reason, to perform certain actions, or to
+pursue a certain line of conduct, which we almost instinctively feel to
+be useful and safe. No sane child, for example, will deliberately stand
+in the way of a horse or a carriage at full speed,--or walk over a
+precipice,--or take burning coals from the fire with his fingers; were
+he to do so, we would not dignify the act so far as to say that it was
+"unreasonable," for that would be too mild an epithet,--but we would
+pronounce it at once to be "contrary to common sense."
+
+In like manner, were an adult to bemire himself in crossing a ditch,
+instead of making use of the stepping-stones placed there for the
+purpose; or if he were to stand till he were drenched with a
+thunder-shower, instead of taking shelter for the time in the
+neighbouring shed, we would not say that it was "unreasonable," but that
+it was "contrary to common sense." In short, whenever any thing is done
+which universal experience shews to be hurtful _to ourselves_, (not to
+others) it is invariably denominated an act "contrary to common sense;"
+but whenever it involves hurt _to others_, it takes another character,
+and becomes a breach of the "moral sense."
+
+It is not our design, however, to come out of our way at present, to
+adapt the name to the principle in Nature of which we are here speaking,
+and far less shall we attempt to mould the principle into a form
+suitable to the name. Our business is with the principle itself, as it
+appears in ourselves and others; and we use the term "common sense,"
+merely because at present we cannot find one more appropriate, or which
+would suit our purpose so well. If this name shall be found proper for
+it, it is well;--but if not, we leave it to others to provide a better.
+
+We have said, that Nature prompts to the use of knowledge by means of
+two distinct principles; the one, which may be denominated the "Animal,"
+or "Common Sense," refers to actions of which _we ourselves_ are the
+subjects; and the other, known by the term of the "Moral Sense," or
+conscience, refers to actions of which _others_ are the subjects. It is
+the former of these that we are at present to investigate.
+
+We must all have observed the promptness with which we avoid any sudden
+danger, or inconvenience, before we have time to reason about the
+matter. As, for example, when we stumble, we instantly put forth the
+proper foot to prevent our fall. This cannot be said to be an act of the
+reasoning powers, because they have not had time to operate; and it is
+equally clear that it is not an act of instinct, because infants, who
+have only begun to walk have not the capacity of doing it. It is
+evidently another principle which, availing itself of the knowledge
+which the person has previously acquired by experience, now uses it
+specially for the occasion.
+
+That this application of our knowledge arises neither from instinct nor
+from reason, will be obvious from many circumstances of ordinary
+occurrence.--For example, when any object approaches the eye we
+instantly shut it;--when any missile is thrown at us, we instantly turn
+the head aside to evade it;--or when in walking something destroys our
+equilibrium and we stumble, we instantly bend the body in the proper
+direction, and to the precise point, necessary to restore our balance,
+and to prevent our fall.--Now it is obvious, that all these
+contingencies are provided for by one and the same principle, whatever
+that principle may be; and that they are acts which do not depend upon
+instinct, properly so called, is proved from the circumstance, that
+infants, before they are taught by experience that the eye is so tender,
+and even adults who have but newly acquired the use of their sight,
+neither shut their eyes at the approach of objects, nor turn away their
+heads when a missile is thrown at them.--And we think it is equally
+clear, that it cannot be the result of reasoning, in the sense in which
+we generally understand that term, because the mind has no time for
+consideration, far less for reasoning, during the short moment that
+occurs between the cause and the effect.
+
+The object which we have chiefly in view at present is, to point out the
+great end designed by Nature in all these actions, which is simply _the
+application of knowledge_. There is the knowledge that objects entering
+the eye will give pain, and that the shutting of the eye will defend it.
+This we have shown is not an instinctive operation, but must have been
+acquired by experience;--and it is this principle, into the nature of
+which we are now enquiring, that prompted the child in the special case
+to apply its knowledge by shutting the eye. In like manner, in the case
+of the missile thrown at the head, there is a previous knowledge of the
+effect which it will produce, and a knowledge also of the means by which
+it is to be avoided,--and it is avoided;--and in the case of losing the
+equilibrium, there is nothing more than the application of a latent
+knowledge, now suddenly brought into use on the spur of the moment, that
+by the movement of the foot the body will be supported. The principle,
+whatever it be, which instigates children and adults to do all this, is
+the subject of our present enquiry, and which for the present we have
+denominated the "Animal," or "Common sense." We shall therefore a little
+more particularly attend to its various indications.
+
+The operation of this principle in the infant has already been pointed
+out. When it has learned by experience that its nurse is kind, it
+stretches forth its little hands, and desires to be with the
+nurse;--when in its first attempt at walking it experiences a fall, it
+applies this knowledge, by refusing again for some time to walk;--and
+when it burns its finger at the flame of the candle, the application of
+that knowledge induces it ever after to avoid both fire and flame.
+
+In after life the same principle continues to operate both
+independently of reason, and in conjunction with it. In encountering the
+air of a cold night, we, without reasoning on the matter, wrap ourselves
+closer in our cloak. When we turn a corner, and meet a sharp frosty
+wind, we lower the head to protect the uncovered face. When we emerge
+from the house, and perceive that the dulness of the day indicates rain,
+we almost instinctively return for a cloak or an umbrella. And the
+mariner at sunset, when he sees an opening in the sky indicating a
+storm, immediately takes in sail, and makes all snug for the night. In
+all these cases we perceive a principle within us, frequently operating
+along with reason, but sometimes also without it, which prompts us to
+apply our previous knowledge for our present comfort and advantage.[7]
+The constant operation of such a principle in our nature, no matter by
+what name it is called, leads us, as plainly as analogy and natural
+phenomena can do, to conclude, that it ought to be carefully studied,
+and assiduously cultivated in the young, during the period usually
+assigned for their education.
+
+When we carefully trace the operation of this principle in common life,
+it appears that, in fact, the greater portion of our physical comforts
+depends upon it. "Experience" is but another name for it. We find some
+substances warmer, softer, harder, or more workable than others, and we
+apply this knowledge by substituting one for another. The savage finds
+the wigwam more convenient, or more easily come at, than a cave or a
+crevice in a rock, and he builds a wigwam;--he finds a hut more durable
+than a wigwam, and he substitutes a hut;--he at last finds a cottage
+still more convenient, and he advances in his desires and his abilities
+by his former experience, and he builds one.--In every advance, however,
+it is the application of his previous knowledge that increases his
+comforts, and tends to perpetuate them; and accordingly, as a proper
+and a general application of the "moral sense," leads directly to
+national _virtue_; so the proper and general application of this
+principle of "common sense" goes to promote every kind of personal and
+family _comfort_, as well as national _prosperity_. Its ramifications
+pierce through every design and action of industry and genius. It is the
+exercise of this principle alone which, in the worldly sense,
+distinguishes the wise man from the fool; and which gives all the
+superiority which is possessed by a civilized, over a savage community.
+It is the chief guardian of our safety, and the parent of every personal
+and domestic comfort. It is, in short, familiarity with its exercise
+that imparts confidence to the philosopher, decision to the legislator,
+dexterity to the artificer, and perfection to the artist. In each case
+it is the accumulation of knowledge _put to use_, which makes the
+distinction between one man and another; and it is by the aggregation of
+such men that a nation becomes prosperous. It must never therefore be
+forgotten, that it is not the possession of knowledge, but the use which
+we make of it, that confers distinction. For no truism is more
+incontrovertible than this, that knowledge which we cannot or do not
+use, is really useless.
+
+There is no wonder then that Nature should be at some pains in training
+her pupils to an exercise on which so much of their happiness and safety
+depends; and it is of corresponding importance, that we should
+investigate the means, and the mode by which she usually accomplishes
+her end. If we can successfully attain this knowledge, we may be enabled
+to pursue a similar course in the training of the young, and with
+decided advantage.
+
+When we take any one of the numerous examples of the working of this
+principle in the adult, and carefully analyze it, we can detect three
+distinct stages in the operation, before the effect is produced. The
+_first_ is the knowledge of some useful truth, present to the mind, and
+at the command of the will;--there is, _secondly_, an inference drawn
+from that truth, or portion of our knowledge, or the impression of an
+inference which was formerly drawn from it, and which, as we have seen
+in the infant, may remain long after the circumstance from which the
+lesson was derived has been forgotten;--and there is, _thirdly_, a
+special application of that inference or impression to our present
+circumstances. For example, in the case of the person leaving the house,
+and suddenly returning to provide himself with an umbrella, there is
+first the knowledge of a fact, that "the sky is lowering;" then there is
+an inference drawn from this fact, that "there will most probably be
+rain;" but the comfort--the whole benefit arising from this knowledge,
+and from this reasoning upon it,--depends on the third stage of the
+operation, which is therefore the most important of all, namely, the
+application of the inference, or lesson, to his present circumstances. A
+mere knowledge of the fact that the sky lowered, would have remained a
+barren and a useless truth in the mind, unless he had proceeded to draw
+the proper inference from it; and the inference itself, after it was
+drawn, would have done him no good, but must rather have added to his
+uneasiness, had he not proceeded to the third step of the operation, and
+applied the whole to the regulation of his conduct, in providing himself
+with an umbrella or a cloak.
+
+In like manner, in the supposed case of the mariner expecting a storm,
+there was first the knowledge of the fact, that the "sky was in a
+certain state." Now of this knowledge every person on board might have
+been in possession as well as the master himself, without the slightest
+benefit accruing to themselves or the ship, unless they had been
+trained, or enabled to draw the proper inference or lesson from it. The
+mere possession of the knowledge, therefore, would have been of no
+advantage. But the practised eye, and the previous experience of the
+master, enabled him to draw the inference, that "there will be a
+storm." Even this, however, would not have saved the ship and crew,
+without the third, and the most important step of all,--the application
+of that inference or lesson to their present condition. It was that
+which induced him to give the necessary orders to prepare for the storm,
+and thus to secure the safety both of the ship and of all on board.
+
+Again, in the case of the infant burning its finger, there appears to be
+something like a similar process, which we can trace much better than
+the child itself. The child puts its finger to the flame of the candle,
+and it feels pain; from which it learns, for the first time, that flame
+burns. This is the knowledge which it has acquired. But there is also an
+inference drawn from that knowledge, not by reasoning, but by the
+operation of the principle under consideration, an inference of which it
+is probable the child itself at the time is unconscious, but the
+existence of which is sufficiently proved by its uniform conduct
+afterwards. By the operation of this principle in the child's mind,
+before he can reason, he has inferred, that if he shall again touch
+flame, he will again feel pain. He will very probably forget the
+particular circumstance in which his finger was burned, but the
+inference then drawn,--the impression made upon the mind, and which
+corresponds to an inference,--still remains, and is made the chief
+instrument which Nature employs in this most important part of all her
+valuable educational processes. The child accordingly is found ever
+after, not only preserving the particular finger that was burned, but
+all its fingers and members, from a burning candle; and not from a
+candle only, but from fire and flame of every kind.
+
+This appears to be the natural order of that process of which we are
+here speaking; and before leaving it, there are two or three
+circumstances connected with it, that we ought not to omit noticing,
+more particularly, because the whole of them appear to hold out
+additional evidence of the little value which Nature attaches to
+knowledge for its own sake, and of her decided approval of its
+acquisition, only, or at least chiefly, when it is reduced to practice.
+
+The first of these circumstances is, that Nature, in all cases, teaches
+popularly--not philosophically; that is, she does not refuse to teach
+one part of a connected series of phenomena, because the whole is not
+yet perceived; nor does she neglect the use of the legitimate
+application of an ascertained truth, because the principle or law by
+which it acts remains as yet undiscovered. Her object evidently is, the
+attainment of the most _useful_ part of the knowledge presented to her
+pupil, and the _practical use_ of that part; leaving the investigation
+of the other parts to the will or convenience of the person afterwards.
+The infant accordingly made use of its knowledge, although it knew
+nothing about the nature of flame; and the man and the mariner would
+have done as they did, although they had known nothing at all about the
+science of meteorology.
+
+The second remark which we would here make is, that Nature, in most
+cases, appears to put much more value on the inferences, or lessons,
+drawn from the knowledge we have acquired, than she does upon the
+knowledge itself. For example, in the case of the infant burning its
+finger, the circumstance itself will soon be forgotten; but the
+inference, or the impression acquired by its means, will remain. And
+when at any subsequent period it avoids fire or flame, its mind is not
+so much occupied by the abstract truth that flame will burn, as by the
+lesson learned from that truth, that it should not meddle with it. This
+inference it now practically applies to its present situation. That the
+abstract truth,--the knowledge originally derived from the fact,--is
+included in the lesson, may be quite true; but what we wish at present
+more particularly to point out is, that _it is seldom adverted to by the
+infant_. The inference,--the lesson which the truth suggested,--is all
+that the child thought of. That alone is the fabric which Nature has
+been employed in rearing; and the original truth has been used merely as
+scaffolding for the purpose. The edifice itself, accordingly, having
+been completed, the scaffolding is allowed to fall, as having answered
+its design.
+
+The same conclusion may be come to, by attending to the circumstances
+connected with the operation of the principle in adults.--The person who
+returned for his great-coat or umbrella after having drawn the inference
+from the appearance of the sky, thought only of the coming shower; and
+we could easily suppose a case, where the original indication of the sky
+might be totally forgotten, while the full impression that it would rain
+might still continue. In like manner, the mariner, in the bustle of
+preparation, thinks only of the dreaded storm, while the original
+circumstance,--the knowledge from which the inference was drawn,--is now
+unheeded, or entirely forgotten.
+
+The other circumstance to which we would here solicit attention, as
+proving the same thing, is one to which we formerly alluded. It is the
+remarkable fact, that knowledge, of whatever kind, when it is practised,
+becomes more and more familiar and useful; while that which is not acted
+upon, is soon blotted from the memory and lost. Writing, arithmetic, and
+spelling, not to speak of grammar, geography, and history, when not
+exercised in after life, are frequently found of no avail, even at times
+when they are specially required.--Why is this? They were once known.
+The knowledge was communicated at a time when the mind and memory were
+best fitted for receiving and retaining them. But Nature in this, as in
+every other instance, has been true to herself; and the knowledge which
+is not used has been blighted, and at last removed from the memory and
+lost.
+
+From all these circumstances taken together, we are led to conclude,
+that Nature never conveys knowledge without intending it to be
+used;--that by a principle in our constitution, which we have
+denominated "common sense," Nature prompts even infants to employ their
+knowledge for their own special benefit;--that this principle continues
+invariably to act, till it is assisted or superseded by reason;--and
+that the process consists in drawing inferences, or lessons, from known
+facts, and in practically applying them to present circumstances. All
+which points the Educationist directly to the conclusion, that the
+communication of knowledge is one of the _means_, but not the _end_, of
+education;--that the lessons derived from the knowledge communicated,
+are infinitely more valuable than the knowledge itself;--and that the
+great design of education is, and ought to be, to train the young to
+know how to use, and to put to use, not only the knowledge communicated
+at school, but all the knowledge which they may acquire in their future
+journey through life.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[7] Note F.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. X.
+
+_On Nature's Method of applying Knowledge by means of the Moral Sense,
+or Conscience._
+
+
+Nature enables her pupils to apply knowledge by means of the moral
+sense, or conscience, as well as by the animal, or common sense. There
+is however this great difference in the manner in which they
+operate,--that whereas every infringement of the natural or physical
+laws which regulate the application of knowledge by what we have called
+the common sense, is invariably followed by its proper punishment,--the
+consequences of infringing the laws which regulate the moral sense, are
+neither so immediate, nor at the time so apparent. The child knows, that
+by putting his finger to the candle, burning and pain will instantly
+follow;--but the evil consequences of purloining sweet-meats, or telling
+a lie to avoid punishment, are not so obvious. Does Nature then put less
+value on moral integrity, than on worldly prudence? Certainly not. But
+in the latter case she deals with man more as a physical and
+intellectual being; and in the former, as a moral, a responsible, and an
+immortal being. The lower animals to a great extent participate with us
+in the benefits arising from attention to the laws which govern physical
+enjoyments; but they know nothing of a moral sense, which is peculiar to
+intelligent and accountable creatures. From this we may safely conclude,
+that the application of knowledge by means of the moral sense, or
+conscience, is of infinitely more importance to man than the application
+of his knowledge by the animal, or common sense.
+
+For the purpose of arriving at accurate conclusions on this subject, in
+reference to education and the application of knowledge, we shall
+endeavour to investigate a few of the phenomena connected with the moral
+sense, as these are exhibited in the young and in adults; and shall, in
+doing so, attempt to trace the laws by which these phenomena are
+severally guided.
+
+1. The first thing we would here remark, is, that the operations of the
+moral sense appear to be resolvable into two classes, which may be
+termed its _legislative_ and its _executive_ powers. When conscience
+leads us merely to judge and to decide upon the character of a feeling
+or an action, whether good or evil, it acts in its _legislative_
+capacity; but when it reproves and punishes, or approves and rewards,
+for actions done, it acts in its _executive_ capacity. These two
+departments of the moral sense seem quite distinct in their nature and
+operations; and, as we shall immediately see, they not only exist
+separately, but they sometimes act independently of each other.
+
+2. Another circumstance connected with conscience is, that her
+_legislative_ powers do not develope themselves, nor appear to act, till
+the reasoning powers of the person begin to expand. Then, and then only
+does the pupil of Nature, who has not had the benefit of previous moral
+instruction, begin to decide on the merit or demerit of actions.
+Infants, and children who are left without instruction, appear to have
+no distinct perception that certain actions are right, and others wrong.
+In infancy, we frequently perceive the most rebellious outbreakings of
+ungoverned passion, with tearing, and scratching, and beating the
+parent, without any indication of compunction, either at the time, or
+after it has taken place. Even in children of more advanced years, while
+they remain without moral instruction, and before the reasoning powers
+are developed, the injuries which they occasion to each other, or which
+they inflict upon the old, the decrepit, or the helpless, are matters of
+unmingled glee and gratification, without the slightest sign of
+conscience interfering to prevent them, or of giving them any uneasiness
+after the mischief is done. Instead of sorrow, such children are found
+invariably delighted with the recollection of their tricks; and never
+fail to recapitulate them to their companions afterwards, with triumph
+and satisfaction.--But it is not so with the adult. As soon as the
+reasoning powers are developed, the legislative functions of conscience
+begin to act, enabling and impelling the person to decide at once on
+actions, whether they are right or wrong, good or evil. Such a person,
+therefore, could not strike nor abuse his parents, without knowing that
+he was doing wrong; nor could he tantalize or injure the aged or the
+helpless, without conscience putting him upon his guard, as well as
+reproving and punishing the crime by compunctious feelings after it was
+committed.
+
+From this we perceive, that the legislative powers of conscience are
+usually dormant in the child, and do not, when left to Nature, act till
+the reasoning powers have exhibited themselves; from which we are led to
+conclude, that it is by an _early education_,--by _moral instruction_
+alone,--that the young are to be guarded against crime, and prepared and
+furnished to good works.
+
+3. This leads us to observe another remarkable circumstance,
+corroborative also of the above remark, which is, that although the
+legislative powers of conscience are but very imperfectly, if at all
+developed in children, yet the _executive_ powers are never absent,
+where moral instruction has previously been communicated.--A child of
+very tender years, and even an infant, may be taught, that certain
+actions are good and should be performed, while others are evil and must
+be avoided. This is matter of daily experience; and a little attention
+to the subject will shew, that moral instruction in the case of the
+young, acts the same part that the legislative powers of conscience do
+in the adult. But what we wish at present more particularly to remark
+is, that whenever such moral instruction has been communicated, Nature
+at once sanctions it, and is ever ready to use the executive powers of
+the conscience for the purpose of rendering it effective. When therefore
+good actions have been pointed out as praiseworthy and deserving of
+approbation, there is a strong inducement to practise them, and a
+delightful feeling of satisfaction and self-approval after they have
+been performed. And when, on the contrary, certain other actions have
+been denounced as wicked, and which, if indulged in, will be punished
+either by their parents or by God, the child feels all the hesitation
+and fear to commit them, that is observable in similar cases among older
+persons; and, when committed he experiences the same remorse, and
+terror, and self-reproach, which in the adult follow the perpetration of
+an aggravated crime. This is a circumstance which must be obvious to
+every reader; and it distinctly intimates, that the God of Nature
+intends that the legislative powers of conscience should in all cases
+be _anticipated_ by the parent and teacher. The moral instruction or the
+young is to be the rule; the neglect of it, although in some measure
+provided for, is to be the exception. The lesson is as plain as analogy
+can teach us, that, while there is written on the heart of man such an
+outline of the moral law as will leave him without excuse when called to
+judgment, yet it is not the design of the Creator that, in a matter of
+such vast importance as the moral perfection of a rational creature, we
+should trust to that, and, like savages, leave our children to gather
+information respecting moral good and evil solely from the slowly
+developed and imperfect dictates of their own nature. The whole
+phenomena of the natural conscience shew, that although God secures the
+operation of the legislative powers of conscience to direct the actions
+of the man when they are really required, yet he intends that they
+should be anticipated by moral instruction given by the parent. And this
+is proved by the remarkable fact, that when this instruction is
+communicated, the executive powers of conscience immediately come into
+operation, and homologate this instruction, by approving of it, adopting
+it, and acting upon it.
+
+4. This is still farther obvious from a fourth consideration, which is,
+that wherever moral instruction has been communicated to the young, the
+legislative powers of conscience are either altogether superseded, or
+left dormant.--Every person who in youth has received a regular moral
+and religious education, and who retains upon his mind the knowledge
+then communicated, is found through life to act upon _that_ knowledge
+chiefly, if not entirely. He seldom thinks of the dictates of his
+natural conscience, and but rarely perceives them. In every decision to
+which he comes as to what is right or wrong, reference is generally made
+in his mind, either to the declarations of Scripture, or to the moral
+instructions which he has formerly received; and upon these he
+invariably falls back, when any action of a doubtful character is
+presented for his approval or rejection. From this very remarkable
+circumstance, we at once ascertain what are the intentions of Nature.
+She very plainly requires the early moral instruction of the young, by
+those into whose hands she has placed them; because she is here found to
+encourage and acknowledge this instruction at the expense of her own
+legislative powers, which not being now required, are allowed to lie
+idle.
+
+5. Another circumstance connected with this subject, is the well known
+fact, that children are found capable of moral instruction long before
+the time that Nature usually begins to develope the legislative powers
+of the conscience.--A child, almost as soon as he can be made to know
+that he has an earthly father, may be taught that he has another Father
+in heaven; and when he can be induced to feel that a certain line of
+conduct is necessary to secure the favour of the one, he may also be led
+to comprehend that certain dispositions and actions will please the
+other. Now, that a child can be taught and trained to do all this with
+respect to his parents, is matter of daily experience. As soon as he can
+understand any thing, and long before he can speak, he may be enabled to
+distinguish between right and wrong, as well as to do that which is
+good, and to avoid that which is evil; and in every case of this kind,
+Nature sanctions the moral instruction communicated, by invariably
+following it up with the practical operation of the executive powers of
+conscience, which always approve that which the child thinks is good,
+and reprove that which he supposes to be wrong. The triumphant gleam of
+satisfaction which brightens the countenance of a child, and the
+laughing look and pause for approval when he has done something that he
+knows to be right, are abundant proofs of the truth of this observation;
+while his cowering scowl, and fear of reproof or punishment, when he
+has done that which is wrong, are equal indications of the same thing.
+Nature, therefore, that has given the capacity of distinguishing between
+good and evil when thus communicated, and that invariably approves of
+the operation, and assists in it, has most certainly intended that it
+should be exercised. This consideration, taken in connection with its
+advantages to the family, to the child, to the future man, and to
+society, plainly points out the value and the importance of early
+religious instruction and moral training.
+
+6. Another circumstance, in connection with the application of knowledge
+by means of the conscience, should not be overlooked. It is the
+remarkable fact, that Nature has implanted in the mind of the young a
+principle, by which they unhesitatingly believe whatever they are
+told.--A child who has not been abused by frequent deceptions, is a
+perfect picture of docility. He never for a moment doubts either his
+parent or his teacher when he tells him what is right and what is wrong.
+If he be taught that it is a sin to eat flesh on Fridays, he never
+questions the truth of it; and if told that he may kill spiders, but
+should not hurl flies, he may wonder at the difference, but he never
+doubts the correctness of the statement. This disposition in children is
+applicable to every kind of instruction offered to them;--but the
+superior importance of moral, to every other kind of truth, and the
+beneficial effects of the principle when applied to moral and religious
+training, shew that it is chiefly designed by Nature for aiding the
+parent and teacher in this most important part of their labours.
+
+7. Another circumstance connected with this subject is, that the
+executive powers of conscience always act according to the belief of the
+person, and not according to what would have been the dictates of
+conscience in the exercise of her legislative functions.--This of itself
+is a sufficient proof of the separate and independent agency of these
+two principles. The legislative powers, as at first implanted in the
+heart of man, there is reason to believe, would, if allowed to act
+freely, never have been in error; and even still, they are generally a
+witness for the purity of truth;--but the executive powers invariably
+act, not according to what is really the truth, but according to what
+the person himself believes to be right or wrong. The child who was told
+that it was a sin to eat flesh on a Friday, would be reproved by his
+conscience were he to indulge his appetite by doing so;--and the
+conscience of the zealous Musselman, which would smite him for indulging
+in a sip of wine, would commend and reward him by its approval, for
+indulging in cruelty and injustice to the unbeliever in his faith. The
+executive functions of conscience then act independently of the
+legislative, and frequently in opposition to them. There must be a
+feeling of wrong, before the executive powers will reprove; and there
+must be a sense of merit, before they will commend;--but a mistake in
+either case makes no apparent difference. This is another, and a
+powerful argument for the early moral instruction of the young; and it
+shews us also, the greater value which Nature puts upon the
+_application_ and _use_ of knowledge, than upon its possession. She not
+only encourages this application in all ordinary cases; but here we find
+her, for the purpose of maintaining the general principle, lending her
+assistance in the application and use of the knowledge received, even
+when the knowledge itself is erroneous, and the application mischievous.
+
+8. Another important circumstance which is worthy of especial notice,
+is, that conscience is much more readily acted upon by _examples_, than
+by _precepts_.--In communicating a knowledge of duty, this principle in
+Nature has become proverbial; but it is not less true with respect to
+the executive powers, in approving or reproving that which is right or
+wrong. It is the prerogative of conscience to excite us to approve or
+condemn the conduct of others, as well as our own; and this is
+regulated, not by strict truth, but by our belief at the time, whether
+that belief be correct or the contrary. Now the precept, "Thou shalt not
+kill," would be sufficient to make the executive powers of conscience
+watchful, in deterring the individual from the crime, or in reproving
+and punishing him if he committed it. But the mere precept would have
+but little effect in exhibiting to him the full atrocity of the sin, in
+comparison with an anecdote or a story which detailed its commission.
+But even this would not be so powerful as the effect produced by a
+murder committed in a neighbouring street, and still more were it
+perpetrated in his own presence. The necessary inference to be drawn
+from this remarkable fact is, that moral truth is much more effectively
+taught by example than by precept; and accordingly we find, that at
+least four-fifths of scripture, which is altogether a moral instrument,
+consist of narrative, and are given specially, "that the man of God may
+be perfect, thoroughly furnished to every good work."
+
+9. Another circumstance worthy of observation is, that the executive
+powers of conscience appear to be exceedingly partial when exercised
+upon actions done by _ourselves_, in comparison of its decisions upon
+the same actions when they are committed by _others_.--When we ourselves
+perform a good action, the approval of our conscience is more lively and
+more extensive, than it would have been had the good action been that of
+another. On the contrary, it would be more ready to perform its
+functions, and more powerful in impressing upon our minds the demerit or
+wickedness of an action committed by another, than if we ourselves had
+committed it. The reason of this is obviously self-love, which partly
+overbears the natural operations of this principle. Violence of passion
+and strong desire, when we are tempted to commit a crime, are hostile
+movements against the dictates of conscience; and they too frequently,
+by their excess, stifle and drown the still small voice which does
+speak out, but which, for the moment, is not heard within us.--But
+nothing of this kind takes place when the crime is committed by others.
+We are then much more impartial; and conscience is permitted to utter
+her voice, and to make her impressions without opposition. This
+impartial decision on the conduct of others, is found to be a great
+means of preventing us from the future commission of a similar crime;
+and this affords us another powerful argument in favour of early
+instruction and moral training. By attending early to this duty, the
+mind of the child is made up, and sentence has been pronounced on
+certain acts, before selfishness or the passions have had an opportunity
+of blinding the mind, or silencing the conscience. By proper moral
+training the pupil is fortified and prepared for combating his evil
+inclinations when temptations occur; but without this, he will have to
+encounter sudden temptations at a great disadvantage.
+
+10. Another circumstance connected with this subject is, that the moral
+sentiments and feelings above all others, are improved and strengthened
+by exercise; and are weakened, and often destroyed by disregard or
+opposition.--Every instance of moral exercise or moral discipline,
+invigorates the executive powers of conscience, and renders the moral
+perceptions of the person more acute and tender. Every successful
+struggle against a temptation, implants in the mind of a child a noble
+consciousness of dignity, and confers a large amount of moral strength,
+and a firmer determination to resist others. In this respect, the good
+derived from the mere knowledge of a duty and its actual performance is
+immense. A child who is merely told that a certain action is
+praiseworthy, is by no means so sensible of the fact, or of its value,
+as he is after he has actually performed it; and when, on the contrary,
+he is told that a certain action is wrong, he is no doubt prepared to
+avoid it; but it is not till he has been tempted to its commission, and
+has successfully overcome the temptation, that he is fully aware of its
+enormity. When he has successfully resisted the first temptation, he is
+much better prepared than any exhortation or warning could make him for
+resisting and repelling a second;--while every successive victory will
+give strength to the executive powers of the conscience, and will render
+future conflicts less hazardous, and resistance more easy. For the same
+reason, an amiable action frequently performed does not pall by
+repetition, but appears more and more amiable, till the doing of it
+grows into a habit; and the approval of conscience becoming every day
+more satisfactory, the person will be stimulated to its frequent and
+regular observance.
+
+But the opposite of this is equally true.--The continued habit of
+suppressing the voice of conscience will greatly weaken, and will at
+last destroy its executive powers. When a person knows that a certain
+action is wrong, and is tempted to commit it,--conscience will speak
+out, and for the first time at least it will be listened to. But if this
+warning be neglected, and the sin be committed, the conscience will be
+proportionally weakened, and the self-will of the individual will
+acquire additional strength. When the temptation again presents itself,
+it is with redoubled power, and it meets with less resistance. It will
+invariably be found in such cases, that the person felt much more
+difficulty in resisting the admonitions of conscience in the case of the
+first temptation, than in that of the second; and he will also feel more
+during the second than he will during the third. Frequent resistance
+offered to the executive powers of conscience will at last lay them
+asleep. The beginning of this downward career is always the most
+difficult; but when once fairly begun, it grows every day more easy,
+till the habit of sin becomes like a second nature.
+
+11. There is yet another feature in the exhibition of the moral sense in
+adults, which ought not to be overlooked by the Educationist in his
+treatment of the young. We here allude to the remarkable fact, that the
+conscience scarcely ever refers to consequences connected merely with
+this world and time, but compels the man, in spite of himself, to fear,
+that his actions will, in some way or other, have an influence upon his
+happiness or his misery in another world, and through eternity.--The
+mere uneasiness arising from the fear of detection and punishment by
+men, is a perfectly different kind of feeling, and never is, and never
+ought to be, dignified with the name of conscience. It is the
+consequence of a mere animal calculation of chances;--similar to the
+feelings which give rise to the cautious prowling of the hungry lion, or
+the stealthy advances of the timorous fox. But the forebodings, as well
+as the gnawings of conscience, extend much farther, and strike much
+deeper, than these superficial and animal sensations. Conscience in man,
+as long as it is permitted to act freely, has always a reference to God,
+to a future judgment, and to eternity, and is but rarely affected by
+worldly considerations. The valuable lesson to be drawn from this
+circumstance obviously is, that the parent and teacher ought, in their
+moral training of the young, to make use of the same principle. The
+anticipated approbation or displeasure of their earthly parents or
+teachers, or even the fear of the rod and correction, is not enough.
+Children are capable of being restrained by much higher motives, and
+stimulated to duty by nobler and more generous feelings. The greatness,
+the holiness, the unwearied goodness, and the omnipresence of their
+heavenly Father, present to the rational and tender affections of the
+young, a constantly increasing stimulus to obedience and
+self-controul;--while the fear of mere physical suffering will be found
+daily to decrease, and may perhaps in some powerful minds at last
+altogether disappear. The horse and the dog were intended to be trained
+in the one way;--but rational and intelligent minds were obviously
+intended to be trained in the other.
+
+Of these facts, connected as they are with the application of knowledge
+by means of the moral sense, the Educationist must make use for the
+perfecting of his science. They are the most valuable, and therefore
+they ought to form the most important branch of his investigations. All
+the other parts of Nature's teaching were but means;--this is obviously
+the great end she designed by using them, and therefore it ought to be
+his also.
+
+In regard to the practical working of this important part of Nature's
+educational process, we need only remark here, that the application of
+the pupil's knowledge connected with the moral sense, is precisely the
+same in form, as in that connected with the common sense. There is
+always here first, as in the former case, some fundamental truth,
+generally derived from Scripture, or founded on some moral maxim, and
+presented in the form of a precept, a promise, a threatening, or an
+example;--there is next a lesson or inference drawn from this
+truth;--and there is, lastly, a practical application of that lesson or
+inference to present circumstances.
+
+For the purpose of illustrating this, let us suppose that a boy who has
+been trained in imitation of Nature, is tempted by some ungodly
+acquaintances to join with them in absenting himself from public
+worship, and in breaking the Sabbath. The moment that such a temptation
+is suggested to him, a feeling arises in his mind, which will take
+something like the following form:--"I ought not to absent myself from
+public worship;"--"I ought not to break the Sabbath;"--"I ought not to
+keep bad company." Here are three distinct lessons suited to the
+occasion, obviously derived from his previous knowledge, and which he
+has been trained either directly or indirectly to draw from "the only
+rule of duty," the Bible. When, accordingly, the temptation is farther
+pressed upon him, and the reasons of his refusal are regularly put into
+form, they appear in something like the following shape and order:--"I
+must not absent myself from public worship; for thus it is written,
+'Forget not the assembling of yourselves together;' and, 'Jesus, _as his
+custom was_, went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day.'"--"I must not
+profane this holy day; for thus it is written, 'Remember the Sabbath day
+to keep it holy,'"--And, "I must not go with these boys; for thus it is
+written, 'Go not in the way of the ungodly;' and 'Evil communications
+corrupt good manners.'"
+
+Whoever will investigate the subject closely, will find, that the above
+is a pretty correct picture of the mental process, wherever temptation
+is opposed and overcome by means of religious principle;--but it is also
+worthy of remark, that the form is still nearly the same by whomsoever a
+temptation is resisted, and whether they do or do not take the
+Scriptures for their text-book and directory. The only difference in
+such a case is, that their lessons have been drawn from some _other_
+source. For example, another boy exposed to the above temptation might
+successfully resist it upon the following grounds. He might say, "I must
+not absent myself from public worship; because I shall then lose the
+promised reward for taking home the text;"--"I dare not profane the
+Sabbath; because, if I did, my father would punish me;"--"I will not go
+with these boys; because I would be ashamed to be seen in their
+company." In this latter example, we have the same lessons, and the same
+application, although these lessons have been derived from a more
+questionable, and a much more variable source. In both cases, however,
+it is the same operation of Nature, and which we ought always to imitate
+therefore upon scriptural and solid grounds.
+
+These examples might be multiplied in various forms, and yet they would
+in every case be found substantially alike. The application of
+knowledge, whether by the common or the moral sense, is carried forward
+only in one way, in which the truth, the lesson, and the application,
+follow each other in natural order, whether they be perceived or not. To
+this process, therefore, every branch and portion of our knowledge ought
+to be adapted, as it is obviously the great end designed by Nature in
+all her previous endeavours. The parent, therefore, or the teacher, who
+wilfully passes over, or but slightly attends to these plain
+indications, is really betraying his trust, and deeply injuring the
+future prospects of his immortal charge.
+
+The several circumstances enumerated in the previous part of this
+chapter, as connected with the moral sense, are capable of suggesting
+many important hints for the establishment of education; but there are
+one or two connected with the subject as a whole, to which we must very
+shortly allude.
+
+In the first place, from the foregoing facts we are powerfully led to
+the conclusion, that all kinds of physical good, such as health,
+strength, beauty, riches, and honours, and even the higher attainments
+of intellectual sagacity and knowledge, are, in the estimation of
+Nature, not once to be compared with the very lowest of the moral
+acquirements. With respect to the former, man shares them, though in a
+higher degree, with the brute creation;--but _morals_ are altogether
+peculiar to higher intelligences. To man, in particular, the value of
+moral discipline is beyond calculation:--For, however much the present
+ignorance and grossness of men's minds may deceive them in weighing
+their respective worth, yet it would be easy to shew, that the knowledge
+and practice of but one additional truth in morals, are of more real
+value to a child, than a whole lifetime of physical enjoyment. Nature
+has accordingly implanted in his constitution, a complete system of
+moral machinery, to assist the parent in this first and most important
+part of his duty,--that of guiding his children in the paths of
+religion and virtue. The executive powers of conscience are always alive
+and active, stimulating or restraining both young and old, wherever the
+action proposed partakes of the character of right or wrong. And, even
+where the parental duties in this respect have been neglected, Nature
+has, in part, graciously provided a remedy. In all such cases, during
+the years of advancing manhood, the law is gradually and vividly written
+upon the heart. Its dictates are generally, no doubt, dimmed and defaced
+by the natural depravity and recklessness of the sinner; but even then,
+they are sufficiently legible to leave him without excuse for his
+neglect of their demands.
+
+The preference which Nature gives to moral acquirements, is demonstrated
+also by another feature in her different modes of applying knowledge by
+the common and the moral senses. In the attainment of physical good,
+Nature leaves men, as she does the lower animals, in a great measure to
+themselves, under the guardianship of the common sense; but, in respect
+to actions that are morally good or evil, she deals with them in a much
+more solemn and dignified manner. A transgression of the laws of the
+natural or common sense, is, without discrimination and without mercy,
+visited with present and corresponding punishment; plainly indicating,
+that with respect to these there is to be no future reckoning;--while
+the trial and final judgment of moral acts are usually reserved for a
+future, a more solemn, and a more comprehensive investigation.
+
+Another inference which legitimately arises out of the above
+considerations, as well as from the facts themselves, is, that religion
+and morals are really intended to be the chief object of attention in
+the education of the young. This is a circumstance so clearly and so
+frequently pointed out to us, in our observation of Nature's educational
+processes, that no person, we think, of a philosophic turn of mind, can
+consistently refuse his assent to it. The facts are so numerous, and
+the legitimate inferences to be drawn from them are so plain, that
+pre-conceived opinions should never induce us either to blink them from
+fear, or deny them from prejudice. These facts and inferences too, it
+should be observed, present themselves to our notice in all their own
+native power and simplicity, invulnerable in their own strength, and, in
+one sense, altogether independent of revelation. They are, no doubt,
+efficiently supported in every page of the Christian Record; but,
+without revelation, they force themselves upon our conviction, and
+cannot be consistently refuted. We state this fearlessly, from a
+consideration of numerous facts, to a few of which, selected from among
+many, we shall, before concluding, very shortly advert.
+
+In the first place, it is obvious to the most cursory observer, that
+moral attainments and moral greatness are more honoured by Nature, and
+are, of course, more valuable to man, than the possession of either
+intellectual or physical good.--Nature has, to the possessor, made
+virtue its own reward, in that calm consciousness of dignity,
+self-approval, and peace, which are its natural results; while, even
+from the mere looker-on, she compels an approval. On the contrary, we
+find, that the highest intellectual or physical attainments, when
+coupled with vice, lead directly and invariably to corresponding depths
+of degradation and misery. No one, we think, can deny this as a general
+principle; and if it be admitted, the question is settled; for no person
+acting rationally would seek the _lesser_ good for his child, at the
+expense of the _greater_.
+
+Another proof of the same fact is, that Nature has provided for the
+physical and intellectual education of the young, by means of the animal
+or "common sense;" while morals are, in a great measure, left to the
+education of the parents. The principle of common sense, as we have
+seen, begins its operations and discipline in early infancy, and
+continues to act through life; but the culture of the moral sense,--by
+far the most important of the two,--is left during infancy and childhood
+very much to the affections of the natural guardians of the child, and
+to the results of their education. Hence it is, that while Nature amply
+provides for the _neglect_ of this duty, by the developement of the
+legislative powers of conscience towards manhood, they are comparatively
+feeble, and in ordinary cases are but little thought of or observed,
+wherever this duty has timeously been attended to. From all these
+circumstances we infer, that it is the intention of Nature, that the
+establishment and culture of religion and morals should in every case
+form the chief objects of education,--the main business of the family
+and the school;--an intention which she has pointed out and guarded by
+valuable rewards on the one hand, and severe penalties on the other.
+When the duty is faithfully attended to, Nature lends her powerful
+assistance, by the early developement of the executive powers of
+conscience, and the virtue of the pupil is the appropriate reward to
+both parties; but, when this is omitted, the growing depravity of the
+child becomes at once the reproof and the punishment of the parents, for
+this wilful violation of Nature's designs.
+
+In conclusion, it may be necessary to remark, that from these latter
+circumstances, another and a directly opposite inference may be drawn,
+which we must not allow to pass without observation.--It may be said,
+that the very postponement of the legislative powers of conscience till
+the years of manhood, shews, that religion and morals are not designed
+to be taught till that period arrive. Now, to this there are two
+answers.--_First_, if it were correct, it would set aside, and render
+useless almost all the other indications of Nature on this subject. In
+accordance with the view taken of the circumstances as above, these
+indications are perfectly harmonious and effective; but, in the view of
+the case which this argument supposes, they are all inconsistent and
+useless.--But, _secondly_, if this argument proves any thing, it proves
+too much, and would infer the absurd proposition, that physical and
+intellectual qualities are superior in value to moral attainments;--a
+proposition that is contradicted, as we have shewn, by every operation
+and circumstance in Nature and providence. It is in direct opposition
+also to all the unsophisticated feelings of human Nature. No thinking
+person will venture to affirm, that the beauty of the courtezan, the
+strength of the robber, or the intelligence and sagacity of the
+swindler, are more to be honoured than the generous qualities of a
+Wilberforce or a Howard. And therefore it is, that from a calm and
+dispassionate consideration of these facts, and independently altogether
+of revelation, we cannot see how any impartial philosophic mind can
+evade the conclusion, that the chief object to be attended to in the
+education of the young, and to which every thing else should be strictly
+subservient, is _their regular and early training in religion and
+morals_.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. XI.
+
+_On Nature's Method of Training her Pupils to Communicate their
+Knowledge._
+
+
+There is yet a _Fourth_ process in the educational system of Nature,
+which may be termed supplementary, as it is not intended solely, nor
+even chiefly, for the good of the pupil himself, but for the
+community.--This process of Nature consists in the training of her pupil
+to communicate, by language, not only his own wishes and wants, but
+also, and perhaps chiefly, the knowledge and experience which he himself
+has attained. The three previous processes of Nature were in a great
+measure selfish,--referring to the pupil as an individual, and are of
+use although he should be alone, and isolated from all others of his
+species; but this is characteristically social, and to the monk and the
+hermit is altogether useless.
+
+That this ability to communicate our sentiments is intended by Nature,
+not for the sole benefit of the individual, but chiefly as an instrument
+of doing good to others, appears obvious from various circumstances. Its
+importance in education, and in the training of the young, would of
+itself, we think, be a sufficient proof of this; but it is rendered
+unquestionable by the invariable decision of every unbiassed mind, in
+judging of a person who is constantly speaking of and for himself; and
+of another whose sole object in conversation, is to exalt and promote
+the happiness of those around him. The one person, however meritorious
+otherwise, is pitied or laughed at;--the other is admired and applauded
+in spite of ourselves.
+
+The benevolence of this arrangement in the educational process of Nature
+is worthy of especial notice, as it leads us directly to the conclusion,
+that learning, of whatever kind, is not intended to be a monkish and
+personal thing, but is really designed by Nature for the benefit of the
+community at large. Those connected with education, therefore, are here
+taught, that the training of the young should be so conducted, that
+while the attainments of the pupil shall in every instance benefit
+himself, they shall at the same time be of such a kind, and shall be
+communicated in such a way, as shall advantage the persons with whom he
+is to mingle, and the community of which he is to form a part. Unless
+this lesson, taught us by Nature, be attended to, her plan is obviously
+left incomplete.
+
+In entering upon the consideration of this part of our subject, we
+cannot but remark the value and the importance which Nature has attached
+to the higher acquisitions of this anti-selfish portion of her teaching.
+Language is perverted and abused, when it is generally and chiefly
+employed for the benefit of the individual himself; and the decision of
+every candid and well-disposed mind confirms the truth of this
+assertion. When, on the contrary, it is employed for the benefit of
+others, or for the good of the public in general, it commands attention,
+and compels approval. Eloquence, therefore, is obviously intended by
+Nature for the benefit of communities; and accordingly, she has so
+disposed matters in the constitution of men's minds, and of society,
+that communities shall in every instance do it homage. In proof of this,
+we find, in every age and nation, wherever Nature is not totally debased
+by art or crime, that the most powerful orator, has almost always been
+found to be the most influential man. Every other qualification in
+society has been made to bend to this, and even reason itself is often
+for the moment obscured, by means of its fascinations. Learning and
+intellect, riches, popularity, and power, have frequently been made to
+quail before it; and even virtue itself has for a time been deprived of
+its influence, when assailed by eloquence. Nay, even in more artificial
+communities, where Nature has been constrained and moulded anew to suit
+the tastes and caprices of selfish men, eloquence has still maintained
+its reputation, and has generally guided the possessor to honour and to
+power. Amongst the lower and unsophisticated classes of society its
+influence is almost universal; and in most polished communities, it is
+still acknowledged as a high attainment, and one of the best indications
+that has yet been afforded of superior mental culture.
+
+That this is not an erroneous estimate of the mental powers of a
+finished debater, will be evident from a slight analysis of what he has
+to achieve in the exercise of his art. He has, while his adversary is
+speaking, to receive and retain upon his mind, the whole of his
+argument,--separate its weak and strong points,--and call forth and
+arrange those views and illustrations which are calculated to overthrow
+and demolish it. This itself, even when performed in silence, is a
+prodigious effort of mental strength; but when he commences to speak,
+and to manage these, with other equally important operations of his own
+mind at the same moment, the difficulty of succeeding is greatly
+increased. When he begins to pour forth his refutation in an
+uninterrupted flow of luminous eloquence;--meeting, combating, and
+setting aside his opponent's statements and reasonings;--carefully
+marking, as he goes along, the effect produced upon his hearers, and
+adapting his arguments to the varying emotions and circumstances of the
+audience;--withholding, transposing, or abridging the materials he had
+previously prepared, or seizing new illustrations suggested by passing
+incidents;--and all this not only without hesitation, and without
+confusion, but with the most perfect composure and self-controul;--such
+a man gives evidence of an energy, a grasp, a quickness of thought,
+which, as an exhibition of godlike power in a creature, has scarcely a
+parallel in the whole range of Nature's efforts. All kinds and degrees
+of physical glory, in comparison with this, sink into insignificance.
+
+It is but rare indeed that any country or age produces a Demosthenes, a
+Pitt, a Thomson, or a Brougham; and such persons have hitherto been
+considered as gifts of Nature, rather than the legitimate production of
+educational exercises. But this we conceive to be a mistake. They may
+perhaps have been self-taught, and self-exercised, as Demosthenes
+confessedly was; but that teaching, and especially mental and oral
+exercise, are necessary for the production of one of Nature's chief
+ornaments, both analogy and experience abundantly shew.[8] Fluency in
+the use of words is not enough,--copiousness of thought, such as may be
+of use in the study, is not enough;--for Nature's work, of which we are
+at present speaking, consists chiefly in the faculty of forming one
+train of thoughts in the mind, at the same time that the individual is
+giving expression to another. Every child, accordingly, who holds
+conversation with his companion, is practising on a limited scale the
+very exercise which, if carried out by regular gradations, would
+ultimately lead to that excellence which we have above described. In
+every case of free unconstrained conversation, the operation of this
+principle of Nature is apparent; for the idea is present to the mind
+some time before the tongue gives it utterance, and the person is
+preparing a second idea, at the moment he is communicating the first.
+Upon this simple principle the whole art of eloquence, when analyzed,
+appears to depend. We shall therefore endeavour to trace its operation,
+and the methods which Nature adopts for the purpose of perfecting it.
+
+That this ability is altogether acquired, and depends wholly upon
+exercise for its cultivation, is obvious in every stage of its progress,
+but especially towards its commencement. When Nature first begins to
+suggest to an infant the use of language, we perceive that it cannot
+think and speak at the same moment. Long after it has acquired the
+knowledge of words and names, and even the power of articulating them,
+it utters but one syllable, or one word at a time. Its language, for a
+while after it has acquired a pretty extensive acquaintance with nouns
+and adjectives, is made up of single, or at most double words, with an
+observable pause between each, as if, after uttering one, it had to
+collect its thoughts and again prepare for a new effort, before it was
+able to pronounce the next. This is the child's first step, or rather
+the child's first attempt, in this important exercise; and it is
+conspicuous chiefly by the want, even in the least degree, of that power
+of which we have spoken. By and bye, however, the child is able to put
+two syllables, or two words together, without the pause;--but not three.
+That is a work of time, and that again has to become familiar, before
+four, or more words be attempted. These, however, are at last mastered;
+and he slowly acquires by practice the ability to utter a short
+sentence, composed chiefly of nouns, adjectives, and verbs, without
+interruption, and at last without difficulty.
+
+In the process here described, we perceive the commencement of Nature's
+exercises in training her pupil to the acquisition of this valuable
+faculty. It consists chiefly, as we have said, in enabling the child by
+regular practice to arrive at such a command of the mental faculties,
+and the powers of articulation, as qualifies him to exercise both
+apparently at the same moment. His mind is employed in preparing one set
+of ideas, while the organs of speech are engaged in giving utterance to
+another. He thinks that which he is about to speak, at the moment he is
+speaking that which he previously thought; and if, as is generally
+admitted, the mind cannot be engaged upon two things at the same moment,
+there is here an instance of such a rapid and successive transition from
+one to another, as obviously to elude perception.
+
+The various means which Nature employs in working out this great end in
+the young are very remarkable. We have seen that a child at first does
+not possess the power of uttering even a word, while his thoughts are
+engaged on any thing else. The powers of the mind must as it were be
+concentrated upon that one word, till by long practice he can at last
+think on one and utter another. The same difficulty of speaking and
+thinking on different things is observable in his amusements; and Nature
+appears to employ the powerful auxiliary of his play to assist him in
+overcoming it. When a young child is engaged in any amusement which
+requires thought, the inability of the mind to do double duty is very
+evident. He cannot hear a question, nor speak a single sentence, and go
+on with his play at the same time. If a question be asked, he stops,
+looks up, hears, answers, and then perhaps collects his thoughts, and
+again proceeds with his game as before; but for a long time he cannot
+even hear, far less speak, and play at the same moment. When a child is
+able to do this, it is a good sign of his having acquired considerable
+mental powers.
+
+The excitement of play, we have said, is one chief means which Nature
+employs for the cultivation of this faculty, and it is peculiarly worthy
+of attention by the Educationist. Every one must have observed the
+strong desire which children have, during their more exhilarating games,
+to exercise their lungs by shouting, and calling out, and giving
+direction, encouragement, or reproof, to their companions. In all these
+instances, the impetus of their play is not apparently stopt while they
+speak, and every time that this takes place, they are promoting their
+mental, as well as their physical health and well-being. The accuracy of
+this remark is perhaps more conspicuous, although not more real, in the
+less boisterous and more placid employment of the young. The lively
+prattle of the girl, while constructing her baby-house; her playful
+arrogation of authority and command over her playmates, and her
+serio-comic administering of commendation or reproof in the assumed
+character of "mistress" or "mother," are all instances of a similar
+kind. A little attention to the matter will convince any one, that every
+sentence uttered by a child while dressing a doll, or rigging a ship, or
+cutting a stick, is really intended and employed by Nature in advancing
+this great object. And we cannot help remarking, that the irksome
+silence so frequently enjoined upon children during their play, or
+during any species of active employment, is not only harsh and
+unnecessary, but is positively hurtful. It is in direct opposition both
+to the design and the practice of Nature. It is obstructing, or at least
+neglecting the cultivation and the developement of powers, which are
+destined to be a chief ornament of life; a source of honour and
+enjoyment to the pupil himself, and ultimately a great benefit to
+society.
+
+The cultivation of this faculty in adults, after they have emancipated
+themselves from the discipline of Nature, is advanced or retarded by the
+use or neglect of similar means. Accordingly we find, that in every
+instance where the powers of the mind are actively, (not mechanically)
+employed, while the individual is at the same time called on to exercise
+his powers of speech and hearing on something else, this faculty of
+extemporaneous speaking is cultivated, and rendered more easy and
+fluent. Whereas, on the contrary, the most extensive acquaintance with
+words, even when combined with much knowledge, has but little influence
+in making a ready speaker. Many of the most voluble of our species
+have but a very scanty vocabulary, and still less knowledge; while men
+of extensive and profound learning, whose habits have been formed in the
+study, are often defective even in common conversation, and utterly
+unable to undertake with success the task of public extemporaneous
+speaking. From this cause it is, that some of our ablest men, and our
+greatest scholars, are necessitated to read that which they dare not
+trust themselves to speak; while others, by a different practice, and
+perhaps with fewer real attainments, feel no difficulty in arranging
+their ideas, and delivering them at the same time with ease and fluency.
+Hence it is also, that travelling, frequent intercourse with strangers,
+debating societies, and above all, forensic pleadings, sharpen the
+faculties, and give an ease and accuracy in thinking and speaking, which
+are but rarely acquired in the same degree in any other way.
+
+There is one particular feature in this department of Nature's teaching,
+which is of so much importance both to the young and to adults, that it
+ought not to be passed over without notice. It is the important fact,
+that the highest attainments in this valuable accomplishment are within
+the reach of almost every individual pupil, by a very moderate diligence
+in the use of the proper means. The counterpart of this is equally true;
+for without culture, either regular or accidental, no portion of it can
+ever be acquired. This is abundantly proved both by experience and
+analogy. Experience has shewn, that in every case, perseverance alone,
+often without system, has made great and powerful speakers; and the
+analogy between the expression of our feelings by _words_ and by
+_music_, shews what proper training may do in both cases. Every one will
+admit that it is easier to give expression to our feelings by the
+natural organs of speech, than by the mechanical use of a musical
+instrument; and if by making use of the proper means, and with a
+moderate degree of diligence and perseverance, every man can be trained
+to play dexterously on the violin, or the organ, and at the same moment
+maintain a perfect command over the operations of his mind,--we may
+reasonably conclude, from analogy, that with an equal, or even a smaller
+degree of diligence, when the means have been equally systematized, the
+most humble individual may be trained to manage the operations of his
+mind, while he is otherwise making use of his _tongue_, as the other is
+of his _fingers_.
+
+But the opposite of this, as we have stated above, is equally true. For,
+although a man may, by diligence and perseverance, attain a high degree
+of perfection in the exercise of this faculty; yet, even the lowest must
+be procured by the use of means. The art of thinking and speaking
+different ideas at the same time, as we have proved, is not an
+instinctive, but is wholly an acquired faculty, and must be attained by
+exercise wherever it is possessed. We have instanced as examples the
+case of the girl having at first to stop while dressing her doll, and
+the boy while rigging his ship; but what we wish to notice here is, that
+the principle is not peculiar to children, whose ideas are few, and
+whose language is imperfect, but applies equally to adults, even of
+superior attainments, and well cultivated minds. We have in part proved
+this by the frequent defects of even learned men in conversation; but
+there is good reason to conclude, that even these defects would have
+been greater, if the few opportunities they have improved had been less
+numerous. In short, it appears, that the successful uttering of but two
+consecutive words, while the mind is otherwise engaged, must be acquired
+even in the adult, by education or by discipline. This important fact in
+education, might be demonstrated by numerous proofs, deduced from acts
+which are commonly understood to depend altogether on habit, and where
+the mind is obviously but little engaged. We shall take the case already
+supposed, that of the fingering of musical instruments. The rapidity
+with which the fingers in this exercise perform their office, would lead
+us to pronounce it to be purely mechanical, and to suppose that the mind
+was at perfect liberty to attend to any of the other functions of the
+body, during the performance. But this is not the case; for although by
+long practice, the operator has acquired the art of _thinking_ upon
+various other subjects while playing, he finds upon a first trial, that
+he is then totally unable to articulate two words in succession. Here
+then is a case exactly parallel with that of the children who had to
+stop to speak during their play; proving that it does not arise from the
+lack of ideas, or a deficiency in words, but purely from want of
+discipline and practice; because many musicians by practice, and by
+practice alone, overcome the difficulty, and become able both to speak
+and to play at the same time.
+
+There is another circumstance connected with this part of our subject,
+which is worthy of remark. A person who is playing on an instrument, and
+who is desirous to speak, finds himself, without long practice, totally
+unable to do so; but he may, if he pleases, sing what he has to say,
+provided only that he modulate his voice to the tune he is playing. The
+reason of this appears to be two-fold; first, that the mind, by
+following the tune in the articulation of the words, is relieved in a
+great measure from doing double duty; and secondly, and chiefly, because
+the person has already acquired, by more or less practice, the faculty
+of singing and playing at the same time. From this illustration, we
+perceive the necessity that exists in education, of cultivating in the
+young, by direct means and special exercises, this important faculty of
+managing the thoughts and giving expression to them at the same moment.
+It must be acquired by a course of mental discipline, which brings all
+the elements of the principle into operation; the collecting and
+managing of ideas, the chusing and arranging of words, and the giving of
+them utterance, at the same time. That direct exercises of this kind are
+necessary for the purpose, is obvious from the illustrations here given;
+where we find, that although a person, while playing on an instrument,
+may sing his words, he is yet unable to make the slightest deviation
+from singing to speaking, without a long and laborious practice.
+
+Here then we have been enabled to trace this supplementary process of
+Nature in the education of her pupils, and to detect the great leading
+principle or law, by which it is governed. The attainment itself is the
+ready and fluent communication of our ideas to others; and the mode
+employed by nature for arriving at it, appears to be the training of her
+pupils to exercise their minds upon one set of ideas, while they are
+giving expression to another. That the mind is actually engaged in two
+different ways, at the same moment of time, it is not necessary for us
+to suppose. It is sufficient for our purpose, that the operations so
+rapidly succeed each other, as to appear to do so. The ability to
+accomplish this, we have proved to be in every case an acquired habit,
+and is never possessed, even in the smallest degree, without effort. It
+is, in fact, the invariable result of exercise and education. The most
+gifted of our species are frequently destitute of it; while very feeble
+minds have been found to possess it, when by chance or design they have
+employed the proper means for its attainment. What is wanted by the
+Educationist therefore, is an exercise, or series of exercises, which
+will enable him to imitate Nature, by causing his pupil to employ his
+mind in preparing one set of ideas, while he is giving expression to
+another. Such an exercise, upon whatever subject, will always produce,
+in a greater or less degree, the effect which Nature by this
+supplementary process intends to accomplish; that of giving the pupil
+ease and fluency in conversation, and a ready faculty of delivering his
+sentiments; while we have seen, by numerous illustrations, that it is at
+least highly improbable that it ever can be acquired in any other way.
+We have also demonstrated the impropriety of all unnecessary artificial
+restrictions upon children while at their play, and of preventing their
+speaking, calling out, and giving orders, encouragement, or commendation
+to their companions during it. These illustrations and examples have
+also pointed out to us the importance of encouraging the young to speak
+or converse with their teachers or one another, while they are actively
+employed at work, in their amusements, or in any other way in which the
+mind is but partially engaged. Exercises of this kind in the domestic
+circle, where they could be more frequently resorted to, would be of
+great value in forwarding the mental capacities of the young, and might
+be at least equally and extensively useful, as similar exercises
+employed in the school. The consideration of suitable exercises for
+advancing these ends, by which Nature may be successfully imitated in
+this important part of her process, belongs to another department of
+this Treatise, to which accordingly we must refer.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[8] Note G.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. XII.
+
+_Recapitulation of the Philosophical Principles developed in the
+previous Chapters._
+
+
+Before proceeding to the third and more practical part of this Treatise,
+it will be of advantage here, shortly to review the progress we have
+made in establishing the several educational principles, exhibited in
+the operations of Nature, as it is upon these that the following
+practical recommendations are to be entirely founded. In doing this, we
+would wish to press upon the attention of the reader the important
+consideration, that however much we may fail in what is to _follow_, the
+principles which we have _already ascertained_, must still remain as
+stationary landmarks in education, at which all future advances, by
+whomsoever made, must infallibly set out. The previous chapters,
+therefore, in so far as they have given a correct exposition of Nature's
+modes of teaching, must constitute something like the model upon which
+all her future imitators in education will have to work. There may be a
+change of _order_, and a change of _names_, but the principles
+themselves, in so far as they have been discovered, will for ever remain
+unchanged and unchangeable.--It is very different, however, with what is
+to _follow_, in which we are to make some attempts at imitation. The
+principles which regulate the rapid movements of fish through water is
+one thing; and the attempt to imitate these principles by the
+ship-builder is quite another thing. The first, when correctly
+ascertained, remain the unalterable standard for every future naval
+architect; but the attempts at imitation will change and improve, as
+long as the minds of men are directed to the perfecting of
+ship-building. In like manner, the various facts in the educational
+processes of Nature, in so far as they have been correctly ascertained
+in the previous part of this Treatise, must form the unalterable basis
+for every future improvement in education. These facts, or principles,
+will very probably be found to form only a part of her operations;--but
+as they do really form _a part_, they will become a nucleus, round which
+all the remaining principles when discovered will necessarily
+congregate. We shall here therefore endeavour very shortly to
+recapitulate the several principles or laws employed by Nature in her
+academy, so far as we have been able to detect them; as it must be upon
+these that not only we, but all our successors in the improvement of
+education, must hereafter proceed.
+
+We have seen in a former chapter, that the educational processes of
+Nature divide themselves distinctly into four different kinds. _First_,
+the cultivation of the powers of the mind:--_Second_, the acquisition of
+knowledge:--_Third_, the uses or application of that knowledge to the
+daily varying circumstances of the pupil:--and _Fourth_, the ability to
+communicate this knowledge and experience to others.
+
+The _first_ department of Nature's teaching, that of cultivating the
+powers of her pupil's mind, we found to depend chiefly, if not entirely,
+upon one simple mental operation, that of "reiterating ideas;" and from
+numerous examples and experiments it has been shewn, that wherever this
+act of the mind takes place, there is, and there must be, mental
+culture; while, on the contrary, wherever it does not take place, there
+is not, so far as we can yet perceive, the slightest indication that the
+mind has either been exercised or benefited.
+
+The _second_ department of Nature's teaching, we have seen, consists in
+inducing and assisting her pupils to acquire knowledge.--This object we
+found her accomplishing by means of four distinct principles, which she
+brings into operation in regular order, according to the age and mental
+capacity of the pupil. These we have named the principle of "Perception
+and Reiteration," which is the same as that employed in her first
+process;--the principle which we have named "Individuation," which
+always precedes and prepares for the two following;--there is then the
+principle of "Association," or "Grouping," by which the imagination is
+cultivated, and the memory is assisted;--and there is, lastly, the
+principle of "Classification," or "Analysis," by which all knowledge
+when received is regularly classified according to its nature; by which
+means the memory is relieved, the whole is kept in due order, and
+remains constantly at the command of the will.--These four principles,
+so far as we have yet been able to investigate the processes of Nature,
+are the chief, if not the only, means which she employs in assisting and
+inducing the pupil to acquire knowledge; and which of course ought to be
+employed in a similar way, and in the same order, by the teacher in the
+management of his classes.
+
+The _third_, and by far the most important series of exercises in
+Nature's academy, we have ascertained, by extensive evidence, to be the
+training of her pupils to a constant practical application of their
+knowledge to the ordinary affairs of life.--These exercises she has
+separated into two distinct classes; the one connected with the physical
+and intellectual phenomena of our nature, and which is regulated by what
+we have termed the "animal, or common sense;" and the other connected
+with our moral nature, and regulated by our "moral sense," or
+conscience. In both of these departments, however, the methods which
+Nature employs in guiding to the practical application of the pupil's
+knowledge are precisely the same, consisting of a regular gradation of
+three distinct steps, or stages. These steps we have found to follow
+each other in the following order. There is always first, some
+fundamental truth, or idea--some definite part of our knowledge of which
+use is to be made;--there is next an inference, or lesson, drawn from
+that idea, or truth;--and there is, lastly, a practical application of
+that lesson, or inference, to the present circumstances of the
+individual. This part of Nature's educational process,--this
+application, or use of knowledge, we have ascertained and proved to be
+the great object which Nature designs by _all her previous efforts_.
+This part of her work, when completed, forms in fact the great Temple of
+Education,--all the others were but the scaffolding by which it was to
+be reared.--This is the end; those were but means employed for attaining
+it. In proof of this important fact we have seen, that when this object
+is successfully gained, all the previous steps have been homologated and
+confirmed; whereas, whenever this crowning operation is awanting, all
+the preceding labour of the pupil becomes useless and vain, his
+knowledge gradually melts from the memory, and is ultimately lost.
+
+The _fourth_, or supplementary process in this educational course as
+conducted by Nature, we found to consist in the training of her pupils
+to an ability to communicate with ease and fluency to others the
+knowledge and experience which they themselves had acquired.--This
+ability, as we have shewn, is not instinctive, but is in every instance
+the result of education. It is not always the accompaniment of great
+mental capacity; nor is it always at the command of those who have
+acquired extensive knowledge. Persons highly gifted in both respects,
+are often greatly deficient in readiness of utterance, and freedom of
+speech. On careful investigation we have seen, that it is attained only
+by practice, and by one simple exercise of the mental powers, in which
+the thoughts are engaged with one set of ideas, at the same moment that
+the voice is giving expression to others. This faculty has been found to
+be eminently social and benevolent, and intended, not so much for the
+benefit of the individual himself as for the benefit of society. Nature,
+accordingly, constrains mankind to do homage to eloquence when it is
+employed for others, or for the public;--but strongly induces them to
+look with pity or contempt on the person who is always speaking of or
+for himself. These facts accordingly have led us to the important
+conclusion, that learning and the possession of knowledge are not
+intended merely for the person himself, but for the good of society; and
+therefore, that education in every community ought to be conducted in
+such a manner, that the attainments of each individual in it, shall
+either directly or indirectly benefit the whole.
+
+In these several departments of our mental constitution, and in the
+principles or laws by which they are carried on, we have the great
+thoroughfare,--the highway of education,--marked out, inclosed, and
+levelled by Nature herself. Hitherto, in our examination of the several
+processes in which we find her engaged, we have endeavoured strictly to
+confine ourselves to the great general principles which she exhibits in
+forwarding and perfecting them. We have not touched as yet on the
+methods by which, in our schools, they may be successfully imitated; nor
+have we made any enquiry into the particular truths or subjects which
+ought there to be taught. These matters belong to another part of this
+Treatise, and will be considered by themselves. And it is only necessary
+here to observe, that as it is the _use_ of knowledge chiefly which
+Nature labours to attain, it is therefore _useful knowledge_ which she
+requires to be taught. This is a principle so prominently held forth by
+Nature, and so repeatedly indicated and enforced, that in the school it
+ought never for an hour to be lost sight of. The whole business of the
+seminary must be practical; and the knowledge communicated must be
+useful, and such as can be put to use. If this rule be attended to, the
+knowledge communicated will be valuable and permanent;--but if it be
+neglected, the pretended communications will soon melt from the memory,
+and the previous labours of both teacher and pupil will be in a great
+measure lost.
+
+The existence of these several principles in education has been
+ascertained by long experience and slow degrees;--and the accuracy of
+the views which we have taken of them, has been rigorously and
+repeatedly tested. No pains has been spared in projecting and conducting
+such experiments as appeared necessary for the purpose; and it has been
+by experience and experiment alone that their efficiency has been
+established. Many of these experiments were conducted in public,--some
+of them have for years been in circulation,--and the decisiveness of
+their results has never been questioned. The several principles in
+education which it was the object of these experiments to ascertain, are
+here for the first time, collected and exhibited in their natural order;
+and they are now presented to the friends of education with some degree
+of confidence. Judging historically, however, from the experience of
+others in breaking up new ground in the sciences, there is good reason
+to believe, that the present Treatise goes but a short way in
+establishing the science of education. There is yet much to be done; and
+others, no doubt, will follow to complete it. But if confidence is to be
+placed in history, it appears evident, that they must follow in the same
+course, if ever they are to succeed. Nature is our only instructress;
+and however much she may have hitherto been neglected, it is only by
+following her leadings with a child-like docility, that improvement is
+ever to be expected. By so following, however, success is certain. The
+prospects of the science at the present moment, both as to its spread
+and its improvement, are exceedingly cheering. The field, which is now
+being opened up for the labours of the Educationist, is extensive and
+inviting; and the anticipations of the philanthropist become the more
+delightful, on account of the improvements likely to ensue for carrying
+on the work. The errors and failings of former attempts will warn, while
+every new discovery will direct in the labour. The virgin soil has even
+yet in a great measure to be broken up; and if we shall be wise enough
+to employ the implements provided for us by Nature herself, the present
+generation may yet witness a rapid and abundant ingathering of blessings
+for the world. This is neither a hasty nor a groundless speculation.
+There are already abundant proofs to warrant us in cherishing it.
+Numerous patches of ground have again and again, under serious
+disadvantages, been partially cultivated; and each and all have
+invariably succeeded, and produced the first fruits of a ripe, a rich,
+and an increasing harvest.
+
+
+
+
+PART III.
+
+ON THE METHODS BY WHICH THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESSES OF NATURE MAY BE
+SUCCESSFULLY IMITATED.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. I.
+
+_On the Exercises by which Nature may be imitated in cultivating the
+Powers of the Mind._
+
+
+In the educational processes of Nature, her first object appears to be
+the cultivation of her pupil's mind; and this, therefore, ought also to
+be the first concern of the parent and teacher.--The wisdom of this
+arrangement is obvious. For as success in a great measure depends upon
+the vigour and extent of those powers, their early cultivation will
+render the succeeding exercises easy and pleasant, and will greatly
+abridge the anxiety and labour of both teacher and scholar.
+
+There is no doubt a great diversity in the natural capacities of
+children; and phrenology, as well as daily experience shews, that
+children who are apt in learning one thing, may be exceedingly dull and
+backward in acquiring others. But after making every allowance for this
+variety in the intellectual powers of children, it is well established
+by experience, and repeated experiments have confirmed the fact,[9] that
+the very dullest and most obtuse of the children found in any of our
+schools, are really capable of rapid cultivation, and may, by the use of
+proper means, be very soon brought to bear their part in the usual
+exercises fitted for the ordinary children. A large proportion of the
+dulness so frequently complained of by teachers arises, not so much from
+any natural defect, or inherent mental weakness in the child, as from
+the want of that early mental exercise,--real mental culture,--of which
+we are here speaking. Whenever this dulness in a sane scholar continues
+for any length of time, there is good reason to fear that it is owing to
+some palpable mismanagement on the part of the parent or teacher. On
+examination it will most likely be found, either that the pupil has had
+exercises prescribed to him which the powers of his mind were as yet
+incapable of accomplishing; or, if the exercises themselves have been
+suitable, there has been more prescribed than he was able to overtake.
+In either case the effect will be the same. The mind has been
+unnaturally burdened, or overstretched; confusion of ideas and mental
+weakness have been the consequence; and if so, the very attempt to keep
+up with his companions in the class only tends to aggravate the evil.
+Hence arises the propriety of following Nature in making the expansion
+and cultivation of the powers of the mind our first object; and our
+design in the present chapter is to examine into the means by which, in
+the exercises of the school, she may be successfully imitated in the
+operations which she employs for this purpose.
+
+We have in our previous investigations seen, that the cultivation of the
+mental powers is a work of extraordinary simplicity, depending entirely
+upon one act of the mind,--the reiteration of ideas. We have proved, by
+a variety of familiar instances, that wherever this act takes place, the
+mind is, and must be exercised, and so far strengthened; while, on the
+contrary, wherever it does not take place, there is neither mental
+exercise, nor any perceptible accession of mental strength. It does not
+depend upon the particular form of the exercise, whether it consists of
+reading, hearing, writing, or speaking; but simply and entirely upon
+the reality and the frequency of the reiteration of the included ideas
+during it. This makes the cultivation and strengthening of the powers of
+the mind a very simple and a very certain operation. For if the teacher
+can succeed by any means in producing frequent and successive
+repetitions of _this act_ of the mind in any of his pupils, Nature will
+be true to her own law, and mental culture, and mental strength will
+assuredly follow;--but, on the contrary, whenever in a school exercise
+this act is awanting, there can be no permanent progression in the
+education of the pupil, and no amelioration in the state of his mind.
+The mechanical reading or repeating of words, for example, like the
+fingering of musical instruments, may be performed for months or years
+successively, without the powers of the mind being actively engaged in
+the process at all; leaving the child without mental exercise, and
+consequently without improvement.
+
+In following out the only legitimate plan for the accomplishment of this
+fundamental object, that of imitating Nature, the first thing required
+by the teacher is an exercise, or series of exercises, by which he shall
+be able _at his own will_ to enforce upon his pupils this important act
+of the mind. If this object can be successfully attained, then the
+proper means for the intellectual improvement of the child are secured;
+but as long as it is awanting, his mental cultivation is either left to
+chance, or to the capricious decision of his own will;--for experience
+shews, that although a child may be compelled to read, or to repeat the
+_words_ of his exercises, they contain no power by which the teacher can
+ensure the reiteration of the _ideas_ they contain. The words may
+correctly and fluently pass from the tongue, while the mind is actively
+engaged upon something else, and as much beyond the reach of the teacher
+as ever. But if the desiderated exercise could be procured, the power of
+enforcing mental activity upon a prescribed subject would then remain,
+not in the possession of the child, but would be transferred to the
+teacher, at whose pleasure the mental cultivation of the pupil would
+proceed, whether he himself willed it or no.
+
+In the "catechetical exercise," as it has been called, and which has of
+late years been extensively used by our best teachers, the desideratum
+above described has been most happily and effectively supplied to the
+Educationist. This valuable exercise may not perhaps be new;--but
+certainly its nature, and its importance in education, till of late
+years, has been altogether overlooked, or unknown. It differs from the
+former mode of catechising, (or rather of using catechisms) in this,
+that whereas a catechism provides an answer for the child in a set form
+of words,--the catechetical exercise, having first _provided him with
+the means_, compels him to search for, to select, and to construct an
+answer for himself. For example, an announcement is given by his
+teacher, or it is read from his book. This is the raw material upon
+which both the teacher and the child are to work, and within the
+boundaries of which the teacher especially must strictly confine
+himself. Upon this announcement a question is founded,[10] which obliges
+the child, before he can even prepare an answer, to reiterate in his own
+mind, not the _words_,--for that would not answer his purpose,--but the
+several _ideas_ contained in the sentence or truth announced. All these
+ideas must be perceived,--they must pass in review before the mind,--and
+from among them he must select the one required, arrange it in his own
+way, and give it to the teacher entirely as his own idea, and clothed
+altogether in his own words.
+
+In the common method of making use of catechisms, the words of the
+answer may be read, or they may be committed to memory, and may be
+repeated with ease and fluency; while the ideas,--the truths they
+contain,--may neither be perceived nor reiterated. In this there is
+neither mental exercise, nor mental improvement;--and, what is worse,
+without the catechetical exercise, the teacher has no means of knowing
+whether it be so or not. By means of the catechetical exercise, on the
+contrary, there can be no evasion,--no doubt as to the mental activity
+of the pupil, and his consequent mental improvement. Its benefits are
+very extensive; and in employing it the teacher is not only sure that
+the ideas in the announcement have been perceived and reiterated, but
+that a numerous train of useful mental operations must have taken place,
+before his pupil could by any possibility return him an answer to his
+questions. We shall, before proceeding, point out a few of these.
+
+Let us then suppose that a child either reads, or repeats as the answer
+to a question, the words, "Jesus died for sinners."--At this point in
+the former mode of using a catechism, the exercise of the pupil stopped;
+and the parent or teacher understanding the meaning of the sentence, and
+clearly perceiving the ideas himself, usually took it for granted that
+the child also did so, or at least at some future time would do so. This
+was mere conjecture; and he had no means of ascertaining its certainty,
+however important. It is at this point that the catechetical exercise
+commences its operations. When the child has repeated the words, or when
+the teacher for the first time announces them, the mind of the child may
+be in a state very unfavourable to its improvement; but as soon as the
+teacher asks him a question founded upon one or more of the ideas which
+the announcement contains, and which he must answer without farther
+help, the state of his mind is instantly and materially changed.
+Hitherto he may have been altogether passive on the subject;--nay, his
+mind while reading or repeating the words, may have been busily engaged
+on something else, or altogether occupied with his companions or his
+play;--but as soon as the teacher asks him "Who died?" there is an
+instant withdrawal of the mind from every thing else, and an exclusive
+concentration of its powers upon the ideas in the announcement. He must
+think,--and he must think in a certain way, and upon the specific ideas
+presented to him by the teacher,--before it is possible for him to
+return an answer. It is on this account that this exercise is so
+effective an instrument in cultivating the powers of the mind;--and it
+is to the long series of exercises which take place in this operation,
+that we are now calling the attention of the reader, that he may
+perceive how closely this exercise follows in the line prescribed by
+Nature, in creating occasions for the successive reiteration of
+different ideas suggested by one question.
+
+When, in pursuing the catechetical exercise, a question is asked from an
+announcement, there is first a call upon the attention, and an exercise
+of mind upon the _question_ asked, the words of which must be translated
+by the pupil into their proper ideas, which accordingly he must both
+perceive and understand. He has then to revert to the _ideas_ (not the
+words) contained in the original announcement, the words of which are
+perhaps still ringing in his ears; and these he must also perceive and
+reiterate in his mind, before he can either understand them or prepare
+to give an answer. At this point the child is necessarily in possession
+of the ideas--the truths--conveyed by the announcement; and therefore at
+this point one great end of the teacher has in so far been gained. But
+the full benefit of the exercise, in so far as it is capable of fixing
+these truths still more permanently on the memory, and of disciplining
+the mind, has not yet been exhausted. After the pupil has reiterated in
+his mind the ideas contained in the original sentence, or passage
+announced, he has again to revert to the question of the teacher, and
+compare it with the several ideas which the announcement contains. He
+has then to chuse from among them,--all of them being still held in
+review by the mind,--the particular idea to which his attention has been
+called by the question;--and last of all, and which is by no means the
+least as a mental exercise, he has to clothe this particular idea in
+words, and construct his sentence in such a way as to make it both sense
+and grammar. In this last effort, it is worthy of remark, children,
+after having been but a short while subjected to this exercise, almost
+invariably succeed, although they know nothing about grammar, and may
+perhaps never have heard of the name.
+
+But even this is not all. There has as yet been only one question asked,
+and the answer to this question refers to only one idea contained in the
+announcement. But it embraces at least three several ideas; and each of
+these ideas, by the catechetical exercise, is capable of originating
+other questions, perfectly distinct from each other, and each of which
+gives rise to a similar mental process, and with equally beneficial
+results, in exercising and strengthening the powers of the mind.
+
+It is also here of importance to take notice of the additional benefits
+that arise from the multiplying of questions upon one announcement. The
+first question proposed from the announcement, brought the mind of the
+child into immediate contact with all the ideas which it contained. They
+are now therefore familiar to him; and he is perfectly prepared for the
+second, and for every succeeding question formed upon it; and he
+fashions the answers with readiness and zest. Every such answer is a
+kind of triumph to the child, which he gives with ease and pleasure, and
+yet every one of them, as an exercise of the mind, is equally beneficial
+as the first. When the teacher therefore asks, "What did Jesus do?" and
+afterwards, "For whom did Jesus die?" a little reflection will at once
+shew, that a similar mental exercise must take place at each question,
+in which the child has not only to reiterate the several original
+ideas, but must again and again compare the questions asked, with each
+one of them, choose out the one required, clothe it in his own language,
+and in this form repeat it audibly to his teacher.
+
+Before leaving this enquiry into the nature and effects of the
+catechetical exercise, there are two circumstances connected with it as
+a school-engine, which deserve particular attention. The first is, that
+Nature has made this same reiteration of ideas, for the securing of
+which this exercise is used, the chief means of conveying knowledge to
+the mind; and the second is, the undissembled delight which children
+exhibit while under its influence, wherever it is naturally and
+judiciously conducted. With respect to the former of these
+circumstances, it falls more particularly to be considered in another
+chapter, and under a following head; but with respect to the
+latter,--the delight felt in the exercise by the children
+themselves,--it deserves here a more close examination.
+
+Every one who has paid any attention to the subject must have observed
+the life, the energy, the enjoyment, which are observable in a class of
+children, while they are under the influence, and subjected to the
+discipline of the catechetical exercise. This will perhaps be still more
+remarkable, if ever they have had an opportunity of contrasting this
+lively scene with the death-like monotony of a school where the exercise
+is as yet unknown. Many can yet remember instances when it was first
+introduced into some of the Sabbath schools in Scotland, and the
+astonishment of the teachers at its instantaneous effects upon the mind
+and conduct of their children. The whole aspect of the school was
+changed; and the children, who had but a few minutes before been
+conspicuous only for their apathy, restlessness, or inattention, were
+instantly aroused to life, and energy, and delight. Similar effects in
+some children are still witnessed; but, happily for education, the
+first exhibition of it to a whole school is not so common. One striking
+proof of the novelty and extent of its effects upon the pupils, and of
+the vivid contrast it produced with that to which the teachers had at
+that time been accustomed, is afforded by the fact, that serious
+objections were sometimes made to its introduction, by well-meaning
+individuals, on account of its breaking in, as they said, upon the
+proper devotional solemnity of the children;--as if the apathy of
+languor and weariness was identical with reverence, and mental energy
+and joyous feelings were incompatible with the liveliest devotion. These
+opinions have now happily disappeared; and the catechetical exercise is
+not now, on that account, so frequently opposed. Christians now
+perceive, that by making these rough places smooth, and the crooked ways
+straight for the tottering feet of the lambs of the flock, they are
+following the best, as it is the appointed means, of "making ready a
+people prepared for the Lord."
+
+To the teacher, especially, it must be a matter of great practical
+importance, to perceive clearly the cause why this exercise is so
+fascinating to the young, as well as so beneficial in education. The
+cause, when we analyze all the circumstances, is simply this, that it
+resembles, in all its leading characteristics, those amusements and
+pastimes of which children are so fond. In other words, the prosecution
+of the catechetical exercise with the young, produces in reality the
+same effects as a game would do if played with their teacher. It brings
+into action, and it keeps in lively operation, all those mental
+elements, which, in ordinary cases, constitute their play; and the
+effects of course are nearly similar. We shall direct the reader's
+attention to this curious fact for a moment.
+
+It is easy to perceive, that the pleasure and happiness experienced by a
+child during his play, arise altogether from the _state of his mind_, to
+which the physical exercises and amusements only conduce. When this
+mental satisfaction is examined, we find it to consist chiefly of two
+elements,--that of active thought, and that of self-approbation. The
+first,--that of active thought, or the reiteration of ideas, we have
+before pointed out and explained, as it is illustrated in their play,
+and in the pleasure they take in hearing stories, reading riddles,
+dressing dolls, and similar acts; and it is only here necessary to add,
+that their desire of congregating together for amusement has its origin
+in a similar cause. New ideas stimulate more powerfully to active
+thought; and children soon find, and insensibly draw the lesson, that
+the aggregate of new ideas is always enlarged by an increase of the
+number of persons who supply them. Two children will play with the same
+number of toys for a longer time, without tiring, than if they were
+alone;--and three or four would, in the same proportion, increase the
+interest and prolong the season of activity. But as soon as the
+reiteration of the ideas suggested by their game becomes languid or
+difficult, their play for the time loses its charms, and the fascination
+is gone. That it is the cessation of active thought, which is the chief
+cause of their play ceasing to please, is proved from the circumstance,
+that if another interesting companion shall be added to their number, or
+if any thing shall occur to renew this operation,--the reiteration of
+ideas,--upon the mind, the same degree of interest, and to a
+corresponding extent, is immediately felt, and the play is resumed. Now,
+the catechetical exercise is in reality the same operation in another
+form. The questions of the teacher excite the pupil to the same kind of
+active thought as that which gives relish to his play; and, while the
+teacher confines himself within the limits of the announcement, the
+mental excitement is active, but moderate, and always successful.
+
+This leads us to observe the influence which the catechetical exercise
+exerts in affording means for that self-approbation, or sense of merit,
+which constitutes another element of delight to a child during his play.
+All must have observed the beneficial effects of this principle in
+children, as an incitement to emulation and good conduct. It is not only
+perceptible in the love of approbation from their superiors, but in
+their desire to excel at all times. We see it in the pleasure felt by
+the child when he outstrips his fellows in the race,--when he catches
+his companion at "hide and seek,"--when he finds the hidden article at
+"seek and find,"--in winning a game, expounding a riddle, or gaining a
+place in his class. In all these instances there is a feeling of pure
+satisfaction and delight;--a feeling of self-estimation, which is at
+once the guardian and the reward of virtue. Now, when the catechetical
+exercise is conducted in its purity,--that is, when the teacher keeps
+strictly to the announcement, without wandering where the child cannot
+follow him,--the answers are invariably within the limits of the child's
+capacity;--they are answered successfully; and every answer is a subject
+of triumph. He has a delightful consciousness of having overcome a
+difficulty, deserved approbation, and made an advance in the pathway of
+merit. When properly conducted, therefore, the catechetical exercise
+becomes to the pupils a succession of victories; and it imparts all that
+delight, softened and purified, which he experiences in excelling his
+companion, or in winning a game.--These are the reasons why the
+catechetical exercise is so much relished by the young, and why it has
+succeeded so powerfully, not only in smoothing the pathway of education,
+but also in shortening it.
+
+From a careful consideration of all these circumstances, we are led to
+conclude, that the catechetical exercise does, in a superior degree,
+fulfil all the stipulations required for imitating Nature, in exciting
+to the reiteration of ideas by children, and thus disciplining and
+cultivating the powers of their minds. We might also have remarked,
+that another advantage arising from persevering in this exercise, is the
+arresting of the attention of the children, and successfully training
+them to hear and understand through life the oral communications of
+others;--but we hasten to consider the time and the order in which this
+exercise should be made use of in schools.
+
+Nature intends, that the cultivation and strengthening of the powers of
+the mind shall in every case precede those exercises in which their
+strength is to be tried. In infants and young children we perceive this
+cultivation and invigorating of the mind going on, long before these
+powers are to be taxed even for their own preservation. The child is no
+doubt putting them to use; but in every such case it is voluntary, and
+not compulsory,--a matter of choice on the part of the child, and not of
+necessity. The infant, or even the child, is never required to take care
+of itself, to clothe itself, to wash itself, or even to feed itself. To
+require it to do so before the mind could comprehend the nature and the
+design of the particular duty, would be both unreasonable and cruel.
+This being the case, the exercises of the nursery and the school must be
+regulated in a similar manner, and follow the same law. The due
+cultivation of the mind, like the due preparation of the soil, must
+always precede the sowing of the seed. If this principle in Nature be
+duly attended to, the seeds of knowledge afterwards cast into the soil
+thus broken up and prepared, will be readily received and nourished to
+perfection; but if the soil be neglected, both the seed and the labour
+will be lost, the anticipations of the spring and summer will end in
+delusion, and the folly of the whole proceeding will be shewn by a
+succession of noxious weeds, and at last by an unproductive harvest.
+
+The evils which must necessarily result from thus running counter to
+Nature in this first part of her educational proceedings, may be aptly
+illustrated by the very common custom of beginning a child's education
+by teaching it to read. It would perhaps be difficult to convince many
+that this custom is either unnatural or improper. We shall not attempt
+here to _argue_ the matter, but shall merely state a fact which they
+cannot deny, and which will answer the purpose we think much better than
+an argument.--To teach the art of reading was wont to require the labour
+of several months, sometimes years, before the perusal of a book could
+be managed by the child with any degree of ease,--and even then, without
+any thing approaching to satisfaction or pleasure. And even yet,
+although the error has in some measure been perceived of late years, yet
+the art of reading by the young, still requires several months'
+attendance at school, with corresponding labour to the teacher, and
+great irritation and unhappiness to the child. But experience has
+established the fact, that, by acting on the principle of previous
+preparation which we are here enforcing, and by calling into operation
+the principle of individuation formerly explained, the whole drudgery of
+teaching a child to read is got over in a week,--sometimes in a day; and
+this with much more ease and satisfaction, than could have been done by
+a thousand lessons while his mind was unprepared.[11]
+
+The accumulation of labour, and the loss of precious time by this
+non-observance of the dictates of Nature, are in themselves serious
+evils; but they are not by any means so great as some others which
+almost invariably accompany this unnatural mode of proceeding with the
+young. Many who have nominally been _taught to read_, are still quite
+unable to _understand by reading_. Those who have heard chapters read by
+families in the country, "verse about," will at once understand what we
+here mean; and even in towns and cities where newspapers and low-priced
+books are more numerous and more tempting, it often requires long
+practice before the emancipated child can read these publications so
+readily and intelligently as they are intended to be. It is another, and
+an entirely different course of learning to which he subjects himself,
+when he labours to acquire the capacity of understanding the words that
+he _reads_, as readily as the words that he _hears_. Where the
+inducements to this are sufficiently powerful, the ability is no doubt
+_at last_ acquired;--but where these stimulants are awanting, the
+difficulty of understanding by reading has by the previous habit become
+so great, that reading is gradually disused, and at last forgotten.
+
+Many are at a loss to account for this; but it is easily explained on
+the above principles. To teach a child to read, before his mind is
+capable of understanding, or of reiterating the ideas conveyed by the
+words he is reading, is to train him to this habit of reading
+mechanically;--that is, of reading without understanding. He gradually
+acquires the habit of pronouncing the words which he traces with the
+eye, while the mind is busily engaged upon something else; in the same
+manner that a person acquires the habit of thinking, and even of
+speaking, while knitting a stocking, or sewing a seam. This habit is
+confirmed by constant practice; and then, the difficulty of getting off
+the habit is all but insurmountable. This difficulty will be best
+understood by the experience of those who have been during some time of
+their life compelled to abandon a habit after it was thoroughly
+confirmed;--or by those who will but try the difficulty of persevering
+to do something with the left hand, which has hitherto been done with
+the right. A very little consideration will shew, that when this habit
+of reading mechanically has once been established, it will require, like
+an improper mode of holding the pen in writing, ten-fold more labour and
+self-denial to _remedy_ the evil, than it would have taken at first to
+_prevent_ it, by learning to do the thing properly and perfectly.
+
+Much therefore depends upon the early and persevering use of the
+catechetical exercise for cultivating a child's mind, before beginning
+to teach it the art of reading, or requiring it to make use of the
+powers of the mind on subjects which these powers are as yet incapable
+of comprehending. By proper _preliminary_ exercises, the powers of the
+mind will be gradually expanded; ideas of every different kind, both
+individually and in connection with each other, will become familiar;
+the design of language in receiving and communicating truth will by
+degrees be practically understood; and, by means of the catechetical
+exercise, it will be gradually and successfully practised. These are
+obviously the means by which the present crooked ways in the child's
+early progress in education are to be made straight, and the rough and
+difficult paths which he has had so long to tread, may now be made both
+easy and smooth.[12]
+
+The effects of the catechetical exercise, and its uniform beneficial
+results, have given sufficient evidence of its being a close imitation
+of Nature in this part of her educational process. Its success indeed
+has been invariable, even when employed by those who remained
+unconscious of the great principles by which that success was to be
+regulated. The observations and experiments employed to ascertain in
+some measure the extent of its efficiency, have uniformly been
+satisfactory, and to a few of these we shall here very shortly advert.
+
+The first case of importance, which came under our notice, and to which
+we think it advisable to allude, is that of Mary L. who, about the year
+1820, resided in Lady Yester's parish in Edinburgh. This girl, when her
+name was taken up for the Local Sabbath Schools in that parish, was
+about seven or eight years of age, and in respect to mental capacity,
+appeared to be little better than an idiot. She could not comprehend the
+most simple idea, if it related to any thing beyond the household
+objects which were daily forced upon her observation, and which had
+individually become familiar to the senses; and was unable to receive
+any instruction with the other children, however young. The catechetical
+exercise was adopted with her, as with the other scholars; and although,
+for a long period, she was unable to _collect knowledge_, yet the
+constant discipline to which the powers of the mind were thus subjected,
+had the happiest effect in bringing them into tone, and at last giving
+her the command of them. The comprehending of a simple truth when
+announced, became more and more distinct, and the answering of the
+corresponding questions, became gradually more correct and easy. At a
+very early period she began to relish the exercises of the school; and
+although these occurred only on the Sundays, she continued rapidly to
+improve; till, in the course of a few years, she was able to join the
+higher classes of the children, and made a respectable appearance among
+her companions, at those times when they were submitted to
+examination.--When these schools were broken up, no stranger could have
+remarked any difference between Mary L. and an ordinary child of the
+same age.
+
+A similar instance occurred more recently in the case of two sisters,
+(Margaret and Mary J.) the condition of whose minds originally was
+better, although not much, than that of Mary L. At the respective ages
+of six and eight years, these sisters could scarcely receive or
+comprehend the simplest idea not connected with their daily ordinary
+affairs. For some years they had no more teaching, or regular mental
+exercise, than two hours weekly on the Sundays, and during that period
+they were, in regard to mental capacity, advancing, but still nearly
+alike. The eldest (Margaret,) was then removed to another class, the
+teacher of which dedicated another evening during the week for the
+benefit of her scholars. The consequence of this apparently slight
+addition to the mental exercise of this girl soon became apparent; and
+in the course of a short time, the powers of Margaret's mind not only
+advanced beyond those of her sister's, but equalled at least those of
+children of the same age, who had not enjoyed similar opportunities of
+improvement. Her sister Mary, who continued to enjoy only the two hours
+on Sunday, advanced proportionally in mental strength;--and before she
+left the district in which the school was situated, her original
+incapacity could scarcely have been credited by a stranger. In proof of
+this, it may be added, that long after she had left the parish, the
+writer found her by accident in the school which she attended after
+removing, examined her with the other children, and made some strict and
+searching enquiries concerning her. The report of her teacher was
+exceedingly satisfactory; and, without knowing the reason of these
+enquiries, declared, that Mary J. was one of her best scholars. Before
+leaving this notice of these two children, there is a circumstance which
+may perhaps be worthy of recording. In Margaret's countenance there had
+gradually appeared, latterly, that which to a stranger gave all the
+ordinary indications of intellect, and rather superior intelligence;
+while in Mary's case, at the same period, there continued to be much of
+that vacancy of look, and stupid stare, indicative rather of what she
+was, than of what she had become. That also, however, was gradually
+disappearing.
+
+We shall advert only to one other instance, less remarkable perhaps, and
+certainly not so decisive, on account of the shortness of the time
+during which the experiment was continued. In the opinion of the
+honourable and venerable examinators, however, it was considered as
+sufficiently decisive, and of much public importance. Its application to
+prison discipline may ultimately be of value, where prisoners are
+confined but for short periods, and where the cultivation of the mind,
+and the growing capacity to receive and retain religious truth are
+objects of importance.
+
+In the experiment in 1828, made before the Lord Provost, Principal,
+Professors, and Clergymen of Edinburgh, in the County Jail, a class of
+criminals which had been formed three weeks before, and exercised one
+hour daily, were thoroughly and individually examined without
+intermission during nearly three hours. Our present extract from the
+Report of that Experiment refers, not to the amount of knowledge
+acquired by these persons during these three weeks, but to the capacity
+which, at the end of that time, they were found to possess of acquiring
+every sort of knowledge. This experiment was so far imperfect, as the
+Examinators had no means of ascertaining the true state of their minds,
+previous to the commencement of their exercises. But having, upon
+enquiry found from the governor of the prison, that there had been no
+selection, that all the individuals in the ward had been taken, and that
+at the commencement of the experiment, they formed a fair sample of the
+prisoners commonly under his charge,--the progress of this mental
+cultivation during that short period, became a special object of
+examination by the Reverend and learned individuals who conducted it.
+Their Report of the Experiment bears, that "these individuals had been
+taken without any regard to their abilities, and former acquirements,
+and formed a fair average of the usual prisoners." In endeavouring to
+ascertain the grasp of mind which these individuals possessed, and the
+readiness with which they received and retained whatever was, even for
+the first time, communicated to them, "it was mentioned, that a
+gentlemen on the previous day, in order to try the capacity of mind
+which they had attained, desired Mr Gall to catechise them upon a
+section, consisting of fourteen verses, which they had not seen before,
+and that, after just ten minutes' examination, one woman, who could not
+read, repeated the whole distinctly in her own words. Dr Brunton
+proposed, for a similar experiment, the parable of the 'talents,' with
+which none was acquainted except one woman, who was consequently not
+permitted to answer. With its being only read to them, and with a few
+minutes' catechising, they perceived its various circumstances, and were
+able to enumerate them in detail. This exercise demonstrated the
+capacity of attention, and the power of analyzing and laying hold of
+circumstances, which they had reached, as well as the indisputable
+superiority of this System, in unfolding and strengthening the mental
+faculties, even in adults."
+
+"The writer of the Report," it is added, "was not acquainted with the
+extent of their acquirements when Mr Gall commenced his operations; but
+judging from the examination, and from his knowledge of the contents of
+the books taught, he has no hesitation in averring, that the answers
+which they gave, arose entirely from information communicated by them.
+And when he reflects that their answers, being clothed in their own
+words, guaranteed the fact, that it was _the ideas_ upon which they had
+seized, and that their knowledge participated in no degree of rote, the
+conviction to his mind is irresistible, that the universal application
+of the Lesson System to Prison Discipline, and to adults everywhere,
+would be followed by effects, incalculably precious to the individuals
+themselves, and to the improving of society in general."
+
+Numerous other instances might be adduced in proof of the efficiency of
+this method of attempting to imitate Nature in this first part of her
+educational process, who will always be faithful in adhering to her own
+laws, and countenancing her own work. These however may suffice;--and it
+ought not to escape observation, that in two of the cases first alluded
+to, the young persons enjoyed only two hours' instruction in the week,
+and these not divided, but continuously given at one time. For this
+reason, it might have been feared, that the benefits then received would
+have been lost, or neutralized, by the variety of objects or amusements
+which must have intervened during the week between the lessons. But it
+was not so. And we may here remark, that if with all these
+disadvantages, so much good was really done in cultivating the powers of
+the mind by this exercise, what may we not expect by the enlightened,
+regular, and daily application of the same powerful principles in our
+ordinary schools, when the teacher shall know where the virtue of the
+weapon which he wields really lies, and when the nature of the material
+he is called to work upon is also better understood. Every exercise and
+every operation in the school will then be made to "tell;" and every
+moment of the pupils' attendance will be improved. In these
+circumstances, we are far within the limits of the truth when we say,
+that more real substantial education will then be communicated in one
+month, than it has been usual to receive by the labours of a whole year.
+
+From what has been already ascertained, we are fully warranted in making
+the following remarks.
+
+1. From the above facts we can readily ascertain the cause, why some
+exercises employed in education are so much relished by the young, and
+so efficient in giving strength and elasticity to the mind; while
+others, on the contrary are so inefficient, so irksome, and sometimes so
+intolerable. Every exercise that tends to produce active thought,--the
+"reiteration of ideas,"--is natural, and therefore, not only promotes
+healthful mental vigour, but is also exciting and delightful; while, on
+the contrary, whenever the mind is fettered by the mere decyphering of
+words, or the repeating of sounds, without reiterating ideas, the
+exercise is altogether unnatural, and must of course be irritating to
+the child, and barren of good.
+
+2. By a due consideration of the above principles, we see the reason why
+mental arithmetic, though it may not communicate any knowledge, is yet
+productive of considerable mental vigour. These exercises compel the
+young to a species of voluntary thought, the reiteration in the mind of
+the powers of numbers; and although the result of the particular
+calculations which are then made, may never again be of any service to
+the pupil, yet the consequent exercise of mind is beneficial. It should
+never be forgotten, however, that this exercise of mind upon _numbers_
+is altogether an artificial operation, and is on this account, neither
+so efficient nor so pleasant as the reiteration of moral or physical
+truths. The same degree of mental exercise, brought into operation upon
+some useful fact, where the imagination as well as the understanding,
+can take a part, would at once be more natural, more efficient, more
+pleasant, and more useful.
+
+3. From the nature and operation of the above principle, also, we can
+perceive in what the efficiency of Pestalozzi's "Exercises on Objects,"
+consists.--When a child is required to tell you the colour and the
+consistence of milk, qualities which have all along been familiar to
+him, it conveys to him no knowledge; but it excites to observation and
+active thought,--to the "reiteration of ideas;"--and for this reason it
+is salutary. But it is still equally true, as in the former case, that
+the same degree of mental exercise, brought into operation upon some
+useful practical truth, would be at least equally useful as a mental
+stimulant, and much more beneficial as an educational exercise.
+
+4. From the nature of this great fundamental principle in mental
+cultivation, as consisting in the reiteration of ideas, and not of
+words, we have a key by which we can satisfactorily explain the
+remarkable, and hitherto unaccountable fact, that many persons who, in
+youth and at school, have been ranked among the dullest scholars, have
+afterwards become the greatest men. An active mind, in exact proportion
+to its vigour, will powerfully struggle against the unnatural thraldom
+of mere mechanical verbal exercises. The mind in a healthful state will
+not be satisfied with words, which are but the medium of ideas, because
+ideas alone are the natural food of the mind. Till the powers of the
+mind, therefore, are sufficiently enfeebled by time and perseverance, it
+will struggle with its fetters, and it will be repressed only by
+coercion. Minds naturally weak, or gradually subdued, may and do submit
+to this artificial bondage,--this unnatural drudgery; but the vigorous
+and powerful mind, under favourable circumstances, spurns the trammels,
+and continues to struggle on. It may be a protracted warfare,--but it
+must at last come to a close; and it is not till the pupil has emerged
+from this mental dungeon, and has had these galling fetters fairly
+knocked off, that the natural elasticity and strength of his mind find
+themselves at freedom, with sufficient room and liberty to act. The
+impetus then received, and the delight in the mental independence then
+felt, have frequently led to the brightest results. Hence it is, that
+the reputed dunce of the school, has not unfrequently become the
+ornament of the senate.
+
+Lastly, we would remark, that from the facts here enumerated, we derive
+a good test by which to try every new exercise proposed for training the
+young, and for cultivating the powers of the mind. If the exercise
+recommended compels the child to active thought,--to the voluntary
+exercise of his own mind upon useful ideas,--that exercise, whatever be
+its form, will, to that extent at least, be beneficial. And if, at the
+same time, it can be associated with the acquisition of knowledge, with
+the application of knowledge, or with the ready communication of
+knowledge,--all of which, as we have seen, are concomitants in Nature's
+process,--it will, in an equal degree, be valuable and worthy of
+adoption. But if, on the contrary, the exercise may be performed without
+the necessity of voluntary thought, or the reiteration of ideas by the
+mind, however plausible or imposing it may appear, it is next to
+certain, that although such an exercise may be sufficiently burdensome
+to the child, and cause much labour and anxiety to the teacher, it will
+most assuredly be at least useless, if not injurious.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[9] See the Fifth Public Experiment in Education, conducted before Sir
+Thomas Kirkpatrick, and the clergy and teachers of Dumfries, in the
+month of October 1833.
+
+[10] Note K.
+
+[11] Note H.
+
+[12] For the methods of employing this exercise and the books best
+adapted for it, see Note I.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. II.
+
+_On the Methods by which Nature may be imitated in the Pupil's
+Acquisition of Knowledge; with a Review of the Analogy between the
+Mental and Physical Appetites of the Young._
+
+
+The second step in the progress of Nature's pupil is the acquisition of
+knowledge.--This has always been considered a chief object in every
+system of education; and the discovery of the most efficient means by
+which it may be accomplished, must be a matter of great importance.
+
+In our remarks upon this subject in a previous chapter, we have shewn,
+that Nature in her operations employs four distinct principles for
+accumulating knowledge, for retaining it upon the memory, and for
+keeping it in readiness for use at the command of the will. There are,
+_First_, the "reiteration of ideas" by the mind, without which there can
+be no knowledge; _Secondly_, the principle of "Individuation," by which
+the knowledge of objects and truths is acquired one by one; _Thirdly_,
+the principle of "Grouping," or Association, in which the mind views as
+one object, what is really composed of many; and, _Fourthly_, the
+principle of "Analysis," or Classification, in which the judgment is
+brought into exercise, the different portions of our knowledge are
+arranged and classified under different heads and branches, and the
+whole retained in order at the command of the will, when any portion of
+it is required.--Our object now is to consider, what means are within
+the reach of the parent and the teacher, by which Nature in these
+several processes may be successfully imitated, while they endeavour to
+communicate the elements of knowledge to the young.
+
+Ideas being the only proper food of the mind, Nature has created in the
+young an extraordinary appetite and desire for their possession. There
+is a striking analogy in this respect, between the strengthening of the
+body by food, and the invigorating of the mind by knowledge; and before
+proceeding to detail the methods by which the parent or the teacher may
+successfully break down and prepare the bread of knowledge for their
+pupils in imitation of Nature, it will be of advantage here to consider
+more particularly some of the circumstances connected with this
+instructive analogy. By tracing the likeness so conspicuously held out
+to us in this analogy by Nature herself, we shall be greatly assisted in
+evading the bewildering and mystifying influence of prejudice, and the
+reader will be much better prepared to judge of the value of those means
+recommended for nourishing and strengthening the mind by knowledge, when
+he finds them to correspond so exactly with similar principles employed
+by Nature for the nourishing and strengthening of the body by food. We
+shall by this means, we hope, be able to detect some of those fallacies
+which have long tended to trammel the exertions, and to prevent the
+success of the teacher in his interesting labours.
+
+The first point of analogy to which we would advert, is the vigour and
+activity of the mental appetite in the young, which corresponds so
+strikingly with the frequent and urgent craving of their bodily appetite
+for food.--The desire of food for the body, and the desire of knowledge
+for the mind, are alike restless and insatiable in childhood; and a
+similar amount of satisfaction and pleasure is the consequence, whenever
+these desires are prudently gratified. That the desire for knowledge in
+the young is often weakened, and sometimes destroyed, is but too true;
+but this is the work of man, not of Nature. It will accordingly be found
+on investigation, with but few exceptions, that wherever the general
+appetite of the child, either for mental or bodily food, becomes languid
+or weak, it is either the effect for disease or of some grievous abuse.
+
+Another point of analogy consists, in the necessity of the personal
+active co-operation of the child himself in receiving and digesting his
+food.--There is no such thing in Nature as a child being fed and
+nourished by proxy. His food must be received, digested, and assimilated
+by his own powers, and by the use of his own organs, else he will never
+be fed. In the same way, the food for his mind can benefit him only in
+so far as he himself is the active agent. He must himself receive,
+reiterate in his own mind, and commit to the keeping of his memory,
+every idea presented to him by his teacher. No one can do this for
+him;--he must do it himself. In a family, the parent may provide, dress,
+and communicate the food to the child,--but he can do no more; and
+similar is the case with respect to the mental food provided by the
+teacher. He may no doubt select the most appropriate kinds,--he may
+simplify it,--he may break it down into morsels;--but his pupils, if
+they are to learn, must learn for themselves. When a pupil, to save
+himself trouble, tries to evade the learning of a preliminary lesson, or
+when the teacher winks at the evasion by performing the exercise for
+him, it is as absurd as for a parent to eat the child's food, and expect
+at the same time that his boy is to be nourished by it. If the mental
+food be too strong for the child, something more simple must be provided
+for him; but to continue to administer knowledge which the pupil does
+not comprehend, and force the strong mental food of an adult upon the
+tender capacities of a child, is an error of the most mischievous kind.
+It prevents the mind from acting at all, without which there can be no
+improvement. The mind must wield its own weapons if ignorance is to be
+dislodged; and if the child is to advance at all, he must overcome the
+difficulties that lie in his way by the exertion of his own powers. His
+teacher may no doubt direct him as to the best and the easiest way of
+accomplishing his object; but that is all. The pupil must in every case
+perform the exercise for himself.
+
+This leads us to notice another point of analogy in this case, which is,
+the necessity of adapting the food to the age and capacities of those
+who are to receive it.--There is in the mental, as well as in the
+physical nourishment provided for our race, milk for the weak, as well
+as meat for the strong; and it is necessary in both cases that the kind
+and the quantity be carefully attended to. In the case of the strong,
+there is less danger; because, with regard both to the mental and bodily
+food, Nature has so ordered matters, that the food which is best adapted
+for the weak, will also nourish the strong; but the food adapted for the
+strong is never suitable, and is often poisonous to the weak. There must
+therefore be, in all cases where the young are concerned, as careful a
+selection of the mental food, as there is of the food for the body; and
+the parent or teacher should, in all cases, present only such subjects,
+and such ideas to his pupils, as the state of their faculties, or the
+progress of their knowledge, enables them to understand and apply.
+
+Another striking point of analogy between mental and bodily nourishment,
+is to be found in the effects of repletion, when too great a quantity of
+food is communicated at one time.--As the increase of a child's bodily
+strength does not depend upon the mere quantity of food forced into his
+stomach, but upon that portion only which is healthfully digested and
+assimilated; so in like manner, the amount of a child's knowledge will
+not correspond to the number of ideas forced upon his attention by the
+teacher, but to those only which have been reiterated by the mind, and
+committed by that process to the keeping of the memory. In both cases,
+the evil of repletion is two-fold; there is the waste of food and of
+labour, while the strength and the growth of the child, instead of being
+promoted, are retarded and diminished. The physical appetite gains
+strength, by moderate exercise; but it is palled and weakened by every
+instance of repletion. The desire for food is never for any length of
+time at rest, so long as the stomach is kept in proper tone by moderate
+and frequent feeding; and the quantity of food which a healthy child
+will in these circumstances consume, is often surprising. But whenever
+the stomach is gorged, then restlessness, uneasiness, and not
+unfrequently disease, are the consequences. The digestive powers are
+weakened, the tone of the stomach is relaxed, and, instead of the
+healthful craving for food which should occur at the proper interval,
+the appetite is destroyed, and food of every kind is nauseated.--Exactly
+similar is the case with the mental appetite. The natural curiosity of
+children, or, in other words, their desire of information, before it is
+checked or overloaded by mismanagement, is almost insatiable; and the
+astonishing amount of knowledge which they usually acquire between the
+ages of one and three years, while under the guidance of Nature, has
+been formerly alluded to. But this desire of information, and this
+capacity for receiving it, are by no means confined to that early
+period of their lives. The same appetite for knowledge would increase
+and acquire additional strength, were it but properly directed, or
+furnished with moderate and suitable means of gratification. But when a
+parent or teacher impatiently attempts to force it upon the child more
+rapidly than he can receive it,--that is, than he can reiterate it in
+his mind for himself,--he not only irritates and harasses the child, but
+his attempt neutralizes the effect of the ideas which the child would
+otherwise pleasantly and efficiently have received. Every such attempt
+to do more than enough greatly weakens the powers of the pupil's mind,
+and discourages him from any after attempt to increase his knowledge.
+
+As a general maxim in the education of the young, it may here be
+observed, that as long as the understanding of a child remains clear,
+and he can distinctly perceive the truths which are communicated to him,
+he will find himself pleasantly and profitably employed, and will soon
+acquire a habit of distinct mental vision;--the powers of his mind will
+be rapidly expanded and strengthened, and he will receive and retain the
+knowledge communicated to him with ease and with pleasure. But when, on
+the contrary, he is overtasked, and more ideas are forced upon his
+attention than his capacity can receive, the mind becomes disturbed and
+confused, the mental perception becomes cloudy and indistinct, and all
+that is communicated in these circumstances is absolutely lost. If the
+parent or teacher insists on the pupil persevering in his mental meal,
+in the hope that things will get better, we can easily, from the present
+analogy, perceive the fallacy of such a hope. Perseverance will only
+create additional perplexity; the whole powers of the child's mind will
+become more and more enfeebled, or totally prostrated; the labour of the
+teacher will be lost; and he will find his pupil now, and for some time
+afterwards, much less able to take a clear and distinct view of any
+subject than he was before.
+
+There is yet one other point of analogy between the supply of food for
+the body and the mind, to which we must also allude. It is to be found
+in the baneful, and often destructive, effects of unnatural stimulants
+applied to the mental appetite, which strikingly correspond in their
+effects to the pernicious habit of supplying stimulants to the young in
+their ordinary food.--Stimulants will no doubt, in both cases, produce
+for the time additional excitement;--but they are neither natural nor
+necessary. In all ordinary cases, Nature has made ample provision for
+the supposed want, of which the craving--the natural and healthy
+craving--of children for knowledge and for food, gives ample testimony.
+To counteract or to weaken this natural desire would be improper;--but
+artificially to _increase_ it is always dangerous. The reason is
+obvious; for the excitement thus caused being unnatural, it is always
+temporary; but its pernicious effects very soon become extensive and
+permanent. Every physician knows, that the habitual use of stimulants in
+the food of the young, weakens the tone of the stomach, palls the
+appetite, creates a disrelish for plain and wholesome food, and
+frequently destroys the powers of digestion for ever after. Very similar
+are the effects of unnatural stimulants to the mental appetite in
+training and teaching the young, when these stimulants are habitually,
+or even frequently administered. Their curiosity,--their appetite for
+knowledge,--is naturally so vigorous, that the repetition, or the
+reading of any story, however commonplace or uninteresting to us, gives
+them the sincerest pleasure, provided only that they understand and can
+follow it. This is a most wise and beneficent provision of Nature, of
+which parents and teachers should be careful to take advantage. It is
+because of this disposition in children, that in all ordinary cases, the
+simplest narrative or anecdote in ordinary life, may be successfully
+employed in giving them mental strength, and in communicating permanent
+moral instruction. But whenever unnatural and injudicious excitements
+are used in their instruction, and the child's imagination has been
+stimulated and defiled by the ideas of giants and ogres, fairies and
+ghosts, the whole natural tone of the mind is destroyed, plain and even
+interesting stories and narratives lose their proper attraction, and a
+diseased and insatiable appetite for the marvellous and the horrible is
+generally created. Even to adults, and much more to children, whose
+minds have been thus abused, the plain paths of probability and truth
+have lost every charm; and the study of abstract but useful subjects
+becomes to them a nauseous task--an intolerable burden.
+
+The accuracy of this analogy, we think, will readily be admitted by all.
+And if so, it will at least help to illustrate, if it does not prove,
+some of the important conclusions to which we shall find ourselves led
+upon other, and philosophical grounds. But as the prejudices which,
+during several centuries, have been gradually congregating around the
+science of education are so many and so powerful, every legitimate
+means, and this among others, should be combined for the purpose of
+removing them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. III.
+
+_How Nature may be imitated in Communicating Knowledge to the Pupil, by
+the Reiteration of Ideas._
+
+
+The phenomenon in mechanics and natural philosophy, which is popularly
+termed "Suction," may be exhibited in a thousand different ways, and yet
+all are the result of but one cause. When we witness the various
+phenomena of the air and common pump,--the barometer and the cupping
+glass,--the sipping of our tea, and the traversing of an insect on the
+mirror or the roof,--the operations appear so very dissimilar, that we
+are ready to attribute them to the action of a variety of agents. But it
+is not so;--for when we trace each of them back to its primitive cause,
+we find that each and all of these wonders are produced by the weight of
+the atmosphere, and _that alone_. In precisely the same manner,
+knowledge may apparently be communicated to the human mind in a thousand
+different ways; and yet, when we examine each, and trace it to its
+primitive cause, we find the phenomenon to be one--and _one alone_. The
+truth has been received and lodged with the memory,--made part of our
+knowledge--by _the reiteration of its idea_ by the mind itself;--by an
+exercise of active, voluntary thought upon the knowledge thus
+communicated. The cause and the effect invariably follow each other both
+in old and young; for whenever a new idea is perceived and reiterated by
+the pupil,--if it should be but once,--the knowledge of the child is to
+that extent increased; but whenever this act of the mind is awanting,
+there can be no additional information received;--the increase of
+knowledge is found to be impossible. This appears to be a law of our
+Nature, to which we know of no exception.
+
+It is also worthy of remark here, that the retention or permanence of
+the ideas thus committed to the keeping of the memory depends upon two
+circumstances. The first is, the vigour of the mental powers, or the
+intensity of the impression made upon them at the time of
+reiteration;--and the second, and certainly the principal circumstance,
+is the frequency of their reiteration by the mind. In evidence of the
+first we see, that a fall, a fright, or a narrow escape from imminent
+danger, although it occurred but once, and perhaps in early infancy,
+will be remembered through life; and in proof of the second, we find,
+that the scenes and circumstances of childhood being frequently and
+daily reiterated by the mind, at a time when it has little else to
+reiterate, remain permanently on the memory. The object therefore most
+to be desired by the teacher, is an exercise, or a series of exercises,
+by which, in his attempts to communicate knowledge to his pupil, this
+act of reiteration may be secured, and if possible repeated at pleasure,
+for more permanently fixing on the memory the knowledge communicated.
+
+In a former chapter we shewed, that this act of reiteration is the
+instrument employed by Nature for cultivating the powers of the mind as
+well as for communicating and impressing knowledge;--and we have also
+shewn that Nature in that process was successfully imitated by means of
+the catechetical exercise. This exercise has accordingly been found as
+powerful and efficient in promoting this, her second object, as it is in
+the first. The success of the catechetical exercise in communicating
+knowledge clearly to the young, even when it is but imperfectly managed,
+has been extensive and uniform; but wherever its nature has been
+properly understood, and it has been scientifically conducted, the
+amount of knowledge communicated in a given time, and with a given
+amount of mental and physical labour, stands confessedly without a
+parallel in the previous history of education. Minds the most obtuse,
+habits of listlessness the most inveterate, and mental imbecility,
+bordering on idiotcy, have been powerfully assailed and overcome; and
+knowledge, by means of this exercise, has forced its way, and firmly
+secured a place for itself, in minds which previously were little more
+than a blank.
+
+The causes of its success in cultivating the powers of the mind were
+formerly explained; but its adaptation to the communicating of knowledge
+is still more peculiarly striking. We shall endeavour to point out a few
+of these peculiarities.
+
+Let us for that purpose suppose a teacher desirous of communicating to a
+child the important fact, that "God at first made all things of nothing
+to shew his greatness;" it must be done, either by the child reading or
+hearing the sentence. If it be read, there is at least a chance, that
+the words may be all decyphered, and audibly pronounced, while the ideas
+contained in them have not yet reached the mind. The child may have
+carefully examined each word as it occurred, and may have reiterated
+each of them on his mind as he read them, and yet there may not be the
+slightest addition to his knowledge. The reiteration of _words_, as we
+have before explained, is not that which Nature requires, but the
+reiteration of _ideas_; and although we may, by substituting the one for
+the other, deceive ourselves, Nature will not be deceived; for unless
+the ideas contained in the sentence be reiterated by the mind, there can
+be no additional information conveyed.--The same thing may happen, if
+the words, instead of being read by the child, are announced by the
+teacher. The pupil may in that case hear the sounds; nay, he may repeat
+the words, and thus reiterate _them_ in his mind after the teacher; but
+if he has not translated the words into their proper ideas as he
+proceeded, experience proves, that his knowledge remains as limited as
+before;--there has been no additional information. These cases are so
+common, and so uniform, that no farther illustration we think needs be
+given of them.
+
+The desideratum in both these cases is, some exercise by which the child
+shall be compelled to translate the words into their several ideas; and
+by reiterating the ideas themselves, not the words which convey them, he
+shall be enabled at once to commit them to the keeping of the memory,
+and thus make them part of his knowledge. The catechetical exercise
+supplies this want. For if, in either case, after the words have been
+read or repeated, the child is asked, "What did God make?" the
+translation of the words into the ideas, if previously neglected, is now
+forced upon him, because without this it is impossible for him to
+prepare the answer. The ideas must be drawn from the words, and
+reiterated by the mind, independently of the words, before the exercise
+can be completed. And not only must the particular idea which answers
+the question be extracted, but _the whole_ of the ideas contained in the
+sentence must be reiterated by the mind, before the selection can be
+begun, and the choice made. It is also specially worthy of remark, that
+even in such a case as this, where, on the sentence being read or heard,
+the words alone were at first perceived, yet no sooner does the mind
+proceed to its legitimate object, the reiteration of the ideas which the
+words convey, than the words themselves are instantly lost sight of, and
+in one sense are never again thought of. As soon as the kernel is
+extracted, the shell has lost its value. The pupil having once got sight
+of the ideas, tenaciously keeps hold of _them_, and never once thinks
+again of the words, which were merely the instrument employed by Nature
+to convey them. When the question is asked, and he answers it, the
+process consists in his translating the words of the whole sentence into
+their several ideas, chusing out the idea which answers the question
+from all the others, and then in clothing that idea in words which are
+now entirely his own.
+
+In all this there is a long and intricate series of mental exercises, in
+every one of which the mind is actively employed, and it is in this, as
+before explained, that the value of this exercise, in cultivating the
+powers of the mind, really consists. But our present business is with
+the acquisition of knowledge by its means; and we have to observe, that
+in each of the mental operations required for the answer of a single
+question, the ideas contained in the original sentence have repeatedly
+to undergo the process of reiteration; by which they are more clearly
+perceived, and more permanently fixed on the memory, than they otherwise
+could have been. Hence the value of this exercise, even in those cases
+where the original sentence has been at the first fully understood. This
+will appear obvious by tracing the mental operation of the pupil from
+the beginning, when he has to answer the question.
+
+There is first the understanding of the question asked at him. This must
+be heard and reiterated by the mind before its purport can be perceived,
+and all this before he can commence the proper mental operation upon the
+original sentence from which his answer is to be selected. He has then
+to review the words of the original sentence, still sounding in his
+ears, and to translate them into their several ideas, before he can
+begin to select the one required. Then comes the act of selection,
+having to chuse out from among all the others the special idea required
+as his answer; and lastly, there is the clothing of that idea in words
+suitable for the occasion, and the audibly pronouncing of these words as
+the answer required. The rapidity with which the mind passes from one
+part of this exercise to another, may prevent these several operations
+from being perceived, but it is not the less true that they must have
+taken place. And hence arises the value of the catechetical exercise,
+not only in cultivating in an extraordinary degree the mental faculties
+of the pupil, but in powerfully forcing information upon the mind, and
+permanently fixing it upon the memory for after use.
+
+But even this does not exhaust the catalogue of benefits to be derived
+from the use of the catechetical exercise in communicating knowledge to
+the young. We have supposed only one question to have been asked by the
+teacher upon the original sentence, and yet we have seen that this one
+question has in fact in a great measure secured the understanding of the
+whole of the ideas contained in it. But instead of one question, the
+catechetical exercise has the power of originating many, each producing
+successively similar results, but with greater ease to the child, and
+with much more effect in rivetting the several ideas upon the memory.
+The first question, when properly put, gives the pupil the command of
+the whole proposition; but it requires considerable mental effort in the
+child to recall the words, and internally to translate the ideas _for
+the first time_. But when this has once been done, and a second question
+is asked from the same sentence, the ideas being now more familiar,
+there is less mental labour required in preparing the answer, and there
+being equal success, there is of course more satisfaction. The ideas
+become much more clear and distinct before the mind by a second review;
+and the effect, in fixing the whole upon the memory, is much more
+powerful than it could be by means of the first. When therefore the
+teacher confines himself to the original sentence, and does not indulge
+in catechetical wanderings, the questions, "When did God make all
+things?" "How many things did God make?" "Of what did God make all
+things?" and, "Why did God make all things?" produce extensive and
+powerful effects. The pupil finds himself able to master each question
+in succession without difficulty, and the answering of each appears to
+him a triumph. Whoever has been in the habit of making use of this
+exercise in the manner explained above, must have witnessed with
+pleasure the life, and energy, and delight, which it invariably infuses
+into the scholar, giving education a perfectly different aspect from
+what it usually assumes in the eyes of the young, and making it even in
+the estimation of the pupil a formidable rival to his play. In this
+manner has Nature set her seal upon this exercise, as a near
+approximation to her own process for attaining the two preparatory
+objects she has in view in the education of the young; that of
+cultivating the powers of the mind, and that of communicating to her
+pupils the elements of knowledge.
+
+This exercise has been reduced to a regular system, which has placed it
+more directly at the command of all who undertake the instruction of the
+young. By a little attention on the part of parents and teachers, to a
+few simple rules, they may catechise upon any book, and apply the
+exercise to any species of knowledge whatever. We shall endeavour to
+explain the nature and uses of these rules.
+
+For the purposes of this exercise, the school books of the pupil are
+supposed to consist of sentences, each of the principal _words_ in which
+conveys some specific idea;--these again are combined into _clauses_,
+which also convey an idea;--and the combination of these clauses in a
+_sentence_, or _paragraph_, usually forms a complete truth. For example,
+the sentence, "God at first [made all things] of nothing [to shew his
+greatness,"] contains one great truth; but the sentence which conveys
+it, embodies at least two _clauses_, inclosed in brackets, while the
+whole is made up of _words_, each of which is the sign of an idea which
+may readily be separated from all the others. Now it is evident, that
+questions may be formed by the teacher relative to each of these three
+parts. He may ask a question, which shall require the _whole_ truth for
+the answer; or one which will be answered by a _clause_; or another
+which is answered by a _word_.
+
+In "revising," accordingly, where time is an object, the teacher
+confines himself to those general questions which bring out the _whole
+truth_ at once, as is exemplified in the Larger and Shorter Catechisms.
+This is called the "Connecting Exercise," because it is employed in
+uniting sections together, which have previously been taught to the
+pupils separately, but which are necessary to be perceived also in
+connection. This, however, would be too limited an exercise for the
+purpose of directing the mind to the several parts of a truth for the
+first time; and therefore the teacher in those cases forms his questions
+chiefly upon the _clauses_ in the sentence, and the other words which
+have some material relation to them, and this is called the "General
+Exercise." But even this is not enough, where the child is dull, or
+where healthful mental exercise is required; and accordingly in that
+case, the teacher not only questions upon the clauses in connection with
+the other principal words, but he takes the _words_, of which the
+clauses are composed, and catechises the child upon them also. This is
+called the "Verbal Exercise," which has been found of great value in the
+teacher's intercourse with his younger classes. Upon these principles
+the Initiatory Catechisms and their Keys have been formed, together with
+the several Helps for communicating Scriptural knowledge. The success of
+these school books, although labouring under all the disadvantages of
+new instruments, imperfectly formed to work out new principles, is
+mainly to be attributed to the close imitation of Nature aimed at in all
+their exercises.
+
+The _rule_ for the parent or teacher in mastering these exercises is the
+same in all; it consists simply in forming the question in such a
+manner, as that the word, the clause, or the whole proposition, shall be
+required to make the answer. Sufficient explanation and examples of all
+this will be found in the Note.[13]
+
+The uniform results of many experiments, have established the importance
+of this exercise as an instrument in communicating knowledge to the
+ignorant, whether young or old. We shall shortly advert to a few of the
+circumstances connected with these experiments, for the purpose of
+satisfactorily establishing this.
+
+In an experiment made in May 1828, under the direction of the Very Rev.
+Dr Baird, Principal of the University of Edinburgh, before the Lord
+Provost, and several of the Professors and Clergymen of that city, nine
+adult criminals, "taken without regard to their abilities," and who, in
+the opinion of Governor Rose, "formed a fair average of the usual
+prisoners," were, in the space of three successive weeks, exercised in
+whole for eighteen or twenty hours. They were at the end of that time
+minutely examined in the Chapel of the County Jail, in the presence of
+the Right Honourable and Reverend Professors and Gentlemen, who formed
+Principal Baird's committee; and their Report of the experiment and its
+effects bears, that "the result of this important experiment was, in
+every point, satisfactory. Not only had much religious knowledge been
+acquired by the pupils, and that of the most substantial, and certainly
+the least evanescent kind; but it appeared to have been acquired with
+ease, and even with satisfaction--a circumstance of material importance
+in every case, but especially in that of adult prisoners." "The
+examination evidently brought out only a specimen of their knowledge,
+and did by no means comprise all that had been acquired by them; but,
+even though it had constituted the whole amount of their information,
+the fact that such a treasure had been amassed in three weeks is in
+itself astonishing. The writer of this Minute was not acquainted with
+the extent of their acquirements when Mr Gall commenced his operations;
+but judging from the examination, and from his knowledge of the contents
+of the books taught, he has no hesitation in averring, that the answers
+which they gave, arose entirely from information communicated by them.
+And when he reflects that their answers, being clothed in their own
+words, guaranteed the fact, that it was _the ideas_ upon which they had
+seized, and that their knowledge participated in no degree of rote, the
+conviction to his mind is irresistible, that the universal application
+of the Lesson System to Prison Discipline, and to adults every where,
+would be followed by effects incalculably precious to the individuals
+themselves, and to the improving of society in general."
+
+The efficiency of this exercise in communicating knowledge, was equally
+conspicuous in another experiment, conducted under the eye of the
+Principal, Professors, and Clergymen of Aberdeen, in July 1828. The
+persons on whom this experiment was made, were children taken from the
+lower classes of society, carefully selected on two several days, by a
+committee of clergymen appointed for the purpose, from the various
+schools in the city. These children were all carefully and individually
+examined in private by the committee, and were chosen from among their
+companions, not on account of their natural abilities, or educational
+acquirements, but specially and simply on account of their ignorance.
+The precautions taken by the Rev. and learned examinators, to secure
+accuracy in their ultimate decision, were at once judicious and
+complete; and were intended to enable them to say with confidence at the
+close of the experiment, that the results, whatever they might be, were
+really the effects of the exercise and discipline to which the children
+during it had been subjected, and were in no respect due to the previous
+capacity or the attainments of the children.
+
+To secure this important preliminary object, therefore, the
+sub-committee of clergymen above alluded to was appointed, as soon as
+the experiment was determined upon, with instructions to collect a class
+of the most ignorant children they could find, attending the several
+schools, and who it was thought would be, of course, most incapacitated
+for receiving instruction. This sub-committee, consisting of the Rev.
+John Murray, the Rev. Abercromby L. Gordon, and the Rev. David Simpson,
+in their previous Report, say, "We, on two several days, met with the
+children which were collected from the various schools, and examined
+them individually, and apart from each other; avoiding every appearance
+of formality, and endeavouring to draw them into familiar conversation,
+that we might correctly ascertain the state of their religious knowledge
+on the three following points, which we considered to be the best
+criterion by which to judge of their understanding of the other less
+important points in the gospel scheme of salvation.--These points were,
+1. Our connection, as sinners, with Adam; 2. Our connection with Christ
+as the Saviour; 3. The means by which we become interested in the
+salvation of Christ. On minutely examining each child on these points,
+one by one, and endeavouring, by varied and familiar language and
+cross-questioning, without confusing their ideas, to ascertain the
+knowledge which they possessed on these first principles, we accurately,
+and at the time, minuted the result, distinguishing those points which
+they understood, and those which they did not. From this list we
+afterwards selected twenty-two names, of children who appeared from the
+list, to be the most ignorant, by _not having any marks of approval on
+any one of these points_ on which they were examined;--although delicacy
+to the children, as well as to their parents and teachers, prevented us
+from stating to them, that this was the principle by which we had been
+regulated in our selection. From these twenty-two children, Mr Gall has
+made up his class of ten, for this experiment, which he proposes shall
+continue for eight days, occupying two hours each day; and having thus
+chosen that class of pupils which appeared to us the most ignorant, we
+have, in justice to Mr Gall and this system of teaching, stated the
+fact, leaving the examinators to make what allowance they may on this
+account think proper, in determining on the failure or success of this
+very important and interesting experiment."
+
+This was the state of the children's knowledge and capacity when the
+experiment began; and the following was found to be the state of these
+same children's knowledge when examined publicly in the East Church,
+before the Very Rev. Principal, Professors, and Clergymen of the city,
+and a large congregation of the citizens, eight days afterwards.
+
+The children were first interrogated minutely on the doctrines of the
+gospel, which had been previously arranged in a list under sixteen
+different heads, embodying all the leading doctrinal points in the
+Confession of Faith and Shorter Catechism, a copy of which was handed to
+the Very Rev. Principal Jack, who presided. The Report of the
+Experiment, prepared by their Committee, goes on to say, that "After
+being examined generally and satisfactorily on each of these heads, the
+chairman, by means of a list of the names with which he was furnished,
+called up some of them individually, who were carefully examined, and
+shewed, by their answers, that they severally understood the nature of
+the above doctrines, and their mutual relation to each other.
+
+"They were then examined on the Old Testament History, from the account
+of the death of Moses, downwards, to that of the revolt of the Ten
+Tribes in the reign of Rehoboam. Here they distinctly stated and
+described all the leading circumstances of the narrative comprised in
+the 'First Step,' whose brief but comprehensive outline they appeared,
+in various instances, to have filled up at home, by reading in their
+Bibles the corresponding chapters. They were next examined in the same
+way, on several sections of the New Testament," with which they had also
+acquired an extensive practical knowledge, besides some useful
+information in Civil History, Biography, and Natural Philosophy, on all
+which they were closely and extensively examined.
+
+In another experiment, undertaken at the request, and under the
+sanction, of the Sunday School Union of London, the efficiency of this
+exercise, as a successful imitation of Nature in communicating
+knowledge, was also satisfactorily ascertained. We shall at present
+advert only to one feature of it, as being more immediately connected
+with the present branch of our subject, that of communicating knowledge
+to the most ignorant and depraved.
+
+The Report of this Experiment, drawn up by the Secretaries of that
+Institution, records, that "it had been requested, that, if possible,
+children should be procured, somewhat resembling the heathen, (or
+persons in a savage state,) whose intellectual and moral attainments
+were bounded only by their knowledge of natural objects, and whose
+feelings and obligations were of course regulated principally by
+coercion and fear of punishment."
+
+Two gentlemen of the Committee, accordingly, undertook the search, and
+at last procured from the streets three children, a boy and two girls of
+the ages, so far as could be ascertained, (for they themselves could not
+tell,) of seven, nine, and eleven years, whom we shall designate G, H,
+and I. These children had no knowledge of letters; knew no more than the
+name of God, and that he was in the skies, but could not tell any thing
+about him, or what he had done. They knew not who made the sun, nor the
+world, nor themselves. They had no idea of a soul, or that they should
+live after death. One had a confused idea of the name of Jesus, as
+connected with prayers; which, however, she did not understand, but had
+never heard of Adam, Noah, or Abraham. When asked if they knew any thing
+of Moses, one on them (viz. I,) instantly recollected the name; but when
+examined, it was found that she only referred to a cant term usually
+bestowed upon the old-clothesmen of London. They had no idea of a
+Saviour; knew nothing of heaven or hell; had never heard of Christ, and
+knew not whether the name belonged to a man or a woman. The boy, (H,)
+when strictly interrogated on this point, and asked, whether he indeed
+knew nothing at all of Jesus Christ, thinking his veracity called in
+question, replied with much earnestness, and in a manner that showed the
+rude state of his mind, "No; upon my soul, I do not!"
+
+This class, after eleven days' teaching, conducted in public, and in the
+presence of numbers of teachers, during one hour daily, were publicly
+examined in the Poultry Chapel, by a number of clergymen, before the
+Committee of the Sunday School Union, and a numerous congregation. The
+Report goes on to say, that the children of this class "were examined,
+minutely and individually, on the great leading doctrines of
+Christianity. The enumeration and illustrations of the several doctrines
+were given with a simplicity, and in a language, peculiarly their own;
+which clearly proved the value of that part of the Lesson System which
+enjoins the dealing with the ideas, rather than with the words; and
+which shewed, that they had acquired a clear knowledge of the several
+truths. They were also examined on some parts of the Old Testament
+History," with which, during that short period, they had been made
+thoroughly acquainted.
+
+These facts of themselves, and they could be enlarged to almost any
+extent, clearly prove the power and the value of this exercise in
+communicating knowledge to the young. And, as we have seen that its
+efficiency consists entirely in its close imitation of the process of
+Nature in accomplishing the same object, we are the better warranted to
+press upon the minds of all who are interested in education and the art
+of teaching, the importance of keeping strictly to Nature, so far as we
+can trace her operations; as it is by doing so alone that we are sure of
+success. It may no doubt be said, that there are other ways of
+communicating knowledge to the young, besides the catechetical exercise;
+and therefore the necessity of adopting it is neither so necessary nor
+so urgent. To this it may be answered, that there have been other plans
+adopted, in urgent cases, for the nourishment of the body, besides the
+common mode of eating and digesting food; but all such plans are
+unnatural, and are of course but momentary and inadequate;--this,
+therefore, would form no argument for depriving children of their food.
+But even this argument is not parallel; for, although it has been found
+that partial nourishment may be conveyed to the blood otherwise than by
+the stomach, it has not yet been ascertained that any idea can enter the
+mind, except by this act of "reiteration." Unless, therefore, something
+definite can be brought forward, which will secure the performance of
+this act, different from the catechetical exercise, or the several
+modifications of it, that exercise ought to be considered as a necessary
+agent in every attempt of the teacher to communicate knowledge.
+
+But this admission in a philosophical question is much more than is at
+all necessary for our present purpose. It is in every view of the case
+sufficient to shew, that knowledge cannot be imparted without voluntary
+active thought upon the ideas communicated, or what we have termed,
+"reiteration;"--and if this be once admitted, and if it can be shewn
+that the catechetical exercise produces this result _more certainly_,
+and _more powerfully_, than any other mode of instruction yet known,
+then nothing but prejudice will lead to the neglect of this, or will
+give the preference to another. And it is a remarkable fact, that on
+investigation it will be found, that almost every useful exercise
+introduced into schools within the last thirty years, owes its
+efficiency to the presence, more or less, of the principles which we
+have been explaining, as embodied in the catechetical exercise.[14]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[13] Note L.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. IV.
+
+
+_On the Means by which Nature may be imitated in Exercising the
+Principle of Individuation._
+
+
+While it appears to be a law of Nature, that there can be no
+accumulation of knowledge without the act of reiteration, yet there are
+other principles which she brings into operation in connection with it,
+by which the amount of the various branches of knowledge received is
+greatly increased, and the knowledge itself more easily comprehended,
+and more permanently retained upon the memory.
+
+The first of these principles, which we have before alluded to and
+described, is that of "individuation;" that principle by which an infant
+or child is induced to concentrate the powers of its mind upon a new
+object, and that to the exclusion for the time of every other, till it
+has become acquainted with it.
+
+In a former chapter we found, that as long as a child remains solely
+under the guidance of Nature, it will not allow its attention to be
+distracted by different _unknown_ objects at the same time; but whenever
+it selects one for examination, it invariably for the time abandons the
+consideration of every other. The consequence of this is, that infants,
+with all their physical and mental imbecility, acquire more real
+knowledge under the tuition of Nature in one year, than children who are
+double their age usually gain by the imperfect and unnatural exercises
+of unreformed schools in three or four. The cause of this is easily
+detected, and may be illustrated by the analogy of any one of the
+senses. The eye, for example, like the mind, must not only see the
+object, but it must look upon it--examine it--before the child can
+either become acquainted with it at the time, or remember it afterwards.
+But if unknown objects are made rapidly to flit past the eye of the
+child, so that this cannot be done before there is time to fix the
+attention upon any of them, the labour of the exhibitor is not only
+lost, but the sight of the child is impaired;--the eye itself is
+injured, and is less able, for some time afterwards, to look steadily
+upon any other object, even when that object is stationary. Such is the
+injury and the confusion created in the mind of a child when it is
+hurried forward from object to object, or from truth to truth, before
+the mind has had leisure to lay hold of them, or to concentrate its
+powers upon the ideas they suggest. The labour of the teacher in that
+case is not only lost, and the child harassed and irritated, but the
+powers of the mind, instead of being brightened and strengthened, are
+bewildered and mystified, and must therefore be weakened in a
+corresponding degree.
+
+The method to be adopted therefore for the imitation of Nature in the
+working of this principle, will consist in bringing forward, for the
+consideration of the child, every new letter, or word, or truth, or
+object, _by itself_. When presented separately and alone, there is no
+distraction of mind--no confusion of ideas; the child is allowed to
+consider it well before learning it, so that he will know something of
+its form or its nature, and will remember it again when it is either
+presented to his notice alone, or when it is grouped with others. His
+idea of the object or truth may be indistinct and faint at first, but it
+is correct so far as it goes; and the ideas which he retains concerning
+it, are obviously much more extensive, than if the mind at its first
+presentation had been disturbed or bewildered by the addition of
+something else.
+
+His idea of the object or the truth, after being repeatedly considered,
+may still be very inadequate, but it will now be distinct; and it is the
+want of this precision in the pupil's mind that so frequently deceives
+teachers, and confuses and obstructs the future advance of the scholars.
+When a child hears, or reads a passage, the teacher, who understands it
+himself, too often takes it for granted that the child as he proceeds is
+reiterating the ideas as well as himself, and is of course master of the
+subject. But this is not always the case; and wherever the child has not
+succeeded in doing so, all that follows in that lesson is usually to the
+child the cause of confusion and difficulty. He finds himself at a
+stand; and however far he may in these circumstances be dragged
+forward, he has not advanced a step, and he must at some future
+period,--and the sooner the better,--return again to the same point, and
+proceed anew under serious disadvantages.
+
+In almost every stage of a child's education, the neglect of this
+principle is seriously and painfully felt. It is the cause of acute
+mental suffering to well affected and zealous pupils; and it is the
+chief origin of all the heartlessness, and idleness, and apathy, which
+are found to pervade and regulate the conduct of those that are less
+active. A careful appliance of this principle of individuation,
+therefore, is always of importance in education; but it ought never to
+be forgotten, that it is more peculiarly valuable and necessary at the
+commencement, than at any other period of a child's progress in
+learning. We shall advert to a few of the methods by which it may be
+applied in ordinary school education, in contrast with some instances in
+which it is neglected.
+
+In teaching the alphabet to children, the principle of individuation is
+indispensable; and its neglect has been productive of serious and
+permanent mischief. A child of good capacity, by a proper attention to
+this principle, will, with pleasure and ease, learn the names and forms
+of the letters, with the labour of only a few hours;[15] while, by
+neglecting the principle, the same child would, after years of
+irritation and weariness, be still found ignorant of its alphabet. The
+overlooking of the principle at this period has done an immense deal of
+injury to the cause of education. It has, at the very starting post in
+the race of improvement, quenched and destroyed all the real, as well as
+the imaginary delights of learning and knowledge. It has given the tyro
+such an erroneous but overwhelming impression of the difficulties and
+miseries which he must endure in his future advance, that the disgust
+then created has often so interwoven itself with his every feeling, that
+education has during life appeared to him the natural and necessary
+enemy to every kind of enjoyment.
+
+It used to be common, and the practice may still we believe be found
+lingering among some of the lovers of antiquity, to make a child
+commence at the letter A, and proceed along the alphabet without
+stopping till he arrived at Z; and this lesson not unfrequently included
+both the alphabets of capitals and small letters. Now the cruelty of
+such an exercise with a child will at once be apparent, if we shall only
+change its form. If a teacher were to read over to an infant twice a-day
+a whole page or paragraph _without stopping_ of Cæsar or Cicero in
+Latin, and demand that on hearing it he shall learn it, we could at once
+judge of the difficulty, and the feelings of a volatile mind chained to
+the constant and daily repetition of such a task; and if this exercise
+were termed its "education," we can easily conceive the amount of
+affection that the child would learn to cherish towards it. Now this is
+really no exaggerated illustration of the matter in hand, for in both
+cases the principle of individuation, so carefully guarded and enforced
+by Nature, is equally outraged; and it is only where, by some means or
+other, a remedy for the evil accidentally occurs, that the result in the
+case of the alphabet, is not exactly the same as it would have been in
+the case of the classics above supposed. The writer once saw in a Sunday
+school, where the children were taught twice each Sabbath, a class in
+which some of the children had attended for upwards of two years, and
+were still in their alphabet; and if the same mode had been pursued,
+there is little doubt that they would have been in it yet.
+
+The remedy for this evil is obvious. Instead of confounding the eye and
+the mind of the child, by rapidly parading twenty-six, or fifty-four
+forms, continuously and without intermission before the pupil, the
+letters ought to be presented to the child singly, or at most by two at
+a time; and these two should be rendered familiar, both in name and in
+form, before another character is introduced. When a few of the more
+conspicuous letters have become familiar, another is to be brought
+forward, and the child may be made to amuse himself, by picking out from
+a page of a book, all the letters he has learned, naming them, and if
+necessary describing them to a companion or a sub-monitor as they occur.
+Or he may be set down by himself, with a waste leaf from an old book, or
+pamphlet, or newspaper, to prick with a pin the new letter or letters
+last taught him; or, as an introduction to his writing, he may be made
+to score them gently with ink from a fine tipped pen. In these
+exercises, and all others which are in their nature similar, the
+principle of individuation is acknowledged and acted upon; and therefore
+it is, that a child will, by their means, acquire an acquaintance with
+the letters in an exceedingly short time, and, which is of still greater
+importance, without irritation or trouble. These methods may sometimes
+be rendered yet more effective, by the teacher applying the catechetical
+exercise to this comparatively dry and rather forbidding part of a
+child's education. It proceeds upon the principle of describing each
+letter, and attaching its name to the description, such as "round o,"
+"spectacle g," "top dotted i," &c. as in the "Classified Alphabet." The
+teacher has thus an opportunity of exercising the child's imagination,
+as well as its memory, and making a monotonous, and comparatively
+unintellectual exercise, one of considerable variety and amusement.
+
+In teaching the alphabet to adults, whose minds are capable of
+appreciating and applying the principle of analysis, the "Classified
+Alphabet" should invariably be used. By this means their memory, in
+endeavouring to recall the form and name of any particular letter,
+instead of having to search through the whole _twenty-six_, has never to
+think of more than the four or five which compose its class,--a
+circumstance which makes the alphabet much more easily acquired by the
+adult than by a child. But even here, the principle of individuation
+must not be lost sight of; each letter in the class must be separately
+learned, and each class must be familiar, before another is taught.
+
+The principle of individuation continues to be equally necessary in
+teaching children to combine the letters in the formation of words; and
+when it is attended to, and when the only real use of letters, as the
+mere symbols of sound, is understood by the pupil, a smart child may be
+taught to read in a few minutes. This is not a theory, but a
+fact,--evidenced in the experience of many, and in the presence of
+thousands. Nor is it necessary that the words which are taught, should
+consist only of two or three letters; if the word be familiar to the
+child in speech, it becomes instantly known, when divided and taught in
+parts or syllables; and when once it is learned by the sounds of the
+letters, though these sounds merely approximate to the pronunciation of
+the word, it is sufficient to give a _hint_ of what the word is, and
+when once it is known, it will not likely be again forgotten. By this
+means, the child is never puzzled except by entirely new words; and by
+knowing the use of the letters in their sounds, he receives a key by
+which at least to _guess_ at them, which the sense of the subject
+greatly assists; so that one day, or even one hour, is sometimes, and we
+have no doubt will soon be generally, sufficient to overcome the
+hitherto forbidding and harassing drudgery of learning to read.
+
+In teaching children their first lessons, it is of great importance that
+the main design of reading should be clearly understood, and attended
+to. As writing, philosophically considered, is nothing more than an
+artificial substitute for speaking, so reading is nothing more than an
+artificial substitute for hearing, and is subject to all the laws which
+regulate that act. Now one of the chief laws impressed by Nature on the
+act of _hearing_ the speech of others, is the very remarkable one
+formerly alluded to, namely, the exclusive occupation of the mind with
+the _ideas_ communicated, to the entire exclusion of the _words_, which
+are merely the means by which the ideas are conveyed. The words are no
+doubt heard, but they are never thought of;--for if they were, the mind
+would instantly become distracted, and the ideas would be lost. This law
+equally applies to the act of _reading_; and every one feels, that
+perfection in this art is never attained, till the mind is exclusively
+occupied with the ideas in the book, and never in any case with the
+words which convey them. But in learning to read, the difficulty of
+decyphering the words, tends to interfere with this law, and this must
+be guarded against. The remedy simply is, to allow the child time to
+overcome this first difficulty, by repeatedly, if necessary, reading the
+sentence till he can read it perfectly; and then, before leaving it, to
+discipline the mind to the perception of the ideas it contains, now that
+the child can read it well.
+
+The catechetical exercise, as in the "First Class Book on the Lesson
+System," will almost always accomplish the object here pointed out; and
+the value of the exercise it recommends will be best understood and
+appreciated, by observing the evils which invariably follow its neglect.
+For if the child be allowed to read on and on, while the difficulty of
+decyphering the words in the book remains, the ideas will be left
+behind, the attention will be fatigued, and at last exhausted. The child
+will continue to read without understanding; and the habit thus acquired
+of reading the words, without perceiving the ideas at all, will soon be
+established and confirmed. Custom has robbed this relict of a former age
+of much of its repulsiveness; but it is not the less hurtful on that
+account. Were we to run a parallel with it in any other matter, its true
+nature and deformity would at once appear. For example, were we to
+suppose ourselves listening to an imperative message from a superior, by
+a messenger with whose language we were but partially acquainted, we
+would not allow him to proceed with his communication from beginning to
+end, while the very first sentence he uttered, had not been understood,
+and the mind was unprepared for that which was to follow. We would stop
+him at the close of the very first sentence, and would master the
+meaning of that, before we would advance with him another step; and then
+we would make him proceed at such a pace as we could keep up with him.
+If he left us again behind, there would be but one remedy. He must
+return and repeat the sentence where he left us, till we had
+comprehended his master's meaning; and if he refused to do this, he
+could not conscientiously say to him on his return, that he had
+delivered his message. By following this plan, and adopting this branch
+of the natural principle of individuation in such a case, two benefits
+would arise. We would first become perfectly acquainted with the will
+and message of our superior; and next, we would, at the close of the
+exercise, be so much more familiar with the language in which it was
+delivered, as that it would require less effort on a future occasion, to
+comprehend the meaning of the same speaker. If this method had not been
+adopted, and the message had been given entire and without a pause, it
+might have been rehearsed in our hearing a hundred times, but the
+meaning would neither have been mastered, nor would our knowledge of the
+language have been in the least improved.
+
+The application of this principle of individuation in the early stages
+of a child's learning to read, suggests the propriety also of making
+some preparation for his reading every new lesson in succession. We have
+seen that it is chiefly the new words in a lesson that create
+difficulty, and prevent the operation of that important law in Nature
+which induces the mind at once to lay hold of the ideas. To obviate this
+distraction of mind therefore beforehand, the new words which _are to
+occur_ in the lesson should be selected, and made familiar to the child
+previously, and by themselves;--he should be taught to read them easily
+by the combination of their letters, and clearly to understand their
+meaning, in precisely the same shade in which they are used in the
+lesson he is to read. When this is done, the lesson will be read with
+ease and with profit;--while, without this, the difficulty will be much
+greater, if not beyond his powers. In accordance with this plan, the
+"First Class Book," before referred to, has been constructed, and its
+efficiency on that account is greatly increased.
+
+The neglect of this special application of the principle has been long
+and painfully felt in society, and most of all where the young have been
+sent earliest to school. The habit of reading the words without
+understanding the meaning of what they read, having once been acquired,
+the weak powers of children are not sufficient to overcome the
+difficulties with which this habit has surrounded them. They feel
+themselves burdened and harassed with unnatural and unmeaning exercises
+for years, before they can acquire the art of reading the words of the
+simplest school book; and, what is still worse, after they have left the
+school, and have entered upon the busy scenes of life, they find, that
+they have now to teach themselves an entirely new art,--the art of
+_understanding by reading_. Instead of all this waste of energy, and
+patience, and time, experience has fully proved, that by following the
+plain and easy dictates of Nature, as above explained, all the drudgery
+of learning to read may be got over in a week,--it has been times
+without number accomplished in a single day,[16]--and this without any
+harassing exertion, and generally with delight. Of the truth of this, a
+few out of many instances may here be enumerated.
+
+In the summer of 1831, the writer one morning found himself, by mere
+accident, and a perfect stranger, in a Sunday school in the borough of
+Southwark, London. He attached himself first to a class of children,
+some of whom he found on enquiry had been two years at the school, and
+were yet only learning the alphabet. In the same school, and on the same
+morning, a young man who only knew his letters, but had never yet
+attempted to put them together, was classified with the infants, whom he
+had willingly joined in his anxiety to learn. He had a lesson by
+himself. By a rigid adherence to the above principle of individuation,
+this young man, to his own great astonishment, was able in a few minutes
+to read a verse. The lesson went on, and in somewhat less than half an
+hour he had mastered several verses, and now knew perfectly how to make
+use of the letters in decyphering the several words. By that one lesson
+he found himself quite able to teach himself. In proof of this, as was
+afterwards ascertained, he read that same day on going home, without
+help, nineteen verses of the same chapter; and these verses, on
+returning to school on the same afternoon, he read correctly and without
+hesitation, to his usual and astonished teacher. There can be no doubt,
+from this circumstance, that if it had been at all necessary, he could,
+without further aid, and with still greater ease, have read a second
+nineteen verses, and perfected himself by practice in this important,
+and supposed difficult art of reading, by this one lesson of less than
+half an hour.
+
+In a later experiment, made in Dumfries, in the presence and under the
+sanction of Sir Thomas Kirkpatrick, and the clergymen and teachers of
+that town, the power of this principle was put to a severe trial, in a
+very unexpected and extraordinary manner. The week-day teachers of that
+town having heard of some of the above circumstances, and of the powers
+of the Lesson System generally, in enabling children to read with but
+little trouble, were desirous of having its powers tested in that town,
+where the writer happened to be for a few days. He agreed; and Sir
+Thomas Kirkpatrick, the Sheriff of the county, with the clergymen and
+teachers, at his request, formed themselves into a committee for the
+purposes of the investigation. A sub-committee of the week-day teachers
+were appointed to procure a boy to be taught, which they did, and who,
+on being closely examined at a preliminary public meeting of the whole
+examinators, was found totally ignorant of words, and knew not one
+letter from another, with the exception, of "the round o."
+
+With this boy the writer retired, having agreed to call them again
+together at a public meeting, as soon as he was ready. This at the time
+he did not doubt would have been on the very next day;--but he was
+disappointed. He had not been five minutes with his pupil, till he
+found, to his great mortification, that he had little or no intellect to
+work upon. The boy was twelve years of age, and yet he was perfectly
+ignorant of all the days of the week, except one, the market day, on
+which he was in the practice of making a few pence by holding the
+farmers' horses. He could in no case tell what day of the week went
+before or followed another. He could count numbers forward mechanically
+till among the teens; but by no effort of mind could he tell what number
+came before nine, till he had again counted forward from one. The most
+obvious deduction from the simplest idea appeared to be quite beyond the
+grasp of his mind. For example, though repeatedly told that John was
+Zebedee's son, yet, after frequent trials, he could never make out, nor
+comprehend who was John's father. Yet this boy,--one certainly among the
+lowest in the grade of intellect of our species,--by a rigid application
+of the principle of individuation, was enabled to overcome a great part
+of the drudgery of learning to read, by exactly eight hours' teaching.
+This boy, who at the preliminary meeting on Wednesday, knew only "the
+round o," read correctly in the Court-House on the following Monday, a
+section of the New Testament, to the Rev. Dr Duncan, minister of
+Ruthwell, before the Sheriff, clergymen, teachers, and a large assembly
+of the inhabitants of Dumfries. To ascertain that he had in that time
+really _learned to read_, and that he did not repeat the words of the
+section by rote, he was made to read before the audience, in a chapter
+of the Old Testament, and then from a newspaper, the same words that he
+had read in his lesson. This he did readily, and without a mistake.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[14] For some practical information and directions connected with the
+subjects in this chapter, see Note M.
+
+[15] Note N.
+
+[16] Note H.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. V.
+
+_On the Means by which Nature may be imitated in Applying the Principle
+of Grouping, or Association._
+
+
+The principle of Grouping, or Association, as employed by Nature in her
+educational process, is obviously intended to enable the pupil easily to
+receive knowledge, and to assist the memory in retaining and keeping it
+ever after at the command of the will. It is employed to unite many
+objects or truths into one aggregate mass, which is received as
+one,--having the component parts so linked, or associated together, that
+when any one part is afterwards brought before the mind, it has the
+power of immediately conjuring up, and holding in review, all the
+others. For example, when a child enters a room in which its parents and
+relations are severally employed, the whole scene is at a single glance
+comprehended and understood, and will afterwards be distinctly
+remembered in all its parts. The elements of the scene are no doubt all
+familiar, but the particular grouping of these elements are _entirely
+new_, and form an addition to his knowledge, as we formerly explained,
+as substantial, and as distinct, as the grouping of any other kind of
+objects or circumstances could possibly do. Here then is a certain
+amount of knowledge acquired by the child, which could be recorded in
+writing, or which might be communicated by words; but which, by the
+operation of this principle of grouping, has been acquired with greater
+ease, and in much less time, than he could either have read it, or
+described it. It has been done in this instance by Nature bringing the
+_ideas_ suggested by the group directly before the mind of the child,
+without even the intervention of words; and we see by this example, how
+much more laborious it would have been to communicate the very same
+amount of knowledge to the pupil, by making him _read_ the description
+of it, and how utterly preposterous and unnatural it would be to compel
+him, for the same purpose, to commit the words of that description to
+memory. The words are merely an artificial contrivance for the conveying
+of ideas;--and the more they can be kept out of view, it will be better
+for the teacher, and more natural and easy for the child.
+
+In communicating knowledge, therefore, to the young, the more directly
+and simply the ideas to be communicated are presented to the mind the
+better. They must usually be communicated by words; but these, as the
+mere instruments of conveyance, should be kept as much as possible out
+of view. To bring them at all under the notice of the child is a defect;
+but to make them the chief object of learning, or to make the pupil
+commit them to memory, is not only laborious and unnecessary, but is
+unnatural and hurtful.
+
+In all this we ought simply to take our lessons from Nature, if we wish
+to succeed in conveying knowledge by the combination of simple objects.
+In the above example, we have seen that a single glance was sufficient
+to give the infant a distinct idea of the whole scene; and the reason
+is, that the principle of individuation had previously done its work.
+Each of the elements of which the scene was composed, had undergone an
+individual and separate examination, and therefore each was familiar.
+This is Nature's method of communicating knowledge to the young; and it
+is obvious, that a different arrangement of the objects or actions would
+have made no difference in the effects produced by the operation of the
+principle. Whatever the circumstances might have been, the new scene,
+with all its variety of incidents, persons, and things, which it would
+take ten-fold more time to enumerate than to learn, would at once be
+impressed on the mind, and delivered over to the keeping of the memory,
+without labour, or any perceptible effort. The whole grouping forms a
+chain of circumstances, any one link in which, when afterwards laid hold
+of by the mind, brings up all the others in connection with it. The
+memory by this means is relieved from the burden of remembering all the
+individualities, and the innumerable details of the scene, by
+maintaining a comprehensive hold of the whole united group, as one
+undivided object for remembrance.
+
+From this it appears evident, that this principle is intended to succeed
+that of individuation, and never to precede it. Objects and truths which
+form the elements of knowledge must be individually familiar, before
+they can be successfully grouped, or associated together in masses, in
+the way in which the several parts of the knowledge of the young are
+usually presented; but after these objects or truths have once become
+known, they may be permanently associated together in any variety of
+form without fatigue, and be retained on the memory for use without
+confusion or distraction of any kind.
+
+In our investigations into the nature and working of this principle, as
+detailed in a former chapter, we found several causes which gave rise
+to certain uniform effects, which, for the purpose of imitation or
+avoidance, may be classed under the following heads:--We found,
+
+1. That wherever the principle of grouping acted with effect, it had
+always been preceded by the principle of individuation.
+
+2. That wherever the principle of individuation was made to interfere,
+the effect intended by the principle of association was in the same
+degree obstructed or destroyed.
+
+3. That whenever ideas or objects, whether known or unknown, were
+presented to a child in greater number than the mind could receive or
+reiterate them, it silently dropped the surplus;--but if these were
+_forced_ upon the mind, all the mischiefs arising from the interference
+of the two hostile principles immediately took place.
+
+4. That children, in grouping under the tuition of Nature, received and
+retained the impressions of objects presented to their notice, in a
+natural and regular order;--forming in their minds a continuous moving
+scene, where motion formed a part of it; and that this movement of the
+objects, actually was a portion of the grouping.
+
+These being the facts connected with this portion of Nature's
+educational process, the object of the teacher should be to endeavour to
+imitate her in all these circumstances; carefully avoiding what she has
+shewn to be inoperative and hurtful, and copying as closely as possible
+all those that tend to forward the objects of instruction.
+
+The first thing then to be attended to by the teacher, is, that in every
+attempt to communicate knowledge to a child by the grouping of objects,
+he takes care that the principle of individuation has preceded it;--that
+is, that the various ideas or objects to be grouped, be individually
+familiar to the pupil. In communicating a story, therefore, or an
+anecdote, or in teaching a child to read, care must be taken that the
+objects or individual truths, the words, or the letters, be previously
+taught by themselves, before he be called upon to group them in masses,
+whether greater or smaller. If this be neglected, an important law of
+Nature is violated, and the lesson to this extent will be ineffective,
+or worse. But if, on the contrary, this rule be attended to, the pupil,
+when he comes to these objects in the act of grouping, is prepared for
+the process; he meets with nothing that he is not familiar with; he has
+nothing to learn, and has only to allow the objects to take their proper
+places, as when he looked into the room, and grouped its contents as
+before supposed. All this being perfectly natural, is accomplished
+without effort, and with ease and pleasure.--This precaution on the part
+of the teacher, will at once remove many of the difficulties and
+embarrassments which have hitherto pressed so heavily upon the pupil in
+almost every stage of his advance, but more especially in the early
+stages of his learning to read.[17]
+
+As an illustration of our meaning, we may notice here, that a child who
+knows what is meant by "sheep," and "the keeping of sheep," of "tilling
+the ground," and "making an offering to God," &c. is prepared to hear or
+to read an abridgement of the story of Cain and Abel. We say _an
+abridgement_ or _first step_, for reasons which shall afterwards be
+explained. Without a previous knowledge of these several elements of
+which this story is compounded, he could neither have listened to it
+with pleasure, nor read it with any degree of profit; but as soon as
+these are individually familiar, the grouping,--the knowledge of the
+whole story,--is a matter of ease, and generally of delight. As the
+story advances, it causes a constant and regular series of groupings on
+the mind by the imagination, which are at once exquisitely pleasing and
+permanent. The child, as in a living and moving picture, imagines a man
+laboriously digging the ground, and another man in a distant field
+placidly engaged in attending to the wants and the safety of a flock of
+sheep. He imagines the former heaping an altar with fruits and without
+fire; and the latter killing a lamb, laying its parts on an altar, while
+a stream of fire descends from the skies and consumes it. His
+imagination goes on with increasing interest to picture the
+quarrel-scene in the field; and he in effect sees the blow given by the
+club of Cain, that destroyed the life of his brother. All this living
+and moving scene will be remembered in groups; and these groups will be
+more or less closely linked together, and will be imagined more or less
+distinctly as a whole, in proportion to the mental advancement of the
+particular child.
+
+The next thing to be attended to in communicating knowledge to a child
+by grouping, is, that no strange for unknown object or idea be
+introduced among those which he is called upon to group; because in that
+case, the operation will be materially interfered with, and either
+marred or destroyed. The completeness of this operation in the hands of
+Nature, depends in a great measure, as we have seen, upon the perfect
+composure and self-possession of the mind during the process. If there
+be no interruption,--no element of distraction introduced into the
+exercise,--all the circumstances, as they arise in the gradual
+developement of the story, are comprehended and grouped. The living and
+moving picture is permanently fixed upon the memory, so that it may be
+recalled and reviewed at any future time. But if, on the contrary, the
+placidity of the mind be interrupted,--if some strange and unknown
+object be introduced, whose agency is really necessary for connecting
+the several parts of the story,--the very attempt of the child to
+become individually acquainted with it, throws the whole process into
+confusion; and he has either to drop the contemplation of this necessary
+part of the machinery, or to lose the benefit of all that is detailed
+during the time he is engaged with it. In either case the end is not
+gained; and the great design aimed at by the teacher,--the communication
+of the knowledge connected with the narrative,--is more or less
+frustrated. Like the landscape pictured on the placid bosom of the lake,
+the formation and contemplation of his own undisturbed imaginings are
+delightful to the child; but the introduction of an unknown object, like
+the dropping of a stone in the former case, produces confusion and
+distortion, which are always unpleasant and painful.
+
+One general reason why the introduction of unknown objects into these
+groupings of the child is so pernicious, may also be here adverted to.
+It arises from the circumstance, that no person, whether young or old,
+can form, even in his imagination, the idea of an entirely new thing.
+This is commonly illustrated by the well known fact, that it is
+impossible to conceive of a new sense;--but it is equally applicable to
+the conception of a new object. Adults can no doubt conceive and picture
+on their imaginations, objects and scenes which they never saw;--but
+this mental act is not the imagining of an entirely new thing. All such
+scenes or things are compounded of objects, or parts of objects, which
+they have seen, and with which they are familiar. They can readily
+picture to themselves a centaur or a cerberus, a mermaid or a
+dragon,--creatures which have no existence, and which never did exist;
+but a little reflection will shew, that nothing which the mind conceives
+of these supposed animals is really new, but is merely a new combination
+of elements, or parts of other animals, already familiar. Children
+accordingly can easily conceive the idea of a giant or a dwarf, a woman
+without a head, or a man with two, because the elements of which these
+anomalies are compounded are individually familiar to them;--but were
+they told of a person sitting in a howdah, or being conveyed in a
+palanquin, without having these objects previously explained or
+described to them, the mind would either be drawn from the story to find
+out what these meant, and thus they would lose it; or they would, on the
+spur of the moment, substitute in their minds something else which
+perhaps had no likeness to them, and which would lead them into serious
+error. For example, they might suppose that the one was a house, and the
+other a ship;--a supposition which would distort the whole narrative,
+and would render many of its parts inconsistent and incomprehensible.
+
+As adults then, in every similar case, are under the necessity of
+drawing materials from their general knowledge, for the purpose of
+compounding all such unknown objects, it must be much more difficult for
+a child to do this, not only because of his want of ability, but his
+want of materials. The remedy therefore in this case is, to explain and
+describe the objects that are to be grouped, before the pupil be called
+upon to do so. And when the object has not been seen by the child, and
+cannot be exhibited by a picture, or otherwise, the teacher must exert
+his ingenuity in enabling him to form an idea of the thing that is
+unknown, by a combination of parts of objects which are. Thus a tiger
+may be described as resembling a large cat; a wolf, a fox, or even a
+lion, as resembling certain kinds of dogs; a howdah as a smaller sofa,
+and a palanquin, as a light crib. In all these cases, it is worthy of
+notice, that a mere difference of size never creates confusion;--simply
+because, by a natural law in optics, such differences are of constant
+occurrence in the experience both of children and adults. A water neut
+will convey a sufficiently correct idea of a crocodile; and the picture
+of an elephant, only one inch square, will create no difficulty, if the
+correct height be given. When these rules have been attended to, it will
+be found, that this principle in Nature has been successfully imitated;
+and the pupil, by the previous process of individuation, will be
+perfectly prepared for the delightful task of grouping the objects which
+he now knows. When he comes to these objects in the narrative, he
+conceives the idea of them accurately, and he groups them without
+effort. There is no hesitation, and no confusion in his ideas. The
+painting formed upon the mind is correct; the whole picture is united
+into one connected scene, and is permanently imprinted on the memory for
+future use.
+
+Another circumstance connected with this principle of grouping in
+children, we found to be, that when, at any time a greater number of
+objects were presented to the mind than it was able to reiterate and
+group, it silently dropt the surplus, and grouped those only which came
+within the reach of its powers; but if in any instance an attempt was
+made to _force_ the child to receive and reiterate the ideas of objects
+beyond a certain point, the mind got confused, and its powers
+weakened.--The imitation of Nature in this point is also of great
+importance in education, particularly in teaching and exercising
+children in reading. To perceive this more clearly, it will be necessary
+to make a few remarks on the nature of the art of reading.
+
+Reading is nothing more than a mechanical invention, imitative of the
+act of hearing; as writing is a mechanical mode of indicating sounds,
+and thus becomes a substitute for the art of speaking, and conveying
+ideas. But there is this material difference between reading and
+hearing, that in hearing the person giving attention is in a great
+measure passive, and may, or may not attend as he pleases. He may
+receive part of what is said, and, as prompted by Nature, he may
+silently drop all that he cannot easily reiterate. But in the act of
+reading, the person has both the active and the passive operations to
+perform. His mind, while he reads, must be actively engaged in
+decyphering the words of his book, and the ideas are, or should be, by
+this act, forced upon the observation of the mind at the same time. As
+long, therefore, as the child is required to read nothing except that
+which he understands, and to read no more, and no faster, than his mind
+can without distraction receive and reiterate the ideas which he reads,
+the act of grouping will be performed with ease, and with evident
+delight, and the powers of the mind will be healthfully and extensively
+exercised and strengthened:--But if this simple principle of Nature be
+violated, the exercise becomes irritating to the child, and most
+pernicious in its consequences. The neglect of this application of the
+principle is so common in education, that it usually escapes
+observation; but on this very account it demands from us here a more
+thorough investigation.
+
+We say then, that this principle is violated when a child is required to
+read that which it does not, and perhaps cannot understand; and also
+when he is required to read more, or to read faster, than he is able to
+reiterate the ideas in his own mind. On each of these cases we shall say
+a few words, for the purpose of warning and directing the teacher in
+applying this important principle in education.
+
+Let us then suppose a child set to read a section which he does not, and
+which there is every probability he cannot understand, and then let us
+carefully mark the consequences. The child in such a case reads the
+words in his book, which ought to convey to his mind the ideas which the
+words contain. This is the sole purpose of either hearing or reading.
+But this is not accomplished. The words are read, and the ideas are not
+perceived; but the child is required to read on. He does so; and of
+course when the first part of the subject or sentence has been beyond
+his reach, the second, which most probably hangs upon it, must be much
+more so. In this therefore he also fails; but he is still required to
+read on. Here is a practice begun, which at once defeats the very
+intention of reading, and allows the child's mind to roam upon any thing
+or every thing, while the eye is mechanically engaged with his book. The
+habit is soon formed. The child reads; but his attention is gone. He
+does not, and at length he cannot, understand by reading. This habit, as
+we formerly explained, when it is once formed, it requires great efforts
+on the part of the child to overcome. Most people when they are actively
+engaged in life, do at last overcome it; while thousands, who have
+nominally been taught to read, never can surmount the difficulties it
+involves. Many on this account, and for want of practising an art which
+they cannot profitably use, lose the art altogether.
+
+But again, let us suppose a child set to read that which he may
+understand, but which he is required to read more rapidly than allows
+him to perceive and to reiterate the ideas while reading, and let us
+mark what are the necessary consequences in such a case. The child is
+called on to read a sentence, and he does so. He understands it too. But
+the art of reading is not yet familiar, and he has to bend part of his
+attention to the decyphering of the words, as well as to the perception
+and reiteration of the ideas. This requires more time in a child to whom
+reading is not yet familiar, than to a child more advanced. But give him
+a little time, and the matter is accomplished the ideas have been
+received, and they will be reiterated, grouped, and committed to the
+keeping of the memory,--and then they will form part of his knowledge.
+But if this time be not given,--if the child, while engaged in
+collecting the ideas from the words of one sentence, be urged forward to
+the reading of another, the mental confusion formerly described
+instantly takes place. More ideas are forced upon the mind than it can
+reiterate; no group can be formed, because the elements of which it
+ought to be composed, have not yet been perceived; the imagination gets
+bewildered;--the mind is unnaturally burdened;--its faculties are
+overstretched;--the child is discouraged and irritated; the powers of
+his mind fatigued and weakened; and the whole object of the teacher is
+at once defeated, and rendered worse than useless.--In every case,
+therefore, when the child is called on to read, sufficient time should
+be given;--the teacher taking care that the main design of reading, that
+of collecting and grouping ideas, be always accomplished; and that the
+pupil reads no more at one time than he can thoroughly understand and
+retain.
+
+There is yet another circumstance connected with this process of
+grouping, which ought not to be overlooked. It refers to the order in
+which the objects to be grouped by the child are presented to his
+notice. A child under the guidance of Nature, receives and retains its
+impressions of objects in a natural and simple order. When it witnesses
+a scene, the group of objects, or actions formed and pictured on the
+mind by the imagination, is exactly as they were seen, the one
+circumstance following the other in natural and regular order. In
+telling a story therefore to a child, and more especially in composing
+lessons for them to read, this part of Nature's plan should be carefully
+studied and acted upon. The elements of which the several groupings are
+composed, or the circumstances in the narrative to be related, should be
+presented in the order in which the eye would catch them in Nature, or
+the order in which they occurred, that there may be no unnecessary
+retrogression of the mind, no confounding of ideas, no fear of losing
+the links that connect and bind together the minor groupings of the
+story. In the history of Cain and Abel, for example, the child is not to
+be required to paint upon his imagination, a deadly struggle between two
+persons of whom as yet he knows nothing; and then, retiring backwards
+in the story, be made acquainted with the circumstances connected with
+their several offerings to God; and last of all, their parentage, their
+occupations, and their characters. The minds of the young and
+inexperienced would be perplexed and bewildered by such a plan of
+proceeding; and the irregularity would most probably be the cause of
+their losing the whole story. The opposite of this plan is no doubt
+frequently adopted in works of fiction prepared for adults, and for the
+sake of effect; but every one must see that it is unnecessary in simple
+history, and is not at all adapted for the instruction of the young.
+When Nature's method is adopted, the child collects and groups the
+incidents as he proceeds, and paints, without effort, the whole living
+and moving scene on his imagination, as if he himself had stood by, and
+been an eye-witness of the original events.
+
+The ascertained benefits of these modes of imitating Nature, are
+literally innumerable; and it is happily within the power of every
+parent or teacher, in a single hour, to test them for himself. We shall
+merely advert to one or two instances which occurred in the recorded
+experiments, where their effects, in combination with the other
+principles, were conspicuous.
+
+In the experiment upon the prisoners in the County Jail of Edinburgh,
+the acquisition of their knowledge of Old Testament History, instead of
+being a burden, was to them a source of unmingled gratification. There
+were painted upon their minds the leading incidents in the history of
+the patriarchs, not only in groups, but their judgments being ripened,
+they were able to perceive them in regular connection. These pictures,
+then so pleasantly impressed on their imaginations, are likely to remain
+with them through the whole of their lives. The Report says, that "they
+were examined on their knowledge of the Book of Genesis," and "gave a
+distinct account of its prominent facts from Adam down to the
+settlement in Goshen, and shewed by their answers that these
+circumstances were understood by them in their proper nature and
+bearings."
+
+By the same means, but in less time, and to a greater extent, the same
+object was attained with the children in Aberdeen, who, though chosen
+from the schools specially on account of their want of knowledge, were,
+by only a few hours teaching, enabled, besides many other subjects of
+knowledge, to receive and retain on their minds the great leading
+circumstances that occurred from "the death of Moses downwards, to that
+of the revolt of the ten tribes in the reign of Rehoboam."
+
+In the experiment in London also, a large portion of Old Testament
+history, with much other knowledge, was acquired in a few hours by a boy
+of about nine years of age, who, previously to the commencement of the
+experiment, knew no more of God than the name;--who had no idea of a
+soul, or that he should live after death;--who "had never heard of Adam,
+Noah, or Abraham;"--"had no idea of a Saviour; knew nothing of heaven or
+hell; had never heard of Christ, and knew not whether the name belonged
+to a man or a woman." Yet this boy, in an exceedingly short time, could
+give an account of many groupings in the Old Testament history.
+
+We shall only remark, in conclusion, that if, by the proper application
+of this principle, so much knowledge may be acquired by rude and
+ignorant children, not only without effort, but in the enjoyment of
+great satisfaction; what may not be expected in ordinary circumstances,
+when the pupils are regularly trained and prepared for the purpose, and
+when all the principles employed by Nature in this great work, are made
+to unite their aids, and to work in harmony together for producing an
+enlightened and virtuous population? This may most assuredly be gained
+in an exceedingly short period of time, by a close and persevering
+imitation of Nature in these educational processes.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[17] Note O.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. VI.
+
+_On the Methods by which Nature may be imitated in Communicating
+Knowledge by Classification, or Analysis._
+
+
+In a former chapter we had occasion to notice a fourth principle brought
+into operation by Nature in the acquisition of knowledge, which is the
+principle of Classification, or Analysis; and we shall now enquire how
+this principle may be successfully imitated by the teacher for the
+furtherance of his art.
+
+There are two forms, which in a former chapter we endeavoured to trace
+out and explain, in which this principle of Analysis appears in the
+educational process of Nature. We shall here again very shortly advert
+to them, beginning with that which in education is perhaps the most
+important, but which hitherto has certainly been least attended
+to,--that of teaching connected truths by progressive steps.
+
+When we read a connected section of history for the first time, and then
+examine the state of our knowledge respecting it, we find that we have
+retained some of the ideas or truths which we read, but that we have
+lost more. When that portion which we have retained is carefully
+examined, we find that it consists chiefly of the more prominent
+features of the narrative, with perhaps here and there occasional
+groupings of isolated circumstances. We have, in fact, retained upon the
+memory, little more than the general outline,--the great frame-work of
+the history. There will be the beginning, the middle, and the end,
+containing perhaps few of the minor details, but what is retained is all
+in regular order, bound together as a continuous narrative, and,
+however meagre, the whole forms in the imagination of the reader, a
+distinct and connected whole. There is perhaps no more of the intended
+fabric of the history erected in the mind than the mere skeleton of the
+building; but this frame-work, however defective in the details, is
+complete both as to shape and size, and is a correct model of the
+finished building from top to bottom. This is the state of every
+advanced pupil's mind, after he has for the first time closed the
+reading of any portion of history or biography. If the narrative itself
+has been correct, this general outline,--this great frame-work of the
+history,--remains on his mind through life, without any material
+alteration. Additional information afterwards will assist in filling up
+the empty spaces left between the more massive materials, but it will
+neither shake, nor shift them; and even the most minute details of
+individual or family incidents, connected with the general narrative,
+while they add additional interest, and fill up or ornament different
+and separate parts, will never alter the general form of the fabric, nor
+displace any of the main pillars upon which it is supported.
+
+This is one way of illustrating this analytical process of Nature; but
+for the purposes of imitating it in education it is not perhaps the
+best. The idea of a regular analytical table of the history, formed of
+successive branches, by successive readings, is by far the most natural
+and applicable. By a first reading of a portion of history, there are
+certain great leading points established in the mind of the reader,
+which form the first branches of a regular analysis, and to some one or
+other of which parts or divisions every circumstance of a more minute
+kind connected with the history, will be found to be related. This first
+great division of the history attained by the first reading, if correct,
+will, and must, remain the same, whatever addition may afterwards be
+made to it. By a second reading, our knowledge of the leading points
+will greatly assist us in collecting and remembering many of the more
+minute circumstances embodied in them, or intimately connected with
+them; but even then, an ordinary mind, and more especially a young
+person, will not have made himself master of all the details. A third,
+and perhaps a fourth reading, will be found necessary to give him a full
+command of all the minuter circumstances recorded.[18]
+
+In endeavouring to take advantage of this principle, so extensively
+employed by Nature, it is of great importance to observe, that a certain
+definite effect is produced by each successive reading. A first reading
+establishes in the mind of the pupil a regular frame-work of the whole
+history, which it is the business of every successive reading to fill up
+and complete. There is by the first course, a separation of the whole
+subject into heads, forming the regular divisions of a first branch of
+the analysis;--the second course tends to subdivide these again into
+their several parts; and to form a second branch in this analytical
+table;--and a third course, would enable the pupil to perceive and to
+separate the parts of the narrative included in these several divisions,
+by which there would arise a third branch, all included in the second,
+and even in the first.
+
+We have here supposed, that the pupil has been engaged with the very
+same chapters in each of these several courses;--and that he read the
+same words in the first course that he read in those which followed. He
+had to read the whole, although he could retain but little. He had to
+labour the whole field for the sake of procuring plants, which could
+have been more certainly and more healthfully raised upon a square yard.
+His reading for hours has produced no more knowledge than is expressed
+by the first branch of the supposed analysis; and therefore, if the
+teacher would but analyse the subject for the child, whether it be a
+science or a history,--suppose for example, the History of Joseph,--and
+give his younger pupils no more at first than the simple _outline_ of
+the story, some very important advantages would be the result. In the
+first place, the very difficult task of keeping the volatile mind of a
+child continuously fixed to the subject during the lengthened reading of
+the whole narrative will be unnecessary;--the irritation and uneasiness
+which such a lengthened exercise must produce in a child will be
+avoided;--time will be economised, the labour of the teacher will be
+spared, and the mind of the child at the close of the exercise, instead
+of being fagged and prostrated, will be found vigorous and lively. And
+yet, with all this, the positive result will be the same. The child's
+knowledge of the subject in this latter case, will in reality be as
+extensive, and much more distinct and permanent, than in the former.
+
+Here is the first step gained; and to attain the second, a similar
+course must be pursued. Nature, who formed this first branch of the
+analytical table on the minds of the first class of the children, formed
+another and more extended branch in the minds of the second class. The
+teacher therefore has only to take each of the branches which form the
+first step, and sub-divide them into their natural heads, so as to form
+a second,--and to teach this to his children in the same manner that he
+taught them the former. By this means, the first class will now possess
+an equal degree of knowledge with those who occupied the second;--and by
+a similar process, the others would advance to the third and the fourth
+classes according to circumstances.
+
+The plan here proposed for imitating Nature by progressive steps, has
+been tried with undeviating success for many years. Its efficiency, as
+embracing the principle employed by Nature for the communication of
+knowledge, has been repeatedly subjected to the most delicate and at the
+same time the most searching experiments. By its means, in connection of
+course with the catechetical exercise by which it is wrought, very
+extraordinary effects have been produced even upon individuals whose
+minds and circumstances were greatly below the average of common
+children.
+
+In the experiment made upon the adult criminals in the County Jail of
+Edinburgh, the pupils acquired easily and permanently a thorough
+knowledge of the history contained in the Book of Genesis. "They gave a
+distinct account of its prominent facts, from Adam, down to the
+settlement in Goshen, and shewed by their answers, that these
+circumstances were understood by them, in their proper nature and
+bearings. They gave, in the next place, a connected view of the leading
+doctrines of revelation; when their answers evinced, most
+satisfactorily, that they apprehended, not merely each separate truth,
+but that they perceived its relation to others, and possessed a
+considerable knowledge of the divine system as a whole. They were also
+examined upon several sections of the New Testament; where their answers
+displayed an equally clear and accurate knowledge of the subject." These
+persons, be it observed, belonged to a class of individuals, who are
+generally considered to be peculiarly hostile to the reception of
+information of this kind, and certainly who are least able to comprehend
+and retain it; and all this, besides other portions of knowledge, on
+which they were examined during the experiment, was communicated with
+ease by about twenty hours teaching.
+
+By the experiment made at Aberdeen, upon children the most ignorant that
+the Committee of Clergymen could find among the several schools in the
+city, it was ascertained, that after only nine or ten hours teaching,
+they had not only received a thorough knowledge of "several sections of
+New Testament History," but that they had acquired a knowledge of all
+the leading events included in the Old Testament History, from "the
+death of Moses, downwards to that of the revolt of the Ten Tribes in the
+reign of Rehoboam. Here they distinctly stated and described all the
+leading circumstances of the narrative comprised in the 'First Step,'
+whose brief but comprehensive outline they appeared, in various
+instances, to have filled up at home, by reading in their Bibles the
+corresponding chapters."
+
+The efficiency of this form of analytical teaching, as exhibited in
+successive steps, when employed for the purpose of teaching a knowledge
+of civil history and biography, was also proved with equal
+certainty;--for these same children showed a thorough knowledge of that
+portion of the History of England embraced by the reign of Charles I.
+and the Commonwealth; and in biography, the life of the late John Newton
+having been employed for the purpose, they shewed such an acquaintance
+with the leading facts, and the uses to be made of them, that the
+reverend gentlemen in this report of the experiment say, that the
+children had "to be restrained, as the time would not permit."
+
+In teaching the sciences, particularly the science of natural
+philosophy, this method of employing the principle of analysis has been
+found equally successful. Nature indeed, by the regular division of her
+several works, has obviously pointed this out as the proper method of
+proceeding, especially with the young; and the success that has
+invariably accompanied the attempt, shews that the opinion is well
+founded.
+
+In the experiment at Aberdeen, the class of children, who were specially
+selected from their companions on account of their ignorance only a few
+days before, were "interrogated, scientifically, as to the production,
+the nature, and the properties of several familiar objects, with the
+view of shewing how admirably calculated the Lesson System is, for
+furnishing the young with a knowledge of natural science and of the
+arts. One of their little companions being raised before them on a
+bench, they described every part of his dress, from the bonnet
+downwards, detailing every process and stage of the manufacture. The
+bonnet, which was put on his head for this purpose, the coat, the
+silk-handkerchief, the cotton vest, were all traced respectively from
+the sheep, the egg of the silk-worm, and the cotton-pod. The buttons,
+which were of brass, were stated to be a composition of copper and zinc,
+which were separately and scientifically described, with the reasons
+assigned, (as good as could be given,) for their admixture, in the
+composition of brass." "A lady's parasol, and a gentleman's watch were
+described in the same manner. The ivory knob, the brass crampet, the
+bamboo, the whalebone, the silk, were no sooner adverted to, than they
+were scientifically described. When their attention was called to the
+seals of the gentleman's watch, they immediately said, 'These are of
+pure, and those of jeweller's gold,' and described the difference. The
+steel ring was traced to the iron-stone in the mine, with a description
+of the mode of separating the metal from its combinations. The processes
+requisite for the preparation of wrought-iron from the cast-iron, and of
+steel from the wrought-iron, with the distinguishing properties of each
+of these metals, were accurately described, and some practical lessons
+drawn from these properties; such as, that a knife ought never to be put
+into the fire, and that a razor should be dipped in warm water previous
+to its being used. Various articles were collected from individuals in
+the meeting, and successively presented to them, all of which they
+described. India-rubber, cork, sponge, pocket combs, &c. A small pocket
+thermometer, with its tube and its mercury, its principles and use, and
+even the Turkey-leather on the cover, were all fully described. After
+explaining the nature and properties of coal-gas, one of the boys
+stated to the meeting, that since the commencement of this experiment,
+he had himself attempted, and succeeded in making gas-light by means of
+a tobacco-pipe;--his method of doing which he also described."
+
+The other form in which the principle of Analysis may, in imitation of
+Nature, be successfully employed in communicating knowledge to the
+young, is not to be considered as new, although the working of the
+principle may not have been very clearly perceived, or systematically
+regulated. It is seen most simply perhaps in the division of any
+subject,--a sermon for example--into its great general heads; and then
+endeavouring to illustrate these, by sub-dividing each into its several
+particulars. By this means the whole subject is bound together, the
+judgment is healthfully exercised, and the memory is greatly assisted in
+making use of the information communicated.
+
+It is upon this plan that the several discourses and speeches in the
+Acts of the Apostles have been analysed, as an introduction to the
+teaching of the epistles to the young.[19] Upon the same principle
+depends the success of the "Analysis of Prayer," of which we shall
+afterwards have to speak; and it is by means of this principle, in
+connection with the successive steps, that the several departments of
+natural philosophy are proposed to be taught.
+
+The efficiency of the principle in this form, as applied to the teaching
+of natural philosophy to mere school boys, has been ascertained by
+numerous experiments, of which the one in Aberdeen, already alluded to,
+has afforded good evidence. But the experiment conducted in Newry, on
+account of several concurrent circumstances, is still more remarkable
+and appropriate, and to it therefore we propose briefly to refer.
+
+"In the year 1830, the writer, in passing through the town of Newry on
+his way to Dublin, was waited upon by several Sunday school teachers,
+and was requested to afford them some information as to teaching their
+schools, and for that purpose to hold a meeting with them and their
+fellow teachers, before leaving the place. To this he readily agreed;
+but as he intended to go to Dublin by the coach, which passed through
+Newry in the afternoon, the meeting had to take place that same day at
+two o'clock. At that meeting, the Earl of Kilmorey and a party of his
+friends were very unexpectedly present; and they, after the business of
+the meeting was over, joined with the others in requesting him to
+postpone his departure, and to hold a public meeting on the following
+Tuesday, of which due intimation would be given, and many teachers in
+the neighbourhood, who must otherwise be greatly disappointed, would be
+able to attend." To this request, accordingly, he at once acceded.
+
+"In visiting the schools next day, the propriety of preparing a class or
+two of children for the public meeting was suggested and approved of;
+and the day-teacher being applied to, gave Mr Gall a list of six of his
+boys for the purpose. With these children he met on Monday; and after
+instructing them in the doctrines of the Gospel, and teaching them how
+to draw lessons from Scripture, he began to teach them some parts of
+natural philosophy, and to draw lessons also from these. Their aptness,
+and eagerness to learn, suggested the idea of selecting one of the
+sciences, and confining their attention principally to it, for the
+purpose of ascertaining how much of the really useful parts of it they
+could acquire and learn to use, in the short space of time which must
+intervene between that period and the hour of meeting. Considering what
+would be most useful and interesting, rather than what would be most
+easy, he hastily fixed on the science of anatomy and physiology, and
+resolved to mark the time during which they were engaged with him in
+learning it. These lessons were altogether oral and catechetical,--as
+neither he nor the children at that time had any books to assist them in
+their labours.
+
+"The method adopted by Mr Gall in communicating a knowledge of this
+important and difficult science to these school-boys, was strictly
+analytical;--classifying and connecting every part of his subject, and
+bringing out the several branches of the analysis in natural order, so
+that the connection of all the parts was easily seen, and of course well
+remembered. An illustration of his method may induce some parents to try
+it themselves.
+
+"He first directed their attention to the bones, and taught them in a
+few words their nature and uses, as the pillars and safeguards of the
+body;--the shank, the joint, and the ligaments, forming the branches of
+this part of the analysis. He then led them to imagine these bones
+clothed with the fleshy parts, or muscles, of which the mass, the
+ligaments, and the sinews, formed the branches. He explained the nature
+of their contraction; and shewed them, that the muscles being fastened
+at one end by the ligament to a bone, its contraction pulled the sinew
+at the other, and thus bent the joint which lay between them.--He then
+taught them the nature and uses of the several viscera, which occupy the
+chest and belly, and their connection with each other. This prepared the
+way for considering the nature of the fluids of the body, particularly
+the blood, and its circulation from the heart and lungs by the arteries,
+and to them again by the veins, with the pulsation of the one, and the
+valves of the other. The passage of the blood through the lungs, and the
+uses of the air-cells and blood-vessels in that organ were described;
+when the boys, (having previously had a lesson on the nature of water,
+atmospheric air, and the gases,) readily understood the importance of
+bringing the oxygen into contact with the blood, for its renovation
+from the venous to the arterial state. The nature of the stomach and of
+digestion, of the intestines, lacteals, and absorbents, was next
+explained, more in regard to their nature than their names,--which last
+were most difficult to remember;--but the knowledge of the function,
+invariably assisted the memory in recalling the name of the organ. They
+were next made acquainted with the brain, the spinal cord, and the
+nervous system generally, as the source of motion in the muscles, and
+the medium of sensation in conveying intelligence from the several
+organs of sense to the brain, by which alone the soul, in some way
+unknown, receives intelligence of outward objects. This prepared the way
+for an account of the organs of sense, and the mechanism of their parts;
+and lastly, they were made acquainted with the integuments, skin, hair,
+and nails, with the most obvious of their peculiarities.--On all these
+they were assiduously and repeatedly catechised, till the truths were
+not only understood, but were in some degree familiar to them. In this
+they were greatly assisted by a consideration of their own bodies; which
+Mr Gall took care to make a kind of text-book, not only for making him
+better understood, but for enabling them more easily and permanently to
+remember what he told them. When he shewed them, by their hands, feet,
+and face, the ramifications of the blood-vessels and nerves,--the
+mechanism of the joints,--the contraction of the various muscles,--the
+situation and particular uses of which he himself did not even know, but
+which were nevertheless moved at their own will, and whenever they
+pleased,--the young anatomists were greatly pleased and astonished; and
+this added to their eagerness for farther information, and to their zeal
+in shewing that they understood, and were able again to communicate it.
+
+"These preparatory meetings were never protracted to any great extent,
+as the whole time was divided into three or four portions,--the boys
+being dismissed to think over the subject, (for they had nothing to
+read,) and to meet again at a certain hour. The watch was again
+produced, and the time marked; and when the whole period occupied by
+this science and its connections was added together, it amounted to two
+hours and a half exactly. One of these lessons, and the longest, was
+given during a stroll in the fields.
+
+"The public meeting of parents and teachers was held at Newry on the 5th
+of October 1830, when the above class, with others, were examined on the
+religious knowledge which had been communicated to them on the previous
+days, with its lessons and uses; after which the six boys were taken by
+themselves, and thoroughly and searchingly catechised on their knowledge
+of the anatomy and physiology of the human body. They were examined
+first on the nature and uses of the bones, their shapes, substance,
+joints, and ligaments. Then on the nature and offices of the muscles,
+with their blood-vessels, nerves, ligaments, sinews, and motions;--the
+uses of the several viscera;--the heart with its pulsations, its power,
+its ventricles and auricles, and their several uses;--the lungs, with
+their air-cells, blood-vessels, and their use in arterializing the
+blood;--the stomach, intestines, &c. with their peristaltic motions,
+lacteals, &c.;--the brain, spinal cord, and nerves, with their
+connections, ramifications, and uses;--the senses, with their several
+organs, their mechanism, and their manner of acting. On all these they
+were questioned, and cross-questioned, in every variety of form: And
+that the audience might be satisfied that this was not a mere catalogue
+of names, but that in fact the physiology of the several parts was
+really known, and would be remembered, even if the names of the organs
+should be forgotten, they were made repeatedly to traverse the
+connecting links of the analysis forward from the root, through its
+several branches, to the extreme limit in the ultimate effect; and, at
+other times backward, from the ultimate effect to the primitive organ,
+or part of the body from which it took its origin. For example, they
+could readily trace forward the movement of the arm joint, or any other
+joint, from the ligament of the muscle at its junction with the bone,
+through its contraction by the nerve at the fiat of the will, by which
+the sinew of the muscle, fastened at the opposite side of the joint, is
+pulled, and the joint bent;--or they could trace backward any of the
+operations of the senses,--the sight, for example, from the object seen,
+through the coats of the eye, to the inverted picture of it formed upon
+the retina, which communicated the sensation to the optic nerve, by
+which it was conveyed to the brain. In all which they invariably
+succeeded, and shewed that the whole was clearly and connectedly
+understood.
+
+"When this had been minutely and extensively done on the several parts
+of the body, some medical gentlemen who were present were requested to
+catechise them on any of the topics they had learnt, for the purpose of
+assuring themselves and the audience that the children really and
+familiarly understood all that they had been catechised upon. One of the
+medical gentlemen, for himself and the others present, then stated
+publicly to the meeting, that the extent of the children's knowledge of
+this difficult science was beyond any thing that they could have
+conceived. And afterwards affirmed, that he had seen students who had
+attended the medical classes for six months, who did not know so much of
+the human body as these children now did."
+
+This experiment became more remarkable from a circumstance which took
+place within a few days afterwards, and which tended still more strongly
+to prove the permanence and efficiency of this method of imitating
+Nature; shewing, not only that truth when communicated as Nature
+directs, is easily received, and permanently retained upon the memory,
+but that all such truths when thus communicated, become more and more
+familiar to the mind, and more decidedly under the controul, and at the
+command of the will. The circumstance is thus recorded in the account of
+the experiment[20] from which we have already quoted.
+
+"At the close of the meeting, Mr Gall took farewell of his young
+friends, not expecting to have the pleasure of seeing them again; and
+(after a promised visit to Ravenstile,) he proceeded on the following
+Thursday to Rostrevor, where he found a numerous audience, (publicly
+called together by Lady Lifford, the Rev. Mr Jacobs, and others, to
+receive him,) already assembled.
+
+"Here, in the course of teaching a class of children brought to him for
+the first time, and explaining the nature and capabilities of the
+system, reference was made to the above experiment only a few days
+before in their neighbourhood at Newry. Two gentlemen,[21] officially
+and intimately connected with the Kildare Place Society of Dublin, being
+accidentally present, were at their own desire introduced to Mr Gall by
+a clerical friend after the close of the exercises. The circumstances of
+the Newry experiment, which had been mentioned during the meeting, were
+strongly doubted, till affirmed by the clerical friend who introduced
+them; who, having been present and witnessed it, assured them that the
+circumstances connected with the event had not been exaggerated. They
+then stated, that it must of necessity have been a mere transient
+glimpse received of the science by the children; which, being easily
+got, would be as easily lost; and that its evanescent nature would
+without all question be found, by their almost immediately having
+forgotten the whole of what had been told them. Mr Gall, however,
+assured them, that so far from that being the case, he was convinced,
+from long experience, that the information communicated would be much
+more lasting than that received in any other way. That the impressions,
+so repeatedly made upon their minds by the _catechetical exercises_,
+would remain with them very likely through life; while the effect of the
+_analytical mode_, by which he had linked the whole together, would
+prevent any of the important branches from ever being separated from the
+rest. If, therefore, they remembered any of the truths, they would most
+probably remember all. And besides, he shewed, that the daily use, in
+the ordinary business of life, which they would find for the lessons
+from the truths taught, would revive part, and perhaps the whole, upon
+their memories every day. But as it was of importance that they should
+be satisfied, and to set the matter at rest, he agreed _to call the boys
+unexpectedly together_ at another public meeting in Newry, where they
+might be present and judge for themselves; and without seeing or talking
+with the boys, he would examine them again publicly, and as extensively
+as before; when he was convinced they would shew, that the whole was as
+fresh on their memories as when they at first received it. In short,
+that they would be able to undergo the most searching ordeal, with
+equal, if not greater ease, than they had done formerly.
+
+"This was accordingly done. A meeting took place next day, equally
+respectable, and perhaps more numerous than the former, to which the
+boys were brought from their school, without preparation, or knowing
+what they were to be asked. They were then more fully and searchingly
+examined than at first; and there being more time, they were much longer
+under the exercise. It was then found, that the information formerly
+communicated was not only remembered, but that the several truths were
+much more familiar, in themselves and in their connection with each
+other, than they had been at the former meeting. This had evidently
+arisen from their own frequent meditations upon them since that time,
+and their application of the several lessons, either with one another,
+their parents, or themselves. The medical gentlemen were again present,
+and professed themselves equally pleased."
+
+From the number and variety of these facts, which might be indefinitely
+extended, it is obvious, that a new path lies open to the Educationist,
+which, as yet, has been scarcely entered upon. The same amount of
+success is at the command of every teacher who will follow in the same
+course, and keep rigidly in the path pointed out to him by Nature.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[18] Note P.
+
+[19] Note Q.
+
+[20] Complete Directory for Sunday School Teachers, vol. i. p. 267, and
+Effects of the Lesson System, p. 37.
+
+[21] Counsellor Jackson, M. P. Secretary to the Kildare Place Society,
+and Mr Hamilton, brother-in-law to the Duke of Wellington, one of the
+Committee.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. VII.
+
+_On the Imitation of Nature in Teaching the Practical Use of Knowledge._
+
+
+The third step in the educational process of Nature we have found to be,
+the training of her pupil to the practical use of his knowledge.--All
+her other processes, we have seen from numerous circumstances, are
+merely preparatory and subservient to this; and therefore, the attempt
+at imitation here by the teacher is of corresponding importance. The
+practical application of knowledge must be the great end of all the
+pupil's learning; and the parent or teacher should conduct his exercises
+and labours in such a manner as shall be most likely to attain it. The
+powers of the mind are to be cultivated;--but they are to be cultivated
+chiefly that the pupil may be able to collect and make use of his
+knowledge:--And knowledge is to be pursued and stored up;--but this is
+to be done that it may remain at his command, and be readily put to use
+when it is required. To suppose any thing else, is to suppose something
+directly opposed to all the indications of Nature, and to the plainest
+suggestions both of reason and experience.
+
+If in this department then, the teacher is to imitate Nature with
+effect, there are two preliminary objects of which he ought never to
+lose sight. The first is, that he studiously select from the numerous
+subjects which may form the staple of education, those only, or at least
+chiefly, which are to be most useful, and which may most easily and most
+frequently be put to use by the pupil;--and the second is, that whatever
+be the truth or the subject taught, the child should, at the time of
+learning, be instructed in the methods and the circumstances in which it
+may be used. To neglect these preliminary points, is really to betray
+the cause of education, and, besides inflicting a lasting injury on the
+young, to deceive the public.
+
+In our enquiries into Nature's method of applying knowledge, we found,
+in a former chapter, that she employs two distinct agencies in the work.
+The one we denominated the Natural, or Common Sense; and the other is
+the Conscience, or Moral Sense:--the one appearing to regulate our
+knowledge in so far as it refers to the promotion of our own personal
+and physical comforts; and the other, in so far as it refers to the
+rights and the well-being of others, and to our own moral good. The
+method which she employs in working out these two principles, is, as we
+before explained, very nearly the same; consisting of the perception of
+some useful truth,--the deduction of a lesson from that truth,--and the
+application of that lesson to corresponding circumstances. On that
+account, our attempts to imitate her operations as exhibited by the one,
+will, in form, be nearly the same as in the other. We shall here,
+therefore, attend to the methods by which Nature may be successfully
+imitated under both agencies, and shall then state a few illustrations
+and facts which are more peculiarly applicable to each in particular.
+
+Before doing this, however, we cannot help once more pressing upon the
+mind of all connected with education, the great importance--the
+necessity--of that part of the subject upon which we are now to enter.
+We have said, and we again repeat, that _this_ is education; and every
+thing else taught to a child is, or ought to be, either preliminary or
+supplementary;--_belonging_ to education, perhaps, but not education
+itself. It is _practice_, and not _theory_, that constitutes the basis
+of all improvement, whether in the arts, or in morals and religion; and
+it is to this practical application of what he learns, that every child
+should be trained, by whatever name the mode of doing so may be known.
+All our blessings are destined to come to us by the use of proper means;
+and this general principle applies both to temporal and spiritual
+matters. Now "the use of means," is only another mode of expressing "the
+practical application of knowledge." And if so, what are we to think of
+the philosophy or the candour of the person, who is apparently the
+friend of education, but who remains indifferent or hostile to the thing
+itself, merely because it is presented to him under another name. He may
+be a zealous advocate for the spread of knowledge;--but that is not
+education.--Knowledge is but the _means_,--the application of it is the
+_end_; and when therefore he stops short at the communication of
+knowledge, while he is indifferent to the teaching of its use, he
+endangers the whole of his previous labour. One single truth put to use,
+is of more real value to a child than a thousand are, as long as they
+remain unused; and of this, every friend of the young ought to be
+convinced. Our health, our food, and our general happiness depend, not
+on knowledge _received_, but on knowledge _applied_; and therefore, to
+teach knowledge that is inapplicable or useless, or to teach useful
+knowledge without teaching at the same time how it may be put to use by
+the pupil, is neither reasonable nor just. Hence the importance of our
+present investigation; and hence we have no hesitation in saying, that
+the enquiry, "How can Nature be most successfully imitated in her
+application of knowledge?" is the most momentous question that can be
+put by the teacher; and a successful answer will constitute the most
+precious boon that can be afforded to education. To assist in this
+enquiry is the design of the present chapter; and we shall accordingly
+examine a little more in detail the circumstances that take place in the
+experience of the young, when they are induced to apply their knowledge
+under the guidance of Nature, and without another teacher.
+
+For this purpose, let us suppose two children about to cross a piece of
+soft ground. The one goes forward, and his foot sinks in the mud. Does
+the other follow him? No indeed. The most stupid child we could find, if
+within the limits of sanity, would immediately stand still, or seek a
+passage at another point. Here then is an example of the way in which
+children, while entirely under the guidance of Nature, make use of their
+knowledge, by applying the principle of which we are here speaking in
+cases of urgency and danger; and we shall now endeavour to analyse the
+process, that we may the more readily arrive at some exercise, by which
+it may be artificially imitated, whether the application be urgent and
+required at the moment or not.
+
+We have supposed one child going forward on the soft ground, while the
+other is slowly following him. When the foot of the first sinks, the
+other instantly stands still; and a spectator can perceive, better
+perhaps than the child himself, that something like the following mental
+process takes place on the occasion. The child thinks with himself,
+"Tom's foot has sunk; if I go forward, I also will sink; I will
+therefore stand still, or cross at another place." This is an exact
+parallel to thousands of similar instances which come under the notice
+of parents and others every day; and is a process quite familiar to
+adults who have paid any attention to the operation of their own minds
+when similarly circumstanced. When it is analysed, we find it to
+consist, as shewn in a former chapter, of three distinct parts, not one
+of which can be left out if the effect is to be produced. There is
+always, at the commencement of such an operation, the knowledge of some
+fact; "Tom's foot has sunk." There is, secondly, an inference or lesson
+drawn from this knowledge, "If I go forward, I also will sink." And
+there is, thirdly, the practical application of that lesson, or
+inference, to the child's present circumstances: "I will stand still, or
+cross at another place."
+
+It is this process, or one in every point similar, that takes place in
+the mind, either of the young or the old, whenever they apply the facts
+gleaned by observation or experience for the guidance of their conduct.
+Now what we are at present in search of, is an exercise applicable to
+_reading_, as well as to observation;--to the _school_, as well as to
+the play ground or the parlour;--and to knowledge whose use may not be
+required at the instant, as well as that to which we are driven by
+necessity.
+
+The desideratum here desired is to be found by the teacher in the
+method, now very extensively known, of drawing lessons from useful
+truths, and then applying them to the future probable circumstances of
+the pupils. For example, when a child reads, or is told that Jacob was
+punished by God for cheating his brother and telling a lie, the great
+object of the parent or teacher is to render these truths
+_practical_,--which the question, "What does that teach you?" never
+fails to do. The child, as soon as he knows the design of his teacher in
+communicating practical truths, and is asked the above question, will
+tell him, that he ought never to cheat his neighbour, or tell a lie. The
+application of these lessons, when thus established as a rule of duty
+founded on Scripture, is as extensive as the circumstances in which they
+may be required are various;--and the teacher has only to suppose such
+a case, and to ask his pupil, if he were placed in these circumstances,
+what he should do. The dullest of his children will at once perceive the
+duty, and the source from which he derives confidence in performing it.
+
+There is no difficulty, as we have seen, in drawing and applying
+practical lessons in cases of urgency, where experience and the common
+sense of the individual prompt him to it;--and this attempt to imitate
+Nature in less urgent cases, and especially in hearing, or in the more
+artificial operation of reading, has been found in experience to be
+completely successful. We shall endeavour to point this out by a few
+familiar examples.
+
+Let us for this purpose suppose, that one of the boys formerly mentioned
+is accompanied by his teacher, instead of his companion, and is
+approaching the soft ground which lies between them and the house.
+Before they arrive at the spot, his teacher tells him, that the marsh
+before them is so soft that even a child's foot would sink if he
+attempted to tread upon it. The boy might hear, and perfectly understand
+the truth, and yet he might not at the time think of the use to which it
+ought to be put. But if the teacher shall immediately add, "What does
+that teach you?"--his attention would instantly be called, not so much
+to the truth itself, as to the uses which ought to be made of it, and
+his answer in such a plain case would be ready, "We must not cross
+there, but seek a road to the house by some other way." Now here the
+fact was verbally communicated; and although the object was in sight,
+and the use of the fact might in some measure have been anticipated so
+as to suggest the answer, yet a little consideration will shew, that a
+similar effect would have been produced by the question, had the parties
+been in the house, or had the truth been derived from reading, and not
+from the oral communication of the teacher.
+
+It is the want of something like this in the acquisition of truth by
+books, which renders that kind of knowledge in general of so little
+practical benefit. The truths and facts learned while attending school,
+are too often received as mere abstractions, without reference to their
+uses, or to the personal application of those uses to the circumstances
+of the child or his companions. Events daily occur in which the pupil's
+knowledge might be of important service;--but the benefits to be derived
+from it not having been taught, and the method of applying the facts
+which he has acquired by reading not having been explained,--the
+knowledge and its uses are seldom seen together, and the practical
+benefit of the teaching is accordingly lost. This at once accounts for
+the very remarkable circumstance, that children, and not unfrequently
+adults also, derive far more benefit from the scanty knowledge which
+they have gleaned by observation and experience, than from the many
+thousands of highly useful facts which have again and again been pressed
+upon their notice by reading and study. In almost every case Nature
+prompts us, as we have seen, to turn to our own benefit the knowledge
+which she has imparted; but as the mode of teaching reading, which is
+the _artificial_ method of acquiring information, often overlooks the
+use we are to make of it, we remain satisfied with the knowledge itself,
+and do not think of its application. To illustrate this fact in some
+measure, let us suppose a basket of filberts set down for the use of a
+company of boys, and that one of them tries to crack the shells with his
+front teeth. He fails. But he sees his companions put the nuts farther
+back in the mouth, and succeed. Does he lose his share, by continuing to
+misapply the lever-power provided for him by Nature?--No indeed. He, by
+a single observation, at once draws and applies the lesson;--he
+immediately cracks his nuts as readily as his companions, and he
+continues to do so all his lifetime after. But the same boy may have,
+that very forenoon, been reading a treatise on the power of the lever,
+and might read it again and again without considering himself at all
+interested in the matter, or thinking it probable that he ever would.
+His reading, without the application we are here recommending, would
+never have led him to perceive the slightest similarity between the
+fulcrum of the lever, and the insertion of his jaw; or any connection
+between the lesson of the school, and the employment of the
+parlour:--But that would.
+
+This is but one of a thousand examples that might be given, of the evils
+arising from the non-application of knowledge in reading, and which are
+applicable, not to children merely, but also to adults. The drawing and
+applying of lessons, the exercise which we are here recommending, has
+been found a valuable remedy for this defect in ordinary reading. The
+object of the teacher by its use, is to accomplish in the pupil by
+_reading_, what we have shewn Nature so frequently does by
+_observation_;--that is, to train the child to apply for his own use, or
+the use of others, those truths which he acquires from his _book_, in
+the same way that he does those which he derives from _experience_. To
+illustrate this, we shall instance a few cases of every day occurrence,
+in which the question, "What does this teach you?" when supplemented to
+the fact communicated, will almost invariably answer the purpose
+desired, whether the truth from which the lesson is to be drawn, has
+been received by observation, by oral instruction, or by reading.
+
+When an observing well-disposed child sees a school-fellow praised and
+rewarded for being obliging and kind to the aged or the poor, there is
+formed in the mind of that child, more or less distinctly, a resolution
+to follow the example on the first opportunity. Here is the fact and the
+lesson, with the application in prospect. This whole feeling may be
+faint and evanescent, but it is real; and it only wants the cultivating
+hand of the teacher to arrest it, and to render it permanent.
+Accordingly, if on the child hearing the praise given to his companion
+for being kind and obliging to the poor, he had at the time been asked,
+"What does that teach you?" the lesson suggested by Nature would
+instantly have assumed a tangible form; and in communicating the answer
+to the teacher, both the truth and the lesson would have been brought
+more distinctly before the mind, and the reply, "I should be kind and
+obliging to the poor," would tend to fix the duty on the memory, and
+would be a good preparation for putting it in practice when the next
+occasion should occur.
+
+Again, if another thoughtful and well disposed child sees a companion
+severely punished for telling a lie, the question, "What does that teach
+me?" is in some shape or degree formed in his mind, and his resolution,
+however faint, is taken to avoid that sin in future. This, it is
+obvious, is nothing more than a practical answer to the above question,
+forced upon the child by the directness of the circumstances, but which
+would not have so readily made its appearance, or produced its effect,
+in cases of a less obtrusive kind, or in one of more remote application;
+and every person must see, that the beneficial effects desired would
+have been more definite, more effectual, and much more permanent, had
+this faint indication of Nature's intention been followed up by orally
+asking the question at the child, and requiring him audibly to return an
+answer.
+
+Let us once more suppose a child in the act of reading the history of
+Cain and Abel, in the manner in which it is commonly read by the young,
+and that the child thoroughly understands all the circumstances. He may
+be deeply interested in the story, while the uses to be made of it may
+not be very clearly perceived. But if, after reading any one of the
+moral circumstances, such as "Cain hated his brother," or after having
+it announced to him by the teacher, he was asked, "What does that teach
+you?" the practical use of the truth would at once be forced upon his
+mind, and he would now very readily answer, "It teaches me that I should
+not hate my brother." In this case also, it is quite obvious, that
+without such a question having been proposed, and the answer to it
+given, the practical uses of the truth recorded might have been
+altogether overlooked; and even although they had not, still the
+question and its answer will always have the effect of making them stand
+out much more prominently before the mind, and will enable the memory to
+hold them more tenaciously, and bring them forth more readily for
+practice, than if such an operation had been neglected. Hence the great
+importance of training the young by this exercise early to perceive the
+uses of every kind of knowledge, particularly Scriptural knowledge;
+because the habit formed in youth, will continue to render every useful
+truth of practical benefit during life.
+
+We may remark here, that the exercise is not limited in its application
+to the young. For if an adult were first told, that the squalid beggar
+before him, though once respectable and rich, had made himself wretched
+by a course of idleness and dissipation, and were then asked, "What does
+that teach you?" he would instantly perceive the lesson, and would be
+stimulated to apply it. When, in like manner, the farmer is told that
+his neighbour has ruined himself by over-cropping his ground; or the
+iron master, that the use of the hot-blast has doubled the profits of
+his rival; a similar question would at once lead to the legitimate
+conclusion, and most likely to the proper conduct.
+
+In all these examples, the operation of mind which we have endeavoured
+to describe, is so exceedingly simple, that it is perhaps difficult to
+decide how much is the work of Nature, and how much belongs to the
+exercise here recommended. This at once proves its efficiency, as an
+imitation of her process, in following her in the path which she has
+here pointed out; and it at the same time recommends itself as strictly
+accordant with observation and experience. The teacher then, in order to
+render the knowledge he communicates useful, has only to do regularly
+and by system, that which, under the direction of Nature, every
+intelligent and enquiring mind in its best moments does for itself.
+Wherever a useful truth has been communicated in the school or family,
+or a moral act or precept has been read or announced, the question by
+the parent or the teacher, "What does that teach you?" will lead the
+pupil to reflection, not only on its nature, but on its use; and the
+ability to do so, as we shall afterwards see, may be acquired by almost
+any individual with ease. Regular training in this way, leads directly
+to habits of reflection and observation, which are of themselves of
+great value; but which, when found acting in connection with the desire
+and ability to turn every truth observed into a practical channel,
+become doubly estimable, and a public blessing. The pupil therefore
+ought early to be trained of himself to supplement the question, "What
+does this teach me?" or, "What can I learn from this?" to every
+circumstance or truth to which his attention is called; because the
+ability to answer it forms the chief, if not the only correct measure of
+a well educated person. In proof of this it is only necessary to remark,
+that as it is not the man who has accumulated the greatest amount of
+anatomical and surgical knowledge, but he who can make the best use of
+it, that is really the best surgeon; so it is not the man who has
+_acquired_ the largest portion of knowledge, but he who _can make the
+best use_ of the largest portion, that is the best scholar. Hence it is,
+that all the exercises in a child's education should have in view the
+practical use of what he learns, and of what he is to continue through
+life to learn, as the great end to which all his learning should be
+subservient.
+
+The moral advantages likely to result from the general adoption of this
+mode of teaching useful knowledge are exceedingly cheering, and the only
+surprise is, that it has been so long overlooked. That the principle,
+though not directly applied to the purposes of education, was well
+known, and frequently practised by our forefathers, appears obvious from
+many of their valuable writings. One beautiful example of its
+application is familiar to thousands, though not always perceived, in
+the illustration given of the Lord's prayer towards the close of the
+Assembly's Larger and Shorter Catechisms. The study of the lessons there
+drawn from the truths stated or implied in that prayer, will afford a
+better idea of the value of this mode of teaching, than perhaps any
+farther explanation we could give, and to these therefore we refer the
+reader.
+
+Before closing these general observations upon the value and necessity
+of this method of training the young to the practical use of knowledge,
+there is a circumstance which should not be omitted, as it tends to
+double all the advantages of the exercise, both to the teacher and the
+pupil. It will be found in general, especially in morals, that every
+practical lesson that is drawn from a truth or passage, actually
+embodies two,--both of which are equally legitimate and connected with
+the subject. There is always a _negative_ lesson implied, when the
+_positive_ lesson is expressed; and there is in like manner a _positive_
+implied, whenever it is the _negative_ that is expressed. As for
+example, when the child, from the history of Cain and Abel, draws the
+negative lesson that he should _not hate_ his brother; the opposite of
+that lesson is equally binding in the positive form, that he should
+_love_ his brother. And when, from the history of Job, the positive
+lesson is drawn that we ought to be patient; the negative of that lesson
+becomes equally binding, and the child may, by the very same fact, be
+taught and enjoined not to be fretful, discontented, or impatient,
+during sickness or trouble. Of this method of multiplying the practical
+uses of knowledge, we have a most appropriate example in the Assembly's
+Larger and Shorter Catechisms, where the illustrations given of the
+decalogue are conducted upon this important principle, and in a similar
+way.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. VIII.
+
+_On the Imitation of Nature in Teaching the Use of Knowledge by means of
+the Animal or Common Sense._
+
+
+A large portion of what has been advanced in the foregoing chapter, has
+reference to the practical application of all kinds of knowledge,
+whether by the Animal or Moral sense; and we shall here offer a few
+additional remarks on the teaching of those branches which are more
+immediately connected with the former.
+
+When a person is sent to learn an art or trade, such as a carpenter, he
+is not sent to hear lectures, or to get merely an abstract knowledge of
+the several truths connected with it; but he is sent to practise the
+little knowledge that he is able of himself to pick up. His is a
+practical learning; ninety-nine parts in every hundred being employed in
+the practice, for one that is employed in acquiring the abstract
+principles of his occupation. When, on the contrary, a child is sent to
+school, to prepare him for this practical application of his knowledge,
+the former proportions are generally reversed, and ninety-nine parts of
+his time and labour are taken up in attaining abstract knowledge, for
+one that is occupied in assisting him to reduce it to practice. Both
+modes of teaching the boy are obviously wrong. He would, when sent to
+it, learn his business in much less time by a previous acquaintance with
+its principles; and all these ought to have been furnished him as a
+part of his general knowledge while he attended the school. Such
+information, indeed, ought to have formed a large portion of his
+education;--and it will be a matter of surprise to every one who closely
+considers the subject, how soon and how easily the principles, even of
+so complicated a trade as a carpenter, may be acquired when they are
+taught in the right way, and at the proper time. A few of the simplest
+principles in mechanics practically learned,--a knowledge of the
+strength and adhesion of bodies,--of the nature of edge tools,--and the
+importance of accuracy and caution, might have been made familiar to him
+while attending his studies; and if carefully and constantly reduced to
+practice, these would have been of the greatest service to him when
+called to the work-shop.
+
+The methods by which natural philosophy ought to be taught in schools,
+must partake of all the laws which Nature employs in the several parts
+of her teaching. Individuation, Grouping, and especially Analysis, must
+be rigidly attended to. By dividing all the subjects of general
+knowledge into the two grand divisions of Terrestrial and Celestial, and
+these again into their several parts, the whole field of useful
+knowledge would be mapped out, and connected together, so that each
+subject would occupy a distinct place of its own, and be readily found
+when it was required. The facts, or at least the most useful facts
+connected with each of these, would very soon be communicated; and when
+turned into a popular and useful form, by drawing and applying the
+corresponding lessons, the ease and delight of laying up these precious
+stores of useful knowledge by children, will not be easily conceived by
+those who have not witnessed it.
+
+With respect to _the ease_ with which this method of communicating
+knowledge can be accomplished, we may remark in general, that when a
+principle has been explained, and has become familiar to the child, all
+the phenomena arising out of it, when pointed out, are readily perceived
+and retained upon the memory in connection with it. For example, by a
+knowledge of the principle which teaches that fluids press equally on
+all sides, when considered in connection with the weight of the
+atmosphere, a child, with very little trouble, would be put into the
+full possession of the cause of many facts in natural philosophy,
+exceedingly dissimilar in their appearance, but which are all mastered
+with ease and intelligence by a knowledge of this law. When the
+principle and its mode of working have been explained, the child is
+provided with a key, by which he may, in the exercise of his own powers,
+unlock one by one all the mysterious phenomena of the air and common
+pump, the cupping-glass, the barometer, the old steam and fire engine,
+the toy sucker and pop-gun, the walking of a fly on the ceiling, the
+ascent of smoke in the chimney, the sipping of tea from a cup, the
+sucking of a wound, and the true cause of the inspiration and expiration
+of the air in breathing. To teach these singly, would obviously be
+exceedingly troublesome to the teacher, and laborious for the child; but
+when thus linked together, as similar effects from the same cause, they
+are understood at once, and each of them helps to illustrate and explain
+all the others. They are received without confusion, and are remembered
+without difficulty. All this may in general be done even with children,
+as we shall immediately prove, by the method recommended above, of
+requiring, after the illustration of the principle, the lessons which it
+is calculated to teach.
+
+The results of this simple method of imitating Nature in one of the most
+valuable of her processes, have been found remarkably uniform and
+successful; and when it shall be regularly brought into operation in
+connection with the other parts of the system, it promises to be still
+more valuable and extensive. But even already, with all the
+disadvantages of time, place, and persons, the importance and
+efficiency of the exercise have been highly satisfactory. We shall
+shortly advert to a few instances of its success, which have been
+publicly exhibited and recorded.
+
+The criminals in the jail of Edinburgh, after three weeks teaching, had
+acquired a considerable degree of expertness in perceiving and drawing
+lessons from the moral circumstances which they read from Scripture. In
+the report of that experiment, the examinators say, "They gave a
+distinct account, (from the book of Genesis,) of the prominent facts,
+from Adam, down to the settlement in Goshen, and shewed by their
+answers, that the circumstances were understood by them, in their proper
+nature and bearings. From each peculiar circumstance, they deduced an
+appropriate lesson, calculated to guide their conduct, when placed in a
+like, or analogous situation. It is within the truth to allege, that in
+this part of their examination, they submitted upwards of fifty palpable
+lessons, that cannot fail, we would conceive, hereafter to have a
+powerful influence upon their affections and deportment."
+
+In the experiments both in Newry and London, the children were found
+quite adequate to the exercise; and in the latter instance, three
+children, who at their first lesson did not know they had a soul, were
+able to perceive and to draw lessons from almost any moral truth or fact
+presented to them. This they did repeatedly when publicly examined by
+the Committee of the London Sunday School Union, in presence of a large
+body of clergymen, and a numerous congregation in the Poultry Chapel.
+But we shall at present direct attention more particularly to the
+children selected from the several schools in Aberdeen, as given in the
+Report by Principal Jack, and the Professors and Clergymen in that
+place. After mentioning, that these children, so very ignorant only
+eight days before, had acquired a thorough acquaintance with the
+leading facts in Old Testament History, they say, "From the various
+incidents in the Sacred Record, with which they had thus been brought so
+closely into contact, they drew, as they proceeded, a variety of
+practical lessons, evincing, that they clearly perceived, not only the
+nature and qualities of the actions, whether good or evil, of the
+persons there set before them, but the use that ought to be made of such
+descriptions of character, as examples or warnings, intended for
+application to the ordinary business of life.
+
+"They were next examined, in the same way, on several sections of the
+New Testament, from which they had also learned to point out the
+practical lessons, so important and necessary for the regulation of the
+heart and life. The Meeting, as well as this Committee, were surprised
+at the minute and accurate acquaintance which they displayed with the
+multiplicity of objects presented to them,--at the great extent of the
+record over which they had travelled,--and at the facility with which
+they seemed to draw useful lessons from almost every occurrence
+mentioned in the passages which they had read."
+
+They were able also to apply this same principle,--the practical
+application of useful knowledge,--to the perusal of civil history, and
+also biography. The report states, that "they were examined on that
+portion of the History of England, embraced by the reign of Charles I.
+and the Commonwealth; and from the details of this period, they drew
+from the _same circumstances_, or announcements, political, domestic,
+and personal lessons, as these applied to a nation, to a family, and to
+individuals;--lessons which it ought be the leading design of history to
+furnish, though, both by the writers and readers of history, this
+Committee are sorry to say, they are too generally overlooked.
+
+"They were then examined on biography,--the Life of the late Rev. John
+Newton being chosen for that purpose; from whose history they also drew
+some very useful practical lessons, and seemed very desirous of
+enlarging, but had to be restrained, as the time would not permit."
+
+The practicability and the importance of teaching children to apply the
+same valuable principle to every branch and portion of natural
+philosophy were also ascertained. The same report, after stating the
+fact, that the children scientifically described to the meeting numerous
+objects presented to them from the several kingdoms of Nature, goes on
+to say, that "here also they found no want of capacity or of materials
+for practical lessons. A boy, after describing copper as possessing
+poisonous qualities, and stating, that cooking utensils, as well as
+money, were made of it, was asked what practical lessons he could draw
+from these circumstances, replied, That no person should put halfpence
+in his mouth; and that people should take care to keep clean pans and
+kettles."
+
+The common school boys in Newry also found no difficulty in the
+exercise, as applied to the abstruse and difficult sciences of anatomy
+and physiology. The account of that experiment, says, that they were
+"examined as to the _uses_ which they ought to make of all this
+information, by drawing practical lessons from the several truths.
+Accordingly, announcements from the different branches of the science
+were given, from which they now very readily drew numerous and valuable
+practical lessons, several of which were given at this time of
+themselves, and which had not been previously taught them. These were
+drawn directly from the announcements; and all, according to their
+nature, calculated to be exceedingly useful for promoting the health,
+the comfort, and the general happiness of themselves, their friends, or
+their companions."
+
+But by far the most extensive and satisfactory evidence of the value and
+efficiency of this exercise, in the mental and moral training of the
+young, was afforded by the experiment undertaken at the request of the
+Lesson System Association of Leith, and conducted in the Assembly Rooms
+there, in the presence of the Magistrates and Clergy of that town, of
+Bishop Russell, Lord Murray, (then Lord Advocate,) and a numerous
+meeting of the friends of education. The children were those connected
+with a Sabbath school, who had been regularly trained by their teacher,
+a plain but pious workman of the town, to draw lessons every Sabbath
+from the several subjects and passages of Scripture taught them. To give
+all the specimens which afford evidence of the value and efficiency of
+this exercise in the education of children, would be to transcribe the
+report of the Association; we shall therefore confine ourselves to a few
+of the circumstances only, which were taken in short-hand by a public
+reporter who was present.
+
+After some important and satisfactory exercises on the being and
+attributes of God, from which the children drew many valuable practical
+lessons, it is said, that the examinator "expressed his entire
+satisfaction with the result, and remarked, that he himself was
+astonished, not only at the immense store of biblical knowledge
+possessed by these children, but the power which they possessed over it,
+and the facility with which they could, on any occasion, use it in
+'giving a reason for the hope that is in them.' He then proceeded to the
+next subject of examination which had been prescribed to him, which was,
+to ascertain the extent of their mental powers and literary attainments,
+which would be most satisfactorily shown by their ability to read the
+Bible profitably; and for this purpose he requested that some of the
+clergymen present would suggest _any_ passage from the New Testament on
+which to exercise them. The Rev. Dr Russell (now Bishop Russell,)
+suggested the parable of the labourers hired at different hours, Matt.
+xx. 1-16. Mr Gall accordingly read it distinctly, verse by verse,
+catechising the children as he proceeded, and then made them relate the
+whole in their own words, which they did most correctly.
+
+"Mr Gall then selected some of the verses, and called upon them to
+separate the circumstances, or parts of each verse, and to state each as
+a separate proposition. This also they did with the greatest ease; and
+in some cases a variety of divisions were brought forward, thus proving
+the high intellectual powers which they had acquired, and the ease with
+which they could analyse any passage, however difficult.
+
+"It was next to be ascertained what power the children had acquired of
+drawing lessons from Scripture; and for this purpose, Mr Gall, in order
+to husband the time of the meeting, confined the children's attention to
+one verse only, and proposed to submit each of the moral circumstances
+contained in that verse, one by one, as they themselves had divided it.
+The following are the lessons drawn by the children, as taken down in
+short-hand by the Reporter.
+
+"_Mr G._--The householder invited labourers at the eleventh hour;--what
+does that teach you?--It teaches us, that God at various seasons calls
+people to his church.--It teaches us, that we ought never to despair,
+but bear in mind the language of Jesus to the repentant thief on the
+cross,--'To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise.'--It teaches us, that
+we ought not to boast of to-morrow, since we know not what a day or an
+hour may bring forth.--It teaches us, that time is short, and that life
+is the only period for preparation and hope.--It teaches us, that we
+ought to be prepared,--have our loins girt, and our lamps burning; for
+we know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh.--It
+teaches us, that we ought to number our days, and apply our hearts to
+heavenly wisdom.--It teaches us, that we ought not to put off the day of
+repentance; because for every day we put it off, we shall have one more
+to repent _of_, and one less to repent _in_.--It teaches us,
+
+ 'That life is the season God hath given
+ To fly from hell, and rise to heaven;
+ That day of grace fleets fast away,
+ And none its rapid course can stay.'
+
+"Mr Gall here requested the children to pause for a moment, that he
+might express the high gratification he felt at the fluency, the
+readiness, and the appropriateness of the lessons which they had drawn.
+He was only afraid that they had inadvertently fallen upon a passage
+with which the children were familiar, by having had it recently under
+their notice; and he therefore requested Mr Cameron to state to the
+meeting whether this was really the case or not. Mr Cameron rose and
+said, that what the meeting now saw was no more than could be seen any
+Sunday in the Charlotte Street School. They had not had any preparation
+for this meeting; and he did not remember of ever having had this
+passage taught in the school. He would recommend that the children be
+allowed a little freedom; and when they were done with that
+announcement, let any other be taken, for it was the same to them
+whatever subject might be chosen.
+
+"Mr Gall accordingly repeated the announcement again, and called on them
+to proceed with any other lessons from it which occurred to them. They
+accordingly commenced again, and answered as follows: It teaches us,
+that we ought to remember our Creator in the days of our youth, while
+the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh in which we shall say we
+have no pleasure in them.--It teaches us, that we ought to prepare for
+death; to gird up our loins, and trim our lamps, lest it be said unto us
+in the great day of the Lord, when he maketh up his jewels, 'Depart from
+me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his
+angels.'--It teaches us so to conduct ourselves, that whether we live
+we live unto the Lord, and whether we die we die unto the Lord; and that
+whether we live therefore or die, we may be the Lord's; for to that end
+Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of
+the dead and the living.[22]--It teaches us to improve our time lest we
+find that the harvest is past, and the summer ended, and us not
+saved.--It teaches us, that we ought to study, in that whether we eat or
+drink, or whatsoever we do, we do all to the glory of God.--It teaches
+us, that we ought to endeavour to secure an interest in Christ in
+time.--It teaches us, that delays are dangerous.--It teaches us, that
+the day of the Lord cometh like a thief in the night, and that when
+sinners shall say, 'Peace and safety,' sudden destruction cometh upon
+them.--It teaches us, that we ought to acquaint ourselves early with
+God; and that we ought to walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
+redeeming the time, because the days are evil.--It teaches us, that we
+ought to seek the Lord while he may be found, and call upon him while he
+is near; that the wicked ought to forsake his way, and the unrighteous
+man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, who will have mercy
+upon him, and to our God, who will abundantly pardon.--It teaches us to
+improve our time; and to bear in mind, that though patriarchs lived
+long, the burden of the historian's tale is always, 'and they died.'--It
+teaches us, that we ought not to allow pleasures and enjoyments to
+interfere with, or overcome, our more important duty of seeking God.--It
+teaches us, that we are never too young to pray, and to remember that
+God says, 'Now;'--the devil, 'To-morrow.'
+
+"Mr Gall here took advantage of a short pause, and said, 'We shall now
+change the announcement. Give me a few lessons from the fact stated in
+this parable, that _when the husbandman invited the labourers into the
+vineyard at the eleventh hour, they accepted the invitation_.--What does
+that teach you?'--It teaches us, that we ought to accept the invitation
+of Jesus to come with him, 'Ho! every one that thirsteth, come ye to the
+waters, and he that hath no money; come ye buy and eat; yea, come, buy
+wine and milk without money, and without price. Seek ye the Lord while
+he may be found; call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake
+his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto
+the Lord, who will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will
+abundantly pardon.'--It teaches us, that we ought to show a willingness
+to accept the invitation of Christ, since 'he is not willing that any
+should perish, but that all should come unto him and live.'--It teaches
+us, that we ought to accept the invitation of Christ, since we are
+informed in the Scriptures, 'that whosoever cometh unto him he will in
+no ways cast out.' It teaches us, that we ought to accept of the
+invitation of Christ; for the Bible informs us, that the invitation is
+held forth to all; 'for whosoever will, let him take of the waters of
+life freely.'--'Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden,
+and I will give you rest.'--It teaches us, that we ought not to hesitate
+in accepting the invitation of Christ; for God says he will not always
+strive with man.
+
+"Mr Gall here again expressed not only his satisfaction, but his
+astonishment, at the success with which Mr Cameron had taught the
+Scriptures to these children. This exhibited itself in two ways;
+_first_, in enabling them to draw lessons from any passage of Scripture;
+and _second_, in having so disposed of what Scripture they had already
+been taught, that whenever a doctrine or duty was to be brought before
+them, scriptural declarations crowded around them 'as a light to their
+feet, and a lamp to their path.' He himself had no doubt that the
+children were no more prepared upon this passage than upon any other;
+but it would exhibit this fact more satisfactorily, if _another_ passage
+were selected, which he requested some of the gentlemen present to do.
+
+"The clergymen present accordingly requested Mr Gall to try the
+concluding portion of the second chapter of Luke, which details Christ's
+visit to Jerusalem at twelve years of age. After having read and
+catechised the children on this passage, as he had done on the former,
+he proceeded at once to call for lessons. Mr Gall gave us the
+announcement that _'Joseph and Mary worshipped God in public_,' and
+asked for one or two lessons from this? It teaches us, that we ought to
+worship God both in public and in private.--It teaches us, that no
+trifles ought to hinder us from worshipping God.--One child quoted the
+following verse:--
+
+ 'Come then, O house of Jacob, come,
+   And worship at his shrine!
+ And walking in the light of God,
+   With holy beauties shine.'
+
+"Mr Gall then said, Let us change the announcement: 'Joseph and Mary
+went regularly every year to the feast of the passover?'--What does that
+teach you?--That teaches us, that we ought to attend the house of God
+regularly.--It teaches that we ought to attend church both times of the
+day.--It teaches us that we ought to worship God regularly; for God
+loveth order, and not confusion.
+
+"Let us change the announcement again. 'Jesus attended the passover when
+he was twelve years of age.' What does this teach you?--It teaches us,
+that parents should train up their children in the way they should
+go.--It teaches us, that learning young is learning fair.--It teaches
+us, that children should never be thought too young to be brought up in
+the fear of the Lord.--It teaches us, that children should obey their
+parents.--What are we to learn from their 'fulfilling the days?'--It
+teaches us, that we should not leave the church until the sermon is
+over.--It teaches us, that we ought not to disturb others by leaving the
+church."
+
+Remarkable as this exhibition was of the attainment of extraordinary
+mental power by mere children, yet it is but justice to say, that the
+above is merely a specimen of the elasticity and grasp of mind which
+these children had acquired. Some idea of the extent of this may be
+formed when it is considered, that all these passages and, subjects were
+chosen for them at the moment, and by strangers. And it is worthy of
+remark, that if such an amount of mental power, and such an accumulation
+of knowledge, of the best and most practical kind, were easily and
+pleasantly acquired by children in the lowest ranks of life, of their
+own voluntary choice, under every disadvantage, and with no more than
+two hours teaching in the week; what may we not expect, when the
+principles here developed, are wielded and applied by those who
+thoroughly understand them, not for two hours, with an interval of six
+busy days, but every day of the week?--The prospect is cheering.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[22] At this part, the Report of the Experiment contains the following
+Note:--"The reader will perceive that some of the lessons diverge at
+times from the announcement; but it is of great importance, in an
+experiment of this kind, neither to omit nor amend what is wrong, but to
+give exactly the words that were spoken. Not the least remarkable
+circumstance elicited by this experiment is the fact, that these
+children, who know nothing of the rules of grammar, have obviously, by
+the mental exercise induced by the system, become pretty correct
+practical grammarians. The variations made in many of the passages of
+Scripture quoted by them show this."
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. IX.
+
+_On the Imitation of Nature in Teaching the Practical Use of Knowledge
+by means of the Moral Sense, or Conscience._
+
+
+In a former chapter we endeavoured to collect a few facts specially
+connected with the moral sense, as exhibited in the young, and the
+methods which Nature employs, when conscience is made use of for the
+application of their knowledge.[23] We shall in this chapter offer a few
+additional remarks on the imitation of Nature in this important
+department; but before doing so, it will be proper to clear our way by
+making a few preliminary observations.
+
+No one disputes the general principle, that education is proper for
+man;--and if so, then education must be beneficial in all circumstances,
+and at every period of his life. In particular, were we to ask whether
+education were necessary in early childhood, and infancy, universal
+experience would at once answer the question, and would demonstrate,
+that it is much more necessary and more valuable at that season, than at
+any future period of the individual's life. In proof of this, we find,
+that enlightened restraint upon the temper, and a regulating care with
+regard to the conduct, are productive of the most beneficial results;
+while, on the contrary, when this discipline is neglected, the violence
+of self-will generally becomes so strong, and the checks upon the temper
+so weak, that the character of the child formed at this period may be
+such as to make him for life his own tormentor, and the pest of all with
+whom he is to be associated.--No one can reasonably deny this; and the
+conclusion is plain, that education of some kind or other is really more
+necessary for the infant and the child, than it is either for the youth
+or the man.
+
+If this general principle be once admitted, and we set it down as an
+axiom that the infant and the child are to learn _something_,--it
+naturally follows, that we are required to teach them those useful
+things for which Nature has more especially fitted them; while we are
+forbidden to force branches of knowledge upon them of which they are
+incapable. Our object then, ought to be to ascertain both the positive
+and the negative of this proposition; endeavouring to find out what the
+infant and child _are_ capable of learning, and what they _are not_. Now
+it is an important fact, not only that infants and young children are
+peculiarly fitted, by the constitution of their minds and affections,
+for learning and practising the principles of religion and morals; but
+it is still more remarkable, that they are, for a long period, incapable
+of learning or practising any thing else. If this can be established,
+then nothing can be more decisive as to the intention of Nature, that
+moral and religious training, is not only the great end in view by a
+course of education generally, but that it is, and ought always to be,
+the first object of the parent and teacher, and the only true and solid
+basis upon which they are to build all that is to follow. Let us
+therefore for a moment enquire a little more particularly into this
+important subject.
+
+When we carefully examine the conduct of an enlightened and affectionate
+mother or nurse with the infant, as soon as it can distinguish right
+from wrong and good from evil, we find it to consist of two kinds, which
+are perfectly distinct from each other. The one regards the comfort and
+physical welfare of the child;--the other regards the regulation of its
+temper, its passions, and its conduct. It is of the latter only that we
+are here to speak.
+
+When this moral training of the judicious mother is examined, we find it
+uniformly and entirely to consist in an indefatigable watchfulness in
+preventing or checking whatever is evil in the child, and in
+encouraging, and teaching, and training to the practice of whatever is
+good. She is careful to enforce obedience and submission in every
+case;--to win and encourage the indications of affection; to check
+retaliation or revenge; to subdue the violence of passion or inordinate
+desire;--to keep under every manifestation of self-will;--and to soothe
+down and banish every appearance of fretfulness and bad temper. In
+short, she trains her young charge to feel and to practise all the
+amiable and kindly affections of our nature, encouraging and commending
+him in their exercise;--while, on the contrary, she prevents,
+discourages, reproves, and if necessary punishes, the exhibition of
+dispositions and conduct of an opposite kind. This, as every one who has
+examined the subject knows, is the sum and substance of the mother's
+educational efforts during this early period of her child's
+progress;--and what we wish to press upon the observation of the reader
+is, that the child at this period is literally incapable of learning any
+thing else which at all deserves the name of education. He may be taught
+to be obedient; to be submissive; to be kind and obliging; to moderate,
+and even to suppress his passions; to controul his wishes and his
+will;--to be forbearing and forgiving;--and to be gentle, peaceable,
+orderly, cleanly, and perhaps mannerly. Is there any thing else?--Is
+there any one element of a different kind, that ever does, or ever can
+enter into the course of an infant or young child's education? If there
+be, what is it?--Let it be examined;--and we have no hesitation in
+saying, that if it be "education," or any thing that deserves the name,
+it will be found to resolve itself into some one or other of the moral
+qualities which we have above enumerated. If therefore children, during
+the earlier stages of their educational progress are to be taught at
+all, religion and morals _must_ be, the subjects, seeing that they are
+for a long period capable of learning nothing else. And it is here
+worthy of especial notice, that in teaching religion and morals, there
+is a negative as well as a positive scale;--and experience has uniformly
+demonstrated, that if the parent or teacher neglect to improve the child
+by raising him in the positive side, he will, by his own efforts, sink
+deeper in the negative. Selfishness, as exhibited in the natural
+depravity of human nature, will in all such cases strengthen daily; and
+all the evil passions which selfishness and self-will call into
+exercise, will then be strengthened and confirmed perhaps for life.
+
+But while we perceive that the young are incapable of learning any thing
+else than what is properly termed religion and morals, we find it to be
+equally true, that they are peculiarly fitted and furnished by Nature
+for making rapid and permanent progress whenever religion and morals are
+made the subjects of regular instruction and training. Few who have
+considered carefully the facts stated above, will question the accuracy
+of this assertion in so far as _morals_ are concerned; but there are
+some who will doubt the capacity of infants and children to be
+influenced by _religion_. Now this doubt arises from not observing the
+difference,--and the only difference,--that exists between morality and
+religion. A man or a child is _moral_ when he is kind and forgiving for
+his own sake, and to please himself or his parents;--but he is
+_religious_ when he does the same thing for conscience sake, and to
+please God. Now children, by the very constitution of their minds, are
+well fitted for receiving all that kind of religious knowledge which
+acts upon the feelings, and influences the conduct; while the heart is
+peculiarly sensitive, and is disposed to bend under the influence of
+every expression of affection and tenderness exhibited by others towards
+them. Their faith in all that they are told, as we have seen, is
+unhesitating and entire; and the capacity of their lively imaginations,
+for comprehending things mighty and sublime, which is too often abused
+by the ideas of giants, and ogres, and ghosts, is sanctified and refined
+by hearing of the greatness, and goodness, and love of the great Creator
+of heaven and of earth. When they are informed of his affection and
+tenderness to them individually;--of his mercy and grace in saving them
+from the awful consequences of sin by the substitution of his own Son
+for their sakes;--of his numerous benefits, and his unceasing care;--of
+his constant presence with them though unseen; and of his hatred of
+sin, and his love of holiness;--there is no mixture of doubt to
+neutralize the effects of these truths; and they much more willingly and
+unreservedly give themselves up to their influence, than those who are
+older. Hence, the repeated declarations of our Lord, that "unless we
+become as little children, we shall in no case enter into the kingdom of
+God." A simple enumeration therefore of the benefits they have received
+from this kind and condescending heavenly Father, is well fitted to fill
+the heart of an unsophisticated child with affection and zeal,--and most
+powerfully to constrain him to avoid every thing that he is told will
+grieve and offend him, and to watch for opportunities to do what he now
+knows will honour and please him. This is religion; and it is peculiarly
+the religion of the young;--and that man or woman will be found most
+religious, who, both in spirit and in action, shall approach nearest to
+it in its purity and simplicity.
+
+From all these considerations we see, that Nature has intended that the
+first part of the child's education shall consist almost exclusively of
+moral and religious training;--and this we think cannot be disputed by
+any one who considers the above facts dispassionately, or who will allow
+his mind to act as it ought to do under the influence of ascertained
+truth. We shall now therefore offer a few remarks on the manner in which
+this may most effectually be carried into effect; or, in other words,
+how Nature may most successfully be imitated in the application of
+knowledge by means of the moral sense.
+
+1. The first thing to be observed here then is, that the early efforts
+of the parent or teacher are to be employed for disciplining the child
+under the influence of the executive powers of conscience.--The child is
+to be trained to the perfect government of his inclinations and temper,
+by a watchful attention on the part of the parent to every instance of
+their exhibition in his daily conduct, the regulation of the desires,
+the softening down of the passions, the eradicating of evil
+propensities, the restraining and overcoming the exercise of self-will,
+the converting of selfishness into benevolence, and the cultivating and
+strengthening of self-controul within, and of sympathy, and forbearance,
+and kindness to all without. These are the great ends which the parent
+and teacher are to have in view in all their dealings with the child.
+They are, in short, to take care that their pupil be reduced to a state
+of enlightened submission, and uniform obedience; and for that purpose,
+they are to employ all the means and the machinery provided by Nature,
+in the use of which she has afforded them abundant examples.
+
+In the accomplishment of these ends, _the agent_ employed has much in
+her power. It is a delicate, as well as an important work; and here,
+more than perhaps in any after period of the child's educational
+progress, an affectionate and enlightened agency is of the greatest
+importance. In that constant watchfulness and exertion, necessary to
+check or to controul the unceasing and often unreasonable desires of a
+froward child, there is naturally created in the mind of a hireling or a
+stranger, a feeling of irritation and dislike, which nothing but
+enlightened philanthropy, or high moral principle, will ever be able
+thoroughly to overcome;--and these qualifications are scarcely to be
+expected in those who are usually picked up to assist the mother during
+this important season. In families, Nature has graciously balanced this
+effect, and amply provided for it, in the deep-seated and unalterable
+affection of the parent. The mother then is the proper agent, selected
+and duly qualified by Nature for superintending this important work
+during this early period. The out-bursts and irregularities of natural
+depravity in the young, must be met by an unconquerable affection,
+exhibited in the exercise of gentleness, guided by firmness;--of
+kindness and forbearance, combined with a steady and an untiring
+perseverance. Irregularity or caprice in the nurse, may be the ruin of
+the morals of the child. The selection of assistance here is often
+requisite, and yet how few comparatively of those into whose hands
+children and infants are placed, possess the high qualifications
+necessary for this important occupation?[24] The parent who from any
+cause is prevented from taking charge of the superintendence of her
+offspring at this period, incurs a serious responsibility in the choice
+of her assistant; for if these qualifications be awanting, or, if they
+be not exercised by the nurse or the keeper, the happiness and moral
+welfare of the child during life are in imminent danger.
+
+2. The child is not only to be trained to think and to act properly, but
+he must be trained to do so _under the influence of motives_. If this be
+neglected, we are not imitating Nature in her mode of applying knowledge
+by means of the moral sense. We have seen, as formerly noticed, that a
+child under the influence of conscience, has always a painful feeling of
+self-reproach, or remorse, after it has done wrong; and a delightful
+feeling of self-approval and joy, when it has done something that is
+praiseworthy. These are employed by Nature as powerful motives to
+prevent the repetition of the one, and to win the child to the frequent
+or regular performance of the other;--and this is their effect. In
+imitating her in this part of her educational process, we must in like
+manner follow in the spirit of this principle. There must be motives of
+action held out to the child; something that will tend to keep him from
+the commission of evil, and something that will stimulate and encourage
+him in doing good. Both are necessary, and therefore, neither of them
+should be neglected. What these motives ought to be, we shall
+immediately shew; but at present, we are anxious to establish the fact,
+that motives to do good, should be invariably employed with our pupils,
+as well as motives to avoid evil. In ordinary life, we generally find
+too much of the one, and too little of the other. The fear of punishment
+held out to prevent mischief or evil, is common enough; but there is
+seldom sufficient attention paid to the providing of proper incitements
+to the practice of virtue. Some, indeed, have gone the length of
+affirming that there ought to be no such incitement held out to the
+young; under the erroneous idea, that actions performed for an
+equivalent, or in the hope of a reward, cease to be virtuous. But the
+same reasoning would apply with almost equal force to the fear of
+punishment in stimulating to duty, or in deterring from wickedness; and
+yet they would scarcely affirm, that the child who, for fear of the
+consequences, refused to break the Sabbath or to tell a lie, was equally
+guilty with the boy who did both. There are, no doubt, some motives to
+virtue that are higher and more noble than others, as there are
+differences in the degrading nature of punishment employed to deter men
+from vice. But both kinds may be necessary for different persons. The
+man who forgives his enemy because he seeks the approbation of his Maker
+and the reward promised by him, and the man who does so, because he
+wishes to live in quiet, and to consult his own ease;--the boy who
+refrains from sin lest he should offend God, and another who does the
+same from the fear of the rod,--are each influenced by motives, although
+they are of a very different kind. But it is plain, that the motives
+employed may be equally efficient, and that they ought to be used
+according to their influence upon the individual, and his advancement in
+the paths of morality and religion. Where the higher motive has not as
+yet acquired influence, the lower motive must be employed; but to refuse
+the employment of either would be wrong, and the sentiment which would
+totally exclude them, has no countenance in Nature, in experience, nor
+in Scripture. In Nature, we see the directly opposite principle
+exhibited; and find that the remorse of conscience consequent upon
+crime, in preventing future transgressions, is not more powerful in
+those whose moral status is low, than is the feeling of delight and joy
+after an act of benevolence, which excites to new deeds of charity, in
+those whose religious attainments are greater. Scripture, and the
+history of all those whom Scripture holds out for imitation, unite in
+teaching the same sentiment. There are many more promises in the sacred
+record given to virtue, than there are threatenings against vice; and
+the highest altitudes of holiness are not only represented as having
+been attained by the influence of these promises; but the persons who
+have already reached them, are still urged to greater exertions, and a
+farther advance, by the reiteration of their number and their value.
+Moses, we are told, "had an eye to the recompense of reward;" and our
+Lord himself, "for the joy that was set before him," endured the cross.
+Let us not then attempt a better method than God has sanctioned; and in
+our intercourse with the young, let us not only deter them from the
+commission of evil by the fear of disfavour or the rod, but let us also
+incite them to virtue, by the hope of approbation and of a future
+reward.
+
+3. In our enquiry into the practical working of the moral sense, we
+found, not only that there were motives of action employed for
+encouraging the pupil to virtue, and for deterring him from vice; but we
+found also, that these motives referred chiefly to God, to a future
+judgment, and to eternity. In our attempts to imitate Nature in this
+particular feature of her dealing with the moral sense, we begin more
+distinctly to perceive the high value of Religious Instruction to the
+young, and are led directly to the conclusion, that the motives to be
+employed with children for encouraging and rewarding good conduct, must
+be those chiefly of a spiritual kind, referring to God, and to his
+favour or disapprobation, rather than to the rod, or to any secular
+reward. The importance of imitating Nature in this matter, for giving a
+high tone both to the sentiments and to the morals of the young, is very
+great. It is now generally admitted, that secular, and especially
+corporal punishments, are never required, except in connection with a
+very low and degraded state of the moral sentiments; but it is equally
+correct with respect to secular rewards for moral actions. They may both
+of them at times be necessary, but in that case they are necessary
+evils; and, as a class of motives, they should never be the rule, but
+invariably the exception.--We must not, however, be misunderstood. We
+are no more for abandoning _secular rewards_, than we are for giving up
+corporal punishments. We speak not here of their _abandonment_, but of
+their _enlightened regulation_;--both of them may be of service. But
+what we wish to point out as an important feature in moral training is,
+that they are, or should be, but seldom necessary; and that they ought
+never to be resorted to except when they really are so. The differences
+observable in the results arising from _secular_, and those from _moral_
+motives, are very different, both as regards their power in restraining
+from vice, and their influence in stimulating to virtue. What, for
+example, would we think of the moral condition of a child, or of the
+virtue of his actions, if he had to be hired by a comfit, or a piece of
+money, to do every act of kindness which he performed; or if he refused
+to relieve a sister, or prevent an injury to his companion, unless
+similarly rewarded? This secular spirit in morals, when thus exposed in
+its deformity, is obnoxious to every sentiment of virtue, and shews
+itself to be a mere system of buying and selling. But how very different
+does the reward appear, and the feeling which it excites, when that
+reward assumes the moral character, and is found to be the desire of
+pleasing the parent, and much more when it seeks the approbation of the
+Almighty? Every one will see how beneficial and elevating the effects of
+cherishing the one must be, and how debasing comparatively is the
+influence of the other. That children are capable of being acted upon by
+these higher motives, we have already seen; and, when we aim at securing
+the effects which they are calculated to produce, we are closely
+imitating Nature in one of her most important operations, and may
+therefore calculate upon a corresponding degree of success.[25]
+
+4. In the operations of Nature by means of the moral sense, we found,
+that the impressions made upon the mind in reference to sin or duty,
+were always most efficient, and most permanent, when the sin or duty was
+presented to them in the form of example;--that the example increased in
+efficiency and interest as it was familiar or near;--and that it became
+still more powerful when it was actually seen or experienced.--From
+these circumstances we are led to conclude, that the lives and conduct
+of men, and especially the narrative parts of Scripture, are the proper
+materials to be employed in the moral training of the young; and the
+mode of making use of them is also very plainly indicated. The closer we
+can bring the lesson taught to the child's own experience, or to his own
+circumstances, the more familiar will it become, and the deeper will be
+the impression it will make. An instance of infant disinterestedness or
+heroism, in the parlour or the play-ground, pointed out, and placed in
+connection with corresponding circumstances in the lives or conduct of
+those from whom they have previously drawn moral lessons, will render
+the latter much more familiar and practical, and will create more
+energetic desires, and stronger feelings of emulation with respect to
+the former. Or if the conduct of the person of whom the child hears or
+reads, can be brought home and applied to his own case and
+circumstances; or if he can be made to perceive the very same
+dispositions or conduct exhibited in his companions; or if he can be
+made to see how he himself can embody in his own conduct those
+principles and actions which God has approved, and requires to be
+imitated,--the end of the teacher will be much more certainly gained,
+than it can be in any other way. This is moral training, conducted by
+the proper moral means; and to attempt to gain the same end by means
+which do not either more or less embody these principles, will be found
+to be much more difficult, and much less efficient. Whoever will
+consider what is implied by our Lord's address to the Pharisees who
+erroneously blamed his disciples for unlawfully, as they thought,
+plucking the ears of corn on the Sabbath, will see this method of
+reading and applying Scripture distinctly pointed out. "Have ye never
+read," said our Lord, "what David did, and those who were with him?"
+This they might have done frequently; but the mere reading could never
+answer the purpose for which it was recorded. The moral lesson must be
+drawn, and it must also be applied to similar cases of mere ceremonial
+observance.
+
+To apply this principle, then, to the moral training of the young by
+means of Scripture History, the method is obvious.--The events of the
+narrative are to be used as examples or warnings to the child in
+corresponding circumstances. If, for example, the teacher wishes to
+enforce the duty and the benefits of patience, the history of Job has
+been provided for the purpose. When that story is taught, and the
+lessons drawn and applied to the ordinary contingencies of life, such as
+accident, disease, or distress in a companion; or to circumstances in
+which the child himself may hereafter be placed; he will be better
+prepared for his duty in such events, or, in the words of Scripture, he
+will be "thoroughly furnished" to this good work. If they are to be
+taught meekness, the history of Moses, or of other pious men who have
+been tried and disciplined as he was, will be found best adapted for the
+purpose. And more especially, the life of our Lord, in which all the
+virtues concentrate, has been given "as our example, that we may follow
+his steps," and which ought especially to be employed in training the
+young "to love and to good works." The reason why example is preferable
+to precept in teaching children, will be obvious, when we consider the
+nature of the principle of grouping, as exercised by the young, and the
+difficulty they experience in remembering abstract or didactic subjects.
+When a child receives instruction by a story, the imagination is
+enlisted in the exercise, the grouping of the persons and circumstances
+assists the memory, and the moral and practical lessons which they have
+drawn from the narrative, are associated with it, and remain ready at
+the command of the will whenever they are required.--It was for this
+reason among others, that our Lord taught so frequently by parables;
+and, in doing so, has not only set the parent and teacher an important
+example, but has, in his teaching, illustrated a principle in our nature
+which he himself had long before implanted for this very purpose.
+
+5. In our investigations into the working of the moral sense, we found,
+that there was a marked difference between the decisions of conscience
+when judging of actions done by _ourselves_, and those which were
+performed by _others_. As long as the child is innocent of any
+particular vice, he can judge impartially of its nature and demerit; but
+when the temptation to commit it has really begun to darken his mind,
+and more particularly when he has at last fallen before it, all the
+selfish principles of his nature are employed to deceive his better
+judgment, and to drown or overbear the voice of conscience within him.
+From this we learn the importance of preparing the mind _beforehand_,
+for encountering those temptations to which the pupil will most likely
+be exposed; not only by teaching him to draw the proper lessons from
+corresponding subjects, but by making him apply these lessons to his own
+case and affairs. The teacher is to suppose circumstances, in which he,
+his parents, and companions, are most likely to be placed, and in which
+the lessons drawn from the narrative will be required to weaken or to
+prevent the influences of temptation. As, for example, it might be
+asked, "If you had accidentally broken a pane of glass, and your parents
+asked you who did it, what should you do?" There would in this case,
+while it was only supposed, be no temptation to stifle conscience, or to
+bend to the influences of selfishness or fear, and the child would
+accordingly answer readily, that he ought to confess his fault, and tell
+that he himself had done it. When again asked, "From what do you get
+that lesson?" he will most probably reply, "From Jacob telling a lie to
+his parent;--from Ananias and Sapphira telling a lie;--from the command,
+'Lie not one to another,' and 'Confess your faults one to another,'" &c.
+By this means the child is forewarned;--he is prepared and fortified
+against the sin, if the temptation should occur; but which would not
+have been the case without this or some similar exercise.
+
+6. We have also seen, in our investigations into the working of the
+moral sense, the deplorable effects of stifling conscience, and of the
+child's being permitted to repeat his transgressions; while, upon the
+same principle, the most beneficial consequences result from the child's
+frequently practising self-denial, self-controul, and acts of
+benevolence. In the one case, sin and vice lose much of their deformity,
+and gain greatly in strength; while, in the other, every act of virtue
+makes vice appear more hideous, and excites to a more decided advance in
+the paths of rectitude. From these circumstances we are led to
+conclude, that every act of sin in the pupil ought to be carefully
+guarded against by the parent or teacher, and, if possible, prevented;
+while every exertion ought to be made to induce to the performance of
+good and kind actions, however humble or unimportant these actions in
+themselves may be. If God does "not despise the day of small things,"
+neither should we; and one act of kindness by a child, however trifling,
+will most assuredly prepare the way for another. This circumstance also
+shews the impropriety of attempting to magnify faults, when perhaps no
+fault was designed; and the evil consequences, as well as the injustice,
+of refraining to commend a child, when commendation is due. The timorous
+fear, in many conscientious parents, of making children _vain_, is the
+common excuse for this unnatural conduct. Such persons seem to confound
+things _vain_ with things _valuable_, though they are perfectly opposed
+to each other. Approbation for any definite quality, excites the
+individual to excel in _that_ quality, whether it be worthless or
+otherwise. But virtuous deeds are not worthless; and by commending, as
+our Lord repeatedly did, those who have done well, they, by that
+principle of our nature of which we are here speaking, are strongly
+excited to do better. To feed vanity, is to commend vanities; and they
+who prize and commend beauty, or fashion, or dress, or frivolous
+accomplishments, may be guilty of this folly; but not the parent or the
+person who commends in a child those things which are really
+commendable, and after which it is his greatest glory to aspire.
+
+7. We have already taken notice of Nature's mode of employing motives
+for the prevention of evil, and for the encouragement of the child in
+virtue, and how this is to be imitated in the education of the young;
+but we have left for this last section, and for separate consideration,
+the greatest and most powerful motive of all. This is a view of the
+inherent sinfulness and danger of sin, and the means appointed by God
+for man's redemption from it. All other motives to restrain men from
+sin, and to induce them to follow holiness, when compared with an
+enlightened view of this one, sink into insignificance. God's hatred of
+sin, and his holy abhorrence of it in every form, when contemplated in
+the abstract, may have a response from the head of him who compares it
+with his own detestation of meanness, and fraud, and profligacy; but
+when this hatred of vice in the Almighty is viewed in connection with
+gospel truth, and is contemplated in its effects upon One to whom it was
+only imputed, it begins to wear a very different complexion; and, as a
+motive to beware of that which God is determined to punish, and which he
+would not pass over even in his own Son, it leaves all other motives at
+an immeasurable distance. The same thing may be said of God's goodness
+and mercy in the gospel, as a motive for us to love him, and to glory in
+denying ourselves to serve him. The extent of the danger from which he
+has saved us, the amount and the permanence of the glory which he has
+procured for us, and the price that was paid for both, will powerfully
+"constrain" spiritual minds, to "live no longer to themselves, but to
+him who hath died for them."
+
+But the question which will be asked here is, "Are children capable of
+all this?"--We unhesitatingly answer, from long experience, that they
+are. Whoever doubts the fact has only to try. Can a child not understand
+that a distinction ought to be made between the person in a family who
+endeavours to make all happy, and another whose constant aim is to make
+them all miserable?--Can he not understand, that the parent who refuses
+to punish a wicked child, is in effect bribing others to join him in his
+wickedness?--Can he not understand that a debt due by one, may be paid
+by another?--and that a simple reliance on the word of his benefactor,
+followed by submission to his will, may be all that is required to
+secure his discharge?--No one will say that a child is incapable of
+understanding these simple truths; and if he can comprehend _them_, he
+can be made to understand and appreciate the leading truths of the
+gospel. The teacher has only himself clearly to perceive them; and then,
+divesting the truths of those unnecessary technicalities which are
+sometimes, it is feared, used very improperly and unnecessarily, he
+ought to convey them to the child, either orally, or by some simple
+catechism suited for the purpose. Wherever this is done in effect, there
+education will prosper; and when it shall become general among the
+young, it will be found to be "as life from the dead."
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[23] See pages 111 to 129
+
+[24] Note X.
+
+[25] Note Y.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. X.
+
+_On the Application of our Knowledge to the Common Affairs of Life._
+
+
+There is another point connected with the practical use of our
+knowledge, which deserves a separate and careful consideration. It is
+the method of applying our knowledge, or rather the lessons derived from
+our knowledge, to the common and daily affairs of life. In this exercise
+both old and young are equally concerned;--but it is evident that youth
+is the proper time for training to its practice.
+
+To acquire this valuable art, the pupils in every seminary ought to be
+regularly and frequently exercised in the application of their
+lessons;--first, when they have been drawn from a particular subject,
+which has occupied their attention for the day; and afterwards
+generally, from any part of their previous knowledge. To illustrate what
+we mean by this application of our knowledge, let us suppose a person
+placed in difficult circumstances, and that he is desirous of knowing
+the path of duty, and the particular line of conduct which he should
+pursue. If he is to trust to himself for the information required, it is
+evident that he must either fall back upon his previous knowledge, and
+the instructions he has already received; or he must go forward upon a
+mere conjecture, or on chance, which is always dangerous. All knowledge
+is given expressly for such cases, and especially Scripture knowledge;
+the great design of which is, "that the man of God may be thoroughly
+furnished to good works." But if the person has not been trained to make
+use of his knowledge in this way and for this purpose, he will be nearly
+as much at a loss as if his knowledge had never been received. Hence the
+great importance of training the young early and constantly to draw upon
+their knowledge for direction and guidance in every variety of situation
+in which the parent or teacher can suppose them to be placed in future
+life. By this means they will be prepared for encountering temptation,
+which is often more than the half of the battle;--they will form the
+habit of acting by rule, instead of being carried forward by fashion, by
+prejudice, or by chance;--and they will soon acquire a manly confidence,
+in deciding and acting, both as to the matter and the manner, of
+performing all that they are called upon to do, in every juncture, and
+whether the duty be important in the ordinary sense of that term or
+otherwise.
+
+For this special mode of applying knowledge, we have not only the
+indications plainly given in Nature, which we have endeavoured to
+illustrate, but we have also Scripture precept, and Scripture example.
+Leaving the numerous instances in the Old Testament, we shall confine
+ourselves to a few given by our Lord himself, and his apostles. For
+example, he prepared his disciples for the temptations which the love of
+worldly goods would throw in the way of their escape from the
+destruction of Jerusalem, by enjoining them to "Remember Lot's wife."
+Now let us observe how a teacher, in communicating the history of Lot's
+wife for the first time, would have prepared these disciples for such a
+difficulty in the same way. When they had read, that while fleeing for
+her life, the love of her worldly goods made her sinfully look back, so
+that she was turned into a pillar of salt; the obvious lesson drawn from
+this would be, that "we ought to be on our guard against worldly
+mindedness;"--and the _application_ of that lesson to the coming
+circumstances would have been something like this. "When you are
+commanded to flee from Jerusalem for your lives, and remember that your
+worldly goods are left behind, what should you do?"--"We should not turn
+back for them." "From what do you get that lesson?"--"From the conduct
+and fate of Lot's wife."
+
+In a similar way, the apostle James prepared Christians for humble
+resignation and patient endurance under coming trials, by calling to
+their remembrance "the patience of Job." He stated the trials to which
+they were to be exposed, and then he directed their attention to the
+Scripture example which was to regulate them in their endurance of them.
+Now it is obvious that a teacher, in communicating the history of Job to
+the young, should follow this example, and should make the same use of
+it that the apostle did, not only by drawing the lesson, that he "ought
+to be patient," but in _applying_ that lesson to temptations to which
+the child is likely to be exposed, as James did to the circumstances in
+which he knew Christians were to be placed. As for example, when the
+child had drawn the lesson, that "we should be patient under suffering,"
+the teacher might apply it in a great variety of ways, each of which
+would be a delightful exercise of mind to the child,--would impress the
+lesson and its source more firmly upon the memory,--and would prepare
+him for the circumstances in which the lesson might be required. Were
+the teacher accordingly to ask, "If you were confined by long continued
+sickness;--or if you were suffering under great pain;--or if you were
+oppressed by the cruelty of others, and could not help yourself;--or, if
+you were grieved by being separated from your friends,--what would be
+your duty?" The answer to each would be, "We ought to be
+patient."--"From what do you get that lesson?"--"From the conduct of
+Job, who was patient under his sufferings."
+
+The apostle Paul follows a similar plan, in applying the practical
+lessons drawn from the conduct of the Israelites in the wilderness, for
+fortifying the Corinthians against temptations to which they were likely
+to be exposed,[26] and tells them that this is the use to be made of Old
+Testament history. These lives are "ensamples," and are "written for our
+admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come."--In like manner he
+forewarned the Hebrews against discontent and covetousness,[27] by
+drawing a _general_ lesson from a _special_ promise made to Joshua; and
+then exhorts every Christian to apply it to himself personally, by
+employing the language which he puts into their mouths, "The Lord is my
+helper, and I will not fear what man can do unto me."
+
+In the same way, when our Lord repeatedly says, "Have ye not read?" and,
+"Thus it is written," he gives us obvious indications of the importance
+of the duty of thus preparing for temptation, by the application of our
+lessons from Scripture. They are each and all of them examples of
+practical lessons derived from knowledge formerly acquired, and now
+employed in the way of application, to connect that knowledge with
+corresponding circumstances as they occur in ordinary life. The lesson,
+it will be observed, and as we formerly explained, is always made the
+connecting link which unites the two; and without which there is no such
+thing as the bringing of knowledge and its use together, when that
+knowledge is required. In other words, without the lesson, knowledge is
+_useless_; and, without the application of the lesson, knowledge is
+_never used_. Both therefore are necessary, and both should be rendered
+familiar to the young. It is only necessary here to observe, that in
+teaching the children to _draw_ the lessons, the teacher proceeds
+forwards from the knowledge communicated, and, by deducing the lesson,
+prepares the child for the events in life when they shall be
+necessary;--but in _applying_ the lessons, he proceeds backwards, from
+the events, through the lesson to the knowledge from which it is
+derived. We have a beautiful example of this in the recorded temptations
+of our Lord. He was tempted to turn stones into bread; here was the
+event which required a knowledge of the corresponding duty; and he
+immediately applied the lesson that "we should not distrust God," and
+through this lesson, though not expressed, he went directly back to the
+source from which it was drawn, by saying, "Thus it is written, Man
+shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God." When in like
+manner he was tempted to throw himself from the temple, he immediately,
+through the lesson "that we should not unnecessarily presume on the
+goodness of God," went to the passage of Scripture from which it was
+drawn;--and, in the same way, when tempted to worship Satan, there was
+precisely the same process;--a lesson, derived from previous knowledge
+and applicable to the circumstances, used as a uniting link to make the
+duty and the Scripture exactly to correspond.
+
+Of doing all this which we have described above; even children are
+capable. This has been again and again proved by repeated experiments,
+and now by extensive experience in many schools. The difficulties of
+introducing it, even for the first time in any seminary, do not lie with
+the children, who in every case have shewn themselves quite adequate to
+the exercise; and wherever it has been followed up with corresponding
+energy, they have been raised much higher in the grade of intelligence
+and mental capacity by its means. This will be evident from the
+following, taken from among many examples.
+
+The criminals in Edinburgh Jail during the short time they were under
+instruction, acquired considerable facility in this valuable art. The
+report states, that "some of them were afterwards exercised on the
+application of the lessons. This part consists in supposing certain
+circumstances and temptations, to which they may be exposed in ordinary
+life, and then leaving them, by a very profitable, and usually a very
+pleasant operation of their own minds, in reference to these, to call up
+to their recollection, and to hold in review, the whole accumulated
+range of their previous knowledge. Among the various classes of things
+thus brought in order before the eye of the mind, they are easily taught
+to discriminate all those precepts and examples which are analogous to
+the cases supposed, from which again they very readily select
+appropriate lessons to _guide them in these emergencies_; thus linking
+the lessons to the circumstances, which is done in the previous exercise
+of deducing them; and then the circumstances to the lessons; and in this
+manner, establishing a double tie between the understanding and the
+conscience.
+
+"For example, a woman from the Lock-up House, being asked how she ought
+to conduct herself when the term of her confinement was expired?
+answered, That she ought not to return to her sinful courses, or wicked
+companions, lest a worse fate should befal her. When again interrogated
+where she got this lesson, she immediately referred to the case of Lot,
+who, being once rescued from captivity by Abraham, returned again to
+wicked Sodom, where he soon lost all his property, and escaped only with
+his life. Another being asked what she should do, when involved in a
+quarrel with troublesome companions? replied, That she should endeavour
+to be at peace, even though she should lose a little by it; and
+produced as her authority the conduct of Abraham, who when Lot's
+herdsmen and his could not agree, gave Lot his choice of the country, in
+order to secure peace."
+
+The children in Aberdeen also found no difficulty in perceiving the use,
+and in applying the lessons to their common affairs. The report of that
+Experiment states, that "the most important part of the exercise,--that
+which shewed more particularly the great value of this System, and with
+which the Meeting were especially struck,--was the appropriate
+application of the lessons from Scripture, which they had previously
+drawn. They were desired to suppose themselves placed in a great variety
+of situations, and were asked how they ought to conduct themselves in
+each of these. A few examples may be given, though it is quite
+impossible to do justice to the subject. A boy, for instance, was asked,
+'If your parents should become infirm and poor, how ought you to act
+towards them?' 'I ought,' replied the boy, 'to work, and help them.' And
+being asked, 'Whence he drew that lesson?' he referred to the conduct of
+Ruth, who supported Naomi and herself, by gleaning in the fields.--A
+girl was asked, 'If your mother were busy, and had more to do in the
+family than she could easily accomplish, what ought you to do?' Her
+answer was, 'I ought to give her assistance;' and she referred to the
+conduct of Saul, in assisting his father to recover the asses which were
+lost; and to that of David, in feeding his father's sheep when his
+brothers were at the wars.--A little boy was asked, 'If your parents
+were too indulgent, and seemed to give you all your own will, what ought
+you to do?' 'I ought not to take it,' replied the boy very readily; and
+added, that it was taking his own will that caused the ruin of the
+prodigal son. Another boy being asked, 'If you should become rich, what
+would be your duty to the poor?' answered, 'I ought to be good to the
+poor; but it would be better to give them work than to give them money;
+for Boaz did not give Ruth grain, but bade his shearers let some fall,
+that she might get it by her own industry.'"
+
+In the Experiment in London, a child was asked, "When you live with
+brothers and sisters who are wicked, what should you do?" and answered,
+"I should not join with them in their sins." And when asked where she
+got that lesson, answered, "From Joseph, who would not join with his
+brothers in their sin."--Another was asked, "When you see others going
+heedlessly on in the commission of sin, what should you do?" and
+answered, "I should warn them of their danger;" and referred to Noah,
+who warned the wicked while building the ark.--Again, "When people about
+you are given to quarrel, what should you do?" We should endeavour to
+make peace; and referred to Abram endeavouring to remain at peace with
+Lot's herdsmen.--"When you have grown up to be men and women, what
+should you do?" "We should go to a trade, and be industrious;" and
+referred to Cain and Abel following their different employments.--"When
+two situations occur, one where you will get more money, but where the
+people are wicked and ungodly; and the other, where you will get less
+money, but have better company, which should you choose?" "The good
+company, though with less money;" and referred to Lot's desire for
+riches taking him to live in wicked Sodom, where he lost all that he
+had.--"When your parents get old, and are unable to support themselves,
+what should you do?" "We should work for them;" and referred to Ruth
+gleaning for the support of her old mother-in-law; and another referred
+to Joseph bringing his father to nourish him in Goshen.--"When your
+parents or masters give you any important work or duty to perform, what
+should you do?" "We should pray to God for success, and for his
+direction and help in performing it;" and referred to Abraham's servant
+praying at the well.--"When we find people wishing to take advantage of
+us and cheat us, what should we do?" "Leave them;" and referred to Jacob
+with his family leaving Laban.--"Were any one to tempt you to lie or
+commit a sin, what should you do?" "We ought not to be tempted;" and
+referred to Abraham making Sarah tell a lie in Egypt.--"How should you
+behave to strangers?" "We should be kind to them;" and referred to Lot
+lodging the angels.--"Were a master or mistress to have the choice of
+two servants, one clever, but ungodly, and the other not so clever, but
+pious, which one should be chosen?" "The pious servant;" and referred to
+Potiphar, whom God blessed and prospered for Joseph's sake.--"When any
+one has injured us, what should we do?" "Forgive them;" and referred to
+Joseph forgiving and nourishing his brethren.--"When you have once
+escaped the snares and designs of bad company, what should you do?" "We
+should never go back again;" and referred to Lot going back again to
+live in Sodom from which he at last escaped only with his life.
+
+In the account given of the Newry Experiment, the boys were equally
+ready in applying for their own benefit the lessons they had drawn from
+their knowledge of anatomy and physiology. The account says, that "the
+most interesting, as well as the most edifying part of the examination,
+and which exhibited the great value of this method of teaching the
+sciences to the young, was the _application_ of these lessons to the
+circumstances of ordinary life. Circumstances were supposed, in which
+they or others might be placed, and they were required to apply the
+lessons they had drawn for their direction, and for regulating their
+conduct in every such case. This they did with great sagacity, and
+evident delight, and in a manner which convinced the audience that the
+few hours during which they had been employed in making these
+acquisitions, instead of being irksome and laborious, as education is
+too often considered by the young, were obviously among the happiest and
+the shortest they had ever spent in almost any employment,--their play
+not excepted. We shall give a specimen of these, and the answers given,
+as nearly as can be recollected.
+
+"The case of walking in a frosty day was supposed, and they were asked
+what, in that case, ought to be done? The answer was, That we should
+take care not to fall. Why? Because the bones are easily broken in
+frosty weather.--When heated and feverish in a close room, what should
+be done? Let in fresh air; because it is the want of oxygen in the air
+we breathe that causes such a feeling, but which the admission of fresh
+air supplies.--When troubled with listlessness, and impeded circulation,
+what should we do? Take exercise; because the contraction of the muscles
+by walking, working, or otherwise, forces the blood to the heart, and
+through the lungs, by which health and vigour is promoted.--Where should
+we take exercise? In the country, or in the open air; because there the
+air is purer than in a house or a town, where fires, smoke, frequent
+breathing, and other things, render the atmosphere unwholesome.--Would
+breathing rapidly, without exercise, not nourish the blood equally well?
+No; because although more air be drawn into the lungs, there would be no
+more blood to combine with its oxygen.--What should be done, when
+candles in a crowded church burn dim, although they do not need
+snuffing? Let in fresh air; because the air is then unwholesome for want
+of oxygen; which, carried to a great extent, would cause fainting in the
+people, and would extinguish the candles themselves.--When a fire is
+like to go out, what should be done? Blow it up with bellows. Why not by
+the mouth? Because the air blown from the lungs has lost great part of
+its oxygen, by which alone the fire burns. Why then does a fire blown
+with the mouth burn at all? Because part of the oxygen remains, said one
+boy; and another added, "and because part of the surrounding air is
+blown in along with it."
+
+At the second meeting with these boys, occasioned by the unexpected
+circumstances formerly alluded to, they were summarily, and without
+previous notice, taken from their school to another public meeting,
+without knowing for what purpose they were brought, and had to undergo a
+still more searching examination on what they had been previously
+taught. Here again they shewed their dexterity in making use of their
+lessons, by the application of them, and proved that they had been doing
+so to themselves in the intercourse which they had had with their
+relations at home. The account goes on to say, that "they were then more
+fully and searchingly examined than at first; and there being more time,
+they were much longer under the exercise. It was then found, that the
+information formerly communicated was not only remembered, but that the
+several truths were much more familiar, in themselves and in their
+connection with each other, than they had been at the former meeting.
+This had evidently arisen from their own frequent meditations upon them
+since that time, and their application of the several lessons, either
+with one another, their parents, or themselves. The medical gentlemen
+were again present, and professed themselves equally pleased. The
+lessons, _with considerable additions_, were also given, and the
+applications especially were greatly extended. In these last they
+appeared to be perfectly at home; and relevant circumstances might have
+been multiplied for double the time, without their having any difficulty
+in applying the lessons, and giving a reason for their application."
+
+But the most satisfactory of all the experiments on this point, as
+implying the possession of a well-cultivated mind, holding at command an
+extensive field of useful knowledge, was the one in Leith, although
+from accident, or inadvertence on the part of the reporter, a large
+portion of it has been lost to the public. The following fragment,
+however, will be sufficient to shew its nature and its value. The
+examinator wished "to ascertain the power which the children possessed
+of applying the passage to their own conduct; and for this purpose, he
+proposed several circumstances in which they might be placed, and asked
+them to show how this portion of Scripture directed them to
+act.--Supposing, said he, that your father and mother were to neglect to
+take you to church next Sunday, would that be wrong?--Yes.--From what do
+you get that lesson? And when he was twelve years old, they went up to
+Jerusalem after the custom of the feast.--Is it right that children
+should go to church with their parents? Yes.--Why? Because Jesus went
+with his parents.--Would it be right for you to go out of church during
+the time of the service? No.--Why? Joseph and Mary remained till the
+service was over.
+
+"The next point to be ascertained was, whether the children were able,
+not only to perceive what passages of Scripture were applicable in
+particular circumstances, but also to find out what circumstances in
+life those passages might be applied to. For this purpose, Mr Gall
+asked, 'Could you tell me any circumstances which may happen, in which
+you may be called on to remember that Joseph and Mary attended public
+worship?'--If a friend were to take dinner or tea with us, that should
+not detain us from attending church.--Idle amusements should not detain
+us from church; and nothing should keep us from it but sickness.
+
+"Mr Gall again expressed his unabated satisfaction at the results of the
+examination, in proving the intellectual acquirements of the children.
+But so important did the application of the lessons appear to him, that
+he must trespass still further upon the time of the meeting by a more
+severe test of the children's practical training on this particular
+point. It was a test which he believed to be altogether new to them; but
+if they should succeed, it will prove still more satisfactorily, that
+their knowledge of Scripture has made it become, in reality, a light to
+their feet, and a lamp to their path.
+
+"Mr Gall then produced a little narrative tract, which he read aloud to
+the children; and after the statement of each moral circumstance
+detailed in it, he asked the children whether it was right or wrong.
+When the children answered that it was _right_, he required them to
+prove that it was so, by some statement in the word of God, because the
+Bible should to them, and to every Christian, be the _only_ standard of
+what is right and wrong; and so, in the same manner, when they said that
+it was _wrong_, he required them also to prove it from Scripture.
+
+"As soon as the children perceived what was wanted, passages of
+Scripture, both of precept and example, were brought forward with as
+much readiness and discrimination as before. The only exception, was one
+or two quotations from the Shorter Catechism in proof of their
+positions, which were of course rejected, as deficient of the required
+authority."
+
+The concluding remarks by the Right Honourable and Reverend reporters of
+the Experiment in Edinburgh, may with propriety be here given, as it is
+applicable, not only to prison discipline, but to education in general.
+"The result of this important experiment," they say, "was, in every
+point, satisfactory. Not only had much religious knowledge been acquired
+by the pupils, and that of the most substantial, and certainly the least
+evanescent kind; but it appeared to have been acquired with ease, and
+even with satisfaction--a circumstance of material importance in every
+case, but especially in that of adult prisoners. But the most uncommon
+and important feature of it was, the readiness which they, in this
+short period, had acquired of deducing _Practical Lessons_ from what
+they had read or heard, for the regulation of their conduct. Every
+leading circumstance in Scripture, by this peculiar feature of the
+System, was made to reflect its light on the various common occurrences
+of ordinary life, by which the pupils themselves were enabled to judge
+of the real nature of each particular act, and to adopt, or to shun it,
+as the conscience thus enlightened should dictate. The acting and
+re-acting, indeed, of every branch of the System, upon each other,
+interweaves so thoroughly the lessons of Scripture with the feelings and
+thoughts of their minds, and associates them so closely with the common
+circumstances of life, that it is almost impossible that either the
+portions of the Bible which they have thus learned, or the practical
+lessons thus drawn from them, should, at any future period, escape from
+their remembrance. The evolutions of their future life, will disclose
+circumstances which they are prepared to meet, by having lessons laid up
+in store, adapted to such occurrences; and especially, when the mental
+habit is formed of applying Scripture in this manner, there is scarcely
+an event which can happen, but against its tempting influence they will
+be fortified by the armour of divine truth.--Their compliance with
+temptation, should that take place, will not be done without a
+compunction of conscience, arising from some pointed and warning example
+that comes in all its urgency before their minds;--and they will, when
+seduced from rectitude, have a light within them, and a clue of divine
+truth, to guide them out of the dark and mazy labyrinth of error and
+crime, into the path of duty and virtue. It is God alone that can bless
+such instruction, and render it savingly efficacious; but surely the
+inference is fair, that this System furnishes us with an instrument,
+which, if skilfully employed, will effect all that man can do for his
+erring brother or sister."
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[26] 1 Cor. x. 1-11.
+
+[27] Heb. xiii. 5, 6
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. XI.
+
+_On the Imitation of Nature, in training her Pupils fluently to
+communicate their Knowledge._
+
+
+There is a fourth, or supplementary process in Nature's educational
+course, the successful imitation of which promises to be of great
+general benefit, as soon as it shall be universally adopted in our
+elementary schools. It is, as it were, the door-way of intellect,--the
+break in the cloud, through which the sun-light of concocted knowledge
+is to find its way, to enlighten and cheer the general community.--We
+refer to that acquirement, by which persons are enabled, without
+distraction of mind, internally to prepare and arrange their ideas, at
+the moment they are verbally communicating them to others.
+
+When this process is analysed, we find, as explained in a former
+chapter, that it consists simply in an ability to think, and to arrange
+our thoughts at the time we are speaking;--to exercise the mind on one
+set of ideas, at the moment we are giving expression to another. Simple
+as this at first sight may appear, we have seen that it is but very
+gradually arrived at;--that many persons, otherwise possessing great
+abilities, never can command it;--that it is altogether an acquisition
+depending upon the use of proper means;--but that, at the same time, any
+person whatever, by submitting to the appropriate discipline, may attain
+almost any degree of perfection in its exercise. The object required by
+the teacher, therefore, is a series of exercises, by means of which his
+pupils will be trained to think and to speak at the same moment; to have
+their minds busily occupied with some object or idea, while their powers
+of speech are engaged in giving utterance to something else. For the
+purpose of suggesting such an exercise, we shall again attend shortly to
+the exhibition of the process, as we find it under the superintendence
+of Nature.
+
+An infant, as we formerly explained, can for a long period utter only
+one or two words at a time,--not because it is unacquainted with more,
+but because it has not yet acquired the power of thinking the second
+word, while it is giving utterance to the first. It has to attain, by
+steady practice, and by slow degrees, the ability of commanding the
+thoughts, while uttering two, three, or more words consecutively,
+without a pause. A child also, whose mind is engaged with its toys,
+cannot for some time, during its early mental advances, attend to a
+speaker; much less can it think of, and arrange an answer to a question,
+while it continues its play. It has to stop, and think; it then gives
+the information required; and after this it will perhaps resume its
+play, but not sooner. When a child can speak and continue its
+amusements, it is an evidence of considerable mental power; and as
+Nature makes use of its play, for the purpose of increasing this
+ability, the teacher, and especially the parents, ought to excite and
+encourage every attempt at conversation while the pupil is so employed.
+But our object at present is to arrive at one or more regular exercises
+that shall embody the principle; exercises which may at all times be at
+the command, and under the controul of the teacher and parent, and which
+may form part of the daily useful arrangements of the school or the
+family. The following are a few, among many, which we shall briefly
+notice, before introducing one which promises to be still more
+beneficial, and more generally applicable to the economy of literary
+pursuits, and the arrangements of the academy.
+
+One of the exercises which assists in attaining the end here in view, we
+have already alluded to, as being successfully employed by Nature for
+the purpose,--that is, the child's play. Any amusement which requires
+thought or attention, is well calculated to answer this purpose,--and
+if the child can be induced and trained to speak and play at the same
+time, his thinking powers being occupied by the external use of his
+toys, the end of the teacher will in so far be gained. Questions put to
+a child at that time, and answers given by him while he continues to
+exercise his mind upon his amusements, will prepare the way, and greatly
+assist in giving him the power of exercising it upon ideas, without the
+help of these external and tangible objects. The principle in both cases
+is the same, although in the one it is not carried out to the same
+extent as it is in the other. And here we cannot help remarking, how
+extensive and important a field the working of this principle opens up
+to the ingenious toy-man. If a game, or games, can be invented, where
+the child must have his attention occupied with one object, while he is
+obliged to answer questions, or to make observations, or to detail
+facts, or in any other way to employ his speaking powers
+extemporaneously, (not repeating words by rote,) the person who does so
+will greatly edify the young, and benefit the public.
+
+Another method by which the principle may be called into exercise, is to
+tell a short story, or simple anecdote, and then to require the child to
+rehearse it again. In doing this, the mind of the child is employed in
+communing with the memory, while he is engaged in detailing to the
+teacher or monitor, the special circumstances in their order. Upon the
+principles of individuation and grouping, too, (the two most important
+principles, be it observed, which Nature employs with young children,)
+we can perceive, that it will be much easier for the child, and at least
+equally powerful in producing the effect, if the teacher or parent shall
+confine himself to one or two stories or anecdotes at a time, till, by
+repeated attempts, the child can in its own words, and in its own way,
+readily and fluently detail the whole of the circumstances to the
+parent or teacher, whenever required.
+
+A similar mode of accomplishing the same object, when the child is able
+to read, is, to require him at home to peruse a story of some length,
+and to rehearse what he can remember of it next day. This ought,
+however, in every case to be a narrative, or anecdote, consisting of
+groupings which the child can, on reading, picture on his mind. If this
+be neglected, there is danger of the child's being harassed and
+burdened, without any corresponding benefit being produced. It is here
+also worthy of remark, that Dr Mayo's "Lessons on Objects" may be
+employed for this purpose with considerable effect. If a list of
+qualities, such as colour, consistence, texture, &c. be put into the
+child's hand, and he be required to elucidate and rehearse those
+relating to one particular object, either placed before him, or, what is
+better, one with which he is acquainted, but which at the time he does
+not see, the eye and the mind will be engaged with his paper, and in
+recollecting the particular qualities of the object, at the same time
+that he is employed in communicating his recollections.
+
+Another method for producing the same end, consists in the parent or
+teacher repeating a sentence to the child, and requiring him to remember
+it, and to spell the several words in their order. Here the child has to
+remember the whole sentence, to observe the order of the several words,
+to chuse them one after another as he advances, and to remember and
+rehearse the letters of which each is composed. The mental exercise here
+is exceedingly useful, besides the advantages of training children to
+correct spelling. At the commencement of this exercise with a child, the
+sentence must be short, and he may be permitted to repeat each word
+after he has spelled it, which will help him to remember the word that
+follows;--but as he advances, he may be made to spell the whole without
+pronouncing the words; and the length of the sentence may be made to
+correspond with his ability. Great care however should be taken by the
+teacher that this exercise be correctly performed.
+
+Many other methods for exercising the child's mind and oral powers at
+the same moment, will be suggested by the ingenuity of teachers, and by
+experience; and wherever a teacher hits upon one which he finds
+efficient, and which works well with his children, it is to be hoped
+that he will not deprive others of its benefit. Such communications in
+education, like mercy, are twice blessed. But the exercise which, for
+its simplicity and power, as well as for the extent of its application
+to the business and arrangements of the school, appears to answer the
+purpose best, and which embodies most extensively the stipulations
+required for the successful imitation of Nature in this part of her
+process, is that which has been termed the "Paraphrastic Exercise." The
+exercise here alluded to has this important recommendation in its
+practical working, that while it can be employed with the child who can
+read no more than a sentence, it may be so modified and extended, as to
+exercise the mental and oral powers of the best and cleverest of the
+scholars to their full extent. It consists in making a child read a
+sentence or passage aloud; and, while he is doing so, in requiring him
+at the same moment, to be actively employed in detecting and throwing
+out certain specified words in the passage, and in selecting, arranging,
+and substituting others in their place; the child still keeping to the
+precise meaning of the author, and studying and practising, as far as
+possible, simplicity, brevity, elegance, and grammatical accuracy. It
+may be asked, "What child will ever be able to do this?" We answer with
+confidence, that every sane pupil, by using the proper means, may attain
+it. This is no hypothesis, but a fact, of which the experiment in Leith
+gives good collateral proof, and of which long and uniform experience
+has afforded direct and ample evidence. Any teacher, or parent indeed,
+may by a single experiment upon the very dullest of his pupils who can
+read, be satisfied on the point. Such a child, by leaving out and
+paraphrasing first one word in a sentence, then two, three, or more, as
+he acquires ability, will derive all the advantages above described;
+and, by advancing in the exercise, he may have his talents taxed during
+the whole progress of his education to the full extent of their powers.
+It is in this that one great recommendation lies to this exercise,--it
+being adapted to every grade of intellect, from the child who can only
+paraphrase a single word at a time, to the student who, while glancing
+his eye over the passage, can give the scope of the whole in a perfectly
+new form, and in a language and style entirely his own. Of the nature
+and versatility of this exercise we shall give a single example.
+
+Let us for this purpose suppose that a child sees in the first answer of
+the First Initiatory Catechism the words, "God at first created all
+things to shew his greatness," and that the teacher wishes to exercise
+his mind in the way, and upon the principle of which we are here
+speaking, by making him paraphrase it. He begins by ascertaining that
+the child knows the exact meaning of one or more of the several terms
+used in the sentence, and can give the meaning in other words. As for
+example, he should be able to explain that the first word means, "the
+Almighty;"--that the words at "first," here signifies, at "the beginning
+of time;"--that "created" means, "brought into existence;"--that the
+term "all things," as here used, indicates, "all the worlds in Nature,
+with their inhabitants;"--that the phrase to "shew," means to "exhibit
+to his rational creatures;"--and that his "greatness," at the close
+implies, his "infinite majesty and perfections."
+
+Now it must be obvious, that any one of these explanations may be made
+familiar to the dullest child that can read; and if _this_ can be done,
+the principle may immediately be brought into exercise. For example,
+when the child knows that the first word means "the Almighty," and that
+"first" is another way of expressing "the beginning of time," he is
+required to read the whole sentence, and in doing so, to throw out these
+two words, and to substitute their meanings. He will then at once read
+the sentence thus: "[The Almighty,] at [the beginning of time,] created
+all things to shew his greatness." The same thing may be done with any
+one or more of the others; and if the child at first feels any
+difficulty with two, the teacher has only, upon the principle of
+individuation, to make one of them familiar, before he be required to
+attend to a second; and to have two rendered easy before he goes forward
+to the third. Each explanation can be mastered in its turn, and may then
+be employed in forming the paraphrase; by which means the child's mind
+is called to the performance of double duty,--reading from his
+book,--throwing out the required words,--remembering their
+explanations,--inserting them regularly and grammatically,--and perhaps
+transposing, and re-constructing the whole sentence,--at the moment that
+he is giving utterance to that which the mind had previously arranged.
+
+The same thing may be done with a sentence from any book, although not
+so systematically prepared for the purpose as the Initiatory Catechisms
+have been. The explanations of any of the words which may be pointed
+out, or under-scored by the teacher, can easily be mastered in the usual
+way by any of the children capable of reading them; and if he shall be
+gradually and regularly trained to do this frequently, his command of
+words, in expressing his _own_ ideas, and his ability to use them
+correctly, will very soon become extensive and fluent. The importance of
+this to the young is much more valuable and necessary than is generally
+supposed. Nature evidently intends that childhood and youth should be
+the seed-time of language; and the exercise here recommended, when
+persevered in, is well calculated to produce an abundant harvest of
+words, suited for all kinds of oral communications.--Its importance in
+this respect, as well as its efficiency in fulfilling all the
+stipulations necessary for imitating Nature in the exercise of the
+principle which we are here illustrating, will be obvious to any reader
+by a very simple experiment.
+
+For this purpose the sentence which we have already employed may, for
+the sake of illustration, be represented in the following form.--"[God]
+at [first] [created] all [things] to [shew] his [greatness.]"--Here each
+of the words, which we formerly supposed to be explained by the child,
+is inclosed in brackets. Now if the reader will be at the pains of
+trying the experiment upon himself, and shall endeavour to observe the
+various operations of his own mind during it, he will at once perceive
+the correctness of the above remarks. That he may have the full benefit
+of this experiment, he has only to fix upon any one--but only one--of
+the inclosed words in the above sentence, and having ascertained its
+precise meaning as before given, he must _read_ the sentence aloud from
+the beginning, following the words with his eye in the ordinary way,
+till he arrives at the word he has fixed on. This he leaves out, and in
+its stead inserts the explanation, and then goes on to read the
+remainder of the sentence.--At the first trial he will perhaps be able
+to detect in his own mind some of the difficulties, which the less
+matured intellect of the young pupil has to encounter in his early
+attempts to succeed in the exercise; but he will also see, that it is a
+difficulty easily overcome when it is presented singly, and when the
+pupil is permitted to grapple with the paraphrasing of each word by
+itself. The reader will also be able to trace the operation of the young
+mind while engaged with the explanations, which differ entirely from
+the words which he is at the moment looking upon and reading. He will
+observe, that when the eye of the child arrives at the word fixed upon,
+he has to pause in his utterance for a moment, till the mind goes in
+search of what it requires; in the same way, and upon precisely the same
+principle, that an infant who has managed to speak one word, has to
+stop, and go in search of the next, and then to concentrate the powers
+of its mind upon it, before he can give it expression. But if the reader
+will repeat the operation to himself upon the _same word_, till he can
+read its explanation in the sentence without difficulty and without a
+pause; and then do the same with two, then with three, and so on, till
+he has completed the whole; he will be able to appreciate in some
+measure the importance of this exercise in training the young to such a
+command of language, as will enable them, on all known subjects, to
+deliver fluently, and in any variety of form, the precise shade of
+meaning which they wish to express.
+
+This of itself will be a great attainment by the pupil; but it is not
+all. The reader will also perceive what must be the necessary result of
+persevering in this exercise, during the time of a child's attendance at
+school, in training him to that calm self-possession,--that perfect
+command of the mind and the thoughts,--while engaged in speaking, which
+the frequent and gradually extended use of this exercise is so well
+calculated to afford. All the children of a school, without exception,
+may be exercised by its means, and upon the same paragraph; for while,
+by the paraphrasing of but one word in a clause, it is within the reach
+of the humblest intellect; yet, by the changes and transpositions
+necessary in more difficult passages, either to smooth asperities, or to
+avoid grammatical errors, it provides an extemporaneous exercise suited
+to the talents of the highest grade in any seminary.
+
+The collateral advantages also of this exercise, are both valuable and
+extensive. The operation of the principle which supposes double duty by
+the mind, enters into the nature of numerous acts in ordinary life,
+besides that of thinking and speaking, and which a perfect command of
+the thoughts in paraphrasing will tend greatly to facilitate.--For
+example, it will greatly assist the pupil in making observations during
+conversation, in attending to the weak and strong points of an argument,
+and in preparing his materials for a reply, while he is all the time
+hearing and storing up the ideas of a speaker.--It will enable him more
+extensively, and more deliberately to employ his mind on useful subjects
+while engaged with his work, even in those cases where a considerable
+degree of thought is required;--and it will greatly aid him in acquiring
+the art of "a ready writer," and will be available, both when he himself
+writes his own thoughts, or when he requires to dictate them to others.
+Many persons who can express their ideas well enough by speech, find
+themselves greatly at a loss when they sit down to write them;--and this
+arises entirely from the want of that command of the mind which is
+necessary whenever it is called on to do double duty. The person cannot
+think of that which he wishes to write, and at the same moment guide the
+hand in writing; in the same way, and for the same reason, that a child
+cannot answer a question and yet continue his play. By the use of the
+paraphrastic exercise, however, the pupil will soon be enabled not only
+to concoct in his own mind what he intends to write, during the time he
+is writing; but the faculty may, by the same means, be cultivated to
+such an extent, that he may at last be able to dictate to two clerks at
+a time, and sometimes perhaps, (as it has been affirmed some have done)
+even to three.
+
+A similar collateral advantage, which will arise from the persevering
+use of the paraphrastic exercise, deserves a separate consideration.--It
+will gradually create a capacity to take written notes of a subject,
+either in the church, the senate, or the lecture room, during the time
+that the speaker is engaged in delivering it. It is in the ability to
+hear and concoct in the mind one set of ideas, while writing down an
+entirely different set, that the whole art of accurate "reporting"
+consists. The writing part of the process is purely mechanical; the
+perfection of the art consists chiefly in the command which the reporter
+acquires over the powers of his mind. The person while so employed has
+to hear and reiterate the ideas of the speaker as he proceeds; these he
+must remember and arrange, selecting, abridging, condensing, or
+abandoning, according to the extent of his manual dexterity in writing.
+But it is worthy of remark, that if the person be able to think,--to
+exercise his mind,--and to continue to write without stopping while he
+does so, the _amount_ of what he writes is a mere accident, and depends,
+not upon the state of the mind, but upon the mechanical part of the
+operation, which is aided by the arts of stenography and abbreviation.
+This mental capacity is most likely to be acquired by the regular and
+persevering use of the paraphrastic exercise. It will train the pupil to
+that command over his thoughts, which, with a little practice in this
+particular mode of applying it, will soon enable him, with perfect
+self-possession, to hear and to keep up with a speaker, while he
+continues without a pause, to write down as much of what has been said,
+as his command of the pen will allow. Without this mental ability, he
+could not while listening write at all; but when it has been
+sufficiently acquired, there is no limit to his taking down all that is
+spoken, except what arises from the imperfection of the mechanical part
+of the process,--his manual dexterity. All these collateral advantages
+will accrue to the pupils by the use of this exercise; and this latter
+one will be greatly promoted in a school by a piece of history, an
+anecdote, or a paragraph of any kind, which none of the pupils know,
+being read slowly for only a few minutes, while the whole of the pupils
+who can write are required to take notes at the time, and to stop and
+give them in, as soon as the reading is finished.[28]
+
+It is also here worthy of remark,--and it is perhaps another proof of
+the efficiency of the several exercises before enumerated as imitations
+of Nature,--that they all, more or less, embody a portion of this
+principle of double duty performed by the mind. In each of them, when
+properly conducted, the pupil is compelled to speak, and to think at the
+same moment. Not a little of their efficiency and value indeed, may be
+attributed to this circumstance. In the catechetical exercise, for
+example, it is not difficult to trace its operation. For in the attempt
+of the child to answer a question previously put to him, the teacher
+will be at no loss to perceive the mind gradually acquiring an ability
+to think of the original question and of the ideas contained in the
+subject from which he has selected his answer, at the very moment he is
+giving it utterance. And a knowledge of the fact should excite teachers
+in general, so to employ this exercise as to produce this effect.--The
+analytical exercise also, in its whole extent, calls into operation the
+working of this principle, whether employed synthetically or
+analytically. When children are employed with the analytical exercise
+proper,--as in tracing a practical lesson backwards to the subject or
+circumstance from which it has been drawn, and in attaching that
+circumstance to the story or class of truths to which it belongs; or
+when, as in the "Analysis of Prayer," a text of Scripture has to be
+classified according to its nature, among the several parts into which
+prayer is divided;--in all these cases, there is this same double
+operation of the mind, searching and comparing one set of ideas, while
+the pupil is employed in giving expression to others.
+
+The exhibition of the principle will be easily traced, from what took
+place in the experiment in London, where the report states, that "the
+third class were next examined on the nature and practice of prayer.
+They shewed great skill in comprehending and defining the several
+component parts of prayer, as invocation, adoration, confession,
+thanksgiving, petition, &c. They first gave examples of each separately;
+and then, with great facility, made selections from each division in its
+order, which they gave consecutively; shewing, that they had acquired,
+with ease and aptitude, by means of this classification, a most
+desirable scriptural directory in the important duty of prayer. They
+then turned several lessons and passages of scripture into prayer; and
+the Chairman, and several of the gentlemen present, read to them
+passages from various parts of the Bible, which they readily classified,
+as taught in the 'Questions on Prayer,' and turned them into adoration,
+petition, confession, or thanksgiving; according to their nature, and as
+they appeared best suited for each. Some of the texts were of a mixed,
+and even of a complicated nature; but in every case, even when they were
+not previously acquainted with the passages, they divided them into
+parts, and referred each of these to its proper class, as in the more
+simple and unique verses."
+
+But a similar working of the same principle takes place when the
+analytical exercise is employed synthetically, and when the pupil is
+required to go from the root, forward to the extreme branches of the
+analysis, as is done when he forms an extemporaneous prayer, from a
+previous acquaintance with its several divisions and their proper order.
+In this very necessary and important branch of a child's education, the
+"Analysis of Prayer" is usually employed, and has, in thousands of
+instances, been found exceedingly effective. During this exercise, the
+child has steadily to keep in view the precise form and order of the
+Analysis, and at the same moment he has to select the matter required
+under each of the parts from the miscellaneous contents of his memory,
+to put them in order, and to give them expression. In doing this there
+is a variety of mental operations going on at the same moment, during
+all of which the pupil will soon be enabled continuously to give
+expression to his own ideas, with as much ease and self-possession as if
+he were doing nothing more than mechanically repeating words previously
+committed to memory. This is a valuable attainment; and yet the whole of
+this complicated operation of attending to the several branches of the
+analysis, and of selecting, forming, and giving utterance to his
+confessions, his thanksgivings, and his petitions, with perfect
+composure and self-possession, is within the reach of every Christian
+child. It is accomplished by a persevering exercise of the principle
+which has been illustrated above, and which is exemplified in the
+paraphrastic exercise. Many adults, it is believed, have been enabled,
+with ease and comfort, to commence family worship by its means; and
+numerous classes have been trained to the exercise in a few lessons. We
+shall here detain the reader by only a single example.
+
+The writer having been requested to meet with the Sunday School Teachers
+of Greenock and its neighbourhood, about the year 1827 or 1828, paid a
+visit to that place, and had the proposed meeting in a large hall of the
+town, where he endeavoured to explain to them, practically, a few of the
+principles connected with Sunday School Teaching, as more scientifically
+detailed in the present Treatise. For the purposes of that meeting,
+three children belonging to one of the Sunday Schools, were for a few
+hours previously instructed, and prepared to exhibit the working of some
+of those principles which, it was hoped, would lessen the labour of the
+Sunday School Teachers, and at the same time increase their influence
+and their usefulness. These children, (two girls and a boy,) about the
+ages of ten or twelve years, were regularly instructed by means of the
+catechetical exercise, in the doctrines, examples, and duties of
+Christianity; and among other subjects, they were made acquainted with
+the "Analysis of Prayer," and exercised by its means, without its being
+hinted to them, however, what use was intended to be made of it.
+
+The meeting was a crowded one; where, besides the Sunday School
+Teachers, and Parents of the children, nearly all the Clergymen of the
+place were present. When the more ostensible business of the meeting had
+been concluded, the writer consulted privately with two or three of the
+clergymen, and asked, whether they, knowing the general sentiments of
+the persons composing the meeting, would think it improper that one of
+the three children who had shewn themselves so intelligent, should be
+called on solemnly to engage in prayer with the audience before
+dismissing. To this they replied, that there could be no objections to
+such a thing, provided the children were able;--but of their ability,
+they very seriously doubted. On this point, however, the writer assured
+them there was no fear; and if that were the only objection, they would
+themselves immediately see that it was groundless. The boy accordingly,
+without his even conjecturing such a thing previously, was, before the
+meeting was dismissed, publicly called on to engage in prayer. He was
+for a moment surprised, and hesitated; but almost immediately, on the
+request being repeated, he shut his eyes, and commenced, with a solemn
+and faltering voice for one or two sentences; when, recovering from
+every appearance of trepidation, he proceeded with much propriety and
+solemnity of manner, with great latitude, and yet perfect regularity and
+self-possession, through all the departments of adoration, confession,
+thanksgiving, and petition, in language entirely his own, selecting for
+himself, and arranging his sentences agreeably to the Analysis, which
+was evidently his guide from the beginning to the end. This Treatise
+will, there is little doubt, be read by some who were that evening
+present, and who will remember the universal feeling of surprise and
+delight, at the perfect propriety of expression, the serenity of mind,
+and the solemnity of manner, which characterised the whole of this
+uncommon exercise. It did appear to many as a most unaccountable thing;
+but when the principle is perceived, as explained above, the wonder must
+at once cease, and we can distinctly see, that by using the proper
+means, the same ability is within the reach of all who will be at the
+pains to make the trial.
+
+This same principle is also exercised to a very considerable extent in
+drawing and applying lessons from a previous announcement. A very little
+attention to the operations of the mind in that exercise will be
+sufficient to shew this. Let us suppose, for example, that an
+announcement is made to a child, from which he is required to draw a
+practical lesson. This announcement must be distinctly present to his
+mind, while he is engaged in considering its meaning, its moral
+character, and its bearing on his own sentiments and conduct;--but more
+especially, all this, besides the original announcement, has still to be
+kept in view, while he is engaged in giving the lesson to the teacher in
+his own language as required. But in the application of the lessons, the
+principle is still more extensively called into operation. The child is
+asked, how he should act in certain given circumstances. These
+circumstances must accordingly be kept steadily before the mind, during
+the whole of the succeeding mental operation. He has to consider the
+lesson, or the conduct which he should pursue in these circumstances,
+and then, by the association of his ideas, he must call up from the
+whole of his accumulated knowledge, the precepts, the examples, the
+warnings, and even the implications, which form his authority for
+deciding on the conduct which he ought to pursue. These again must be
+kept before the mind, while he is preparing, and giving in his own
+language his conclusions to his teacher.
+
+All this was very obvious in the several public experiments, where the
+drawing of lessons, and the application of them by the pupils, were
+introduced.--In the case of the adult prisoners in Edinburgh County
+Jail, it was very observable; and the rolling of the eye, and the
+unconscious movement of the head, as if deeply engaged in some mental
+research when an application was required, were peculiarly pleasing and
+obvious to all the spectators. The reason was, that they had to keep
+before their mind, the circumstance, or statement involved in the
+question asked, while they had, at the same time, to review the several
+portions of their knowledge, chuse out the passage or example which was
+calculated to direct them in the duty; and then, still keeping these
+accumulated ideas present before the mind, they had to prepare and give
+expression to their answers. The same thing had to be done, but to a
+much greater extent, by the children in Aberdeen, in London, and in
+Newry. But the most satisfactory evidence of the beneficial working of
+this principle, in the drawing and applying of lessons, and by this
+means in giving even to children a command of language, and a power of
+extemporaneous speech which is but rarely attained even by adults, is to
+be found in the Seventh Experiment in Leith. The writer feels more at
+liberty in descanting upon the extraordinary results of that
+investigation with the children, because he had no share in their
+previous instruction; the peculiar merits of which belonged entirely to
+their zealous and pious teacher. He was a plain unlettered man; and yet
+he has trained hundreds of children in his Sunday school, whose
+intellectual attainments, for their age and rank in life, the writer has
+seldom known to be surpassed. There were exhibited by the children, from
+the beginning of the experiment to the end, an amount of knowledge, a
+degree of mental culture, a grasp of mind, and a fluency of expression,
+which had never before been witnessed in children of a similar class, or
+of the same age, by any person then present. The pupils were at the time
+quite unprepared for any extraordinary exhibition;--the subjects were
+chosen indiscriminately by the clergymen present, and were repeatedly
+changed;--and what is still more extraordinary, it was found, upon
+investigation, that the subjects were in general entirely new, or at
+least they had never been previously used as exercises in the school.
+The children, however, with all these disadvantages, were perfectly at
+home in each one of them. There appeared to be no exhausting of their
+resources; and the ease, and copiousness, and fluency of their language,
+were remarked by all present, as extraordinary, and by some as almost
+incredible. Many who were present, could scarcely believe that the
+children spoke extemporaneously. All these phenomena were simply the
+effects of the principle of which we are here speaking, regularly
+brought into operation, in the weekly acts of drawing and applying their
+practical lessons. The exhibition of so much mental power possessed by
+mere children,--and these children collected from the very humblest and
+rudest classes inhabiting a sea-port town,--appeared to be a
+circumstance altogether new. The official persons present, and the very
+Rev. Bishop Russell, who took an active part in the examination,
+expressed their decided satisfaction at the results of the whole
+experiment; and the effects of these principles, as illustrated by such
+children, made the present Lord Murray remark publicly at the close of
+the meeting, that it was obviously "a valuable discovery, calculated to
+be extensively useful to society."
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[28] Note Z.
+
+
+
+
+PART IV.
+
+ON THE SELECTION OF PROPER TRUTHS AND SUBJECTS TO BE TAUGHT IN SCHOOLS
+AND FAMILIES.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. I.
+
+_On the General Principles which ought to regulate our choice of Truths
+and Subjects to be taught to the Young._
+
+
+In all cases where our temporal interests are concerned, a proper
+discrimination in the selection of such exercises and studies as shall
+best suit our purpose, is considered as not only prudent, but necessary.
+The neglect of this would, indeed, by men of the world, be esteemed the
+height of folly. No ship-master thinks of perfecting his apprentices by
+lectures on agriculture; nor does the farmer train his son and successor
+to cultivate the land, by enforcing upon him the study of navigation. In
+a public school, therefore, when all classes of the community are to be
+taught, the truths and exercises should be selected in such a manner,
+that they shall, if possible, be equally useful to all; leaving the
+navigator and the agriculturist, the surgeon and the lawyer, to
+supplement their _general_ education, by the study of those special
+branches of learning which their several professions require.
+
+But even this is not enough:--Among those subjects and exercises in
+which all the children in a school may be equally interested, there are
+many which are neither equally useful, nor equally indispensable. A
+thorough consideration, and a careful selection of those which are most
+valuable in themselves, and which are most likely to be useful during
+life, become both prudent and necessary. In all ordinary cases, men act
+upon this principle. Health, food, and recreation, are all good and
+useful things; but even from among these we are sometimes compelled to
+make a choice, and the principle of our decision is always the same.
+When we cannot procure all, we chuse those which appear to us the most
+necessary, and abandon the others without regret. A man readily denies
+himself to sports and amusement, when he finds that he must labour for a
+supply of food and necessaries; and even the pleasures of the table are
+willingly sacrificed, for the purpose of securing or restoring the
+blessings of health. In like manner, those branches of education which
+are most important for securing the welfare of the pupils, and most for
+the benefit of society, ought to be selected and preferred before all
+others; seeing that to neglect, or wilfully to err in this matter, would
+be injurious to the child, and unjust to the community.--Our object at
+present therefore is, to enquire what those general principles are which
+ought to regulate us in our choice of subjects and exercises for the
+education of youth.
+
+1. The first and fundamental rule which ought to guide the Educationist
+and the Parent in the selection of subjects for the school, is to chuse
+those which are to promote the happiness and welfare of _the pupil
+himself_; without regard, in the first instance at least, to the
+interests or the ease of his friends, of the teacher, or of any third
+party whatever.--Children are not the property of their parents, nor
+even of the community. They are strictly and unalienably the property of
+the Almighty, whose servants and stewards the parents and the public
+are. The child's happiness and welfare are entirely his own;--the free
+gift of his Maker and Master, of which no man, without his full consent,
+has a right to deprive him. This happiness, and the full enjoyment of
+what he receives, both here and hereafter, have been made to depend on
+his allegiance and his faithfulness, not to his parents, nor even to the
+public, but to the great Lord of both. This allegiance therefore, is his
+first and chief concern, with which the will and the wishes, the
+interests or the ease, of teachers and parents, have nothing to do. If
+the directions of his Maker and Lord are attended to, he has nothing to
+fear. There is in that case secured for him an inheritance that is
+incorruptible, and far beyond the reach or the power of any creature. It
+is for the enjoyment of this inheritance that he has been born;--it is
+with the design of attaining it, and for increasing its amount, that his
+time is prolonged upon earth;--it is to secure it for him, and to
+prepare him for it, that the parent has been appointed his guardian and
+guide;--and it is for the purpose of promoting and overseeing all this
+among its members, that a visible church, and church officers, have been
+established and perpetuated in the world.
+
+In so far as each individual child is concerned, the parent is the
+immediate agent appointed by the Almighty for attending to these
+objects; and although, in a matter of so much importance, he is
+permitted to avail himself of the assistance of the teacher, he, and he
+only, is responsible to God for the due performance of those momentous
+duties which he owes to his child. When therefore the parents, for the
+purpose of forwarding some trifling personal advantage, or the teacher,
+for his own ease or caprice, are found indifferent to the kind of
+exercises used in the school, or to the results of what is taught in
+it;--doing any thing, or nothing, provided the time is allowed to pass,
+with at least the appearance of teaching;--they are, in such a case,
+betraying an important trust; they are heedlessly frustrating the
+wishes, and resisting the commands of their Master and Lord; they are
+sapping the foundations of society; and are thoughtlessly and basely
+defrauding the helpless and unconscious pupil of a most valuable
+patrimony.--In committing to parents the keeping and administration of
+this sacred deposit, reason, conscience, and Scripture, all unite in
+declaring, that it is given them, not for the promotion of their own
+personal advantages, but for the child's benefit; and that, while they
+never can be permanently bettered by its neglect, their good, even in
+this world, will be best and most surely advanced by a faithful
+discharge of their duty to their offspring.
+
+These remarks go to establish the general principle, that the parent is
+not the proprietor, but merely the guardian and the administrator of the
+child's interests. These interests are of various kinds. And although
+the above remarks refer chiefly to the spiritual and eternal advantages
+of the young, that circumstance arises merely from their superior value
+and importance. The argument is equally conclusive in regard to every
+one of his temporal concerns. For if both the parent and the child be
+the special property of God, and if the parent has been appointed by him
+as the conservator and guardian of the child's happiness, he has no
+right either to lessen or to destroy it for any selfish purpose of his
+own. In every case--even of discipline--he is bound to follow the
+command and the example given him by his Father and Master in heaven,
+not to chastise his offspring for his "own pleasure," but for the
+"child's profit." The rule therefore which ought to regulate the parent,
+and of course the Educationist, in making choice of the subjects and
+exercises for the school, is, that they shall really and permanently
+conduce to the _pupil's_ welfare and happiness, irrespective of the
+conflicting interests or wishes, either of the teacher, the parent, or
+the public. These will usually be in harmony; but as a general
+principle, the exercises are to be chosen with reference to the welfare
+of the _child_,--not of the _community_.
+
+2. Another rule which ought to be attended to in the selection of
+subjects and exercises for the seminary, is nearly allied to the former,
+but which we think, from its vast importance, should have a separate
+consideration. It is this, that a decided preference should be given to
+_every thing which advances the concerns of the soul, above those of the
+body;--which prefers heaven to earth,--and eternity to time_.--Man is an
+accountable and an immortal creature;--and therefore there is no more
+comparison between the value of those things which refer to his
+happiness in eternity, and those which refer only to his enjoyments
+during his lifetime, than there is between a drop of water and the
+contents of the ocean;--nay, between a grain of sand and the whole
+physical universe. The truth of this observation, when viewed in the
+abstract, is never questioned; and yet the educational principles which
+it naturally suggests are too often jostled aside, and practically
+neglected. It plainly teaches us, that the young ought to be made aware
+of the comparative nothingness of temporal and sensual objects, when
+placed in competition with those which refer to their souls and
+eternity; and that the subjects which are to be taught them in the
+school, should tend to produce these feelings.--But this is not always
+the case; and even when the subjects are in themselves unobjectionable,
+the methods taken for teaching them frequently neutralize their effects.
+The national evils which have arisen from this neglect are extensive and
+lamentable, consisting in an almost exclusive attention among all
+classes to temporal matters, and to sensual gratifications. These
+characteristic, features in our people may all be traced, from their
+exhibition in general society, to the want of a thorough knowledge of
+those truths which tend so powerfully to deaden the influence of the
+things of sense and time, and to moderate our pursuit after them. It is
+in a particular manner at this point that the reckless cupidity, and
+the debased and short-sighted selfishness of the lower classes, ought to
+be met and removed, by the enlightened and kindly instructions of more
+capacious minds. Society, as at present constituted, acts as if there
+were no futurity. Time is the eternity of thousands; and therefore they
+think only of time. Had they, as rational creatures, but a correct
+view,--however faint,--of their destination in eternity, their conduct
+and pursuits would very soon be changed, and their selected enjoyments
+would become, not only more rational, but much more exquisite. Education
+is the instrument by which alone this can be effected, whether in the
+church or in the school; and to this point, both parents and children
+should be assiduously directed for their own sakes, and for the sake of
+the community.
+
+Hitherto there has in education been too much of the mere shadow of
+rational knowledge, without the substance; and the consequence has been,
+that many parents in the lower classes have never been able to perceive
+their _own_ best interests, and therefore it is that their children by
+them have been equally neglected. Nor is this only a partial evil, or
+confined to the lower classes.--It is, on the contrary, when we examine
+the matter closely, nearly universal. Among ignorant and thoughtless
+parents, who are either unable or unwilling to look any further than the
+few short years of life, the training of their children to figure
+respectably and gracefully during it, may not perhaps excite much
+wonder;--but that such conduct should be followed by Christian parents,
+who know that both they and their children have souls, and that there is
+such a thing as eternity before them both, is truly humbling. Nor is it
+much for the credit of the philosophy of the present day, that while its
+promoters admit as an axiom the superiority of moral and religious
+attainments, they are found in practice to bestow their chief attention,
+and to lavish most of their approbation on physical investigations and
+on intellectual pursuits. Every sound thinker must see, that by doing
+so, the first principles of philosophy are violated; and many well
+meaning persons are, by this inverted state of public opinion,
+insensibly drawn away from the more valuable food provided for them as
+responsible and immortal beings, to feed on the mere chaff and garbage
+of temporal and sensual enjoyments; or the more valuable, but still
+temporary crumbs of the intellectual table. That this practical abuse of
+acknowledged truths should be found among the ignorant and the depraved,
+might perhaps be expected; but that it should be witnessed, and yet
+winked at, by men of learning and study, whose comprehensive minds,
+although still inadequate to comprehend the full import of an eternity
+of advancing knowledge, can yet appreciate the comparative
+insignificance of seventy--nay of seventy thousand--years' investigation
+into the mysteries of Nature, is very painful. We do not, in saying
+this, depreciate in the slightest degree the sublime discoveries which
+are daily being made of the Almighty and his works;--but we say, upon
+the soundest principles of philosophy, that were all these discoveries
+multiplied ten thousand times, they could not for a moment compete with
+what yet remains to be communicated to the successful aspirant after the
+revelations of eternity. Religion and morals are the only means by which
+success in that great competition can be gained; and therefore, to a
+child, a knowledge of all that man has yet discovered, or can ever know
+in this imperfect state of existence, is really as nothing, in
+comparison with the knowledge and practice of but one religious truth,
+or with the slightest advance in the science of morals.--A child once
+possessed of a living soul is born for eternity. Its happiness has been
+made to depend, not on the possession of physical good, or of
+intellectual power, but entirely on its moral condition;--and the
+physical good it receives, and the intellectual power it attains; are
+nothing more than means intended by the Almighty to be used for the
+purpose of perfecting his moral condition while he is still in this
+world. The whole period of his existence here, is but the moment of his
+birth for eternity. Care and enlightened attention to his moral
+condition during that short period of probation, will usher him
+spiritually alive and fully prepared for enjoying an eternal weight of
+intelligence and glory;--while inattention, or misdirected activity now,
+may no doubt put him prematurely in possession of a few intellectual
+morsels of this eternal feast, but it will assuredly shut him out from
+its everlasting enjoyment, and will entail on him comparative ignorance,
+and a living death for ever.
+
+In this view of the case then,--and what Christian will deny that it is
+the correct one,--there cannot be a more short-sighted proposition
+suggested in the counsels of men, than that which would sanction a
+system of education for an _immortal_ being, that either overlooked, or
+deliberately set aside, his well-being in eternity. The very idea is
+monstrous. It is a deliberate levelling of man to the rank of mere
+sentient animals; and is another form of expressing the ancient advice
+of the sensualist, "Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die." By
+every person of learning, then, and even by individuals of humbler
+attainments, in the exercise of a plain common understanding, the
+importance of the rule in education which we are here recommending, must
+at once be admitted;--That in the selection of truths and exercises for
+educating and training the young, a decided preference should always be
+given to those which have a reference to their well-being and happiness,
+not in time so much as in eternity.
+
+3. In selecting subjects and exercises for the education of the young,
+those are to be preferred, by which _the largest amount of true and
+solid happiness is to be secured to the pupil_.--A man's happiness is
+his only possession. Every thing else which he has, is only the means
+which he employs for the purpose of acquiring or retaining it. Happiness
+accordingly, by the very constitution of our nature, is the great object
+of pursuit by every man.[29] The means of happiness are no doubt
+frequently mistaken, and often substituted for happiness itself. But
+even these conflicting circumstances, when properly considered, all tend
+to shew, that happiness is the great object desired, and that it is
+universally sought after by every intelligent mind. By a wise and
+beneficent arrangement of the Almighty, it has been so ordered, that
+happiness is to be found only in the exercise of the affections;--and
+the amount of the happiness which they confer, is found to be
+proportionate to the excellence of the object beloved. The love of God
+himself, accordingly, is the first of duties, and includes the
+perfection of happiness. The love of all that are like him, and in
+proportion as they are so, ranks next in the scale; and hence it is,
+that all moral excellence,--the culture of the affections and the
+heart,--is to be preferred to intellectual attainments, as these again
+are to take precedence of mere physical good.
+
+This established order for the attainment of happiness, is in society
+most strangely inverted. Beauty, strength, honour, and riches,--mere
+physical qualities,--are generally preferred to the qualities of the
+mind;--and mental attainments, again, too often command more
+consideration than moral worth. This is altogether an unnatural state of
+things; and the consequences of its prevalence in any community, must be
+proportionally disastrous. How far the modes for conducting the
+education of the young hitherto have tended to extend or perpetuate this
+error, it is not for us here to say. But if they have, the sooner the
+evil is rectified the better. Happiness, as we have said, is the single
+aim of man,--however he may mistake its nature, or the means by which
+it is to be attained. And as it is to be found, not in intellectual
+power, nor in the possession of physical good, but only in moral
+culture, it follows, that the attainment of this moral excellence should
+be the one chief design aimed at in the education of the young.
+
+The benevolence and wisdom of this arrangement are obvious. For had
+happiness been made to depend on the possession of _intellectual_ power,
+few comparatively could have commanded the time and means which are
+necessary for the purpose; and had it been attached to the possession of
+riches, or honour, or any other species of _physical_ good, there would
+have been still fewer. But it is not necessarily attached to the
+possession of either. Men may enjoy riches and honours, beauty and
+health, and yet they may be unhappy. The highest mental attainments
+also, when disjoined from moral excellence, tend only, as in the fallen
+angels, to stimulate their pride, and to aggravate their misery. But
+happiness is exclusively and unalterably attached to the cultivation of
+_the affections_,--to the acquisition of moral excellence;--so that it
+is equally within the reach of every individual, however obscure, or
+however talented. Few men can be intellectually great,--fewer still can
+be rich or powerful; but every man may, if he pleases, be good,--and
+therefore happy. In choosing the subjects and exercises then for the
+education of the young, those which tend to the production and to the
+cultivation of the moral affections,--love to God, and love to men,--are
+always to be preferred to those which have relation merely to the
+attainment of _intellectual_ acquirements, or the possession of mere
+_physical_ good.
+
+4. In choosing subjects and exercises for the education of the young,
+reference should be had, all other things being equal, to _the
+prosperity and welfare of the community in general_.--We have already
+shewn that, under God, the happiness and welfare of every individual
+are his own special property, and must in all cases, therefore, be at
+his special disposal. No ordinary combination of circumstances will ever
+warrant an unjust encroachment on what is so peculiarly his own. But the
+happiness and welfare of an individual are almost uniformly found to be
+connected with the happiness and prosperity of those with whom he has to
+associate. The Educationist, therefore, ought to have the welfare of the
+community in view, while he is selecting those exercises which are
+specially to benefit his pupil; and he will almost invariably find, that
+by choosing those subjects and exercises for the individual, which will
+tend most surely to promote the general well-being of society, he will
+not only not require a sacrifice of any of the personal benefits to
+which the child has a claim, but that he will greatly increase their
+amount, and add to their value. When this is the case, to overlook the
+good of the community in selecting exercises and subjects for the
+school, would be of no advantage to the pupils, and would be an act of
+positive injustice to the public at large.
+
+These general principles, we think, when considered singly, must approve
+themselves to every thinking mind; and if so, they must be still more
+beneficial when they are combined, and acted upon systematically in the
+preliminary arrangements of any seminary. The nearer, therefore, the
+Educationist can keep to them in making his selection of subjects and
+exercises, the better will it be both for the pupil and for the
+community at large, while the benefits expected from an exercise where
+there is any material deviation from them, will most probably turn out
+to be delusive, and the exercise itself detected as the mere bequest of
+an antiquated prejudice, or the temporary idol of fashion. These
+principles being admitted to be sound in the abstract, will greatly
+assist us in deciding upon the relative value and appropriateness of
+some of the propositions which we shall immediately have to submit to
+the reader; and we would here only remark, for his guidance, that if, in
+the following recommendations, he finds an exercise correctly to accord
+with the above principles, while he yet hesitates as to the propriety of
+its adoption in the school, or feels inclined to accede to its
+exclusion,--he ought, in such a case, carefully to review the grounds of
+his decision, as these are most likely to be erroneous. He has good
+reason to suspect that he is labouring under prejudice, or is unduly
+biassed by long cherished opinions, when he refuses the legitimate
+application of a general law,--a law which he has previously admitted to
+be sound,--and which is as likely to be applicable to the case in hand,
+as to any other of a similar kind.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[29] Note R.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. II.
+
+_On the particular Branches of Education required for Elementary
+Schools._
+
+
+In making choice of suitable subjects for the education of a community,
+there are two considerations which ought to regulate us in our
+selection. The one is, the indications of Nature respecting any branch
+of education; and the other is, the peculiar usages of the place and
+persons with whom the pupil is destined to associate. As an example of
+the former class of subjects, we may instance reading and writing; and
+of the latter, book-keeping and the classics. The branches belonging to
+the former will be found more or less useful to all without exception;
+while those which rank under the second class, although requisite for
+some, will be found unnecessary, and generally useless, to many. From
+the character of the present work, our business is chiefly with the
+former class; and we shall therefore advert very shortly to a few of
+them, pointing out the intimations of Nature respecting them, and
+giving a few hints as to the best methods by which they may be taught.
+
+And first of all, _Religion and Morals_ are clearly pointed out by
+Nature as a branch of education peculiarly necessary for the young. On
+this we shall not here again enlarge, but shall merely refer the reader
+to some of our previous pages, where it has been made sufficiently
+clear.[30]
+
+Next in importance as a branch of education plainly indicated by Nature,
+we ought to rank _the principles of Natural Philosophy_. We say next _in
+importance_, not _in time_; because they are evidently not to be taught
+to the child in this order, although it will be found in experience that
+these principles may be communicated by successive "steps" much sooner
+than is generally thought.[31] Nature begins early; and so should we.
+The very infant becomes practically a natural philosopher, and continues
+to act regularly upon the truths or principles which experience enables
+him to detect. He soon learns that flame burns, that clothes keep his
+body warm, that stumbling will cause a fall, and that the support of a
+chair or stool will prevent it. As he grows up he learns the danger of
+handling sharp knives, hot irons, and burning coals; he learns to detect
+some of the effects of the mechanical powers, which he frequently
+applies, although he cannot explain them. This we perceive exemplified
+in his ingenious contrivances in cutting his sticks, wrenching with
+forks, hammering with stones, kicking with his toes, and afterwards more
+powerfully with his heels; in trundling his hoop, in sailing his mimic
+fleets by the force of his breath, and in adapting to the requisite
+moving powers his wind and water mills. He even learns to know something
+of the composition of forces, as we perceive by his contrivances in the
+flying of his kite, the shooting of his marbles, and the rebounding of
+his ball. Now, as these adaptations are never to be ranked under the
+class of instinctive actions, but have been in every case acquired by
+actual experience, it shews, that there is an outgoing of the mind in
+search of principles, and we think it is probable, that these principles
+are often, although perhaps but dimly perceived, from the various, and
+frequently successful contrivances of the child in difficulties, and in
+circumstances when he is desirous of procuring relief. This at all
+events shews us, that children are very early prepared, and capable of
+receiving instruction of this kind.
+
+The _importance_ attached by Nature to this branch of learning, is not
+less remarkable, than is its universality. It is the great hinge upon
+which every temporal comfort of the individual is made to turn. What we
+have here termed "natural philosophy," is to the body and to time, what
+religion and morals are to the soul and eternity;--the well-being of
+both depends almost entirely upon the proper application of their
+several principles. It is no doubt true, that the principles are not
+always very clearly perceived; but it is equally true, that the
+application of these principles will be more easy, more frequent, and
+much more effective, when they are made familiar by teaching. Hence the
+importance of this branch of education for the young.
+
+Next in importance as branches of education, and prior perhaps in point
+of time, come the arts of _Reading_ and _Writing_.--Speech is a valuable
+gift of Nature, bestowed upon us for the communication of our ideas, and
+_writing_ is nothing more than a successful imitation of Nature in doing
+so. The hearing of speech, in like manner, is closely copied in the art
+of _reading_. These two arts, therefore, as most successful imitations
+of Nature, recommend themselves at once to the notice of the teacher as
+an important branch of education for the young. The one enabling him to
+speak with the hand, and to communicate his ideas to his friend from
+any distance; and the other, the art of hearing by the eye, and by which
+he can make the good and the wise speak to him as often and as long as
+he may feel inclined.[32]
+
+Of _Arithmetic_, we may only remark, that the necessity of sometimes
+ascertaining the number of objects, of adding to their number, and at
+other times of subtracting from them, indicates sufficiently that this
+is a branch of education recommended by Nature. It may only be necessary
+here to remark, that, from various concurring circumstances, it appears,
+that what is called the Denary Scale is that which is most conducive to
+general utility. As to the nature of Arithmetic, and the best methods of
+teaching it, we must refer to the Note.[33]
+
+_Music_ is one of Nature's best gifts. The love of it is almost
+universal; and few comparatively are unable to relish and practise it.
+Its effect in elevating and refining the sentiments in civilized
+society, is matter of daily observation; and its power to "soothe the
+savage breast," has been often verified. To neglect the cultivation of
+music, therefore, during childhood and youth, when it can be best done,
+not only without interference with other branches of study, but with
+decided advantage in forwarding them, is both imprudent and unjust. We
+say that it is _unjust_;--for while much ingenuity and large sums of
+money have been expended in producing musical instruments for the
+gratification of men, the child of the poorest beggar is in possession
+of an instrument in the human voice, which for sweetness, variety,
+expression, and above all, for its adaptation to language, has never
+been equalled, and stands quite unapproachable by all the contrivances
+of man. How cruel then in parents or teachers to allow an instrument so
+noble and so valuable to fall to ruin from the want of exercise! It is
+to deprive their pupil of a constant solace in affliction, and to dry
+up one of the cheapest, the readiest, and the most innocent and
+elevating sources both of personal and social enjoyment. Of its uses,
+and methods of teaching in the school, we must again refer to the
+Notes.[34]
+
+_Dancing_ is obviously the sister of music, and is perhaps equally
+sanctioned by Nature. It is obviously capable of being consecrated and
+employed for high moral purposes; and its abuse therefore should form no
+argument against its regular cultivation. That it was so employed by the
+appointment of God himself, is matter of history; and that it is still
+capable of being preserved from abuse, cannot reasonably be denied. The
+stand that has so frequently been made against even the innocent
+enjoyment of this boon of Nature, is now admitted to be a prejudice,
+derived originally from its flagrant and frequent abuse. These
+prejudices are gradually and silently melting away; and it is cheering
+to see the better feelings of our nature effectively advancing the art
+to its legitimate place in education, under the guise of gymnastics and
+callisthenics. That these, however, are but imperfect substitutes for
+what Nature has intended for the young, is obvious, when we contrast
+them with the gambols of the kitten, the friskings of the lamb, and the
+unrestrained romps of healthy children newly let loose from the school.
+The truth is, that the accumulation of the animal spirits must be thrown
+off by exercise, whether the parent or teacher wills it or no; and if
+the children are not taught to do this _by rule_, as in dancing, they
+will do it without rule, and perhaps beyond the proper limit, both as to
+time, place, and quantity. Education indeed cannot be expected to
+flourish to the extent desired, till the mental labours of the school
+can be occasionally relieved by some physical exercise, either within
+doors, or in the open air.[35]
+
+The love of pictures and of _Drawing_ is also a boon bestowed upon us by
+Nature, and is a desirable acquisition for the young. The art may
+generally be acquired with little trouble, and often with great
+enjoyment. It is certainly neither so necessary, nor so valuable, as
+some of the branches of which we have been speaking; but as it may be
+easily attained, and as its future exercise will always be a source of
+innocent and refined enjoyment, it ought to occupy a place in every
+educational institution. Almost every person is gratified by looking
+upon a good picture; and few comparatively are unable to acquire the
+rudiments of the art which produces them. It requires but little
+teaching, provided good copies be procured;--and even these will be
+frequently unnecessary, where the pupils are encouraged to copy from
+Nature. The proper methods of doing this, however, must be left to the
+circumstances of the school, and to future experiments.
+
+With respect to the teaching of _History_, a little consideration will
+convince us, that it does not consist in the mere communication of
+historical facts. History is, or ought to be, a science; and the
+succession of events is nothing more than the implements employed by the
+master in teaching it. The _facts_ of history, like those of chemistry,
+agriculture, or mechanics, are taught merely as means to an end.--They
+are the elements from which we derive principles, which are to be
+practically applied by the learner; and it is _the ability to apply
+these_ that constitutes the learning. The facts upon which any science
+is based, must no doubt be known before it can be taught;--but they may
+be known without the science having ever been mastered: For it is not a
+knowledge of the facts, but the capacity to _make use_ of them, that
+entitles a man to the appellation of a chemist, an agriculturist, a
+mechanic, or a historian.
+
+Viewing the study of history in this light, we at once perceive, that
+the teaching which it requires is not a dry detail of dates and
+circumstances;--but the practical uses which ought to be made of them.
+The only legitimate use of history is to direct us how we ought to
+conduct ourselves as citizens, and how rulers and governors can most
+safely and successfully manage the affairs of the public, in all the
+varying events of political change. The teacher therefore is to
+communicate the facts, for the purpose of turning them to use, by
+drawing, and teaching his pupils how to draw lessons of prudence,
+energy, or caution, as regards the nation;--in the same way that
+Biography is taught for the sake of drawing lessons of a more personal
+kind, as regards a family or a neighbourhood. Both were practically
+exhibited in the experiment in Aberdeen; by which it was made obvious,
+that children, as well as adults, were capable of studying it. Where the
+circumstances of a seminary will admit, it ought not to be neglected.
+The mere inconveniences which may for some time attend the introduction
+of such a mode of teaching history is no good reason for its neglect;
+and the want of practical elementary books drawn up upon this plan, in
+the form of successive "Steps," is the chief desideratum, which we hope
+soon to see supplied.
+
+_Geography_ is another branch of education pointed out to us by Nature
+for the benefit of man. We speak here, however, of physical geography,
+and not of the historical and political departments of it. These belong
+more properly to history. The chief object in teaching this science, is
+to convey to the mind of the pupil a correct idea of this world as a
+sphere, on the top of which he stands, and of the relative positions of
+all the kingdoms and countries on its surface. This will be, and it
+ought to be, a work of time. The more correctly and familiarly the pupil
+can form the idea of this sphere as a whole, the sooner and the better
+will he become acquainted with its parts. Acting upon the principles of
+reiteration and analysis, formerly described, the pupil ought to
+sketch, however rudely, the great outlines of the four divisions of the
+earth, upon a blank, or slate globe, till he can do so with some degree
+of correctness. The separated divisions may then be sketched on a common
+slate, without caring as yet for the details; and when this can be
+accomplished readily, the same thing may be done with the different
+kingdoms of which they are severally composed. The child ought never to
+be harassed by the minute details, till he comes to sketch the
+countries, or the counties. What is required _before this_, is their
+relative position, more than their form; and this, upon the principle of
+analysis, will be easiest and most permanently acquired by mastering in
+the first place the great outlines.
+
+Children, by mere imitation, will practically acquire the art of
+_Grammar_, long before they are capable of learning it as a science. It
+ought invariably to be taught by "Steps;" and the child should have a
+perfect knowledge of the etymological part, before he is allowed to
+advance to syntax. The efficiency of this concluding part of grammar,
+depends entirely upon his familiarity with the former. It will therefore
+be found here, as in the practice of arithmetic, that the prize will
+ultimately be awarded, not to him who expends most labour and strength
+in running, but to him who has made the best preparation for the race.
+
+The art of _Composition_, or the ability to express our thoughts in an
+orderly and natural form, is the last branch of education to which, as
+recommended by Nature, we shall here allude. The perfection of this art
+appears to depend on three circumstances. There must be a clear
+understanding of the subject upon which the person is to write;--there
+must, in the second place, be a distinct perception of the most natural
+order in which it ought to be presented to the mind and imagination of
+others;--and the third is, an ability to manage these materials with
+facility, and without distraction of mind, while engaged in writing
+them. As to the first of these three, nothing requires to be said here,
+as the exercises recommended in the previous part of this Treatise will
+almost invariably accomplish it. With respect to the second, that of
+presenting the ideas connected with the subject in due and proper order,
+it may be remarked, that the hints formerly given, as to the natural
+order of "grouping" objects to be presented to the imagination, will be
+of great use here, and to them we must refer;[36]--and the third object
+here required, that of managing the thoughts at the moment of writing
+them, has been in effect already described and treated of, in a previous
+part of this Treatise.[37] It is the same kind of ability as that which
+is required for acquiring fluency and ease in extemporaneous speaking,
+and is to be gained by the use of the same means. It is here only
+necessary to observe, that abstract teaching and general directions are
+not the things most required for forwarding a child in this branch of
+his education. These, at an advanced stage of his learning, will no
+doubt be of service; but till the pupil can write with some degree of
+freedom, they are in a great measure useless, or worse. What is wanted
+most in our elementary schools, is a successful _beginning_;--suitable
+exercises to assist the pupil in writing his own thoughts properly, but
+in his own way. Many methods have been devised to effect this, and with
+more or less success;--but we believe the most efficient, because the
+most natural and simple, is that which has been engrafted upon the
+paraphrastic exercise. In regard to its ease, it is only necessary to
+say, that a child who can but write a sentence, may begin to practise
+it;--and its efficiency may be argued from the fact, that while every
+step is progressive, the advanced exercises give ample scope for the
+abilities of the cleverest in the school.[38]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[30] See Part II. chap. x. p. 111. Part III. chap. ix. p. 257, and p.
+310-313. For the methods of teaching, see Note S.
+
+[31] Note T.
+
+[32] Note U.
+
+[33] Note V.
+
+[34] Note W.
+
+[35] Note A a.
+
+[36] See pages 215, 216.
+
+[37] See Pages 297, &c.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP III.
+
+_On the Easiest Methods of Introducing these Principles, for the first
+time, into Schools already established._
+
+
+That the educational principles attempted to be developed in the
+preceding pages, shall ultimately pervade the great fields of Elementary
+learning, admits we think of but little doubt; and yet the diminutive
+word "When?" in relation to this change, forms a question, which it
+would be extremely difficult to answer. Every improvement of the kind
+hitherto has been gradual; and experience shews, that the admission of
+the most important principles in Science, has been often retarded,
+rather than forwarded, by undue precipitation on the part of their
+friends. It is with this historical fact in view that the following
+hints are now offered, in order to render any sudden change unnecessary,
+and to enable teachers gradually to feel their way to greater success by
+_new_ methods, without making any material change for some time on the
+_old_. We speak advisedly when we say, that two half hours daily, if
+regularly and honestly employed in working out these principles in a
+school, will do more real good in forwarding the education of the pupils
+attending it, than all the rest of the day put together. This portion of
+time, divided between the two parts of the day, would not materially
+interfere with the usual routine of any seminary, which might still be
+proceeded with as before, till the teacher saw his way more clearly in
+enlarging the exercises, and extending the time.
+
+_Younger Classes._--With respect to the young children who are as yet
+incapable of understanding by reading, we would advise that they be
+repeatedly exercised by a monitor in sections of four or five, during
+not more than ten or fifteen minutes at a time, by means of the
+"Scripture Groupings for children." The Key to that little book will
+enable any monitor, or even scholar, who can read, efficiently to
+perform this duty. The design here is chiefly mental exercise; but with
+that mental exercise, the most important and valuable information may be
+communicated. The monitor is to announce a sentence, and then to
+catechise on it, taking care to avoid all "Catechetical Wanderings,"[39]
+and confining himself strictly to the sentence announced, from which the
+child in that case will always be able to bring his answer.
+
+When a section has been mastered, the children may be encouraged to tell
+the story in their own way, the monitor taking care that the child is
+not reiterating the _words_, instead of the _ideas_. A few of the moral
+circumstances may also be presented to their minds, and the lessons
+drawn and applied according to their capacity.
+
+_Second Classes._--Where the children are capable of reading, they may
+get a section of the "Groupings," or of any of the "First Steps," to
+read at home. On this they ought to be catechised in school, before
+reading it there, to see whether it has been previously read and
+understood or not. This preparation ought to be strictly enforced. They
+may then read it by sentences in turn, be catechised upon it, have the
+moral circumstances separated, and the lessons drawn and applied. One
+section should in general be _thoroughly known and mastered_, before
+passing to another; and all the previous sections should be frequently
+and extensively revised, chiefly by the application of their several
+lessons.
+
+_Higher Classes._--The whole school, with the exception perhaps of the
+very young classes, may be taken together, and catechised on some
+section of one of the Steps, or on a passage of Scripture previously
+prescribed. This they ought each to read and understand _at home_, and
+be prepared to paraphrase it, to separate the moral circumstances, and
+to draw the corresponding lessons.[40] This will in a short time be easy
+for them; and to ensure the preparation, the name of each pupil ought to
+be kept on a separate card, and these being shuffled, the teacher, after
+asking the question at the whole, may take the upmost card, and require
+that child to answer it. All must in that case be prepared, as none can
+know but he may be the person who shall be called on publicly to answer.
+The application of the lessons will be found the most useful, and to the
+children the most interesting part of this exercise. In this the teacher
+supposes a circumstance, or situation, corresponding to the lesson
+drawn, in which the pupils may be placed; and he requires them to say
+how they ought to act in such a case. When they give their _opinion_,
+they must then give their _authority_; that is, they must refer to the
+lesson, and through the lesson, to the Scripture truth from which it was
+drawn.
+
+_Natural Philosophy._--In teaching the principles of _Natural
+Philosophy_, a select class may be formed, more circumscribed as to
+number, and from among the more advanced scholars. To these, a section,
+or part of section, of the "First Step to Natural Philosophy," is to be
+given to prepare at home,--to understand, and to be ready to draw and
+apply the lessons,--in a manner similar to that prescribed above, and as
+illustrated in the Key to that work.
+
+_Writing._--In teaching the art of _Writing_, upon the preceding
+principles, the chief object is to train the pupils easily and readily
+to _write down their own thoughts_. To accomplish this, a certain
+portion of their time may be occupied as follows. The teacher reads a
+sentence, or a paragraph, or, what will perhaps be better, a short
+story, or anecdote, and requires the whole of them to write it down in
+their _books_ for after examination. These of course are to be examined
+and corrected, with any necessary remarks by the teacher or
+assistant.--In this exercise, there is no necessity for circumscribing
+the pupils as to time,--it being required that they write accurately,
+grammatically, and neatly, whether in large or small text. To all those
+who are first finished, some other exercise ought to be provided that
+they may in that manner usefully occupy the time that may remain of
+their hour.
+
+_Arithmetic._--The introduction of the Arithmetic Rod, and its Key, into
+a school, will be productive of many advantages.[41] The line of figures
+upon the A side of the Rod, being painted on a board in sight of the
+whole school, and which is never required to be altered, the teacher has
+only to announce a sum to be added to each of the figures; the first
+pupil that is done, deposits his slate on a table, stool, or form, and
+goes to his place; the next places his slate above his, and the others
+in the same way as they finish. The answer in the Key will shew their
+accuracy, and the order in which their slates lie points out their
+respective merits. Another very important object is gained by this
+exercise; for the teacher, by recording the time taken by any one of the
+pupils in adding a particular sum to the line, can measure by the watch
+the rate of his improvement every month, every week, or even every day.
+The parents of any child, by means of the Rod and its Key, can also do
+this at home with perfect exactness.
+
+These hints for the regulation of teachers are thrown out with great
+deference, as they have not been sufficiently tested by actual
+experiments. Teachers, however, will be able, each for himself,
+according to the circumstances of his school, and the capacities of his
+children, to adopt such parts as he finds most effective; and so to
+modify others, that the end shall perhaps be more efficiently gained,
+than by strictly adhering to any one of them.--Education in all its
+parts is yet in its infancy; and these crude hints can only be expected
+to help it forward to maturity.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[38] See Key to Second Initiatory Catechism, pages xxi. & xxii.
+
+[39] See Complete Directory for Sunday School Teachers, vol. i. p. 278.
+
+[40] For these exercises the Teacher or monitor will find himself
+greatly assisted by means of the "Helps" to Genesis, Luke, Acts, &c.
+where, besides the lessons, all the explanations are given in the form
+of a paraphrase.
+
+[41] See Note V.
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+NOTES
+
+
+Note A, pages 45 and 55.--It may perhaps be reasonably objected to this
+term of "Reiteration," that it is a new term for an act of the mind
+which has already received another name. The Author's excuse is
+two-fold. In the first place, he thinks, that any other term which he
+could have employed, might have been misunderstood, as writers are not
+as yet at one on the subject. But, secondly, no other term would have
+included so fully all that he intends to designate by the act of
+"Reiteration." In this he may be mistaken; but as it is of little
+consequence by what name an object may be called, provided the thing so
+named be properly defined, he thought it safest to apply the term he
+best understood, and which, in his opinion, most correctly describes the
+act itself.
+
+The same thing may be said of the terms, "Individuation," "Grouping,"
+and "Classification," which may perhaps be nothing more than
+"Abstraction," "Combination," and "Generalization." His misconception of
+those latter terms, and of what is included in them, may have led him to
+think that the mental operations which he has perceived in the young are
+different. If so, there can be little harm in using the terms here
+adopted; but if, on the contrary, they do really include more, it would
+have been hurtful to use a term which had been previously defined, and
+which did not include the whole that was intended.
+
+
+Note B, p. 56.--It may be a question, but one certainly of little
+practical consequence, whether we ought to place the principle of
+"Individuation," or this of "Reiteration," first in order. The child, no
+doubt, fixes upon the individual object before he can reiterate it; but
+it is still this act of reiteration that first impresses the idea on the
+mind, and constitutes it a part of his knowledge.
+
+
+Note C, p. 58.--It may be proper here to explain once for all, that it
+is not the intention of the Author, as indeed he has not the ability, to
+define scientifically the mental processes which he thinks he has
+observed in the young. His object is simply to point them out, so that
+they may be successfully imitated by the teacher in the exercises of the
+school.
+
+
+Note D, p. 60.--The fact, that children who learn to repeat words
+without understanding them, do sometimes acquire the meaning of them
+afterwards, is no valid objection to the accuracy of this statement.
+Repeated experiments, in various forms, and with different persons, have
+established the important fact, that when children at any future period
+master the ideas contained in the words which they had previously
+committed to memory, it is not _because_ of that exercise, but _in spite
+of it_. They have attained them by another, and a perfectly different
+process. It is generally by reading the words from the memory,--thinking
+them over,--and in that way searching for, and reiterating the ideas
+they contain. This is much more difficult than when the person reads for
+the first time the same words from a book; and it has this serious
+disadvantage, that it has to be read from the memory _every time_ the
+ideas are required, which is not the case when the ideas are reiterated
+in the natural way by hearing, or by reading.--On this subject see the
+Experiment made before the Clergy and Teachers of Stirling, in July
+1833, with "Blind Alick" of that place, who could repeat the whole
+Bible;--and the Supplementary Experiment to ascertain the same
+principle, made in the House of Correction in Belfast, before the
+Teachers and Clergymen of that town, in December 1837.
+
+
+Note E, p. 83.--Perhaps it may be found, that "Grouping," and
+"Classification," are only different manifestations of the same
+principle. But even if it were so, it would have been necessary here to
+treat of them separately, on account of the very different uses made of
+them by Nature. The present, be it observed, is not a metaphysical
+treatise, but a humble attempt to be popularly useful.--See Note C.
+
+
+Note F, p. 105.--This principle may by some be considered as "instinct,"
+and others may affirm that it is "reason." All that we require to do
+here is to point out the phenomenon,--not to define it. The name is of
+little consequence. It is the principle itself, as perceived in its
+manifestations, that we have to do with, for the purpose of successfully
+imitating it in our dealings with the young.
+
+
+Note G, p. 132.--There needs scarcely any farther proof of this than the
+fact, that barristers, by constant practice, are usually the most fluent
+extemporaneous speakers. It is also strongly corroborative of the
+statement in the text, that clergymen generally, and especially those
+who are most accustomed to the use of extemporaneous prayers and
+sermons, find most ease in replying to an opponent on any subject that
+is familiar to them.
+
+
+Note H, p. 160, & 201.--It is a very remarkable fact, to which the
+attention of the writer was lately called, that Mrs Wesley, the mother
+of the Rev. John Wesley, founder of the Wesleyan Methodists, appears to
+have acted upon the principles here developed. In Southey's Life of that
+great man, there occurs the following Note:
+
+"Mrs Wesley thus describes her peculiar method (of teaching her children
+to read,) in a letter to her son John, (the founder of the Wesleyan
+Methodists.)
+
+"None of them were taught to read till five years old, except Kezzy, in
+whose case I was overruled; and she was more years in learning than any
+of the rest had been months. The way of teaching was this: The day
+before a child began to learn, the house was set in order, every one's
+work appointed them, and a charge given that none should come into the
+room from nine till twelve, or from two till five, which were our school
+hours. One day was allowed the child wherein to learn its letters, and
+each of them did in that time know all its letters, great and small,
+except Molly and Nancy, who were a day and a half before they knew them
+perfectly, for which I then thought them very dull; but the reason why I
+thought them so, was because the rest learned them so readily; and your
+brother Samuel, who was the first child I ever taught, learnt the
+alphabet in a few hours. He was five years old the 10th of February; the
+next day he began to learn; and as soon as he knew the letters, began at
+the 1st chapter of Genesis. He was taught to spell the 1st verse, then
+to read it over and over till he could read it off hand without any
+hesitation;--so on to the second, &c. till he took ten verses to a
+lesson, which he quickly did. Easter fell low that year, and by
+Whitsuntide he could read a chapter very well; for he read continually,
+and had such a prodigious memory, that I cannot remember ever to have
+told him the same word twice. What was yet stranger, any word he had
+learnt in his lesson, he knew wherever he saw it, either in his Bible or
+any other book, by which means he learnt very soon to read an English
+author well.
+
+"The same method was observed with them all. As soon as they knew the
+letters, they were first put to spell and read one line, then a verse,
+never leaving till perfect in their lesson, were it shorter or longer.
+So one or other continued reading at school, time about, without any
+intermission; and before we left school, each child read what he had
+learned that morning, and ere we parted in the afternoon, what he had
+learned that day."--_Southey's Life of Wesley_, Note, p. 429.
+
+In the above simple narrative, there is a distinct reference to the
+principles of "Reiteration," and "Individuation," and hence Mrs Wesley's
+great success.
+
+
+Note I, p. 162.--When the true nature of Education is better understood,
+it will be found that a child may have advanced far on its path by oral
+instruction, before it be either necessary or desirable that he should
+be compelled to read for himself. To assist the parent and teacher in
+this preliminary part of their duty, the "First Initiatory Catechism,"
+or the "First Steps" to the Old and the New Testaments, with their
+respective Keys, may be used with advantage,--they having been
+constructed upon the principles here recommended. But the best Book _to
+begin with_, will be the "Groupings from Scripture," with its Key for
+the use of monitors, or older children, who can by its means greatly
+assist the parent or teacher in the work. In making use of that little
+book, the sentences are to be announced in whole or in parts to the
+pupils one by one; and upon which they are to be thoroughly and
+extensively catechised. As for example, the first announcement may be
+given thus:--"_God made the first man_," from which the following
+questions may be formed--"Who made the first man?" "Whom did God make?"
+"What man did God make?" "What did God do to the first man?" The teacher
+or monitor ought then to add the additional fact, "that God made the
+first man _of clay_," and catechise again upon the whole. After this is
+well understood, he may complete the sentence, "God made the first man
+of clay, _and called him Adam_." The child will then be able--not to
+repeat the words only, for that is not the effect of this
+exercise,--but to communicate the ideas in his _own words_; which,
+however, will generally be found to be the very same as in the book.
+This distinction is most important. When the whole section has been
+completely mastered, the lessons and their applications may also be
+taught;--by all of which the mental faculties will soon become vigorous
+and lively, and the pupil will be well prepared for all the exercises to
+which he may afterwards be called.
+
+
+Note K, p. 151.--The art of catechising from any lesson or book, is a
+very simple one when the principle is understood. It consists simply in
+selecting the most important words contained in the announcement, and
+forming a question upon each of them, in such a manner, as to require
+that particular word from the pupil as the answer to the question raised
+upon it. For example, when the teacher has in four words announced the
+fact, that "Jesus died for sinners;" he will be able to form a question
+from the three chief ones, "Jesus,"--"died," and "sinners." These
+questions will be, "Who died?"--"What did Jesus do for sinners?" and
+"For whom did Jesus die?" It is not necessary that the words should be
+taken up in their order, which may be always left to the discretion of
+the teacher. For the several parts of this principle, as employed upon
+clauses, or whole sentences or subjects, see next Note L.
+
+
+Note L, p. 185.--The Catechetical Exercise has for convenience been
+divided into three kinds of exercises, called the "Connecting Exercise,"
+the "General Exercise," and the "Verbal Exercise." The "Connecting
+Exercise," includes those comprehensive questions, which require the
+pupil to go over perhaps a whole subject, or several sentences, to
+complete his answer; as if in teaching the Parable of the Sower, the
+pupil were asked, "What were the several kinds of ground on which the
+seed was sown?" or, "What is said of the seed sown by the way side?" In
+answering either of these questions he would have to combine many ideas,
+and the truths contained in several distinct clauses. This exercise is
+used commonly in revising several sections at a time after they have
+been taught.
+
+The "General Exercise," is used in all the advanced classes, sometimes
+in connection with the Verbal Exercise, and includes those questions
+chiefly which are formed upon clauses in the book or section taught. As,
+for example, when the pupil is asked, "What became of the seed sown by
+the way side?" or, "What did the birds of the air do?" he has to give
+one or more clauses, containing several ideas, as his answer.
+
+The "Verbal Exercise" has to do only with the words of the clauses, and
+the single idea which the particular word is intended to convey; as when
+it is said, "the birds of the air devoured it up;" the questions, "What
+devoured the seed?" "What birds?" "What did the birds do?" "What did the
+birds devour?" refer chiefly to the words, and the single ideas which
+they communicate.
+
+It may be here remarked, however, that although these exercises are
+divided in theory, they ought seldom to be altogether separated in
+practice. In using the Verbal Exercise with the younger classes, many
+questions will be required which properly belong to the "General;" and
+in using the "General Exercise" with the advanced classes, neither the
+"Connecting," nor the "Verbal Exercise," ought to be altogether
+excluded.
+
+
+Note M, p. 192.--In communicating knowledge to the young by means of the
+Catechetical Exercise, care ought to be taken that the truths or ideas
+be communicated regularly, and not too many at a time. In making use of
+the "Groupings," or "First Steps," the contents of one section ought to
+be well understood, and all the circumstances to be made familiar,
+before the child passes to another. To do otherwise is not to forward,
+but to retard his advance in the attainment of knowledge. There ought
+also to be frequent returns upon the sections formerly mastered, so that
+the truths be more and more firmly fixed upon the memory. This will also
+be accomplished by means of the lessons from the several moral truths
+taught, and by their application to the circumstances of ordinary life.
+
+It is also a matter of great practical importance, in teaching any
+subject, that the teacher confine himself strictly to it, avoiding all
+kinds of "Catechetical Wandering," by which the minds of his pupils will
+be distracted and enfeebled if they _cannot_ follow him, and by which
+their attention will be powerfully drawn away from the lesson, if they
+_can_.--For example, if the subject to be taught be the "Good
+Samaritan," nothing can be plainer than that the mind of the pupil ought
+to be concentrated upon the subject, till it be "grouped," and fixed
+upon the mind and memory as one combined and moving scene, so that one
+circumstance in the story will conjure up all the others.--This is
+Nature's plan.--But if the teacher, at the very commencement, when the
+child has read that "a certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho,"
+shall call his attention from the story itself, to ask where Jerusalem
+was? What was Judea? Who dwelt there? Who was their progenitor? From
+what bondage were they saved? Who conducted them through the wilderness?
+Who brought them into Judea? requiring the whole history of the Jews,
+their captivity, and restoration; the effect is most pernicious, and is
+fatal to the great design intended by the teacher. It is destructive of
+that habit of concentration of mind upon a particular subject, which is
+always the accompaniment of genius; and which ought to be cultivated in
+the young with the greatest assiduity and care. But this habit of
+"Catechetical Wandering," does not stop here, for the teacher has yet
+another word in this first sentence which admits of a similar treatment;
+and instead of returning to the lesson, he takes up the word "Jericho,"
+by means of which he follows a similar course; "riding off" from the
+original subject, and leaving the child bewildered and confused, to
+commence again, to be again interrupted and distracted by other
+irrelevant questions. Many evils result from this practice; and the
+cause is obvious. For if the child has been taught these irrelevant
+truths before, this is obviously not the time to introduce them, when
+he is in the very act of _learning a new subject_;--and if he has not
+been taught them previously, the matter becomes worse; for by this
+attempt to teach a variety of new things at the same time, some
+important principles of Nature are still more violently
+outraged.--_After_ the subject has been taught, and the child is called
+on to _revise_ his several lessons, then is the time to combine them,
+and to point out their various connections,--but not before.
+
+
+Note N, p. 195.--It will always be found advisable to teach the alphabet
+to children long before they begin to read; and while they are being
+verbally exercised on the "Groupings from Scripture," and other books of
+a similar kind. To do so at home by way of games, will be found easiest
+for the parent, and most pleasant for the child. By having the small
+letters on four dice, (six on each,) and allowing the use of only one
+till the six letters on its sides are familiar;--and not giving the
+third, till those on the two first have been mastered; and the same with
+the fourth,--will be found useful, provided they be only occasionally
+made use of. A too frequent repetition of the _game_ will destroy its
+effect; and therefore, as there is sufficient time, it ought only to be
+allowed on proper, and perhaps on _great_ occasions. Other contrivances,
+besides those given in the text, such as making the child guess at
+letters, drawing letters from a bag, and naming them, &c. will readily
+occur to ingenious parents or teachers. It should be observed, that as
+this acquirement is needed but _once_ in the child's lifetime, a little
+pains or trouble ought not to be grudged in forwarding it.
+
+
+Note O, p. 208.--In using the "First Class Book on the Lesson System,"
+the teacher must take care that the letters and their sounds, or powers,
+be perfectly familiar to the child before he begins to read. The first
+lesson, of course, is composed altogether of words new to the child,
+each of which he must be taught to _read_ by combining the powers of the
+letters composing it;--and he must never be allowed to pass on to the
+following word, till all the previous ones can be correctly and readily
+decyphered. Before beginning to the second, or succeeding lessons, the
+new words occurring in it, (which are prefixed,) must be read and made
+familiar to him one by one, and explained if necessary. By this means he
+will soon be able to _pick up the ideas_ in his lesson by even a first
+reading, which is the great end that the teacher ought to have in
+view.--The capital letters need not be taught till the child comes to
+them in his reading.--The lessons being consecutive, none must be
+omitted.
+
+
+Note P, p. 220.--The nature of successive "Steps" will be better
+understood by using, than by describing them. The following, however,
+will give some idea of their design; keeping in mind, that the contents
+of the several branches must be written out in such a manner as to
+convey the ideas in the common way. The following is a rude sketch of
+what the History of Joseph would be like, if the ideas under each branch
+of the analysis were fairly written out as First, Second, and Third
+Steps.
+
+ANALYTICAL TABLE.
+
+SHEWING THE NATURE OF SUCCESSIVE STEPS IN EDUCATION.
+
+THE HISTORY OF JOSEPH.
+
+ -------------+-----------------+-------------------------------------------
+ Substance of | Substance of a  |
+ a First Step.| Second Step.    |         Substance of a Third Step.
+ -------------+-----------------+-------------------------------------------
+              {Joseph's father  {Jacob loved Joseph best of his family; who
+ Joseph       {was partial to   {Brought him the evil reports of them; and
+ was beloved  {him.             {Got a coat of many colours.
+ by his       {
+ father,      {And he dreamed   {Joseph told his dream of the sheaves,
+ and          {that he was      {And his brothers hated him the more.
+ hated        {to be great.     {He told his dream of the sun and stars;
+ by his       {                 {And his father observed the saying.
+ brothers;    {
+              {These things     {His brothers would not speak peaceably to
+              {made the family  {Him; and envied and hated him; and
+              {uneasy.          {His father expostulated with him.
+
+                                {Joseph sought his brothers at Dothan;
+              {Joseph was       {Was cast into a pit, and afterwards
+              {cruelly used by  {Sold for a slave.
+              {his brothers,    {His brothers concealed the crime, and
+              {                 {His father mourned him as dead.
+ And although {
+ he was       {                 {Joseph was carried to Egypt, and
+ long in      {And was made     {Was a slave in Potiphar's house;
+ affliction,  {a slave to       {Where he was industrious and faithful;
+              {Potiphar;        {And was tempted by his mistress.
+              {
+              {                 {Joseph was unjustly put into confinement.
+              {Who unjustly     {He was useful in prison, where
+              {cast him into    {A butler and baker were confined.
+              {prison.          {Joseph interpreted their dreams; but was
+                                {Left in prison by the butler forgetting
+                                {him.
+
+              {                 {Pharoah was displeased with the magicians.
+              {He was brought   {The butler told him of Joseph;
+              {out to Pharoah,  {And Joseph interpreted his dreams,
+              {                 {And was advanced to authority.
+              {
+              {                 {Joseph married and was made next to
+              {And made ruler   {Pharoah. He collected corn for seven
+              {over all Egypt;  {Years; Distributed it to all nations; and
+ He rose      {                 {Sold it for the cattle and lands of Egypt.
+ at last      {
+ to great     {                 {Joseph's brothers came to Egypt for food;
+ prosperity.  {During which     {And he spake roughly to them.
+              {time he behaved  {He detained Simeon;
+              {with great       {Brought and entertained Benjamin;
+              {prudence to his  {And hid his cup in Benjamin's sack.
+              {brothers;        {He then made himself known to his brothers.
+              {
+              {                 {Joseph brought his father and family to
+              {And kindly       {Egypt. He settled, supported, and honoured
+              {took care of the {Them. He buried his father,
+              {whole family.    {And left several charges with his brothers.
+
+
+Note Q, p. 225.--In giving a specimen of this mode of illustrating a
+connected subject, we may only premise, that the method, as a branch of
+Education, requires that all the general heads should be perceived
+first, before any of them is sub-divided. For example, Paul's sermon at
+Antioch, (Acts xiii.) must be perceived by the pupil in its great
+outline, or general heads, before he be called on to separate these into
+their several particulars. These heads as given in the Analysis, (Help
+to Acts, vol. I. p. 187,) are to the following purport:
+
+"The design of Paul in this discourse appears to be,
+
+ I. To conciliate the Jews.
+
+ II. To prove that the Messiah had already come, and that Jesus
+ was that Messiah.
+
+ III. To remove certain objections against Jesus being the
+ Messiah.
+
+ IV. To establish the claims of Jesus as the Messiah; and,
+
+ V. To press his salvation upon their notice and acceptance."
+
+When these general divisions, or heads, are understood, either by
+reading the respective verses which they occupy, or by the oral
+illustration of the teacher, each of them may then be taken separately,
+and sub-divided into its parts. For example, the first head, which in
+the analysis is, "_First_, Paul endeavours to conciliate the Jews by
+giving a brief outline of their history, till the days of David, to whom
+the Messiah was specially promised," ver. 17-23. This first of the above
+five heads, is separable into the following particulars. "1. The
+condition of the Jews in, and their deliverance from, Egypt;--2. Their
+history in the wilderness;--3. The destruction of their enemies, and
+their settlement in Canaan;--4. Of the Judges till the time of
+Samuel;--5. The origin of the kingly authority in Israel;--and 6. The
+history of their two first kings." These again may be sub-divided into
+their several parts, of which the last will form a good example. It
+appears in the Analysis in the following form:
+
+ VI. History of their two first kings.
+   i. Of Saul, and the time of his reign, ver. 21.
+   ii. Of David, and his character.
+     1. Saul was removed to make room for David, ver. 22.
+     2. David was chosen by God to be their king, ver. 22.
+     3. An account of David's character, and God's dealing with him.
+        [1.] God's testimony concerning David.
+          (1.) What David was, ver. 22.
+          (2.) What David was to do, ver. 22.
+        [2.] God's promise to David.
+          (1.) A Saviour was to be raised up for Israel, ver. 23.
+          (2.) This Saviour was to be of David's seed, ver. 23.
+
+
+Note R, p. 314.--There is not perhaps a subject in the whole range of
+human investigation that is so much misunderstood in practice, as a
+person's own happiness. Whatever causes uneasiness, or distress, or
+anxiety of mind, destroys happiness;--which shews that it is this
+pleasure, or delight itself,--this exercise of the heart, that we are
+seeking, and not the money, or the applause, or the sensual indulgences,
+which sometimes procure it. The heart of man has been made for something
+higher and more noble than these grovelling objects of sense and time.
+History and experience shew, that it can never be satisfied with any
+finite good; and especially, the possession of all earthly enjoyments
+only leaves the void more conspicuous and more painful. The whole world,
+if it were attained, would but more powerfully illustrate its own
+poverty; for even Alexander weeps because there are no more worlds to
+conquer. Scripture declares, and Nature, so far as we can trace her,
+confirms it, that man--and man alone--was _made after the image of
+God_,--and therefore nothing short of God himself can ever satisfy
+_him_. Heaven itself would be inadequate to fill the soul, or to allay
+the cravings of such a being. The fellowship and love of the Almighty,
+and that _alone_, by the very constitution of our nature, can fill and
+satisfy the boundless desires of the human heart. They who stop short of
+this, can never be satisfied; while they who place their happiness on
+HIM, will always be full, because he alone is infinite. The
+love of God, and the desire for his glory then, are the only true
+foundation of human happiness. And hence it is, that the perfection of
+enjoyment, and the whole sum of duty, meet in this one point,--THE
+LOVE OF GOD.
+
+
+Note S, p. 318.--The writer is aware that, in doing justice to this
+department of a child's education, it is impossible to avoid the charge
+of "enthusiasm," perhaps "illiberality," or "fanaticism." In what we
+have urged in the preceding pages, we have endeavoured calmly to state
+and illustrate simple facts,--plain indications of Nature,--and to draw
+the obvious deductions which they suggest. We intend to follow precisely
+the same course here, although quite aware that we are much more liable
+to be misunderstood, or misrepresented. We shall at least endeavour
+calmly to put what we have to say upon a true philosophical basis.
+
+We all admire what is termed "Roman Greatness,"--that self-esteem that
+would not allow the possessor to degrade himself, even in his own
+estimation, by indulging in any thing that was mean, or disreputable, or
+contrary to the unchangeable rule of right. Cato's probity, who chose to
+die rather than appear to connive at selfishness; and Brutus's love of
+justice, who could, with a noble heroism, and without faltering, doom
+even his own sons to death in the midst of the entreaties of his friends
+for their pardon, and the concurrence of the people;--are but two out of
+numberless instances from ancient history. Now we ask, if we admire, and
+approve of men being so jealous of _their_ honour, is it to be imagined
+that the God who made them, and who implanted those high moral
+sentiments in their breasts, should be less jealous of _his_?--Every one
+will acknowledge that he is infinitely more so.--And it is in accordance
+with this true philosophical sentiment, that we come to the conclusion,
+that to teach religion,--that is, to teach the character of God, and the
+duty we owe him,--without what is called the "peculiar doctrines" of
+Christianity, is to lower the character of the Almighty, and to impugn
+his holiness, his faithfulness, his justice, and even his
+goodness;--things under the imputation of which even a high-minded Roman
+would have felt himself degraded and insulted.
+
+In teaching Religion and Morality to the young, therefore, the pupil
+must know, that God is too holy to look upon sin, or to connive at
+it;--too just to permit the very least transgression to pass with
+impunity;--too faithful to allow his intimations, either in Nature, or
+in Providence, or in Scripture, ever to fail, or to be called in
+question, without danger;--and too good to risk the happiness of his
+holy creatures, by allowing them to suppose it even _possible_ that they
+can ever indulge in sin, and yet escape misery. Where a knowledge of
+these attributes of Deity is _wanting_, his character must appear
+grievously defective; but wherever they are _denied_, it is most
+blasphemously dishonoured.--Hence the importance of even a child knowing
+how it is that "God can be just, while he justifies the ungodly."
+
+All these perfections, with the additional revelation of his mercy and
+grace, are exhibited, and greatly magnified and honoured, by the
+Christian scheme; and it is to the simplicity of this, as the foundation
+of the child's education, that we wish at present to direct the
+attention of the parent and teacher.
+
+A child may be taught to know that God hates sin, and that he must, as a
+just God, punish even the least transgression. There is no difficulty in
+understanding this simple truth. And it may be made equally clear, that
+man must have suffered for himself, and that for ever, if God had not
+sent his Son Jesus Christ to endure in their place the punishment which
+the inflexible nature of his justice required. To believe that God will
+pardon sin _without_ such an atonement, is, as we have shewn, to sully
+the character of God; while to believe it, and to act upon the belief,
+is at once the highest honour we can pay to his perfections, and becomes
+the strongest possible stimulant to a grateful heart to avoid sin, and
+to strive to love and to obey Him. This accordingly is the sum of
+Christianity, when divested of its technicalities; and this is the
+foundation,--and the only proper foundation, upon which to rear either
+morality or religion. But it _does_ form a solid and ample foundation
+for that purpose. And there is perhaps no Christian of any sect who will
+deny, that either child or adult, who simply depends for pardon and
+acceptance with a holy God, on the substitution of the Saviour, and who,
+in evidence of his sincerity, strives to hate and avoid sin, and to love
+and obey God, is not in a safe state.
+
+In teaching these simple fundamental truths to the young, the parent or
+teacher will find the "Shorter Confession of Faith," of great use. Its
+"First Step" ought to be taught first; and the second must on no account
+be proceeded with, till the truths in the first have become familiar.
+The same rule ought also to be adopted with the second, before passing
+to the third. The "First Initiatory Catechism" has also been found of
+great benefit to the young; and which is very easily and successfully
+taught by means of its Key.
+
+The foundation being thus laid, the great object of the teacher then is
+to train the child to duty;--teaching, in a familiar way, what _conduct_
+ought to be avoided, and what pursued,--what is displeasing to God, and
+what he delights in. This can only be done, or at least is best done, by
+drawing lessons from Scripture. The very commandment, "Thou shalt not
+steal," is dealt with by Nature in this way; for when we examine the
+operation of the mind, when acting even upon the direct precept, we find
+that it assumes the form of a lesson, which in that case is only an echo
+of the command. Scripture example and narrative, however, are always
+preferable with children; and perhaps the best method of initiating them
+into the ability to perceive and draw lessons generally, will be to
+begin and carry them forward by means of the "Progressive Exercises" at
+the end of the First Initiatory Catechism. Very young children are able
+to _commence_ this important exercise; and the information and
+directions given in the Key will enable any monitor to carry them
+forward.
+
+The application of the lessons ought to be the principal concern of the
+teacher. On this much of their utility depends, and of which the
+following will afford a sufficient example.
+
+In the 5th line of the "Progressive Exercises," above referred to, the
+announcement is simply that "Rebekah was obliging,"--from which the
+child will readily enough draw the lesson, that "we also should be
+obliging." But to _apply_ this lesson, the teacher is to suppose a
+corresponding case, and to ask the child how it ought to behave on that
+occasion. For example, he may ask, "If a companion wanted a sight of
+your book, what should you do?" "Lend it to him."--"From what do you get
+that lesson?" "From Rebekah being obliging."--"If you saw your companion
+drop his ball, or his marble, without perceiving it, what should you
+do?" "Pick it up and give it to him."--"How do you know that you ought
+to do that?" "From God giving Rebekah as our example, who was obliging."
+
+The field which here opens up for the ingenuity of the teacher for the
+moral improvement of the young is almost boundless.
+
+
+Note T, p. 318.--The method which both Nature and experience have
+pointed out, as the best for giving a practical knowledge of the
+principles of Natural Philosophy to children, is to state and explain
+some general principle, such as, that "Soft and porous bodies are bad
+conductors (of heat;") and then set them to think, by asking what
+special lessons that general truth teaches them. This leads the pupil to
+a train of thought, which will at all events prepare him for the proper
+lessons when suggested by the teacher, and which will enable him at once
+to perceive why his mother has to make use of a cloth when using the
+smoothing iron; why a metal tea-pot must have a wooden handle;--why soft
+clothing preserves the heat of his body, and keeps him warm;--and why
+the poker by the fire gets heated throughout, while a piece of wood, the
+same length and in the same spot, remains comparatively cool.
+
+To teach the phenomena of Nature, out of their mutual relations to the
+general principle, would be both laborious and evanescent, because of
+the want of the great connecting link, afforded by the analytical method
+here supposed. It was by the above means that the children, in the
+experiment in Aberdeen, and more especially those in that at Newry,
+appeared to the examinators to be inexhaustible; they having, during a
+space of time unprecedentedly short, got hold of principles which
+enabled them, without any great stretch of memory, and by the
+association of ideas, to account for hundreds of familiar objects and
+circumstances, the nature and working of which they had never perhaps
+thought of before.
+
+The application of the lessons in these exercises is equally necessary,
+and equally beneficial. It may be _directly_ from some of the lessons
+drawn, such as, "Why is it inconvenient to handle hot irons?" "Because
+hard bodies readily conduct heat." Or it may be varied by asking the
+reason of a phenomenon not formerly perceived;--such as, "Why does the
+fire scorch the foot when it is without a stocking, and not when we have
+a stocking on?" "Because soft bodies, such as the stocking, do not
+readily conduct heat." These are sufficient as specimens of the mode of
+conducting classes upon these principles; the "Steps," and their "Keys,"
+constructed for the purpose, will assist both teacher and pupil in their
+proper working.
+
+
+Note U, p. 320.--In teaching children to read, two things are to be
+specially observed.--_First_, that the child shall know that the letters
+in a syllable are used merely as the signs of sound, by the combination
+of which he is to get a _hint_ only of the sound of the whole word. This
+will very soon enable him to teach himself.--The _second_ is, that the
+child shall know that his reading is only another way of getting at
+truth by words _seen_, instead of words _heard_. This will make him
+search for the ideas, even while learning to read; and the habit being
+formed, he will never afterwards be satisfied without understanding all
+that he reads.
+
+The letters of the Alphabet, with their powers, having been made
+familiar, the "First Class Book" may be put into the pupil's hand, and
+the first word taught him by the combination of the three
+letters,--"Bob." Shew him how the letters pronounced shortly, and
+rapidly one after another, _form the word_. He will then be able to
+_read_ this word wherever he finds it. The word "has," is to be taught
+in the same way, and then the word "dog." He must then be asked, "Who
+has a dog?" and "What has Bob?" till he understands that these three
+words convey an idea. The second and succeeding lines are to be taught
+the same way;--the teacher making him read the words in different parts
+_out of their order_, to take care that he does not repeat by rote.
+
+At every new lesson he must learn to read the words which precede it,
+and to read them _well_ before beginning. The great design of his
+reading being to collect the ideas conveyed by the words, his doing so
+is greatly facilitated by his learning to read the words before
+beginning to the lesson. It is only necessary to remark, that the
+homely nature of the lessons tends greatly to produce the effect here
+designed, and which would not perhaps be so successfully accomplished at
+this stage in any other way.
+
+Children may be taught to _write_ almost as soon as they can read a few
+of their lessons. Care being taken that they hold the pen properly, they
+will soon learn to form the letters as an amusement;--and when these are
+known, they will soon be able to combine them into words. When they
+begin to write sentences, it ought to be from their own minds, or
+memories, but not from copies. Writing is merely an imitation of Nature
+in her operation of conveying ideas by speech; and the nearer the
+imitation can be made to correspond with the original, the more perfect
+will it be. Speech is intended solely for the communication of our
+ideas;--and so should writing. We teach children words and the names of
+things, but we never teach them to express their own thoughts, by
+rehearsing after us either long or short speeches of our own. Neither
+can we so readily teach children to express their own thoughts by
+writing, if we attempt to do it by making them copy words which others
+have thought for them, and the ideas of which they themselves perhaps do
+not perceive. Copy-lines are a great hinderance to the young; and even
+for teaching the correct and elegant formation of the letters they do
+not appear to be always necessary.
+
+
+Note V, p. 320.--Arithmetic, and numerical calculations of every kind,
+are wrought by what have been termed "the four simple Rules," viz.
+Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, and Division. They who are expert
+and accurate in working _these_, have only to learn the several rules by
+which they are applied to all the varied purposes of life, to be perfect
+arithmeticians.
+
+But when the working of these four rules is analysed, we find that, with
+the exception of the multiplication table, the whole four are merely
+different applications of the rule of addition. Subtraction is wrought by
+_adding_ a supposed sum to the figure to be subtracted;--multiplication
+(with the exception mentioned above,) it wrought simply by _adding_ the
+carryings and the aggregate of the several lines;--and division, with the
+same exception, is also in practice wrought by a series of _additions_. If
+then we shall suppose the multiplication table fully mastered, it follows,
+that the person who has attained greatest expertness _in addition_, will
+be the most expert in the working of any and every arithmetical exercise to
+which he may be called.
+
+But _expertness_ in arithmetical calculations, is by no means so
+valuable as _accuracy_;--and upon the above principle, it also follows,
+that the person who acquires the greatest degree of accuracy and
+confidence in working _addition_, must, of course, be most accurate in
+all his calculations. The importance of this principle will be much more
+prized by and bye than it can be at present;--we shall however shew here
+how it may be taken advantage of.
+
+Upon the principle of Individuation, we have seen, that a child will
+learn one thing much better and sooner _by itself_, than when it is
+mixed up with several others; and therefore we come to the conclusion,
+that a child, when taught the practice of addition by itself, till he is
+fully master of it, both as respects rapidity and accuracy, has
+afterwards little more to do than to get a knowledge of rules. One
+month's systematic exercise in _this way_, will do more in forming a
+desirable accountant for a desk, than a whole year's exercise otherwise.
+In the one case, the pupil starts to the race without preparation, and
+with all his natural impediments clinging to him, which he has to
+disentangle and throw off one by one during the fatigues and turmoil of
+the contest; while the other, on the contrary, delays his start till he
+has deliberately searched them out and cast them aside, and thus
+prepared himself for the course. He then starts vigorous and light, to
+outstrip his labouring and lumbering competitors, not only in this, but
+in every after trial of strength and skill of a similar kind.
+
+To follow out this plan with success, the "Arithmetic Rod," containing
+three sides, has been provided. On one side there is a single line of
+figures, on the second two, and on the third three. These lines of
+figures for a school, ought to be painted on three boards sufficiently
+large for all to see them distinctly. The first line is to be mastered
+perfectly, before the second or the third is to be taught.
+
+The way to begin with the first line, is to make the pupil mentally add
+a certain sum to each figure on the board, say two, or seven, or
+fourteen, or any other sum, beginning always with a small one. He is
+besides to add the carryings also to each figure, and to write down the
+sum as he goes on. The beginner may be exercised with the sum of two, or
+even one, and have the sum increased, as he acquires a knowledge of the
+method. These sums, as the pupils advance, may be extended to any
+amount. The Key will shew, in every case, whether the exercise has been
+accurately performed; and by marking the time in any particular case,
+the teacher can measure exactly, every week or month, the advance of
+each pupil.
+
+The mental advantages of this exercise are numerous. Among other things
+it trains to a great command of the mind; and brings into exercise an
+important principle formerly illustrated, (Part III. ch. xi. p. 288,) by
+which the pupil acquires the ability to think one thing, and to do
+another.
+
+When the pupil is sufficiently expert at one line of figures, he should
+be exercised upon the B side of the rod, containing the double line. He
+is to practise adding each pair of the figures at a glance,--till he can
+run them over without difficulty, as if they were single figures. He is
+then to add a sum to _them_, as he did on the single line, till he can
+add the sum and the double figure as readily as he did one. The C side
+of the rod is to be treated in the same way;--first by adding all the
+three figures at a glance, and naming the sum of each, till he can do it
+as readily as if there was but one; and then he is to add any special
+sum to them as before.
+
+
+Note W, p. 321.--Children generally delight in music, and seldom weary
+in its exercise. It forms therefore, when judiciously managed, a most
+useful exercise in a school for the purposes of relaxation and variety,
+and for invigorating their minds after a lengthened engagement in drier
+studies. It thus not only becomes desirable to teach music in the
+seminary as a branch of education for after life, but for the purposes
+of present expediency.
+
+That music may be taught to the young in a manner much more simple than
+it has yet generally been done, is now matter of experience. The notes
+are only _seven_, and these are each as precise and definite in
+proportion to the key note as any letter in the alphabet. There is
+obviously no difficulty in teaching a child seven figures,--and there is
+in reality as little difficulty in teaching him seven notes; so that,
+having the key note, he will, in reading a tune, sound each in its order
+when presented to him, as readily and accurately as he would read so
+many figures.
+
+To render this exercise more simple to children, and more convenient in
+a school, the notes have been represented by figures, 1 being the key
+note. The other notes rise in the common gradation from 1 to 8, which is
+the key note in alt. By this means, the teacher by writing on the common
+black board a few figures, gives the children the tune, which a very
+little practice enables them to read as readily as they would the words
+to which they adapt it.
+
+For particulars as to time, &c. see "Shorter Catechism Hymn Book," p. 23
+and 24.
+
+
+Note X, p. 264.--There is perhaps no department in the family economy
+which ought to be so cautiously filled up as the _nursery maid_; and yet
+we generally find, that the duties of this office are frequently handed
+over to any thoughtless giddy girl, whose appearance is "shewy,"
+although she be without education, without experience, and often without
+principle. Why there has been as yet no regular seminary for the
+training of young persons of good principles, for the responsible duties
+of the nursery, is not a little remarkable. Not one of the many valuable
+institutions for particular classes is so much wanted, and which, if
+properly conducted, would be a greater blessing to families and to
+society generally. One of the most beautiful features in our infant
+schools is the circumstance, that they have tended greatly to lessen
+this evil, and in some measure to supply the desideratum.
+
+
+Note Y, p. 268.--The question of rewards and punishments in a public
+school is a difficult one; and although there has of late been an
+obvious improvement in this respect, we are afraid that the principles
+which ought to regulate them are not yet very clearly understood. Hence
+the contrariety of sentiments on the subject, with little more than mere
+_opinions_ offered to support them. The following few crude thoughts on
+the subject, may perhaps lead others better qualified to consider it
+more extensively.
+
+We can all readily enough distinguish the difference between _physical_
+efforts, _intellectual_ efforts, and _moral_ efforts; but we are very
+ready to confound the rewards which, we think, Nature has pointed out
+as most appropriate to each. For physical exertions, such as the race,
+or the wrestling match, physical returns appear natural and appropriate
+enough; and therefore, money, decorations, or other physical honours,
+are the ordinary rewards for excelling in any of them. But to desire
+money as a return for intellectual excellence, appears to every well
+constituted mind as sordid and unseemly. The reward for the exertion of
+intellect must partake of intellectual dignity; and hence it is, that
+esteem, applause, or admiration,--the incense of the _mind_,--appears to
+be the natural return for such exertions. In proof of this, we may
+instance the sensible degradation which is felt, when the reward
+proffered for mental efforts, even in children, takes the form of food,
+or clothing, or money;--and the kind of estimation in which students
+hold their medals, books, and other prizes, acquired at their several
+seminaries. These are never valued for their intrinsic worth, but only
+as permanent signs of _approbation_, or _admiration_,--feelings which
+are purely intellectual in their character, and perfectly distinct from
+the grossness of physical rewards on the one hand, and the
+affections--the moral incense of the _heart_,--on the other.
+
+All this appears pretty evident; and it obviously leads us to the next
+and concluding step, which is, that the natural and proper reward for
+_moral_ actions, ought to partake of the moral character. It is the love
+and affection of those we serve, or who are called on to estimate, or to
+decide on the character of our actions,--that is the proper, the
+natural, the desirable return. A little consideration, we think, will
+shew us, that this, as a general principle, is really correct; and that
+applause, admiration, or wonder, when they are afforded without
+_affection_, do not satisfy the heart, that in the exercise of love,
+seeks love in return.--It is the friendship, the fellowship, the
+affections of those whom we aim at pleasing, that alone can approve
+itself to our minds as the appropriate returns for moral actions.
+
+
+Note Z, p. 299.--The following are a few specimens of the paraphrastic
+exercise, as employed upon different subjects:--
+
+"But Martha was [_cumbered_] [_about much serving_,] and came to
+[_him_,] and said, Lord, [_dost thou not care_] that my sister hath left
+me to [_serve_] alone? [_bid_] her, therefore, that she [_help_] me."
+
+This verse is paraphrased in the Help to Luke by substituting the
+explanation of the words printed in Italics, and within brackets, for
+the words themselves, in the following manner:
+
+"_But Martha was_ [much incommoded and harassed] [to get every thing in
+order for the temporal accommodation of Jesus and his disciples,] _and
+came to_ [Jesus,] _and said, Lord_, [art thou indifferent or careless
+about the circumstance] _that my sister hath left me to_ [prepare the
+victuals, and do all the work of the house] _alone_? [Command] _her,
+therefore, that she_ [leave her seat at thy feet, and come to assist]
+_me_."
+
+"Every thing [_in nature_] [_shews forth_] God's [_wisdom_,] [_power_,]
+and [_goodness_;] but the Bible, which is the [_word of God_,] and which
+was [_written_] by [_holy_] men at [_different times_,] under [_his
+direction_,] has most [_clearly_] [_revealed_] what [_God is_,] what he
+has done and what [_we should do_."]
+
+This is paraphrased in the Key to the Second Initiatory Catechism thus:
+
+"_Every thing_ [that has been made in the world and sky] [gives clear
+and constant proof of] _God's_ [chusing the best ends, and accomplishing
+these by the best means,] [his being able to do any thing, and every
+thing,] _and_ [never ceasing to care for, and to promote the happiness
+of all his creatures;]--_but the Bible,--which is the_ [only declaration
+of God's mind and will to man,] _and which was_ [composed, and put, with
+pen and ink, upon parchment or paper,] _by_ [good and pious] _men, at_
+[dates long distant from each other,] _under_ [the care of God, who told
+them what they were to write,]--_has most_ [distinctly and plainly,]
+[brought into view, and let us know,] _what_ [God's character and
+perfections are,] _what he has done, and what_ [is our duty, both to God
+and man."]
+
+"The [_word of God_,] which is contained in the [_Scriptures_] of the
+Old and New Testament, is the only [_rule_] to [_direct us_] how we may
+glorify and enjoy him."
+
+This is paraphrased in the Key to the Shorter Catechism in the following
+manner:
+
+"_The_ [revelation of God's will,] _which is contained in the_
+[writings] _of the Old and New Testament, is the only_ [guide] _to_
+[give us information] _how we may glorify and enjoy him_."
+
+
+Note A a, p. 321.--Nature has obviously intended that all men should be
+both physically and mentally employed; and that, for the proper
+maintenance of health, the time occupied by _physical_ exercise, ought
+in general to exceed that which is employed exclusively in study. The
+combination of both in ordinary cases, however, is still more plainly
+indicated. In the circumstances of the young, physical exercise is
+peculiarly necessary. The writer looks forward with confidence to a
+time, when to every seminary of eminence will be attached a sufficient
+plot of ground for gardening and agricultural purposes, that the
+physical energies of the pupils may not be allowed irregularly to run to
+waste, as at present; but when they shall be systematically directed to
+interesting, and at the same time to useful purposes. The hand-swing,
+although an excellent substitute, will never cope in interest, even to a
+child, with the moderate use of the hoe, the rake, or the spade. Such a
+system will produce many and valuable advantages to the young.
+Gardening, by postponing the results of labour, exciting hope, and by
+its daily advances, encouraging to perseverance, will tend to produce a
+most beneficial moral effect; and will greatly assist the teacher in
+establishing and strengthening some of those valuable checks upon the
+volatility of the young mind, which are exceedingly necessary for the
+proper conduct of life, but which there is usually but small opportunity
+of cultivating in youth.
+
+But even then, for the proper conducting of a school, there will, for
+_in-door exercise_, be something more required than has yet been
+provided, both as to kind and degree. When we examine a number of
+children at play, we seldom find them sitting, or even standing for any
+length of time, when they have space and opportunity to exercise their
+limbs. The hand-motions of the infant schools, therefore, although
+excellent so far as they go, do not go far enough; and even the marching
+of the children is obviously too monotonous, and not sufficiently
+lively, for throwing off the accumulated mass of animal spirits, which
+is so speedily formed in young persons while engaged at their lessons.
+It was to supply this defect that the writer, a number of years ago,
+made some experiments with a large class of children, and with complete
+success. The exercise was founded on the singing and marching of the
+infant schools, and consisted in what is known in certain seminaries, as
+"Rights and Lefts." The children were taught to meet each other in bands
+of equal number, and by giving the right and left hand alternately to
+those who came in the opposite direction, they undulated, as it were,
+through each others ranks, and passed on to their own music, till they
+met again on the other side of the room, and proceeded as before. The
+exercise thus afforded to the upper and lower extremities of each child,
+the expansion caused to the chest, and the play given to the muscles of
+the back and body, are exceedingly beneficial; and the whole being
+regulated by their own song, gives healthy, and not excessive exercise
+to the lungs and the whole circulation.
+
+It was also found, that this amusing employment for the young, was
+capable of great variety. Instead of two bands meeting each other in
+_lines_ in opposite directions, and parting, to meet again at the other
+side of the room, they were formed into a circle, one-half moving in one
+direction, and one-half moving in the opposite, by which means the
+circle was never broken. It was also found, that one of these circles,
+containing six or eight children only, could move within the other when
+it contained a larger number, without those in the one interfering in
+the least with those of the other; and the effect became still more
+imposing when _between_ these, and _without_ them, two other bands of
+children joined hands, united in the song, and moved round in opposite
+directions.
+
+These details may appear trifling to some; but experience will soon
+convince practical men, that in education, as in Nature, the most simple
+means often produce the most powerful and the most beneficial results.
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+    +-----------------------------------------------------+
+    |               Transcriber's Note:                   |
+    |                                                     |
+    | Footnotes listed as a Note followed by a letter are |
+    | gathered together at the end of the book.           |
+    |                                                     |
+    | Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the        |
+    | original document has been preserved.               |
+    |                                                     |
+    | Typographical errors corrected in the text:         |
+    |                                                     |
+    | Page  20  he changed to be                          |
+    | Page  28  vallies changed to valleys                |
+    | Page  36  pullies changed to pulleys                |
+    | Page  38  bye changed to by                         |
+    | Page  45  recal changed to recall                   |
+    | Page  57  inconsistences changed to inconsistencies |
+    | Page  59  recal changed to recall                   |
+    | Page  61  he changed to be                          |
+    | Page  67  oppreseive changed to oppressive          |
+    | Page  68  word "is" added                           |
+    | Page  73  recals changed to recalls                 |
+    | Page  77  harrassed changed to harassed             |
+    | Page 103  missle changed to  missile                |
+    | Page 113  decrepid changed to decrepit              |
+    | Page 120  pronouned changed to pronounced           |
+    | Page 142  slighest changed to slightest             |
+    | Page 144  intance changed to instance               |
+    | Page 150  educa- changed to education               |
+    | Page 152  Jessus changed to Jesus                   |
+    | Page 166  fourteeen changed to fourteen             |
+    | Page 168  Pestalozzie's changed to Pestalozzi's     |
+    | Page 169  unnaccountable changed to  unaccountable  |
+    | Page 183  recal changed to recall                   |
+    | Page 192  missing word "be" supplied                |
+    | Page 195  indispensible changed to indispensable    |
+    | Page 197  exceeedingly changed to exceedingly       |
+    | Page 197  recal changed to recall                   |
+    | Page 210  comtemplation changed to contemplation    |
+    | Page 211  soffa changed to sofa                     |
+    | Page 234  than changed to then                      |
+    | Page 245  Terrestial changed to Terrestrial         |
+    | Page 277  forwarned changed to forewarned           |
+    | Page 280  aplication changed to application         |
+    | Page 283  speciment changed to specimen             |
+    | Page 302  faultering changed to faltering           |
+    | Page 326  Princiciples changed to Principles        |
+    | Page 333  desireable changed to desirable           |
+    | Page 339  faultering changed to faltering           |
+    | Page 340  ungodily changed to ungodly               |
+    +-----------------------------------------------------+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Practical Enquiry into the
+Philosophy of Education, by James Gall
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Practical Enquiry into the Philosophy of
+Education, by James Gall
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: A Practical Enquiry into the Philosophy of Education
+
+Author: James Gall
+
+Release Date: January 13, 2009 [EBook #27790]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Barbara Kosker, Nick Wall and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+
+
+<h3>A</h3>
+
+<h2>PRACTICAL ENQUIRY</h2>
+
+<h3>INTO</h3>
+
+<h1> THE PHILOSOPHY</h1>
+
+<h3>OF</h3>
+
+<h1>EDUCATION.</h1>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h3>BY JAMES GALL,</h3>
+
+<h4> INVENTOR OF THE TRIANGULAR ALPHABET FOR THE BLIND; AND<br />
+ AUTHOR OF THE "END AND ESSENCE OF SABBATH<br />
+ SCHOOL TEACHING," &amp;c.</h4>
+<br />
+<br />
+<hr />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">"<i>The Works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have<br />
+ pleasure therein.</i>"&mdash;<span class="smcap">Psal.</span> cxi. 2.</p>
+<br />
+<br />
+<hr />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<h4>EDINBURGH:<br />
+ JAMES GALL &amp; SON,<br />
+ 24, NIDDRY STREET.<br />
+ LONDON: HOULSTON &amp; STONEMAN, 65, PATERNOSTER-ROW.<br />
+ GLASGOW; GEORGE GALLIE. BELFAST: WILLIAM M'COMB.<br />
+<br />
+MDCCCXL</h4>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen">Printed by J. Gall &amp; Son. 22, Niddry Street.</p>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<hr /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</a></span>
+<br />
+<h2>PREFACE.</h2>
+
+
+<p>The Author of the following pages is a plain man, who has endeavoured to
+write a plain book, for the purpose of being popularly useful. The
+philosophical form which his enquiries have assumed, is the result
+rather of accidental circumstances than of free choice. The strong
+desire which he felt in his earlier years to benefit the Young, induced
+him to push forward in the paths which appeared to him most likely to
+lead to his object; and it was not till he had advanced far into the
+fields of philosophy, that he first began dimly to perceive the
+importance of the ground which he had unwittingly occupied. The truth
+is, that he had laboured many years in the Sabbath Schools with which he
+had connected himself, before he was aware that, in his combat with
+ignorance, he was wielding weapons that were comparatively new; and it
+was still longer, before he very clearly understood the principles of
+those Exercises which he found so successful. One investigation led to
+another; light shone out as he proceeded; and he now submits, with full<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[Pg vi]</a></span>
+confidence in the truth of his general principles and deductions, the
+results of more than thirty years' experience and reflection in the
+great cause of Education.</p>
+
+<p>He has only further to observe, that the term "<span class="smcap">Nature</span>," which
+occurs so frequently, has been adopted as a convenient and popular mode
+of expression. None of his readers needs to be informed, that this is
+but another manner of designating "<span class="smcap">The God of Nature</span>," whose
+laws, as established in the young mind, he has been endeavouring humbly,
+and perseveringly to imitate.</p>
+
+<p class="noin">
+<i>Myrtle Bank, Trinity, Edinburgh</i>,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;"><i>8th May, 1840.</i></span><br />
+</p>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+
+<hr /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[Pg vii]</a></span>
+<br />
+<h2>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" width="70%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Table of Contents">
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2">PART I.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2">ON THE PRELIMINARY OBJECTS NECESSARY FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT AND
+    IMPROVEMENT OF EDUCATION.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAP_I">CHAP. I.</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlh" width="85%">On the Importance of establishing the Science of Education on a
+    solid Foundation,</td>
+  <td class="tdrb" width="15%">13</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAP_II">CHAP. II.</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">On the Cultivation of Education as a Science,</td>
+  <td class="tdrb">16</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAP_III">CHAP. III.</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">On the Improvement of Teaching as an Art,</td>
+  <td class="tdrb">25</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAP_IV">CHAP. IV.</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl">On the Establishment of Sound Principles in Education,</td>
+  <td class="tdrb">32</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2">PART II.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[Pg viii]</a></span></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2">ON THE GREAT DESIGN OF NATURE'S TEACHING, AND THE METHODS SHE
+    EMPLOYS IN CARRYING IT ON.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAP_IA">CHAP. I.</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlh">A Comprehensive View of the several Educational Processes carried on by Nature,</td>
+  <td class="tdrb">37</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAP_IIA">CHAP. II.</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlh">On the Method employed by Nature for cultivating the Powers of the Mind,</td>
+  <td class="tdrb">45</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAP_IIIA">CHAP. III.</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlh">On the Means by which Nature enables her Pupils to acquire Knowledge,</td>
+  <td class="tdrb">52</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAP_IVA">CHAP. IV.</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlh">On Nature's Method of communicating Knowledge to the Young by the Principle
+    of Reiteration,</td>
+  <td class="tdrb">56</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAP_VA">CHAP. V.</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlh">On the Acquisition of Knowledge by the Principle of Individuation,</td>
+  <td class="tdrb">65</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAP_VIA">CHAP. VI.</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlh">On the Acquisition of Knowledge by the Principle of Association, or Grouping,</td>
+  <td class="tdrb">72</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAP_VIIA">CHAP. VII.</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[Pg ix]</a></span></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlh">On the Acquisition of Knowledge by the Principle of Analysis, or Classification,</td>
+  <td class="tdrb">83</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAP_VIIIA">CHAP. VIII.</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlh">On Nature's Methods of Teaching her Pupils to make use of their Knowledge,</td>
+  <td class="tdrb">95</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAP_IXA">CHAP. IX.</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlh">On Nature's Methods of Applying Knowledge by the Principle of the Animal, or
+    Common Sense,</td>
+  <td class="tdrb">101</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAP_XA">CHAP. X.</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlh">On Nature's Method of applying Knowledge, by means of the Moral Sense, or
+    Conscience,</td>
+  <td class="tdrb">111</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAP_XIA">CHAP. XI.</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlh">On Nature's Method of Training her Pupils to Communicate their Knowledge,</td>
+  <td class="tdrb">129</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAP_XIIA">CHAP. XII.</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlh">Recapitulation of the Philosophical Principles developed in the previous
+    Chapters,</td>
+  <td class="tdrb">141</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">[Pg x]</a></span> PART III.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2">ON THE METHODS BY WHICH THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESSES OF NATURE MAY BE
+    SUCCESSFULLY IMITATED.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAP_IB">CHAP. I.</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlh">On the Exercises by which Nature may be imitated in cultivating the Powers of
+    the Mind,</td>
+  <td class="tdrb">148</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAP_IIB">CHAP. II.</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlh">On the Methods by which Nature may be imitated in the Pupil's Acquisition of
+    Knowledge; with a Review of the Analogy betweeen the Mental and Physical Appetites of the
+    Young,</td>
+  <td class="tdrb">170</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAP_IIIB">CHAP. III.</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlh">How Nature may be imitated in Communicating Knowledge to the Pupil, by the
+    Reiteration of Ideas,</td>
+  <td class="tdrb">177</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAP_IVB">CHAP. IV.</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlh">On the Means by which Nature may be imitated in Exercising the Principle of
+    Individuation,</td>
+  <td class="tdrb">192</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAP_VB">CHAP. V.</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlh">On the Means by which Nature may be imitated in Applying the Principle of
+    Grouping, or  Association,</td>
+  <td class="tdrb">204</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAP_VIB">CHAP. VI.</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlh">On the Methods by which Nature may be imitated in Communicating Knowledge by
+    Classification, or Analysis,</td>
+  <td class="tdrb">218</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAP_VIIB">CHAP. VII.</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[Pg xi]</a></span></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlh">On the Imitation of Nature in Teaching the Practical Use of Knowledge,</td>
+  <td class="tdrb">233</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAP_VIIIB">CHAP. VIII.</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlh">On the Imitation of Nature in Teaching the Use of Knowledge by Means of the
+    Animal, or Common Sense,</td>
+  <td class="tdrb">245</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAP_IXB">CHAP. IX.</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlh">On the Imitation of Nature in Teaching the Practical Use of Knowledge by means
+    of the Moral Sense, or Conscience,</td>
+  <td class="tdrb">257</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAP_XB">CHAP. X.</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlh">On the Application of our Knowledge to the Common Affairs of Life,</td>
+  <td class="tdrb">274</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAP_XIB">CHAP. XI.</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlh">On the Imitation of Nature, in training her Pupils fluently to communicate
+    their Knowledge,</td>
+  <td class="tdrb">288</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2">PART IV.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2">ON THE SELECTION OF PROPER TRUTHS AND SUBJECTS TO BE TAUGHT IN
+    SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAP_IC">CHAP. I.</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlh">On the General Principles which ought to regulate our choice of Truths and
+    Subjects to be taught to the  Young,</td>
+  <td class="tdrb">306</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAP_IIC">CHAP. II.</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii">[Pg xii]</a></span></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlh">On the particular Branches of Education required for Elementary Schools,</td>
+  <td class="tdrb">317</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAP_IIIC">CHAP. III.</a></td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlh">On the Easiest Methods of Introducing these Principles, for the first time,
+    into Schools already established,</td>
+  <td class="tdrb">326</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc" colspan="2">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdlh"><a href="#NOTES">Notes,</a></td>
+  <td class="tdrb">331</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<h1>PRACTICAL ENQUIRY, &amp;c.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span></h1>
+<br />
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h2>PART I.</h2>
+<br />
+<h2>ON THE PRELIMINARY OBJECTS NECESSARY FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT AND IMPROVEMENT OF EDUCATION.</h2>
+<br />
+<br /><a name="CHAP_I" id="CHAP_I"></a>
+<br />
+<br />
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h3>CHAP. I.</h3>
+
+<h3><i>On the Importance of establishing the Science of Education<br />
+on a solid Foundation.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>Education is at present obviously in a transition state. The public mind
+has of late become alive to the importance of the subject; and all
+persons are beginning to feel awake to the truth, that something is yet
+wanting to insure efficiency and permanence to the labours of the
+teacher. The public will not be satisfied till some decided change has
+taken place; and many are endeavouring to grope their way to something
+better. It is with an earnest desire to help forward this great
+movement, that the writer of the following pages has been induced to
+publish the result of much study, and upwards of thirty years'
+experience, in the hope that it may afford at least some assistance in
+directing the enquiries of those who are prosecuting the same object.</p>
+
+<p>On entering upon this investigation, it will be of use to keep in mind,
+that all the sciences have, at particular periods of their history, been
+in the same uncertain and unsettled position, as that which Education at
+present occupies; and that each of them has in its turn, had to pass
+through an ordeal, similar to that which education is about to undergo.
+They <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>have triumphantly succeeded; and their subsequent rapid
+advancement is the best proof that they are now placed on a solid and
+permanent foundation. It is of importance, therefore, in attempting to
+forward the science of education, that we should profit by the
+experience of those who have gone before us. They succeeded by a strict
+observation of facts, and a stern rejection of every species of mere
+supposition and opinion;&mdash;by an uncompromising hostility to prejudice
+and selfishness, and a fearless admission of truth wherever it was
+discovered. Such must be the conduct of the Educationist, if he expects
+to succeed in an equal degree. The history of astronomy as taught by
+astrologers, and of chemistry in the hands of the alchymist, should
+teach both the lovers and the fearers of change an important lesson.
+These pretended sciences being mere conjectures, were of use to nobody;
+and yet the boldness with which they were promulgated, and the
+confidence with which they were received, had the effect of suppressing
+enquiry, and shutting out the truth for several generations. Similar may
+be the effects of errors in education, and similar the danger of too
+easily admitting them. The adoption of plausible theories, or of
+erroneous principles, must lead into innumerable difficulties; and
+should they be hastily patronized, and authoritatively promulgated, the
+improvement of this first and most important of the sciences may be
+retarded for a century to come.</p>
+
+<p>The other sciences, during the last half century, have advanced with
+amazing rapidity. This has been the result of a strict adherence to well
+established facts, and their legitimate inferences.&mdash;A docile subjection
+of the mind to the results of experiment, and a candid confession and
+abandonment of fallacies, have characterized every benefactor of the
+sciences;&mdash;and the science of education must be advanced by an adherence
+to the same principles. The Educationist must be willing to abandon
+error, as well as to receive <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>truth; and must resolutely shake off all
+conjecture and opinions not founded on fair and appropriate experiment.
+This course may appear tedious;&mdash;but it is the shortest and the best. By
+this mode of induction, all the facts which he is able to glean will
+assuredly be found to harmonize with nature, with reason, and with
+Scripture; and with these for his supporters, the Reformer in education
+has nothing to fear. His progress may be slow, but it will be sure; for
+every principle which he thus discovers, will enable him, not only to
+outrun his neighbours, but to confer a permanent and valuable boon upon
+posterity.</p>
+
+<p>That any rational and accountable being should ever have been found to
+oppose the progress of truth, is truly humiliating; yet every page of
+history, which records the developement of new principles, exhibits also
+the outbreakings of prejudice and selfishness. The deductions of
+Galileo, of Newton, of Harvey, and innumerable others, have been opposed
+and denounced, each in its turn; while their promoters have been
+vilified as empyrics or innovators. Nor has this been done by those only
+whose self love or worldly interests prompted them to exclude the truth,
+but by good and honourable men, whose prejudices were strong, and whose
+zeal was not guided by discretion. Such persons have frequently been
+found to shut their eyes against the plainest truths, to wrestle with
+their own convictions, and positively refuse even to listen to evidence.
+The same thing may happen with regard to education;&mdash;and this is no
+pleasing prospect to the lover of peace, who sets himself forward as a
+reformer in this noble work.&mdash;Change is inevitable. Teaching is an art;
+and it must, like all the other arts, depend for its improvement upon
+the investigations of science. Now, every one knows, that although the
+cultivation of chemistry, and other branches of natural science, has, of
+late years, given an extraordinary stimulus to the arts, yet the science
+of education, from which the art of teaching can alone <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span>derive its
+power, is one, beyond the threshold of which modern philosophy has
+scarcely entered. Changes, therefore, both in the theory and practice of
+teaching, may be anticipated;&mdash;and that these changes will be
+inconvenient and annoying to many, there can be no doubt. That
+individuals, in these circumstances, should be inclined to deprecate and
+oppose these innovations and improvements, is nothing more than might be
+expected; but that the improvements themselves should on that account be
+either postponed or abandoned, would be highly injurious. An enlightened
+system of education is peculiarly the property of the public, on which
+both personal, family, and national happiness in a great measure
+depends. These interests therefore must not be sacrificed to the wishes
+or the convenience of private individuals. The prosperity and happiness
+of mankind are at stake; and the welfare of succeeding generations will,
+in no small degree, be influenced by the establishment of sound
+principles in education at the present time. Nothing, therefore, should
+be allowed to mystify or cripple that science, upon which the spread and
+the permanence of all useful knowledge mainly rest.</p>
+
+<br />
+<br /><a name="CHAP_II" id="CHAP_II"></a>
+<br />
+<br />
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h3>CHAP. II.</h3>
+
+<h3><i>On the Cultivation of Education as a Science.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>From numerous considerations, it must be evident, that education claims
+the first rank among the sciences; and, in that case, the art of
+Teaching ought to take precedence among the arts;&mdash;not perhaps in
+respect of its difficulties, but most certainly in respect of its
+importance.</p>
+
+<p>The success of the teacher in his labours, will depend almost entirely
+on the extent and the accuracy of the investigations of the philosopher.
+The science must guide the art. Experience shews, that where an <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>artist
+in ordinary life is not directed by science,&mdash;by acknowledged
+principles,&mdash;he can never make any steady improvement. In like manner,
+when the principles of education are unknown, no advancement in the art
+can be expected from the teacher. Every attempt at change in such
+circumstances must be unsatisfactory; and even when improvements are by
+chance accomplished, they are but partial, and must be stationary.&mdash;When,
+on the contrary, the teacher is directed by ascertained principles, he
+never can deviate far from the path of success; and even if he should,
+he has the means in his own power of ascertaining the cause of his
+failure, and of retracing his steps. He can, therefore, at his pleasure,
+add to or abridge, vary or transpose his exercises with his pupils,
+provided only that the great principles of the science be kept steadily
+in view, and be neither outraged, nor greatly infringed. No teacher,
+therefore, should profess the art, without making himself familiar with
+the philosophical principles upon which it is founded. In the mechanical
+arts, this practice is now generally followed, and with the happiest
+effects. The men of the present generation have profited by the painful
+experience of thousands in former times; who, trusting to mere
+conjectures, tried, failed, and ruined themselves. The mechanics of our
+day, instead of indulging in blind theories of their own, and hazarding
+their money and their time upon speculation and chance, are willing to
+borrow light for their guidance from those who have provided it. They
+slowly, but surely, follow in the path opened up to them by the
+discoveries of science,&mdash;and they are never disappointed.</p>
+
+<p>The unexampled success of the mechanical arts, would, upon the above
+principles, naturally lead us to conclude, that the sciences, from which
+they have derived all that they possess, must have been cultivated with
+corresponding energy. And such is the fact. Since the adoption of the
+inductive method of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span>philosophizing, nearly all the sciences have been
+advancing rapidly and steadily; and the cause of this is to be found in
+adhering to the rules of induction. No science has been allowed to rest
+its claims upon mere theory, or authority of any kind, but upon evidence
+derived from facts. Mere opinions and suppositions have been rigidly
+excluded; and that alone which was acquired by accurate investigation,
+has been acknowledged in science as having the stamp of truth. The
+inductive philosophy takes nothing for granted. Every conclusion must be
+legitimately drawn from ascertained facts, or from principles
+established by experiment; and the consequence has been, not only that
+what has been attained is permanent, and will benefit all future
+generations, but the amount of that attainment, in the short time that
+has already elapsed, is actually greater than all that had been
+previously gained during centuries. In this general improvement,
+however, the science of Education has till lately formed an exception.
+The principles of true philosophy do not appear to have been brought to
+bear upon it, as they have upon the other sciences; and the consequences
+of this neglect have been lamentable. In every branch of natural
+philosophy, there are great leading principles already established. But
+where were there any such principles established by the philosopher for
+the guidance of the teacher? By what, except their own experience, and
+conjectures, were teachers directed in the training of the
+young?&mdash;Thirty or forty years ago, what was called "education" in our
+ordinary week-day schools, was little more than a mechanical round of
+barren exercises. The excitement of religious persecution, which had
+been the means of disciplining the intellectual and moral powers of
+Scotsmen for several previous generations, had by that time gradually
+subsided, and had left education to do its own work, by the use of its
+own resources. But these were perfectly inadequate to the task. The
+exercises almost universally <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>employed in the education of the young,
+had neither been derived from science, nor from experience of their own
+inherent power; and they would, from the beginning, have been found
+perfectly inefficient, had they not been aided, as before noticed, by
+the stimulant of religious persecution.&mdash;The state of education, at the
+time we speak of, is still fresh on the memory of living witnesses who
+were its victims; and some of the absurdities which were then universal,
+are not even yet altogether extinct.</p>
+
+<p>Soon after the period above stated, an important change began to take
+place in the art of teaching,&mdash;but still unaided and undirected by
+science. Some of the more thinking and judicious of its professors,
+roused by the flagrant failures of their own practice, made several
+noble and exemplary efforts to place it on a better footing. Had these
+efforts been guided by scientific research, much more good would have
+been done than has been accomplished, and an immense amount of
+misdirected labour would have been saved. But although many of the
+attempts at a change failed, yet some of them succeeded, and have
+gradually produced ameliorations and improvements in the art of
+teaching. Still it must be observed, that philosophy has had little or
+no share in the merit. Her labours in this important field have yet to
+be begun. Valuable exercises have no doubt been introduced; but the
+principles upon which the success of these exercises depends, remain in
+a great measure concealed from the public generally:&mdash;And the reason of
+this is, that the public have been indebted for them to the <i>art</i> of the
+teacher, and not to the <i>science</i> of the philosopher.</p>
+
+<p>That this is not the position in which matters of so much public
+importance should continue, we think no one will deny. Education must be
+cultivated as a science, before teaching can ever flourish as an art.
+The philosopher must first ascertain and light up the way, before the
+teacher can, with security, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>walk in it. Experiment must be employed to
+ascertain facts, investigate causes, and trace these causes to their
+effects. By fair and legitimate deductions drawn from the facts thus
+ascertained, he will be enabled to establish certain principles, which,
+when acted upon by the teacher, will invariably succeed. But without
+this, the history of all the other arts and sciences teaches us, that
+success is not to be expected;&mdash;for although chance may sometimes lead
+the teacher to a happy device, there can be no steady progress. Even
+those beneficial exercises upon which he may have stumbled, become of
+little practical value; because, when the principles upon which they are
+based are unknown, they can neither be followed up with certainty, nor
+be varied without danger.</p>
+
+<p>There will no doubt be a difficulty in the investigation of a science
+which is in itself so complicated, and which has hitherto been so little
+understood; but this is only an additional reason why it should be begun
+in a proper manner, and pursued with energy. The mode of procedure is
+the chief object of difficulty; but the experience and success of
+investigators in the other sciences, will be of great advantage in
+directing us in this. In the sciences of anatomy and physiology, for
+example, the investigations of the philosopher are designed to direct
+the several operations of the physician, the surgeon, and the dentist;
+in the same way as the investigations of the Educationist are intended
+to direct the operations of the Teacher. Now the mode of procedure in
+those sciences for such purposes is well known, and forms an excellent
+example for us in the present case. The duty of the anatomist, or
+physiologist, is simply to examine the operations of Nature in the
+animal economy, and the plans which she adopts for accomplishing her
+objects during health, and for throwing off impediments during disease.
+In conducting his investigations, the enquirer begins by taking a
+general view of the whole subject, and then separating <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>and defining its
+leading parts. Pulsation, respiration, digestion, and the various
+secretions and excretions of the body, are defined, and their general
+connection with each other correctly ascertained. These form his
+starting points; and then, taking each in its turn, he sets himself to
+discover the principles, or laws, which regulate its working in a
+healthy state;&mdash;what it is that promotes the circulation or stagnation
+of the blood, the bracing or relaxing of the nerves, the several
+processes in digestion, and the various functions of the skin and
+viscera. These are all first ascertained by observation and experience,
+and then, if necessary, established by experiment.</p>
+
+<p>These principles, having thus been established by science, are available
+for direction in the arts. The physician acts under their guidance; and
+his object is simply to regulate his treatment and advice in accordance
+with them. In other words, <i>he endeavours to imitate Nature</i>, to remove
+the obstructions which he finds interfering with her operations, or to
+lend that aid which a knowledge of these principles points out as
+necessary. The surgeon and the dentist follow the same course, but more
+directly. In healing a wound, for example, the surgeon has to ascertain
+from science how Nature in similar cases proceeds when left to herself;
+and all his cuttings, and lancings, and dressings, are nothing more than
+<i>attempts to imitate her</i> in her healing operations. So well is this now
+understood, that every operation which does not at least recognise the
+principle is denounced&mdash;and justly denounced&mdash;as quackery; and the
+reason is, that uniform experience has convinced professional men, that
+they can only expect success when they follow with docility in the path
+which Nature has pointed out to them.</p>
+
+<p>Precisely similar should be the plan of operation pursued by the
+Educationist. He should, in the first place, take a comprehensive view
+of the whole subject, and endeavour to map out to himself its great
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>natural divisions;&mdash;in other words, he should endeavour to ascertain
+what are the things which Nature teaches, that he may, by means of this
+great outline, form a general programme for the direction of the
+teacher. His next object ought to be, to ascertain the mode, and the
+means, adopted by Nature in forwarding these several departments of her
+educational process; the powers of mind engrossed in each; the order in
+which they are brought into exercise; and the combinations which she
+employs in perfecting them. In ascertaining these principles which
+regulate the operations of Nature in her educational processes, the same
+adherence to the rules prescribed by the inductive philosophy, which has
+crowned the other sciences with success, must be rigidly observed. There
+must be the same disregard of mere antiquity; there must be the same
+scrupulous sifting of evidence, and strict adherence to facts; there
+must be a discarding of all hypotheses, and a simple dependence upon
+ascertained truths alone. Adherence to these rules is as necessary in
+cultivating the science of education, as it has been in the other
+sciences; and the neglect of any one of them, may introduce an element
+of error, which may injure the labours of a whole lifetime.</p>
+
+<p>We have some reason to fear, that although all this will be readily
+admitted in theory, it will be found somewhat difficult to adopt it in
+practice. The reason of this will be obvious when we reflect on the deep
+interest which the best and most philanthropic individuals in society
+take in this science. The other sciences are in some measure removed
+from the busy pursuits of life; they are the concern of certain persons,
+who are allowed to investigate and to experiment, to judge and to decide
+as they please, without the public in general caring much about the
+matter.&mdash;But education is a science of a different kind. Its value is
+acknowledged by every one, and its interests are dear to every
+benevolent heart. The individual who undertakes to examine, and more
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>especially to promulgate, any new principle upon which education rests,
+will have a harder task to perform, and a severer battle to fight, than
+the philosopher who attempts to overturn a false conclusion in
+chemistry, or an erroneous principle in mechanics. Among the learned
+community, not more than one in a thousand perhaps is personally
+interested either in mechanics or in chemistry; and few others will
+enter the lists to oppose that which appears legitimate and fair. The
+enemies and opponents of the chemical reformer in that case may be
+zealous and even fierce; but they are few, and he enjoys the sympathy
+and the countenance of the great majority of those whose countenance is
+worthy of his regard. But when we calculate the number of those who take
+an interest in the subject of education, and those who do not, the above
+numbers will be reversed. Nine hundred and ninety-nine among the
+educated public will be found who take a real interest in the progress
+of education, for one who cares nothing about it.</p>
+
+<p>This is a fearful odds where there is a likelihood of opposition;&mdash;and
+opposition may be expected. For there will be influences in many of the
+true friends of education, derived from old prejudices within, combined
+with the pressure of conflicting sentiments in their friends from
+without, which will render the task of establishing new and sound
+principles in this first of the sciences an irksome, and even a
+hazardous employment. Coldness or opposition from those whom we honour
+and love is always painful; and yet it should be endured, rather than
+that the best interests both of the present and future generations
+should be sacrificed. The opinions of all good men deserve
+consideration;&mdash;but when they are merely opinions, and are not founded
+on reason, they are at best but specious; and when they are opposed to
+truth, and are contrary to experience, a zealous adherence to them
+becomes sinful and dangerous. Such persons ought to commend, rather than
+blame, the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>reformer in education, when he declines to adopt ancient
+dogmas which he finds to be useless and hurtful: And at all events, if
+all have agreed to disregard the authority of an Aristotle or a Newton,
+when opposed to new facts and additional evidence, the Educationist must
+not allow himself to be driven from the path of fact and experience by
+either friends or enemies. No authority can make darkness light;&mdash;and
+although he may be opposed for a time, and the public mind may be abused
+for a moment, it will at last correct itself, and truth will prevail.</p>
+
+<p>But the friends of education ought in no case to put the perseverance of
+those who labour for its improvement to so severe a trial. They ought in
+justice, as well as charity, to cultivate a forbearing and a candid
+spirit; and they will have many opportunities of exercising these
+virtues during the progress of this science. Education is confessedly
+but in its infancy; and therefore it must grow much, and change much,
+before it can arrive at maturity. But if there be an increasing
+opposition to all advance, and if a stumbling-block be continually
+thrown in the way of those who labour to perfect it, the labourers may
+be discouraged, and the work be indefinitely postponed. Let all such
+then guard against a blind opposition, or an attempt to explain away
+palpable facts, merely because they lead to principles which are new, or
+to conclusions which are at variance with their pre-conceived opinions.
+If they persevere in a blind opposition, they may find at last that they
+have been resisting truth, and defrauding their neighbour. Truth can
+never be the enemy of man, although many inadvertently rank themselves
+among its opponents. The resistance which has invariably been offered to
+every important discovery hitherto, should be a beacon to warn the
+inconsiderate and the prejudiced against being over-hasty in rejecting
+discoveries in education; and the obloquy that now rests on the memory
+of such persons, should be a warning to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>them, not to plant thorns in
+their own pillows, or now to sow "the wind, lest they at last should
+reap the whirlwind."</p>
+<br />
+<br /><a name="CHAP_III" id="CHAP_III"></a>
+<br />
+<br />
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h3>CHAP. III.</h3>
+
+<h3><i>On the Improvement of Teaching as an Art.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>As Education on account of its importance takes precedence in the
+sciences, so Teaching should rank first among the arts. The reasons for
+this arrangement are numerous; but the consideration of two will be
+sufficient.&mdash;The first is, that all the other arts refer chiefly to
+time, and the conveniences and comforts of this world; while the art of
+teaching not only includes all these, but involves also many of the
+interests of man through eternity.&mdash;And the second is, that without this
+art all the other arts would produce scarcely any advantage. Without
+education of some kind, men are, and must continue to be savages,&mdash;it
+being the only effectual instrument of civilization. It is the chief, if
+not the only means for improving the condition of the human family, and
+for restoring man to the dignity of an intelligent and virtuous being.</p>
+
+<p>As "Science" is the investigation and knowledge of principles, so an
+"art" may be defined as a system of means, in accordance with these
+principles, for attaining some special end. Teaching is one of the arts;
+and it depends as entirely for its success upon a right application of
+the principles of the science of education, as the art of dying does
+upon the principles of chemistry. As an art, therefore, teaching must be
+subjected to all those laws which regulate the improvement of the other
+arts, and without which it can never be successfully carried on, far
+less perfected. These laws are now very generally understood; and we
+shall briefly advert to a few of them, which are <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>necessary for our
+present purpose, and endeavour to point out their relation to the art of
+teaching.</p>
+
+<p>1. One of the first rules connected with the improvement of the arts is,
+that the artist have <i>a specific object in view, for the attainment of
+which all his successive operations are to be combined</i>.&mdash;The
+manufacturer has his <i>cloth</i> in prospect, before he has even purchased
+the wool of which it is to be composed; and it is the desire of
+procuring cloth of the most suitable quality, and by the easiest means,
+that compels him to draw liberally and constantly from the facts
+ascertained, and the principles developed, by the several sciences. From
+the science of mechanics he derives the various kinds of machinery used
+in the progressive stages of its production; and from the science of
+chemistry he obtains the processes of dying, and printing, and dressing.
+But he never troubles himself about the science of mechanics or of
+chemistry in the abstract; he thinks only of his cloth, and of these
+sciences as means to assist him in procuring it. He is careful of his
+machinery, and is constantly alive to the mode of its working, and is
+thus prompted to adopt such improvements as observation or experience
+may suggest; but it is not the machinery of itself that he either cares
+for, or thinks about. No; it is still the cloth that he keeps in view;
+and his machinery is esteemed or slighted, adopted or abandoned, exactly
+in proportion as it forwards his object. The processes necessary in the
+different departments of his establishment, are complicated and various,
+and to a stranger they are both curious and instructive; but it is
+neither the labour nor the variety that he is seeking. His is a very
+different object; and of this object he never loses sight; for the
+varied operations of stapling and carding, of spinning and weaving, are
+nothing more than means which he employs for accomplishing his end. He
+knows the uses of the whole complicated operations; and he sees at a
+glance, and can tell in a moment, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>how each in its turn contributes to
+the great object of all,&mdash;the production of a good and marketable cloth.</p>
+
+<p>Now this law ought to be applied with the utmost strictness to the art
+of teaching. For if teaching be really an art,&mdash;that is, a successive
+combination of means,&mdash;it should undoubtedly be a combination of means
+to some specific end. Nothing can be more obvious, than that a man who
+sits down to work, should know what he intends to do, and how he is to
+do it. Such a line of conduct should be imperatively demanded of the
+teacher, both on account of the importance of his work, and of the
+immense value of the material upon which he is to operate. The end he
+has in view, whatever that end may be, ought to be correctly defined
+before he begins; and no exercise should upon any account be prescribed
+or demanded from his pupils, which does not directly, or indirectly at
+least, conduce to its attainment. To do otherwise is both injudicious
+and unjust. For if the operations of the husbandman during spring have
+to be selected and curtailed with the strictest attention to time and
+the seasons, how carefully ought the energies and the time of youth to
+be economized, when they have but one short spring time afforded them,
+during which they are to sow the seed which shall produce good or evil
+fruit for eternity? As to what this great end which the teacher ought
+steadily to contemplate should be, we shall afterwards enquire; at
+present we are desirous only of establishing this general law in the art
+of teaching, that there should be an end accurately defined, and
+constantly kept in view; and for the attainment of which every exercise
+prescribed in the school should assist. The teacher who does otherwise
+is travelling in the dark, and compelling labour for labour's
+sake;&mdash;like the manufacturer who would keep all his machinery in motion,
+not to make cloth, but to appear to be busy.</p>
+
+<p>2. Another law adopted in the successful prosecution of the arts is, <i>to
+use the best known means for <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>attaining any particular end</i>.&mdash;This law
+is well known in all the other arts, and success invariably depends upon
+its adoption. The fields are not now tilled by the hoe, nor is cotton
+spun by the hand. These modes of operating have no doubt the
+recommendation of antiquity; but here antiquity is always at a discount,
+and no one doubts the propriety of its being so. The arts are advancing;
+and they who would impede their progress on the plea of not departing
+from the usages of antiquity, would be pitied or laughed at.</p>
+
+<p>The art of teaching, like the other arts, depends for its success on a
+strict adherence to this law; and the fear of departing in this case
+from the particular usages of our ancestors is equally unreasonable.
+Soft ground in the valleys compelled them to travel their pack horses
+right over the hills, and the want of the "Jenny" made them spin their
+yarn by the hand; but still, the same principle which guided them in the
+adoption of those methods, was strictly the one which we are here
+recommending, that of "using the best <i>known</i> means for accomplishing
+the particular end." Those who adopt the principle do most honour to
+their sagacity; while their shallow admirers, by abandoning the
+principle, and clinging to their necessarily imperfect mode of applying
+it, at once libel their good sense, and dishonour those whom they
+profess to revere. As society is rapidly advancing, paternal affection
+would undoubtedly have prompted them to advise their descendants to take
+the benefits of every advance;&mdash;and it would be as reasonable for us to
+suppose, that if they were now alive, they would advise us to travel
+over the hills on their old roads, or make our cloth in the old way, as
+to think they would be gratified by our continuing to use exercises in
+education, which sound philosophy and experience have shewn to be
+fallacious and hurtful, or that they would be displeased by the use of
+those which extensive experiment has now proved to be natural, easy, and
+efficient.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>These ancestral trammels have all been shaken off, wherever the
+acquisition of money is concerned. The mechanical processes of his
+forefathers have no charm for the modern manufacturer, when he can
+attain his object more economically by a recent improvement. Neither
+does he go blindfold upon a mere chance,&mdash;seldom even upon a sagacious
+conjecture,&mdash;unless there be some good grounds for its formation. In
+every successive stage of his operations, he is awake to the slightest
+appearance of defect; and he hesitates not a moment in abandoning a
+lesser good for a greater, whenever he perceives it. He husbands
+time;&mdash;he husbands expense;&mdash;he husbands supervision and risk. Every
+step with him is a step in advance;&mdash;every operation has a
+design;&mdash;every movement has a meaning;&mdash;and he makes all unite for the
+attainment of one common object. Can we doubt that, in like manner, the
+most rigid economy of time and labour ought to be adopted in the art of
+teaching? When the end has once been distinctly defined, it ought
+steadily to be kept in view; and no exercise should be prescribed which
+does not contribute to its attainment. There should be no bustling about
+nothing; no busy idleness; no fighting against time; no unnecessary
+labour, nor useless exhaustion of the pupil's energies. The time of
+youth is so precious, and there is so much to be done during it, that
+economy here is perhaps of more importance than in any thing else. Every
+book or exercise, therefore, which has not a palpable tendency to
+forward the great object designed by education, should by the teacher be
+at once given up.</p>
+
+<p>3. Another law which experience has established as necessary for the
+perfecting of any of the arts is, <i>a fair and honest application of the
+successive discoveries of science to its improvement</i>.&mdash;This has been
+the uniform practice in those arts which have of late been making such
+rapid progress. The artist and mechanic are never indifferent to the
+various <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>improvements which are taking place around them; nor do they
+ever stand apart, till they are forced upon their notice by third
+parties, or public notoriety. There is, in the case of the manufacturer,
+no nervous timidity about innovation; nor does he ever attempt to
+deceive himself by ignorantly supposing that the change can be no
+improvement.&mdash;Nor will he suffer himself to be deceived by others. His
+workmen are not allowed, to save themselves future trouble, to be
+careless or sinister in their trials of the improvement; for he knows,
+that however it may be with them, yet if his neighbour succeeds, and he
+fails, it may prove his ruin.</p>
+
+<p>Such also should be the conduct of the teacher. The time has now gone by
+when parents were ignorant, either of what was communicated at school,
+or the manner in which it was taught. The improvement of their children
+by education, has become a primary object with all sensible parents; and
+they will never again be satisfied with a school or a teacher, where
+solid instruction, and the most useful kind of knowledge are not
+imparted. Ameliorations in his art, therefore, is now as necessary to
+the teacher, as improvements in machinery are to the mechanic and the
+manufacturer. It will no longer do for him to say, "I can see no
+improvement in the change," if the parents of his pupils have been able
+to discover it; and the teacher who stands still in the present forward
+march of society, will soon find himself left alone. The practical
+Educationist, like the mechanician, ought no doubt to be cautious in
+adopting changes upon chance; but wherever an improvement in his art has
+been sufficiently proved by fair experiment or long experience, and
+particularly, when the principle upon which its success depends has been
+fully ascertained, his rejecting the change on the plea of
+inconvenience, or from the fear of trouble, is not only an act of
+injustice to the parents of his pupils, but is a wrong which will very
+soon <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>begin to re-act upon his own interests. The effect of indifference
+to improvement in this, as in other arts, may not be felt for a time;
+but as soon as <i>others</i> have made themselves masters of the improvements
+which he has rejected, the successive departure of his pupils, and the
+melting away of his classes, will at last awaken him to a sense of his
+folly, when it may be too late. Such has usually been the effect of
+remissness in the other arts; and the present state of the public mind
+in regard to education, indicates a similar result in similar
+circumstances.</p>
+
+<p>In connection with this part of our subject, it may here be necessary to
+remark, that as the experience of all teachers may not be alike in the
+<i>first working</i> of a newly applied principle,&mdash;the principle itself,
+when fully ascertained, is not on that account to be either belied or
+abandoned. There are many concurring circumstances, which may make an
+exercise that succeeds well in the hands of one person, fail in the
+hands of another; but to refuse credence to the principle itself,
+because he cannot as yet successfully apply it, is neither prudent nor
+wise. There are chemical experiments so exceedingly nice, and depending
+on so many varying circumstances, that they frequently fail in the hands
+of even good operators. But the chemical principles upon which they rest
+remain unchanged, although individual students may have not been able
+successfully to apply them. If their professor has but <i>once</i> fairly and
+undoubtedly succeeded in ascertaining the facts on which the principle
+is based, their failure for a thousand times is no proof that the
+ascertained principle is really a fallacy. In like manner, any important
+principle in education, if once satisfactorily ascertained, is a truth
+in the science, and will remain a truth, whoever may believe or deny it.
+If it has been proved to produce certain effects in certain given
+circumstances, it will in all future times do the same, when the
+circumstances are similar. The inability, therefore, of a parent or
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>teacher, to produce equal effects by its means, may be good enough
+proof of his want of skill, but it is no proof of the want of inherent
+power in the principle itself. The rings of Saturn which my neighbour's
+telescope has clearly brought to view, are not blotted from the heavens
+because my pocket glass has failed to detect them.</p>
+
+<p>It has been by attention to these, and similar rules, that all the
+secular arts have advanced to their present state; and the art of
+teaching must be perfected by similar means. There ought therefore to be
+a distinct object in view on the part of the teacher,&mdash;a specific end
+which he is to endeavour to arrive at in his intercourse with his pupil.
+For the attainment of this end, he must employ the best and the surest
+means that are in his power; for the same purpose, he ought honestly and
+fairly to apply the successive discoveries of science as they occur; and
+should never allow himself to abandon an exercise founded upon
+ascertained principles, merely because he at first finds difficulty in
+putting it in operation.</p>
+<br />
+<br /><a name="CHAP_IV" id="CHAP_IV"></a>
+<br />
+<br />
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h3>CHAP. IV.</h3>
+
+<h3><i>On the Establishment of Sound Principles in Education.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>The application of the foregoing remarks to our present purpose, is a
+matter of great practical importance. It has indeed been owing chiefly
+to their having been hitherto overlooked, that education has been left
+in the backward state in which we at present find it.</p>
+
+<p>But if, as we have seen, education must bend to the same rigid
+discipline to which the other sciences have had to submit,&mdash;and if
+teaching can be improved only by following the laws which have
+determined the success of the other arts&mdash;the question <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>naturally
+arises, "What is to be done now for education?"&mdash;"Where are we to
+begin?"&mdash;"How are we to proceed?"&mdash;"In what manner are the principles of
+the science to be investigated, so that they shall most extensively
+promote the success of the art? and how is the art to be cultivated, so
+that it may, to the fullest extent, be benefited by the science?" To
+these enquiries we shall in the present chapter direct our attention.</p>
+
+<p>The method of investigating the operations of Nature in the several
+sciences is very nearly alike in all. For example, in the science of
+chemistry, as we have formerly noticed, the first object of the
+philosopher would be to take a comprehensive view of his whole subject,
+and endeavour to separate the substances in Nature according to their
+great leading characteristics. He would at once distinguish mineral
+substances as differing from vegetables;&mdash;and vegetable substances as
+differing from animals;&mdash;thus forming three distinct classes of objects,
+blending with each other, no doubt, but still sufficiently distinct to
+form what have been called the three kingdoms of Nature. The various
+objects included under each of these he would again subdivide according
+to their several properties;&mdash;and as he went forward, he would
+endeavour, by careful examination and experiment, to ascertain, not only
+their combinations, but also the characteristic properties of their
+several elements. The chemist, in this method of investigating Nature,
+almost always proceeds upwards, analytically, advancing from the general
+to the special, from the aggregate to its parts, endeavouring to
+ascertain as he proceeds the laws which regulate their composition and
+decomposition, for the purpose simply of endeavouring to imitate them.
+By this means alone he expects to perfect the science, and to benefit
+the arts.</p>
+
+<p>In the science of Botany, Zoology, Anatomy, Physiology, and almost all
+the others, the same plan has <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>been adopted with invariable success. The
+subject, whatever it be, is looked upon as a whole, and then separated
+into its great divisions;&mdash;these again, are subdivided into classes; and
+these again, into orders, genera, species, and varieties, by which means
+each minute part can be examined by itself in connection with the whole;
+the memory and the judgment are assisted in their references and
+application; and order reigns through the whole subject, which otherwise
+would have been involved in inextricable confusion.</p>
+
+<p>In education, as in the other sciences, Nature is our only sure teacher;
+and the Educationist, therefore, who desires success, must proceed in
+the investigation in a similar way. He must first take a comprehensive
+view of Nature's educational processes; divide them into their several
+kinds; and subdivide these again when necessary, that each may be viewed
+alone. He must then ascertain the nature and the object of these
+processes, and observe the means and the methods employed for
+accomplishing them, that he may, if possible, be enabled to <i>imitate</i>
+them. In this way, and in this way alone, he is to perfect the science
+of education, and benefit the art of teaching.</p>
+
+<p>That this is the best way yet known of proceeding in investigating and
+improving the science of education, experience has already proved; and
+that it must theoretically be so, we think can admit of little doubt.
+The operations of Nature exhibit the soundest philosophy, and the most
+perfect examples of art. The materials she selects are the most suitable
+for the purpose; the means she employs are always the most simple and
+efficient; and her ends are invariably gained at the least expense of
+material, labour, and time. In the pursuit, therefore, of any object or
+end similar to that in which we find Nature engaged, man's truest wisdom
+is to distrust his own speculations, and to learn from her teaching. He
+should, with a child-like docility, follow her leadings and imitate her
+operations, both as it respects the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>materials he is to employ, and the
+mode and order in which he is to use them. Were an artist to find
+himself at a loss for the want of an instrument to accomplish some
+particular purpose, or some new material upon which to operate, or some
+special, but as yet unknown means for attaining some new and important
+object,&mdash;we are warranted by facts to say, that the natural philosopher
+would be his best instructor. For if he can be directed to some similar
+operation of Nature, or have pointed out to him some one or more of
+Nature's pupils,&mdash;some animal or insect, perhaps,&mdash;whose labour or
+object is similar to his own, he will most probably find there, or have
+suggested to him by their mode of procedure, the very thing he is in
+search of. By studying their methods of operating, and the means
+employed by them for accomplishing their end, some principle or device
+will be exhibited, by the imitation of which his own special object will
+most readily and most successfully be attained. Every day's experience
+gives us additional proof of the importance and soundness of this
+suggestion. For it is a remarkable fact, that there is scarcely a useful
+mechanical invention to which genius has laid claim,&mdash;and deservedly
+laid claim,&mdash;that has not its prototype somewhere in nature. The same
+principles, working perhaps in the same manner, have been silently in
+operation, thousands of years before the inventor was born; but which,
+from want of observation, or the neglect of its practical application to
+useful purposes, lay concealed and useless. This culpable neglect in
+practically applying the works and ways of God as he intended, has
+carried with it its own punishment; for thousands of the conveniences
+and arts, which at present smooth and adorn the paths of civilized life,
+have all along been placed within the reach of intelligent man. If he
+had but employed his intelligence, as he ought to have done, in
+searching them out, and had asked himself when he perceived them, "What
+does this teach me?" the very question would have suggested <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>a use. This
+accordingly will be found to be the true way of studying nature, and one
+especial design for which a beneficent Creator has spread out his works
+for our inspection. In proof, and in illustration of this fact, we may
+refer to the telescope, which has from the beginning had its type in the
+human eye;&mdash;to the formation of paper, which has been manufactured for
+thousands of years by the wasp;&mdash;to the levers, joints, and pulleys of
+the human body, of which the mechanist has as yet only made imperfect
+imitations;&mdash;and to the saw of an insignificant insect, (the saw-fly)
+which has never yet been successfully imitated by man.</p>
+
+<p>In prosecuting our investigations into the science of education,
+therefore, our business is to study Nature in all the educational
+processes in which we find her occupied, and of which we shall find
+there are many;&mdash;to observe and collect facts;&mdash;to detect principles,
+and to discover the means employed in carrying them out, and the modes
+of their working;&mdash;to trace effects back to their causes, and then again
+to follow the effects through their various ramifications, to some
+ultimate end. These are the things which it is the business of the
+Educationist to investigate, and to record for the benefit of the
+teacher and his art.</p>
+
+<p>The duty of the teacher, on the other hand, is to apply to his own
+purposes, and to turn to use in the prosecution of his objects, those
+facts discovered by the philosopher in the study of Nature. He should by
+all means understand the principles upon which Nature works, and the
+means which she employs for attaining her ends. He ought, as far as
+circumstances will allow, to arrive at his object by similar means;
+chusing similar materials, and endeavouring invariably to work upon the
+same model. By honestly following out such a mode of procedure, he must
+be successful; for although he can never attain to the perfection of
+Nature, yet this is obviously the best, if not the only method by which
+he can ever approximate towards it.</p>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<hr /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span>
+<br />
+<h2>PART II.</h2>
+<br />
+<h2>ON THE GREAT DESIGN OF NATURE'S TEACHING, AND THE METHODS SHE EMPLOYS IN
+CARRYING IT ON.</h2>
+<br />
+<br /><a name="CHAP_IA" id="CHAP_IA"></a>
+<br />
+<br />
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h3>CHAP. I.</h3>
+
+<h3><i>A Comprehensive View of the several Educational Processes carried on by
+Nature.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>We have seen in the former chapters, that the most probable method of
+succeeding in any difficult undertaking is to learn from Nature, and to
+endeavour to imitate her. The first great question with the Educationist
+then should be, "Does Nature ever teach?" If he can find her so
+employed, and if he be really willing to learn, he may rest assured,
+that by carefully studying her operations, he will be able to detect
+something in the ends which she aims at, and the methods which she
+adopts for attaining these ends, that will lead him to the selection of
+similar means, and crown him ultimately with similar success.</p>
+
+<p>Now we find that Nature does teach; and in so far as rational beings are
+concerned, whether angelic or human, it appears to be her chief and her
+noblest employment. In regard to the human family, she no doubt, at a
+certain period, intends that the task should be taken up and carried on
+by parents and teachers, under her controul; but when we compare the
+nature and success of their operations with hers, we perceive the
+immense inferiority of their best endeavours, and are obliged to
+confess, that in many instances, instead of forwarding her work, they
+either mar or destroy it. For in regard to the <i>matter</i> of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>their
+teaching, it may be observed, that they can teach their pupils nothing,
+except what they or their predecessors have learned of Nature
+before;&mdash;and as to the <i>manner</i> in which it is taught, it is generally
+so very imperfect, that for their success, teachers are often indebted
+in no small degree to the constant interference of Nature, in what is
+ordinarily termed the "common sense" of their pupils, for rectifying
+many of their errors, and supplying innumerable deficiencies. Of this we
+shall by and by have to advert more particularly.</p>
+
+<p>The educational operations of Nature are universal; and she attaches
+large rewards to diligence in attending to them. She evidently intends,
+as we have said, that the parent and teacher should take up, and follow
+out her suggestions in this great work; but even when this is delayed,
+or altogether neglected, her part of the proceedings is not abandoned.
+Nature is so strong within the pupil, and her educational promptings are
+so powerful, that even without a teacher, he is able for a time to teach
+himself. In man, and even among many of the more perfect specimens of
+the lower creation, Nature has suspended the larger portion of their
+comforts and their security, upon attention to her lessons, and the
+practical application of that which she teaches. The dog which shuns the
+person who had previously beaten him; the infant that clings to its
+nurse, and refuses to leave her; the boy who refuses to cross the ditch
+he never tried before; the savage who traces the foot-prints of his
+game; the man who shrinks from a ruffian countenance; and Newton, when
+the fall of an apple prompted him to pursue successively the lessons
+which that simple event suggested to him, are all examples of the
+teachings of Nature,&mdash;specimens of the manner in which she enables her
+pupils to collect and retain knowledge, and stimulates them to apply it.
+Wherever these suggestions of Nature are individually neglected, there
+must be discomfort <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>and danger, and wretchedness to the <i>person</i> doing
+so; and wherever they are not taken up by communities, and socially
+taught by education of some kind or another, <i>society</i> must necessarily
+remain little better than savage.&mdash;The opposite of this is equally true;
+for wherever they are personally attended to, the individual promotes
+his own safety and comfort; and when they are socially taken up and
+followed out by education, however imperfectly, then civilization, and
+national security, prosperity, and happiness, are the invariable
+consequences.</p>
+
+<p>The information which we are to derive from the Academy of Nature, is to
+be found chiefly in those instances where she is least interfered with
+by the operations of others. In these we shall endeavour to follow her;
+and, by classifying her several processes, and investigating each of
+them in its order, we shall assuredly be able to arrive at some first
+principles, to guide us in imitating the modes of her working, and which
+will enable us, in some measure, to share in her success.</p>
+
+<p>When we take a comprehensive view of the educational processes of
+Nature, we find them arranging themselves under four great divisions,
+blending into each other, no doubt, like the kingdoms of Nature and the
+colours of the rainbow, but still perfectly distinct in their great
+characteristics.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>first</i> educational process which is observable in Nature's Academy,
+is the stimulating of her pupil to such an exercise of mind upon
+external objects, as tends powerfully and rapidly to expand and
+strengthen the powers of his mind. This operation begins with the first
+dawning of consciousness, and continues under different forms during the
+whole period of the individual's life.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>second</i> educational process, which in its commencement is perhaps
+coeval with the first, is Nature's stimulating her pupil to the
+acquisition of knowledge, for the purpose of retaining and using it.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>The <i>third</i> consists in the disciplining of her pupil in the practical
+use, and proper application of the knowledge received; by which means
+the knowledge itself becomes better understood, better remembered, and
+much more at the command of the will than it was before:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>And her <i>fourth</i> educational process consists, in training her pupil to
+acquire facility in communicating by language, his knowledge and
+experience to others.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>first</i> of these four general departments in Nature's educational
+process, <i>is the developement and cultivation of the powers of her
+pupil's mind</i>.&mdash;This part of Nature's work begins at the first dawn of
+intelligence; and it continues through every other department of her
+educational process. For several months during infancy, sensation itself
+is but languid. The first indistinct perceptions of existence gradually
+give place to a dreamy and uncertain consciousness of personal
+identity.&mdash;Pain is felt; light is perceived; objects begin to be
+defined, and distinguished; ideas are formed; and then, but not till
+then, reflection, imagination, and memory, are gradually brought into
+exercise, and cultivated. It is the extent and strength of these
+faculties, as we shall afterwards see, that is to measure the
+educational progress of the child; and therefore it is, that the first
+object of Nature seems to be, to secure their proper developement. The
+child feels and thinks; and it is these first feelings and thoughts,
+frequently repeated, that enable it gradually to extend its mental
+operations. It is in this way only that the powers, of the mind in
+infants are expanded and strengthened, as there can be no mental culture
+without mental exercise. While a child is awake, therefore, Nature
+prompts him to constant and unwearied mental exertion; by which means he
+becomes more and more familiar with external objects; acquires a better
+command over his own mind in perceiving and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>remembering them; and
+becomes more and more fitted, not only for receiving constant accessions
+of knowledge, but also for putting that knowledge to use.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>second</i> part of Nature's educational process, we have said,
+consists in her powerfully stimulating her pupil to <i>the acquisition of
+knowledge</i>.&mdash;This, which we call the second part of Nature's operations,
+has been going on from an early period of the child's history, and it
+acts usually in conjunction with the first. As soon as an infant can
+distinguish objects, it begins to form ideas regarding them. It
+remembers their shape; it gradually acquires a knowledge of their
+qualities; and these it remembers, and, as we shall immediately see, is
+prompted to put to use upon proper occasions.&mdash;It is in the acquisition
+of this kind of knowledge that the principle of curiosity begins to be
+developed. The child's desire for information is increased with every
+new accession; and for this reason, its mental activity and
+restlessness, while awake, have no cessation. Every glance of the eye,
+every motion of the hands or limbs made to gratify its curiosity, as it
+is called, is only an indication of its desire for information:&mdash;Every
+sight or sound calls its attention; every portable object is seized,
+mouthed, and examined, for the purpose of learning its qualities. These
+operations at the instigation of Nature are so common, that they are
+scarcely observed; but when we examine more minutely into their effects,
+they become truly wonderful. For example, were we to hear of an infant
+of two or three years of age, having learned in the course of a few
+months to distinguish each soldier in a regiment of Negroes, whose
+features their very parents perhaps would have some difficulty in
+discriminating; if he could call each individual by his name; knew also
+the names and the uses of their several accoutrements; and, besides all
+this, had learned to understand and to speak their language;&mdash;we would
+be surprised and incredulous. And yet this would be an accumulation of
+knowledge, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span>not much greater than is attained in the same space of time
+by many of the feeble unsophisticated pupils of Nature.&mdash;Infants, having
+no temptation to depart from her mode of discipline, become in a short
+period acquainted with the forms, and the uses, and even the names, of
+thousands of persons and objects, not only without labour, but with vast
+satisfaction and delight.</p>
+
+<p>The training of her pupils to <i>the practical use of their knowledge</i>,
+forms the <i>third</i> department in Nature's educational process.&mdash;This is
+the great end which the two previous departments were designed to
+accomplish. This is Nature's <i>chief</i> object;&mdash;all the others are
+obviously subordinate. The cultivation of the mind, and the acquisition
+of knowledge were necessary;&mdash;but that necessity arose from the
+circumstance of their being preparatory to this. Nature, in fact,
+appears to have stamped this department of her operations almost
+exclusively with her own seal;&mdash;repudiating all knowledge that remains
+useless, and in a short time blotting it entirely from the memory of her
+pupils; while that portion of their acquired knowledge, on the contrary,
+which is useful and is put to use, becomes in proportion more familiar,
+and more permanent. It is also worthy of remark, that the knowledge
+which is most useful, is always most easily and pleasantly acquired.</p>
+
+<p>The superior importance of this department of education is very
+observable. In the previous departments of Nature's educational process,
+the child was induced to <i>acquire</i> new ideas;&mdash;in this he is prompted to
+<i>make use of them</i>. In the former he was taught to <i>know</i>;&mdash;in this he
+is trained to <i>act</i>. For example, if he has learned that his nurse is
+kind, Nature now prompts him to act upon that knowledge, and he
+accordingly strains every nerve to get to his nurse;&mdash;if he has learned
+that comfits are sweet, he acts upon that knowledge, and endeavours to
+procure them;&mdash;and if he has once experimentally learned <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>that the fire
+will burn, he will ever afterwards keep from the fire.</p>
+
+<p>Last of all comes the <i>fourth</i>, or supplementary step in this beautiful
+educational process of Nature. It consists in gradually training her
+pupil to <i>communicate the knowledge and experience which he has
+attained</i>.&mdash;It is probable that Nature begins this part of her process
+before the child has acquired the use of language;&mdash;but as it is by
+language chiefly that man holds fellowship with man, it is not till he
+has learned to speak that the mental exercise on which its success
+depends, becomes sufficiently marked and obvious. It consists, not in
+the acquisition of language so much, as in the use of language after it
+has been gained. The pupil is for this purpose prompted by Nature to
+think and to speak at the same moment;&mdash;mentally to prepare one
+sentence, while he is giving utterance to its predecessor. That this is
+not the result of instinct, but is altogether an acquisition made under
+the tuition of Nature by the mental exertions of the infant himself, is
+obvious from the fact, that he is at first incapable of it, and never
+pronounces three, and very seldom two words consecutively without a
+pause between each. This the child continues to do after he is perfectly
+familiar with the meaning of many words, and after he can also pronounce
+each of them individually. In giving utterance to the first words which
+he uses, there is an evident suspension of the mind in regard to every
+thing else. His whole attention appears to be concentrated upon the word
+and its pronunciation. He cannot think of any thing else and pronounce
+the word at the same time; and it is not till after long practice that
+he can utter two, three, or more words in a sentence, without hesitation
+and a decided pause between them. It is only by degrees that he acquires
+the ability to utter a phrase, and at last a short sentence, without
+interruption. Nature prompts the child to this exercise, which from <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span>the
+first attempt, to the full flow of eloquence in the extemporaneous
+debater, consists simply in commanding and managing one set of ideas in
+the mind, at the moment the person is giving utterance to others. This
+cannot be done by <i>the child</i>, but it is gradually acquired by <i>the
+man</i>; and we shall see in its proper place, that this acquisition is
+entirely the result of a mental exercise, such as we have here
+described, and to which various circumstances in childhood and youth are
+made directly subservient.</p>
+
+<p>Here then we have the highway of education, marked off, and walled in by
+Nature herself. That these four great departments in her educational
+process will be much better defined, and their parts better understood,
+when experience has given more ample opportunities for their
+observation, cannot be doubted; and it is not improbable, that future
+investigations will suggest a different arrangement of heads, and a
+different modification of their parts also; but still, the great outline
+of the whole, we think, is so distinctly marked, that, so far as they
+go, there can be little mistake; and by following them, we are most
+likely to obtain a large amount of those benefits which education is
+intended to secure.&mdash;To excel Nature is impossible; but by endeavouring
+to imitate her, we may at least approach nearer to her perfections.</p>
+
+<p>It is not enough, however, for us to perceive the great outlines of
+Nature's operations in education; we must endeavour to follow her into
+the details, and investigate the means which she employs for carrying
+them into practical effect. We shall therefore take up the several
+departments above enumerated in their order, and endeavour to trace the
+laws which regulate her operations in each, for the purpose of assisting
+the teacher in his attempts to imitate them.</p>
+<br />
+<br /><a name="CHAP_IIA" id="CHAP_IIA"></a>
+<br />
+<br />
+<hr /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>
+<br />
+<h3>CHAP. II.</h3>
+
+<h3><i>On the Method employed by Nature for cultivating the Powers of the
+Mind.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>The <i>first</i> step in Nature's educational process, is the cultivation of
+the powers of the mind; and, without entering into the recesses of
+metaphysics, we would here only recall to the recollection of the
+reader, that the mind, so far as we yet know, can be cultivated in no
+other way than by voluntary exercise:&mdash;not by mere sensation, or
+perception, nor by the involuntary flow of thought which is ever passing
+through the mind; but by the active mental operation called
+"thinking,"&mdash;the voluntary exertion of the powers of the mind upon the
+idea presented to it, and which we have denominated "reiteration,"<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> as
+perhaps best descriptive of that thinking of the presented idea "over
+again," by which alone, as we shall see, the mind is cultivated, and
+knowledge increased.</p>
+
+<p>It is also here worthy of remark, that the cultivation of the powers of
+her pupil's mind, as a preliminary to their acquiring and applying of
+knowledge, appears to be a settled arrangement of Nature, and one which
+must be rigidly followed by the teacher, wherever success is to be hoped
+for. Analogy, in other departments of Nature's operations, proves its
+necessity, and points out its wisdom; for she is never premature, and
+never stimulates her pupils to any work, till they have been properly
+prepared for accomplishing it. Hence the consistency and importance of
+commencing the process of education, by expanding and cultivating the
+powers of the mind, preparatory to the future exertions of the pupil;
+and hence also the wisdom of requiring no more from the child, than the
+state of his mental powers at the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>time are capable of performing. Our
+object, at present, is to discover the means employed by Nature for
+accomplishing this preliminary object, that we may, by imitating her
+plans, obtain the greatest amount of benefit.</p>
+
+<p>In infancy, and during the early part of a child's life, each of the
+thousands of objects and actions which are presented to its observation,
+falls equally on the organs of sense, and each of them <i>might</i>, if the
+child had pleased, have become objects of perception, as well as objects
+of sensation. But it is evident, that till the mind occupy itself upon
+one or more of these objects, there can be no mental exercise, and, of
+course, no mental culture. On the contrary, if the mind shall single out
+any one object from the mass that surrounds it,&mdash;shall entertain the
+idea suggested by its impression on the organs of sense, and think of
+it&mdash;that is, review it on the mind&mdash;there is then mental exercise, and,
+in consequence, mental cultivation. From this obvious truth it
+necessarily follows, that the cultivation of the mind does not depend
+upon the multitude of objects presented to the observation of a child,
+but only on those which it really does observe,&mdash;which it looks at, and
+thinks upon, by an active voluntary exercise of its own powers. The
+child, no doubt, <i>might</i> have smelt every odour; it <i>might</i> have
+listened to every sound that entered the ear; and it <i>might</i> have looked
+upon every image that entered the eye; but we know that it did not. A
+few of them only were thought of,&mdash;the ideas which they suggested were
+alone "reiterated" by the mind,&mdash;and therefore they, and they alone,
+tended to its cultivation.</p>
+
+<p>As this act of the mind lies at the root of all mental improvement,
+during every stage of the pupil's education, it becomes a matter of
+considerable importance, that its nature, and mode of operation, should
+be thoroughly understood.</p>
+
+<p>Let us for this purpose suppose that a lighted <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>candle is suddenly
+presented before a young infant. He looks at it; he thinks of it; his
+mind is employed with the flame of the candle in a manner quite
+different from what it is upon any thing else in the room. All the other
+images which enter the eye fail to make an impression upon the mind; but
+this object which the child looks at,&mdash;observes,&mdash;does this; and
+accordingly, while it is passive as to every thing else, the mind is
+found to be actively engaged with the candle. He not only sees it, but
+he looks at it. This, and similar "reiterations" of ideas by the mind,
+frequently repeated by the infant, gradually communicate to it a
+consciousness of mental power, and enable him more and more easily to
+wield it. Every such instance of the reiteration of an idea,&mdash;of the
+voluntarily exercise of active thought,&mdash;strengthens the powers of the
+mind, so that he is soon able to look at and follow with his eyes other
+objects, although they are much less conspicuous than the glare of a
+candle.</p>
+
+<p>When we examine the matter a little farther in regard to infants, we
+perceive, that all the little arts used by the mother or the nurse, to
+"amuse the child," as it is called, are nothing more than means employed
+to excite this reiteration of ideas by the mind. A toy, for example, is
+presented to the infant, and his attention is fixed upon it. He is not
+satisfied with passively seeing the toy, as he sees all the other
+objects in the room, but he actively looks at it. Nor is this enough;
+the toy is usually seized, handled, mouthed, and turned; and each
+movement prompts the mind to active thought,&mdash;to reiterate the idea
+which each of the sensations suggests. These impressions are no doubt
+rapid, but they are real; and each of them has been reiterated,&mdash;actively
+thought of,&mdash;before they could either be received, or remembered; and it
+is only by these impressions frequently repeated, in which the mind is
+vigorously and delightfully <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>engaged, that it acquires that activity and
+strength which we so frequently witness in the young.</p>
+
+<p>At a more advanced period during childhood and youth, we find the
+cultivation of the mind still depending upon the same principle. It is
+not enough that numerous objects be presented to the senses of the
+pupil; or that numerous words or sounds be made to vibrate in his ears;
+or even that he himself be made mechanically to utter them. This may be
+done, and yet the mind may remain perfectly inactive with respect to
+them all:&mdash;Nay, experience shews, that during such mechanical exercises,
+his mind may all the time be actively employed upon something else.
+There must therefore, not only be a hearing, or a reading of the words
+which convey an idea, but he must make the idea his own, by thinking it
+over again for himself. Hence it is that mental vigour is not acquired
+in proportion to the number of pages that the pupil is compelled to
+read; nor to the length of the discourses which are delivered in his
+hearing; nor to the multiplicity of objects placed before him. It is
+found entirely to depend upon his diligence in thinking for himself;&mdash;in
+reiterating in his own mind the ideas which he hears, or reads, or which
+are suggested to his mind by outward objects. This is still the same act
+of the mind which we have described in the infant, with this very
+important difference, however, that a large portion of his ideas is now
+suggested by <i>words</i>, instead of <i>things</i>; but it is the ideas, and not
+the words, that the mind lays hold of, and by which its powers are
+cultivated. When this act therefore is successfully forced upon a child
+in any of his school operations, the mind will be disciplined and
+improved;&mdash;but wherever it is not produced, however plausible or
+powerful the exercise may <i>appear</i> to be, it will on scrutiny be found
+to be totally worthless in education,&mdash;a mere mechanical operation, in
+which, there being no mental exertion, there can be no mental culture.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span>In the adult, as well as in the young and the infant, the culture of the
+mind is carried on in every case by the operation of the same
+principle.&mdash;However various the means employed for this purpose may be,
+they all depend for their success upon this kind of active
+thought,&mdash;this reiteration of the <i>ideas</i> suggested in the course of
+reading, hearing, observation, or reasoning. A man may turn a wheel, or
+point pins, or repeat words from infancy to old age, without his mind's
+being in the least perceptible degree benefited by such operations;
+while the mill-wright, the engineer, or the artist, whose employments
+require varied and active thought, cannot pursue his employment for a
+single day, without mental culture, and an acquisition of mental
+strength.&mdash;The reason is, that in mere mechanical operations there is
+nothing to induce this act of reiteration,&mdash;this active mental exercise
+of which we are speaking. In the former case, the individual is left to
+the train of thought in the mind, which appears to afford no mental
+cultivation;&mdash;whereas, in the latter, the mind is, by the acts of
+comparing, judging, trying, and deciding, which the nature of his
+occupation renders necessary, constantly excited to active
+thought,&mdash;that is, to the reiteration of the several ideas presented to
+it.</p>
+
+<p>These remarks may be thought by some to be exceedingly commonplace and
+self-evident.&mdash;It may be so. If they be admitted, we ask no more.&mdash;Our
+purpose at present is answered, if we have detected a principle in
+education, by the operation of which the powers of the mind are
+invariably expanded and strengthened;&mdash;an effect which, so far as we yet
+know, in its absence never takes place. It is by means of this principle
+alone that Nature accomplishes this important object, both in young and
+old; but its effects are especially observable in the young, where, her
+operations not being so much interfered with, we find her producing by
+its means the most <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>extraordinary effects, and that even during the most
+imbecile period of her pupil's existence.</p>
+
+<p>In concluding this part of our investigation, we would very briefly
+remark, that the existence of this principle in connection with the
+cultivation of the mind, accounts in a very satisfactory manner for the
+beneficial results which usually accompany the study of languages,
+mathematics, and some other branches of education similar in their
+nature.&mdash;These objects of study, when once acquired, may never
+afterwards be used, and will consequently be lost; but in learning them
+the pupil was compelled to think,&mdash;to exercise his own mind on the
+subjects taught,&mdash;to reflect, and to reiterate the ideas communicated to
+him, till they had been fully mastered. The mental vigour which was at
+first forced upon the pupil, by these beneficial exercises, remains with
+him, and is exercised upon other objects, as they are presented to his
+observation in ordinary life.&mdash;The mind in commencing these studies
+gradually emancipates itself from the mechanical tendencies which an
+improper system of teaching had previously formed, and now gathers
+strength daily by this natural mode of exercising its powers. It is the
+effects of this kind of discipline that constitute the chief element of
+a cultivated mind. In this principally consists the difference between a
+man of "liberal education," and others who have been less highly
+favoured.&mdash;His superiority does not lie in his ability to read Latin and
+Greek,&mdash;for these attainments may long ago have been forgotten and
+lost;&mdash;but in the state of his mind, and the superior cultivation of the
+mental powers.&mdash;He possesses a clearness, a vigour, and a grasp of mind
+above others, which enable him at a glance to comprehend a
+statement;&mdash;to judge of its accuracy;&mdash;and, without effort, to arrange
+and communicate his ideas concerning it. This ability, as we have seen,
+can be acquired only by active mental exercise, and is not necessarily
+the result of extensive <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>reading, nor is it always accompanied by
+extensive knowledge. It is the natural and the necessary product of
+mental discipline, through which the above described act of
+"reiteration," like a golden thread, runs from beginning to end. It is
+the fire of intellect, kindled at first perhaps by classical, and
+mathematical studies; but which now, collecting force and fuel from
+every circumstance of life, glows and shines, long after the materials
+which first excited the flame have disappeared.</p>
+
+<p>If then, as we formerly explained, the arts are to derive benefit from
+the investigations of science, we are led to the conclusion, that the
+wisdom of the Teacher will consist in taking advantage of the principle
+which has been here exhibited. He should not speculate nor theorize, nor
+go forward inconsiderately in using exercises, the benefits of which are
+at least questionable; but he ought implicitly to follow Nature in the
+path which she has thus pointed out to him. One chief object with him
+should be, the cultivation of the minds of his pupils; and the only
+method by which he can attain success in doing so has now been stated.
+He must invent, or procure some exercise, or series of exercises, by
+which the act of "reiteration" in the minds of his pupils shall be
+regularly and systematically carried on.&mdash;He must induce them to think
+for themselves, and to exercise the powers of their own minds
+deliberately and frequently,&mdash;in the same manner as we see Nature
+operating in the mind of a lively and active child. When he can
+accomplish this, he will, and he must succeed; whereas, if he allow an
+exercise to be prepared where this act of the mind is absent, he may
+rest assured that he is deceiving both himself and the child.&mdash;The laws
+of Nature are inflexible; and while she will undoubtedly countenance and
+reward these who act upon the principles which she has established, she
+will as certainly leave those who neglect them to eat the "fruit of
+their own <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>doings."&mdash;But the pupil, more than the Teacher is the
+sufferer. Under the pure discipline of Nature in the infant and the
+child, learning is not only their business, but their delight; and it is
+only when her principles are unknown, or violently outraged, that
+education becomes a burden, and the school-house a prison.</p>
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Note A.</p></div>
+<br />
+<br /><a name="CHAP_IIIA" id="CHAP_IIIA"></a>
+<br />
+<br />
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h3>CHAP. III.</h3>
+
+<h3><i>On the Means by which Nature enables her Pupils to acquire Knowledge.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>The <i>second</i> stage of the pupil's advance under the teaching of Nature
+is that in which she prompts and assists him in the acquisition of
+knowledge.&mdash;The importance of this department of a child's education has
+uniformly been acknowledged;&mdash;so much so, indeed, that it has too
+frequently absorbed the whole attention of the Teacher, as if the
+possession of knowledge were the whole of education.&mdash;That this is a
+mistake we shall afterwards see; because the value of knowledge must
+always be in proportion to the use we can make of it; but it is equally
+true, that as we cannot use knowledge till we have acquired it, its
+acquisition as a preliminary step is of the greatest importance. Our
+intention is at present, to enquire into the means employed by Nature,
+for enabling her pupils to acquire, to retain, and to classify their
+knowledge; so that, by ascertaining and imitating her methods, we may in
+some degree share in her success.</p>
+
+<p>For some time during the early years of childhood Nature is the chief,
+or the only Teacher; and the contrast between her success at that time,
+and the success of the parent or teacher who succeeds her, is very
+remarkable, and deserves consideration.</p>
+
+<p>When we examine this process in the case of infants, we see Nature
+acting without interference, and therefore with undeviating success.
+Within a few <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>months after the child has attained some degree of
+consciousness, we find that Nature, under every disadvantage of body and
+mind, has succeeded in communicating to the infant an amount of
+knowledge, which, when examined in detail appears very wonderful.&mdash;The
+child has been taught to know his relations and friends; he has acquired
+the ability to use his limbs, and muscles, and organs, and the knowledge
+how to do so in a hundred different ways. He has become familiar with
+the form, the colour, the texture, and the names of hundreds of articles
+of dress, of furniture, of food, and of amusement, not only without
+fatigue, but in the exercise of the purest delight, and with increasing
+energy. He has begun to contrast objects, and to compare them; and this
+capacity he evinces by an undeviating accuracy in choosing those things
+which please him, and in rejecting those things which he dislikes. But
+above all, the infant, along with all this substantial knowledge, has
+been taught to understand a language, and even to speak it. The fact of
+all this having been accomplished by a child of only two or three years
+of age, is so common, that the mysterious principles which it involves,
+are too generally overlooked. We thoughtlessly allow them to escape
+observation, as if they were mere matters of instinct, and were to be
+ranked with the spider's catching its prey, or the sparrow's building
+its nest. But the principles which regulate these different operations
+are perfectly dissimilar. In the case of the spider and the sparrow
+there is no teaching, and, of course, no learning. Their first web, and
+their first nest, are as perfect as the last; but in the case of the
+infant, with only two or three exceptions, there is nothing that he
+does, and nothing that he knows, which he has not really
+learned,&mdash;acquired by experience under the tuition of Nature, by the
+actual use of his own mental and physical powers.</p>
+
+<p>The benefits accruing to education, from <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>successfully imitating Nature
+in this department of her process, will be incalculable; not only in
+adding to the amount of knowledge communicated, but in the ease and
+delight which the young will experience in acquiring it. All must admit
+that the pleasure, as well as the rapidity, of the educational process
+in the young, continues only during the time that Nature is their
+teacher;&mdash;and that her operations are generally checked, or neutralized
+by the mismanagement of those who supersede her work, and begin to
+theorize for themselves. The proof of this is to be found in the fact,
+that although a child is much less capable of acquiring knowledge
+between one and three years of age, than he is between eight and ten;
+yet, generally, the amount of his intellectual attainments by his school
+exercises, during the two latter years, bears no proportion to those of
+the former, when Nature <i>alone</i> was his teacher. In the one case, too,
+his knowledge was acquired without effort or fatigue, and in the
+exercise of the most delightful feelings;&mdash;in the other, quite the
+reverse.</p>
+
+<p>That we shall ever be able to equal Nature in this part of her
+educational process, is not to be expected; but that, by following up
+the principles which she has developed, and imitating the methods by
+which she accomplishes her ends, we shall become more and more
+successful, there can be no doubt. The method, therefore, to be adopted
+by us is, to examine carefully the principles which she employs with the
+young, through the several stages of her process, and then, by adopting
+exercises which embody these principles, to proceed in a course similar
+to that which she has pointed out.</p>
+
+<p>In prosecuting this plan, then, our object must be, first, to examine
+generally the various means employed by Nature, in the acquisition of
+knowledge by the young,&mdash;and then to attend more in detail to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>the mode
+by which she applies the principles involved in each.</p>
+
+<p>These general means appear to consist of four distinct principles,
+which, for want of better definitions, we shall denominate
+"Reiteration," "Individuation, or Abstraction," "Grouping, or
+Association," and "Classification, or Analysing."<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p>
+
+<p>The <i>first</i> is the act of "Reiteration," of which we have already
+spoken, as the chief instrument in cultivating the powers of the mind,
+and without which, we shall also find, there can be no acquisition of
+knowledge. The <i>second</i> is the principle of "Individuation," by which
+Nature communicates the knowledge of single ideas, or single objects, by
+constraining the child to concentrate the powers of its mind upon one
+object, or idea, till that object or idea is familiar, or, at least,
+known. The <i>third</i> is the common principle of "Grouping, or
+Association," and appears to depend, in some degree, on the imaginative
+powers, by which a child begins to associate objects or truths together,
+after they have become individually familiar; so that any one of them,
+when afterwards presented to the mind, enables the pupil at a glance, to
+command all the others which were originally associated with it. The
+<i>fourth</i> is the principle of "Classification, or Analysing," by which
+the mind distributes objects or truths according to their nature,&mdash;puts
+every truth or idea, as it is received, into its proper place, and among
+objects or ideas of a similar kind. This classification of objects is
+not, as in the principle of grouping, regulated according to their
+accidental relation to each other, by which the canary and the cage in
+which it is confined would be classed together; but according to their
+nature and character, by which the canary would be classified with
+birds, and the cage among other articles of household furniture. All
+knowledge, so far as we <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>are aware, appears to be communicated and
+retained for use, by means of these four principles; and we shall now
+proceed to examine the mode in which each of them is employed by Nature
+for that purpose.</p>
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Note A.</p></div>
+<br />
+<br /><a name="CHAP_IVA" id="CHAP_IVA"></a>
+<br />
+<br />
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h3>CHAP. IV.</h3>
+
+<h3><i>On Nature's Method of communicating Knowledge to the Young<br /> by the
+Principle of Reiteration.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>We have, in a former chapter, endeavoured to describe that particular
+act of the mind which generally follows simple perception, and by which
+an idea, when presented to it, is made the subject of <i>active thought</i>,
+or is "<i>reiterated</i>" again to itself. We have found upon good evidence,
+that it is by this process, whether simple or complex, that the powers
+of the mind are cultivated; and we now proceed to shew, that it is by
+the same act, and by it alone, that any portion of knowledge is ever
+communicated.<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> No truth, or idea of any kind, can make an effective
+entrance into the mind, or can find a permanent lodgement in the memory,
+so as to become "knowledge," until it has successfully undergone this
+process.</p>
+
+<p>There are two ways by which we usually acquire knowledge:&mdash;The one is by
+<i>observation</i>, without the use of language, and which is common to us
+with those who are born deaf and dumb; and the other is <i>through the
+medium of words</i>, either heard or read. In both cases, however, the
+knowledge retained consists entirely of the several <i>ideas</i> which the
+objects or the words convey; and what we are now to shew, is, that these
+ideas thus conveyed, can neither be received by the mind, nor retained
+by the memory, till they have undergone this process of "reiteration."
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span>While, on the contrary, it will be seen that, whenever this process
+really takes place, the idea thus reiterated does become part of our
+knowledge, and is, according to circumstances, more or less permanently
+fixed upon the memory. We shall for this purpose endeavour to trace the
+operation of the principle, both in the case of ideas communicated by
+objects without language, and in those conveyed to the mind by means of
+words.</p>
+
+<p>That this act of reiteration of an idea by the mind, must take place,
+before objects of perception can become part of our knowledge, will, we
+think, be obvious, from a consideration of the following facts.&mdash;When,
+for example, we are in a crowded room, or in the fields, numerous sounds
+enter the ear,&mdash;thousands of images enter into and impress the eye, yet
+not one of these becomes part of our knowledge till it is <i>thought
+of</i>;&mdash;that is, till the idea suggested by the sensation, has not only
+been perceived, but reiterated by the mind. This will appear to many so
+plain, that any farther illustration of the fact may be deemed useless.
+But experience, has shewn, that the illustration of this important
+process in education, is not only expedient, but is really necessary; as
+the overlooking of this simple principle has often been the cause of
+great inconsistencies on the part of teachers. We shall therefore
+endeavour to exhibit the working of the principle in various forms, that
+it may be fully appreciated when we come to apply it.</p>
+
+<p>Let us then suppose two children taken silently through a museum of
+curiosities, the one active and lively, the other dull and listless. It
+would be found on retiring, that the former would be able to give an
+account of many things which he saw, and that the other would remember
+little or nothing. In this case, all the objects in the exhibition were
+seen by both; and the question arises, "Why does the knowledge of the
+one, so much exceed that of the other?" The reason is, that the mind of
+the one was active, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>while the mind of the other was in a great measure
+inactive. Both <i>saw</i> the objects; but only one <i>looked at</i> them. The one
+actively employed his mind&mdash;fixed his eye on an object, and thought of
+it; that is, he reiterated the ideas it suggested to him, whether as to
+form, or colour, or movement, and by doing so, the ideas thus
+reiterated, were effectively received, and given over to the keeping of
+the memory. The other child saw the whole; they were perhaps objects of
+perception; but he allowed his sensations to die away as they were
+received; and his mind was left to wander, or to remain under the dreamy
+influence of a mere passive and evanescent train of thought. His
+"attention" was not arrested;&mdash;his mind was not actively engaged on any
+of the articles he saw; in other words, the ideas which they suggested
+were not "reiterated."<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p>
+
+<p>Now, that it was the want of this mental reiteration which was the
+cause, and the only cause, why this very usual means of acquiring
+knowledge failed to communicate it, may be proved we think by a very
+simple experiment. For if we shall suppose that the child who was
+obtaining no knowledge by means of the various curiosities around him,
+had been asked at the time a question respecting any of them,&mdash;a stuffed
+dog, for example,&mdash;his attention would have been arrested, and his mind
+would have been roused to active thought. The words, "What is that?"
+from his teacher, or companion, would have made him look at it, and
+reiterate the ideas of its form and colour, so far as to enable him to
+give an answer. And if he does so, it will be found afterwards, on
+leaving the place, that although he might have remained unconscious of
+the presence of all the other objects in the museum, he will remember
+the stuffed dog, merely because, by the question, the idea it suggested
+was taken up, and reiterated by the mind; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>while the sensations caused
+by all the rest, were allowed to pass away.</p>
+
+<p>There is another circumstance of daily occurrence, which adds to the
+evidence that it is this principle which we have called "reiteration,"
+which forms the chief, if not the only avenue, by which ideas find
+access to the mind; and it is this:&mdash;That when at any time we bring to
+recollection some former circumstance of life, however remote, or when
+we recall any part of our former knowledge or experience, it comes up to
+the mind, accompanied with the perfect consciousness, that, at the time
+we are thinking of, this act of reiteration had taken place upon it;
+that we most assuredly have thought of it before. We are not more
+certain that it occupies our thoughts now, than we are that it did so
+when it occurred;&mdash;that the operation of which we are at present
+speaking, did actually then take place; and that it was by our doing so
+then, that it is remembered now. This circumstance, when duly
+considered, is of itself, we think, a sufficient proof, that no part of
+our knowledge,&mdash;not a single idea,&mdash;can be acquired, or retained on the
+memory by any other process, than by this act of reiteration.</p>
+
+<p>Hence then it is plain, that all the knowledge which we receive by
+observation, without the use of language, is received and retained on
+the memory by the operation of this principle; and we will now proceed
+to shew, that the same process must also take place, when our ideas are
+received by means of <i>words</i>, whether these be spoken or read.</p>
+
+<p>It is of great importance for us to remember, that the only legitimate
+use of words is to convey ideas; and that Nature rigidly refuses to
+acknowledge any other use to which they may be put. Hence it is, that in
+conversation, we are quite unconscious of the words which our friend
+uses in communicating his ideas. Nature impels us to lay hold of the
+ideas alone; and in proof of this we find, that we have <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>only to attempt
+to concentrate our attention upon the <i>words</i> he uses, and then we are
+sure to lose sight of the <i>ideas</i> which the words were intended to
+convey. Hence it is, that our opinion of the style, and the language,
+and the manner of a speaker, when the subject itself is not familiar,
+are formed more by indirect impressions, than by direct attention to
+these things while he speaks; and oftener by reflection afterwards, than
+by any critical observation during the time. The reason of this, we may
+remark once for all, is, that what the mind reiterates it
+remembers,&mdash;but nothing more. If during the hearing, it reiterates the
+ideas, it will then remember the ideas; but if it reiterates the words
+without the ideas, it will remember nothing but words. Those therefore
+who sow words in the minds of the young, hoping afterwards to reap
+ideas, are as inconsistent as those who seek to "gather grapes of
+thorns, or figs of thistles."<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></p>
+
+<p>Knowledge is received by the use of words in two ways,&mdash;either by oral
+speech, or by written language; but in both cases, the reception of the
+ideas is still governed by reiteration. We shall endeavour to examine
+the operation in both cases.</p>
+
+<p>Let us suppose that a teacher announces to a class of young children,
+that "Cain killed his brother Abel,"&mdash;and then examines the state of
+each child's mind in regard to it. All of them heard the words, but some
+only perhaps are now in possession of the truth communicated. Those who
+are so, followed the teacher in his announcement, not so much in
+reiterating the words, as in reiterating the idea,&mdash;the truth itself;
+and therefore it is, that they are now acquainted with the fact. Of
+those who heard, but have failed to add this truth to their stock of
+knowledge, there may be two classes;&mdash;those who attended to what was
+said, but failed to interpret the words; and those whose attention was
+not excited at all. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>Those who failed to interpret the words, or to
+extract the idea from them, reiterated the <i>words</i> to themselves, and
+would perhaps be able to repeat the words again, but they do so in the
+same manner that a person reads or repeats words in an unknown tongue.
+The idea,&mdash;the truth,&mdash;is not yet perceived, and therefore cannot be
+remembered. The others who remember nothing, have reiterated nothing;
+their minds remained inactive. They also heard the words, but they
+failed to listen to them; in the same way as they often see objects, but
+do not look at them. Here it is evident that every child who reiterated
+the idea in his own mind, is in possession of the fact communicated; and
+all who did not do so, even although they reiterated the words, have no
+addition made to their knowledge; which shews that it is only by this
+act of the reiteration of the ideas, that any portion of our knowledge
+is ever acquired.</p>
+
+<p>That this is a correct exhibition of the principle, and a legitimate
+inference from the phenomena, may be still farther proved by an
+experiment similar to one formerly recommended. Let the teacher, in the
+middle of a story, ask some of the inattentive pupils a question
+respecting some of the persons or things he is speaking about, and force
+the reiteration of that part of the narrative in the child's mind by
+getting an answer, and it will be found at the close, that although he
+may remember nothing else of all that he heard, yet he will most
+perfectly remember that part about which he was questioned, and
+respecting which he returned an answer.</p>
+
+<p>The same thing may be ascertained by our own experience, in hearing a
+lecture or sermon, or even in conversation with a friend. In these
+cases, as long as our attention is kept up,&mdash;that is, as long as we
+continue to reiterate the ideas that we hear,&mdash;we may remember them; but
+when our minds flag, or wander; in other words, when we cease to
+reiterate the ideas of the speaker, the sounds enter our ear, but <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>the
+matter is gone. All that has been said during that period of inattention
+has been lost; it never has formed, and never can form, part of our
+knowledge.</p>
+
+<p>Thus we see, that in the act of hearing oral communications, the
+principle of reiteration of the ideas is obviously necessary for the
+acquiring of knowledge; and we shall now shew, that it is equally
+necessary in the act of reading.</p>
+
+<p>Many persons must have witnessed children reading distinctly, and
+fluently perhaps, who yet were not made one whit wiser by what they
+read. The act of reading was correctly performed, and yet there was no
+accession to their knowledge. The cause of this is easily explained. The
+<i>ideas</i> conveyed by the words have not been reiterated by the
+mind,&mdash;perhaps they were never perceived. For as long as the act of
+reading is difficult, the words undergo this process first, and the
+ideas must be gleaned afterwards. Hence it is, that children, when
+hurried from lesson to lesson before they can read them so easily as to
+perceive and reiterate the ideas while reading, acquire the habit of
+decyphering the words alone, and the eye from practice reads
+mechanically, while the mind at the moment is usually wandering, or is
+engaged in attending to something else. Nature, as we have before shewed
+in the act of hearing, does not intend that the mind should pay
+attention both to the words and the ideas at the same time; and reading
+being only an artificial substitute for hearing, is made subject to the
+same law. It is the <i>ideas</i> that Nature induces us to grapple with; and
+the reading of words like the hearing of language, is merely the means
+employed to get at them. Hence the necessity of children being taught to
+read fluently, and with perfect ease, before they leave the school; and
+the neglect of this is the reason why so many after leaving school,
+derive so little instruction from the use of books. Of these
+individuals, experience shews, that many, who on leaving school could
+not collect ideas by their mode <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>of mechanical reading, yet persevere,
+and at last teach themselves by long practice to understand what they
+read; while there are not a few who, in similar circumstances, become
+discouraged, abandon the practice of reading, and soon forget the art
+altogether.</p>
+
+<p>Of the correctness of these facts, every one may be convinced, by
+recollecting what must often have taken place with himself. When at any
+time the mind is exhausted while reading, we continue to read on, page
+after page, and when we have finished, we find, that not a single truth
+has made its way to the memory. Now this did not arise from any
+difficulty in comprehending the ideas in the book, because it does not
+make much difference whether the subject has been simple or otherwise;
+neither did it arise from the want of all mental activity, for the mind
+was so much engaged as to read every word and every letter in the pages
+upon which we were occupied. But it arose entirely from the want of that
+principle of which we are here speaking. The words were read
+mechanically, and the ideas were either not thought of, or at least they
+were not reiterated by the mind, and therefore it is that they are
+lost,&mdash;and no effort can ever again recall them. The proof of the
+accuracy of these views will still be found in the circumstance, that
+if, while the person is reading, this act of the reiteration of some one
+or more of the ideas be in any way forced upon him, <i>these</i> ideas thus
+reiterated will afterwards be remembered, although all the others are
+lost.</p>
+
+<p>Here then we have arrived at a principle connected with the acquisition
+of knowledge, by attending to which education may be made most efficient
+for that purpose; but without which, education must remain a mere
+mechanical routine of barren exercises. No idea, no truth, we have seen,
+can ever form part of our knowledge, till it has undergone this
+particular mental process, which we have called "reiteration." If the
+idea, or truth, intended to be <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>communicated, be reiterated by the
+mind,&mdash;thought over again,&mdash;it will then be remembered:&mdash;but if it be
+not reiterated by the mind, it never can. It is also worthy of remark,
+that the tenacity with which the memory keeps hold of any idea or truth,
+depends greatly upon the vigour of the mind at the time, and still more
+perhaps upon the frequency of its reiteration. If a child, however
+languid, is forced to this act of reiteration of an idea but once, it
+will be remembered for a longer or a shorter time; but if his mind be
+vigorous and lively, and more especially if he can be made <i>repeatedly</i>
+to reiterate the same idea in his mind at intervals, he will on that
+account, retain it much more tenaciously, and will have it at the
+command of the will more readily. Hence the vividness with which the
+scenes and the circumstances of youth arise upon the mind, and the
+tenacity with which the memory holds them. These scenes were of daily
+occurrence; and the small number of remarkable circumstances connected
+with childhood and youth having few rivals to compete with them in
+attracting the attention, were witnessed frequently with all the vigour
+and liveliness of the youthful mind, as yet unburdened with care. They
+were of course frequently subjected to observation, and as frequently
+reiterated by the mind, and have on these accounts ever since been
+vividly pictured by the imagination, and continue familiar to the
+memory. It also accounts for another circumstance of common occurrence.
+For when, even in early infancy, any event happened which made a deeper
+impression upon the mind than usual, that simple circumstance will
+generally outlive all its neighbours, and will take precedence in point
+of distinct recollection to the close of life. The reason of this is,
+not only the deep impression it made upon the mind at the moment, but
+principally because it had so strongly excited the feelings, that it was
+oftener thought of then and afterwards;&mdash;in other words, this act of
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>reiteration occurred more frequently with respect to it than the
+others, and therefore it is now better remembered.</p>
+
+<p>This is a principle then of which the Educationist should take
+advantage. For if Nature invariably communicates knowledge by inducing
+her pupils to exercise their own minds on the subject taught, it is
+plain that the teacher should follow the same plan. His pupils cannot
+remain mentally inactive, and yet learn; neither can the mere routine of
+verbal exercises either cultivate the mind or increase knowledge. These
+are but the husks of education, which may tantalize and weaken, but
+which can never satisfy the cravings of the young mind for information.
+Their mental food must be of a perfectly different kind, consisting of
+<i>ideas</i>, and not of <i>words</i>; and these ideas they must receive and
+concoct by the active use of their own powers. The teacher must no doubt
+select the food for his pupils, and prepare it for their reception, by
+breaking it down into morsels, suited to their capacities. But this is
+all. They must eat and digest it for themselves. The pupil must think
+over in his own mind, and for himself, all that he is either to know or
+remember. The ideas read or heard must be reiterated by
+himself,&mdash;thought over again,&mdash;if he is ever to profit by them. Without
+this, no care or pains on the part of the teacher, no exertion on the
+part of the pupil, will be of any avail. All the knowledge that he seems
+to acquire in any other way is repudiated by Nature; and however
+plausible the exercise may appear, it will ultimately be found fruitless
+and vain.</p>
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Note B.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Note C.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> Note D.</p></div>
+<br />
+<br /><a name="CHAP_VA" id="CHAP_VA"></a>
+<br />
+<br />
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h3>CHAP. V.</h3>
+
+<h3><i>On the Acquisition of Knowledge by the Principle of Individuation.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>Nature, as we have seen, has rendered it imperative that the act of
+reiteration should be performed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>upon every idea before it can have an
+entrance into the mind, or be retained by the memory; but as the
+individual cannot reiterate, or think over, all the ideas suggested to
+him by the innumerable objects of sensation with which he is surrounded,
+it next becomes a matter of importance to ascertain the means employed
+by Nature for enabling her pupils to receive and retain the greatest
+number of ideas, so that they shall ever afterwards remain at the
+command of the will. This she accomplishes by the operation of the three
+other principles to which we have adverted; namely, "Individuation," or
+"Abstraction," "Grouping," or "Association," and "Classification," or
+"Analysis."&mdash;We shall in this chapter attend to the principle of
+"Individuation," and endeavour to trace its nature and uses in the
+acquisition of knowledge by the young.</p>
+
+<p>The first thing in an infant that will be remarked by a close observer
+of Nature is, that while adding to its knowledge by observation, it
+always confines its attention to one thing at a time, till it has
+examined it. Before the period when this principle becomes conspicuous
+in an infant, the eye, and the other senses are in a great measure
+inactive, so far as the mind is concerned; and the first indication of
+the senses really ministering to the mind is the eye chusing an object,
+and the infant examining that object by itself, without allowing its
+attention to be distracted by any thing else.</p>
+
+<p>This operation takes place as soon as an infant is capable of
+observation. It fixes its eye upon an object, generally one that is new
+to it, and it continues to look upon it till it has collected all the
+information that this object can give, or which the limited capacity of
+the infant will enable it to receive. Hence with stationary objects this
+information is soon acquired; but with moveable objects, or toys, or
+things which are capable of varying, or multiplying the ideas received
+by the child, the look is more intense, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>the attention is sustained
+without fatigue for a longer time. Till this information has been
+received, the child continues to look on; and if the object be removed,
+the eye still follows it with interest, and gives it up at last with
+reluctance. That by this concentration of its mind upon one object, the
+infant is adding to its knowledge, appears evident from the fact, that
+objects which have already communicated their stock of information, and
+have become familiar, are less heeded than those that are new or
+uncommon. Every new thing excites the curiosity of the child, who is not
+content till that curiosity be gratified. This has been called "the love
+of novelty;"&mdash;but it is not the love of novelty in the very questionable
+sense in which many understand that term. On the contrary, it is
+obviously a wise provision of Nature, suited to the capacity and
+circumstances of children, which is to be taken advantage of, for
+conveying such crumbs and morsels of knowledge as their limited powers
+are able to receive; and which should never be abused, by presenting to
+them an unceasing whirl of names and objects,&mdash;a process which fatigues
+the mind, and leaves them without any specific information. It is the
+same principle, and is to be considered in the same light, as that which
+induces the philosopher to confine himself to the investigation of one
+phenomenon till he understands it. The information which the child is
+capable of receiving from each of the impressions then made is no doubt
+small; but it is still information&mdash;knowledge.&mdash;This is what he is
+seeking; and, at this stage of his progress, it is only acquired by the
+concentration of the powers of the mind upon one thing at a time.</p>
+
+<p>The effect of this principle in the infant is worthy of remark.&mdash;While
+the pupil remains under the teaching of Nature, there is no
+confusion,&mdash;no hurry,&mdash;no failure. The tasks which she prescribes for
+him are never oppressive, and are constantly performed with ease and
+with pleasure.&mdash;Although there be no <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>selection made by the parent or
+teacher for the child to exercise his faculties upon, yet he
+instinctively selects for himself, without hesitation, and without
+mistake. All the objects in a room or in a landscape are before him: yet
+he is never oppressed by their number, nor bewildered by their
+variety.&mdash;His mind is always at ease.&mdash;He chooses for himself; but he
+never selects more for his special observation at one time than he can
+conveniently attend to. When the objects are new, his attention is
+restricted to one till it be known; and then, but not till then, as we
+shall immediately see, he is able, and delights to employ himself in
+grouping it with others.</p>
+
+<p>In early infancy this attention to one object is protracted and slow,
+till he gradually acquires sufficient energy of mind by practice.&mdash;Every
+one must have observed how slowly the eye of an infant of two or three
+months old moves after an object, in comparison with one of ten.&mdash;But
+even in the latter case, when the glance is lively and rapid, the same
+principle of individuation continues to operate. The information from an
+unknown object must still be received alone, and without distraction,
+although by that time the child is capable of receiving it more quickly.
+He is not now satisfied with viewing an object on one side, but he must
+view it on all sides. He endeavours by various means to acquire every
+one of the ideas which it is capable of communicating. His new toy is
+viewed with delight and wonder; and his eye by exercise can now scan in
+a moment its different parts.&mdash;But this is not enough; he has now
+learned to make use of his other senses, and he employs them also, for
+the purpose of becoming better acquainted with the object which he is
+contemplating. His toy is seized, mouthed, handled, turned, looked at on
+all sides, till all the information it can communicate has been
+received;&mdash;and then only is it cast aside for something else, which is
+in its turn to add to his stock of knowledge.</p>
+
+<p>The circumstance to which we would especially call <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>attention at present
+is, the singleness of thought exercised upon the object, during the time
+that the child is amused by it.&mdash;He attends to nothing else, and he will
+look at nothing else; and were his attention forced from it for a
+moment, this is evidently done unwillingly; and, when allowed, it
+immediately returns to the object. It is also worthy of notice, that if,
+while he is so engaged, we attempt to teach him something else, or in
+other words, to induce him to divide his attention upon some other new
+object, the distraction of his mind is at once apparent; we perceive
+that it is unnatural; and we find by experience that he does not profit
+by either. Now, from these indications it must be evident, that any
+interference with this principle of individuation in teaching any thing
+for the first time, must always be hurtful:&mdash;on the contrary, by
+attending to the principle, and acting upon it in the training of the
+young, it must be productive of the happiest effects.&mdash;While acted upon,
+under the guidance of Nature, its efficiency and power are astonishing.
+It is by means of this principle, that the infant mind, with all its
+imbecility and want of developement, acquires and retains more real
+knowledge in the course of a few months, than is sometimes received at
+school afterwards during as many years.&mdash;Few things are more cheering in
+prospect than the knowledge of this fact; for what may we not expect
+from the <i>man</i>, when his education while a <i>child</i> shall have been
+improved, and approximated to that of Nature!</p>
+
+<p>The operation of the principle of individuation, is not confined to the
+infant, but continues to maintain its place during all the after stages
+of life, whenever any thing new and uncommon is presented as an object
+of knowledge. Every thing is new to the infant, and therefore this
+principle is more conspicuous during the early stages of education.&mdash;But
+it is still equally necessary for the child or the youth in similar
+circumstances; and Nature compels him, as it were, still <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>to concentrate
+the powers of his mind upon every new object, till he has received and
+become familiar with the information it is calculated to furnish.&mdash;Every
+one must have observed the intensity with which a child examines an
+object which he has never seen before, and the anxiety which he evinces
+to know all about it.&mdash;It requires a considerable effort on his own
+part, and still greater on the part of others, to detach his mind from
+the object, till it has surrendered the full amount of information which
+the young enquirer is seeking. The boy with his new drum will attend to
+nothing else if he can help it, as long as he has any thing to learn
+concerning it, and the noises it is capable of producing.&mdash;And even when
+he has tired himself with beating it, he is not satisfied till he has
+explored its contents, to find out the cause which has created the
+sounds. The girl with her doll, in the same way, will voluntarily think
+of nothing else, as long as it can provide her with mental exercise;
+that is, as long as it can add something new to her present stock of
+knowledge. And it is here worthy of remark, that the apparent exception
+in this case, arising from the greater length of time that a doll and a
+few other similar toys will amuse a child, is in reality a striking
+confirmation, and illustration of the principle of which we are
+speaking.&mdash;Such toys amuse longer, because it is longer before the
+variety of which they are capable is exhausted.&mdash;The doll is fondled,
+and scolded, and cradled, and dressed, and undressed in so many
+different ways, that the craving for new ideas continues for a long
+period to be amply gratified;&mdash;but the effect would be quite different,
+were the very same doll placed where it could only be looked at. Every
+new movement with the toy is employed by Nature, for the cultivation of
+the mental powers, by reiterating the ideas thus imparted, and on which
+the imagination delights to dwell; and also in receiving a knowledge of
+individual objects and ideas, which, when once known, are to form the
+elements of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>future groupings, and of an endless variety of information.</p>
+
+<p>It is here of importance to recollect, that almost all the information
+received by children, is of a sensible kind. They can form little or no
+idea of abstract truths. The mind and the memory must be stored with
+sensible objects,&mdash;first individually, and then by grouping,&mdash;before the
+child can arrive at a capacity for abstraction. Nature's first object,
+therefore, is to store the memory and imagination of the young with the
+names and images of things, which, as we have seen, are acquired
+individually, and, when once known, are remembered for future use. But
+those things which they have not yet seen, or felt, or heard, or tasted,
+are totally beyond their conception, and cannot be of any service,
+either in grouping, or classification.&mdash;Hence the great importance of
+allowing the young mind to act freely in acquiring new ideas by this
+principle of individuation; as without this, all the lessons into which
+such ideas shall afterward be introduced, must be in a great measure
+lost. Even adults can form no idea of an unknown object, except by
+compounding it of something that they already know. And this is at least
+equally the case with children; who, till they can group and compare
+objects which they have seen, can realize no idea of any thing, however
+simple, that has not previously been subjected to the senses.&mdash;Hence,
+therefore, the importance at this period of a child's education, of
+confining the attention chiefly to sensible objects, and of not
+confounding his faculties, by too early an introduction of abstract
+ideas.</p>
+
+<p>Here then we have been able to detect the method by which Nature
+selects, and enables her pupils to prepare the materials of which their
+future knowledge is to be compounded. These materials are the ideas of
+sensible objects, and their properties and uses; which must be gathered
+and stored one by one. By inducing them to attempt to seize even two at
+a time, they will most probably lose both, and their powers <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>of
+collecting and storing will, by the same attempt, be injured and
+weakened. It is by means of this principle of individuation, that, with
+the most intense craving for information, and while placed among
+innumerable objects calculated to gratify it, the infant and the child
+remain perfectly collected, without the slightest appearance of
+distraction of mind, or confusion of ideas. With his thirst of knowledge
+ardent and constant, it enables him with the greatest delight to add
+hourly to his stores of knowledge, without difficulty, without
+irritation, and without fatigue.</p>
+
+<p>The application of these truths to the business of education, we shall
+attend to in its proper place; in the meantime we may remark, of how
+much importance it is, that all knowledge communicated to the young be
+simple, and that for some time it consist chiefly of sensible objects,
+and their qualities;&mdash;objects which they either know, or can have access
+to. Abstract subjects are not suited for children, till they can group,
+and classify, and compare the sensible objects with which they are
+already acquainted. The aim of the teacher, therefore, ought to be,
+strictly to follow Nature in this early stage of her operations, and to
+furnish food for his pupils, of the proper kind, and in proper
+proportions;&mdash;keeping the thinking powers constantly in healthful
+exercise, by giving as many ideas as the mind can reiterate without
+fatigue; but carefully avoiding all hurry or force, seeing that the
+powers of the mind are greatly weakened and injured by a multiplicity of
+objects, particularly when they are presented so rapidly, that the
+thoughts have not time to settle upon them, nor the mind to reiterate
+the ideas which they suggest.</p>
+<br />
+<br /><a name="CHAP_VIA" id="CHAP_VIA"></a>
+<br />
+<br />
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h3>CHAP. VI.</h3>
+
+<h3><i>On the Application of Knowledge by the Principle of Association, or
+Grouping.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>Another principle which exhibits itself in the acquisition of knowledge
+by Nature's pupils, is that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>of "grouping," or associating objects
+together, after they are individually known. A child, or even an infant,
+who is frightened, or alarmed, or who suffers any severe injury,
+remembers the several circumstances, and has the place, the persons, and
+the things connected with the event, all associated together, and
+grouped into one scene or picture on the memory. These objects may have
+been numerous; but by the operation of this principle, they have all
+been apprehended, and united so powerfully with each other, that no
+future effort of the child can either separate or obliterate any portion
+of them; and so comprehensive, that the recollection of any one of the
+circumstances instantly recalls all the others.</p>
+
+<p>These groupings in the mind of a child, formed chiefly by means of the
+imagination, are almost wholly compounded of sensible objects; and the
+only necessary prerequisite for their formation appears to be a
+knowledge of the individual elements of which they are to be composed.
+If an unknown object be presented to the mind in connection with the
+others that are known, it is generally excluded, and the things
+previously known retained. For example, in the case supposed above, of
+an accident occurring to a child, there would be thousands of objects
+present, and all cognisable by the senses; but not one of all these that
+were unknown, that is, that had not previously undergone the process of
+individuation, is found to form part of the remembered group.</p>
+
+<p>There is another circumstance connected with the operation of this
+principle in the young, which is of importance. Almost the whole of a
+child's knowledge is composed of these groupings. Before the
+developement of the reasoning powers, by which the individual is enabled
+to <i>classify</i> the elements of his knowledge, there is no way of
+remembering these elements in connection with each other, except by this
+principle. If, therefore, we change the order or relative position of
+the elements or objects which <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>compose the scene, or group, we draw the
+attention of the pupil altogether from the former, and create another
+which is entirely new;&mdash;in the same way as the transposition of the
+figures in any sum, forms another of an entirely different amount. The
+drawing-room, for example, is seen by the children of the family with
+the fire-place, the cabinet, the sofas, the tables, and other stationary
+ornaments, in certain relative positions, and this grouping of those
+objects is to them in reality all that they know of the room. Any
+material change in shifting these objects to other places in the
+apartment, would, to the <i>parent</i>, whose judgment is ripened, produce
+feelings comparatively slight; but, to the younger branches of the
+family who group, but cannot as yet classify, it would appear like the
+complete annihilation of the former apartment. The different arrangement
+of a few of the articles only, would to them create another, and an
+entirely different room.</p>
+
+<p>This leads us to observe another circumstance connected with the
+operation of this principle, in the instruction of the young, which is
+the remarkable fact, that, by making the child familiar with a very few
+primitive elements, a parent or teacher may communicate an almost
+infinite variety of groupings, or stories, for cultivating the mind, and
+increasing the knowledge of his pupil. Hence it is, that hundreds of
+agreeable and useful little histories have been composed for children,
+with no other machinery than a mamma and her child, and the occasional
+introduction of a doll or a dog, a cat or a canary bird. To the child,
+there is in these numerous groupings no appearance of sameness, nor want
+of variety; and although so much circumscribed in their original
+elements, they never fail to amuse and delight.</p>
+
+<p>The most important circumstance, however, connected with the working of
+this principle in the education of the young, appears to be the
+necessity of a previous familiarity with the individual objects, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>before
+the child is called upon to group them. If this has been attended to,
+the grouping of these into any combination will be easy and
+pleasant;&mdash;but if his attention be called from the group, to examine
+exclusively even but one of its elements, the operation is checked, the
+mind becomes confused, its powers are weakened, and the grouping has
+again to commence under serious disadvantages.</p>
+
+<p>To illustrate this point, let us suppose a child introduced to the
+bustle and sports of a common fair. Here he sees thousands both of
+familiar and strange objects, all of which are calculated to excite his
+mind to increased attention; and yet the child, while greatly amused, is
+still perfectly at his ease. There is not the slightest indication of
+his being incommoded by the numerous objects about him; no confusion of
+ideas, no distraction of mind, no mental distress of any kind; but, on
+the contrary, in the midst of so much to see and to learn, the young
+looker-on is not only at his ease, but appears to be delighted. The
+reason of this is, that he is not by any external force compelled to
+attend to <i>all</i> that he sees; and Nature within directs him to attend to
+no more than he is able to group, or reiterate in his thoughts. We shall
+endeavour to examine this condition of the child's mind in such
+circumstances a little more particularly.</p>
+
+<p>The child in the circumstances supposed, must either be a spectator in
+general, or an examiner in particular; in other words, he must either
+employ himself with the principle of combination or grouping, or with
+the principle of individuation,&mdash;but he never attempts to employ himself
+with both at the same time. If he amuses himself as an observer in
+general, he is engaged in grouping objects which are already familiar to
+him; but while he is so engaged, he never directs his attention to any
+one unknown object for the purpose of examining it for the first time by
+itself. He passes over all the minute and unknown objects with a glance,
+and attends only to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span>the grouping or associating of those which are
+already familiar. Nature induces him, while thus employed, to pass by
+all these minute and unknown objects; because, if he were to do
+otherwise, his observation in general would instantly be recalled, and
+his whole attention would be monopolized by the object which he had
+resolved to examine, to the exclusion of every other for the time. This,
+however, is not what he seeks; and he employs himself entirely in the
+grouping of things which are already known. His mind is left at ease,
+and in the possession of all its powers; he looks only at those things
+which please him; and he passes over all the others without effort or
+difficulty.</p>
+
+<p>But if the boy shall come to something strange and new, which he is
+desirous of studying more closely, he immediately becomes an examiner in
+particular; but, at the same moment, he ceases to be an observer in
+general. The extended business of the fair, and the several groupings of
+which it is composed, are lost sight of for the moment;&mdash;the principle
+of individuation begins to act, and the operation of the principle of
+association, or grouping, is at the same moment brought to a stand. The
+two are incompatible, and cannot act together; and therefore Nature
+never allows the one to interfere with the other.</p>
+
+<p>To shew the evil effects of overlooking this important law of Nature in
+the education of a child, we have only to attend to the painful results
+which would be the consequence of acting contrary to it, even in the
+vigorous mind of an adult. Let us for this purpose suppose a person of a
+powerful understanding, and a capacious mind, ushered for the first
+time, and for only five minutes into a crowded apartment in some eastern
+caravansary, or eastern bazaar, in which every thing to him was new and
+strange; and let us also suppose that it was imperatively demanded of
+him, that he should, in that short space of time, make himself
+acquainted with all that was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>going on, and be able, on his retiring,
+minutely to describe all that he saw. The first moment he entered, and
+the first strange object that caught his eye, would convince him that
+<i>the thing was impossible</i>. If, without such a demand, he had been
+introduced into such a place, and had seen various groups of strange
+persons differently employed, each engaged in a manner altogether new to
+him, and the nature of which was wholly unknown, he might look on with
+perfect composure, and considerable amusement, because he could attend,
+like the boy in the fair, either to the general mass, to isolated
+groups, or to individual things. He would in that case attend to no more
+than he was able to understand; and would placidly allow the other parts
+of the scene to pass without any particular attention. But the
+imperative injunction here supposed,&mdash;this pressure from without,&mdash;this
+artificial and unnatural demand upon him,&mdash;entirely alters the case. If
+he even attempted to make himself master of all the particulars of the
+scene in a circumscribed portion of time, he would find himself
+bewildered and confounded. The very attempt to individualize and to
+group so many various objects at the same moment, within such a limited
+period, would be enough to prostrate all the powers of his mind. He
+might perhaps be able to observe the persons and their costume, because
+varieties of persons and dresses are daily and constantly objects of
+observation, and are grouped without difficulty; but of their several
+employments, of which he was previously ignorant, he could know nothing,
+and on retiring, he would neither be able to remember nor to describe
+them. In such an experiment, it would be found, that the more anxious he
+was to perfect his task and to answer the demand, in the same proportion
+would he find himself harassed and distressed, and the powers of his
+mind overstretched and weakened. And if this would be the result of
+confounding the principles of individuation and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span>grouping in an
+adult,&mdash;a person of good understanding, and of vigorous mind,&mdash;how much
+more hurtful must such a task be, when demanded from children or youths
+of ordinary capacity, during their attendance at school!</p>
+
+<p>Few we believe will doubt the general accuracy of the above results in
+the cases supposed;&mdash;but some may perhaps question, whether they really
+do arise from the interference of these two antagonist principles during
+the experiment. To shew that this is the real cause of the distress
+felt, and the weakness and prostration of mind produced during it, we
+have only to institute another experiment which is exactly parallel. Let
+us suppose the same person, and for the same limited period, ushered
+into the traveller's room in a well frequented hotel, and let us also
+suppose, that the very same demand is made imperative, that he shall
+observe, and again detail when he retires, all that he sees. Let us also
+suppose, that the number of persons here is equally great, and that
+their employments are all equally diversified, but that each is familiar
+to him; and we will at once see that the difficulty of the task is
+really as nothing. A child could accomplish it. His eye would be able to
+group the whole in an instant, without effort, and without fatigue. If
+he saw one party at supper, another at tea, another group at cards, and
+others amusing themselves at draughts and backgammon; one minute instead
+of five, would be quite enough to make him master of the whole. On
+retiring, he would be able to tell the employment of every group in the
+room; and if any of his acquaintances had made part of the number, he
+would be able to tell who they were, where they were sitting, and how
+they were occupied. In doing all this he would find no difficulty; and
+yet the knowledge he has received is entirely new, and so extensive,
+that it would take at least ten fold more time to rehearse it, than it
+took to acquire it. The entire scene also would be permanently imprinted
+by <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>the imagination upon the memory; and the whole, or any part of it,
+could be recalled, and reviewed, and rehearsed, at any future period.
+Here then are two cases, precisely similar in their nature, and
+undertaken by the very same person, where the results are widely
+different; and we now see, that the difference arises entirely from the
+principle of individuation having prepared the way in the one case,
+while it was not allowed to operate in the other.</p>
+
+<p>From these circumstances taken together, we perceive, that the grouping
+of objects, when once they are individually familiar, is never a
+difficult task, but is rather one of gratification and pleasure;&mdash;and we
+also are taught, that the amount of knowledge thus pleasantly
+communicated to a child may be most extensive and valuable, while the
+materials necessary for the purpose, being comparatively few, may be
+previously rendered familiar with very little exertion. It is the
+confounding of these two principles in the communication of knowledge,
+that makes learning appear so forbidding to the young, and prevents that
+cultivation of the mental powers by their exercises which these would
+otherwise infallibly produce. By keeping each in its proper place, a
+child will soon acquire a thorough knowledge of the few elements
+necessary for the purpose; and these, when acquired, may be grouped by
+the teacher into thousands of forms, for extending the knowledge, and
+for invigorating the mind of his delighted pupil.</p>
+
+<p>The benevolence and wisdom of this beautiful arrangement in the
+educational process of Nature, are truly wonderful; and in proportion as
+it is so, every deviation from it on our parts will be attended with
+disappointment and evil. If all our ideas were to be acquired and
+retained by the principle of individuation alone, the memory being
+without help or resting place, would soon become so overpowered by their
+number, that our knowledge would be greatly circumscribed, and its use
+impeded. Of the benefits <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>arising from attention to the principle we
+have many apt illustrations in ordinary life, among which the various
+groupings of the ten numeral figures into sums of any amount, and the
+forming of so many thousands of words by a different arrangement of the
+letters of the alphabet, are familiar examples. When a child knows the
+ten numerals, he requires no more teaching to ascertain the precise
+amount of any one number among all the millions which these figures can
+represent. The value of such an acquirement can only be appreciated by
+considering the labour it would cost a child to gain a knowledge of all
+these sums individually, and the overwhelming burden laid upon his
+memory if each of the millions of sums had to be remembered by a
+separate character. By the knowledge and various groupings of only ten
+such characters, the whole of this mighty burden is removed.</p>
+
+<p>In the art of writing, the same principle is brought into operation with
+complete success, by the combination, or various groupings of the
+twenty-six letters of the common Roman alphabet in the formation of
+words. The value of this adaptation of the principle will be obvious, if
+we shall suppose, that a person who is acquainted with all the modern
+European languages, had been compelled to discriminate, and continue to
+remember, a distinct arbitrary mark or character for the many thousands
+of words contained in each. We may not be warranted, perhaps, to say
+that such a task would be impossible; but that it would be inconceivably
+burdensome can admit of no doubt. We have, indeed, in the writings of
+the Chinese, although it is but one language, a living monument of the
+evil effects of the neglect of this principle in literature, and the
+unceasing inconveniences which daily arise from that empire continuing
+to persevere in it. There is comparatively but little combination of
+characters in their words, and the consequences are remarkable. In that
+extensive empire, the highest rewards, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>and the chief posts of honour
+and emolument, are held out to those who are most learned, whatever be
+their rank or their station; and yet, amidst a population immersed in
+poverty and wretchedness, not one person in a thousand can master even
+one of their books; and not one in ten thousand of those who profess to
+read, is able to peruse them all. The reason of this simply is, the
+neglect of this natural principle of grouping letters, or the signs of
+sounds, in their written language. With us, the elements of all the
+words in all the European languages are only twenty-six; and the child
+who has once mastered the combination of these, in any one of our books,
+has the whole of our literature at his command.</p>
+
+<p>The application of this principle to the elements of general knowledge
+is equally necessary, as its application to written language. The
+difficulty of remembering the many thousands of unconnected characters
+in Chinese literature, is an exact emblem of what will always be the
+case with children in respect to their general knowledge, when this
+principle of association, or grouping, is neglected. Adults acquire and
+retain a large portion of <i>their</i> knowledge, as we shall afterwards see,
+by the principle of classification and analysis; but <i>children</i> are not
+as yet capable of this; and they must receive their knowledge by the
+grouping of a few simple elements previously known, or they will not be
+able to receive and retain knowledge at all. The amount of this
+knowledge also, it should be kept in mind, is not at all in proportion
+to the number or the variety of the elements of which that knowledge is
+composed. We have formerly alluded to this, and it may be farther
+illustrated by a circumstance of daily occurrence. A seaman when he
+observes a vessel at a distance knows her class and character in an
+instant, whether she be a sloop or a brig, a schooner or a ship, and he
+forms an instantaneous idea of all her parts grouped into a whole. His
+memory, instead of being harassed in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>remembering the shape, and place,
+and position of each of its several parts, is relieved of the whole by
+the operation of this principle of association. The whole rigging, about
+which his mind is occupied, is composed of only <i>three</i> elements,&mdash;ropes,
+and spars, and sails,&mdash;with each of which he has long ago made himself
+familiar. All the remaining parts of this kind of knowledge are a mere
+matter of grouping. By previously observing the varied arrangement of the
+spars, and ropes, and sails, on the several masts of the different kinds
+of vessels, he has already grouped them into one whole, and each is
+remembered by itself without effort, and without mistake. They are
+retained, as it were, painted by the imagination upon the memory, and may
+at any after period be recalled and reviewed at pleasure. Hence the sight
+of a vessel in the distance calls up the former pictures to the mind, and
+enables the practised eye of the mariner to decide at once as to the kind
+and character of what he so imperfectly sees.&mdash;This helps also to explain
+the reason why children are so gratified with pictures when presented to
+the eye; and why they are best pleased when the figures are most simple
+and distinct, and particularly, when the objects grouped in the picture
+have previously been familiar. Pictures are indeed a pretty close
+imitation of Nature in this part of her work; and they are defective
+chiefly on account of their want of <i>motion</i> and <i>continuity</i>.
+These last are two great and inimitable characteristics in all the
+groupings painted upon the memory by the imagination.</p>
+
+<p>From all this it is obvious, that there is an essential difference
+between a child's acquiring the knowledge of things individually, and
+acquiring a knowledge of their several associations. The two must never,
+if possible, be confounded with each other. When they are kept distinct
+in the education of a child, he has an evident pleasure in attending to
+either; but as soon as they are allowed to interfere, and more
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span>especially when they are systematically blended together in the same
+exercise, he experiences confusion, irritation, and fatigue. There is no
+necessity, however, for this ever being the case. All that is required
+is, that the few individual elements that are to be grouped or
+associated in a lesson, whether they be objects or ideas, shall
+previously be made familiar to the pupil. These, when once known, may be
+brought before the mind of the child in any variety of order or form,
+and will be received readily and pleasantly, and will be retained by the
+memory without confusion, and without effort. By attention to these two
+principles, keeping each in its proper place, and bringing each to aid
+and uphold the other in its proper order, it will be found, that a child
+may be taught more real knowledge in one week, than is often
+communicated in other circumstances in the course of a year.</p>
+<br />
+<br /><a name="CHAP_VIIA" id="CHAP_VIIA"></a>
+<br />
+<br />
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h3>CHAP. VII.</h3>
+
+<h3><i>On the Acquisition of Knowledge by the Principle of Analysis, or
+Classification.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>There is yet another principle brought into operation by Nature to
+enable her pupils to receive, to retain, and to make use of their
+knowledge. This is the principle of Classification, or Analysis.<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> The
+difference between this and the former principle described we think is
+sufficiently marked. The principle of Association, or Grouping, is
+carried on chiefly by means of the imagination, and begins to operate as
+soon as the mind is capable of imagining any thing; but the principle of
+Classification, or Analysis, is more intimately connected with the
+judgment. The consequence of this is, that it is but very partially
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>called into action during the early stages of a child's education, and
+is never able to operate with vigour, till the reasoning powers of the
+pupil begin to develope themselves.</p>
+
+<p>The characteristic differences between the two principles, and their
+respective uses in education, may be illustrated by a circumstance of
+every-day occurrence. For example, a child who from infancy has been
+brought up in a house of several apartments, gets acquainted with each
+of the rooms by means of its contents. He has been in the habit of
+seeing the heavy pieces of furniture in each apartment in a certain
+place and order, and the room and its furniture, therefore, are
+identified together, and remain painted upon his imagination exactly as
+he has been in the habit of seeing them. In this case, the articles of
+furniture in the room are grouped, and not classified; and are
+remembered together, not on account of their nature and uses, but purely
+on account of their position, and their relative arrangement in the
+room. Most of our readers perhaps, will remember the strange feelings
+produced in their minds during some period of their childhood, when in
+the house of their infancy, some material alteration of this kind was
+effected in one or more of the rooms. A change in the position of a bed,
+or the abstraction or introduction of a chest of drawers, a wardrobe, or
+other bulky piece of furniture, causes in the mind of the child an
+effect much deeper, and more extensive, than in the adult. The former
+picture of the place never having been observed or contemplated in any
+other aspect, is painted by the imagination, and fixed upon his memory,
+by long continued familiarity. But by this change it is suddenly
+defaced; and the new group, partaking as it will do of some of the
+elements of the old, produces feelings which are strange and
+unaccountable, and entirely different from those of his parents, who
+have been in the habit of contemplating the room and its furniture more
+by the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>exercise of the judgment, than of the imagination; that is, more
+by their uses, than by their appearance.</p>
+
+<p>The cause of this strangeness of feeling in a child, arises from the
+predominance of the principle of grouping, over that of classification.
+He has as yet no knowledge of any of the apartments in the house, except
+what he has received by grouping their contents. When, therefore, their
+arrangement is materially altered, the reasoning powers not being as yet
+able to soften down the effect, the former apartment appears to the
+child as if it had ceased to exist. He can scarcely believe it to be the
+same. He never thinks of the <i>uses</i> of the articles in the apartment,
+but only of their <i>appearance</i>;&mdash;the first being an act of the
+judgment,&mdash;the latter of the imagination. In a similar manner he thinks
+of the kitchen and its furniture, not as a part of the household
+economy, but only in connection with the articles it contains. The
+dresser, the jack, and the tin covers, are never thought of in
+connection with their uses; but are identified with the kitchen, merely
+because they have always been seen there, and seen together. In like
+manner, the seats, the tables, and the ornaments of the drawing-room,
+are not connected in the child's mind because they are what are commonly
+called "drawing-room furniture," for that would imply a degree of
+reasoning of which he is as yet unacquainted; but they are remembered
+together, as they have always been observed in that particular place,
+and are now pictured on the mind, in the position in which they are
+usually beheld. Their particular locality in the room, and their
+relative position with respect to each other, are of far more importance
+in assisting the memory of the child, than any knowledge which he has as
+yet acquired of their respective uses.</p>
+
+<p>Though a child had in this way gained an exact knowledge of every
+apartment in a house, it is obvious that there may not have been, during
+the whole process, a single act of the understanding. Many of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>lower
+animals are capable of collecting all the knowledge he has received; and
+even infants are, to a certain extent, in the daily habit of acquiring
+it. But the classification of objects, according to their nature and
+uses, is an operation of a perfectly different kind. Hence it is, that a
+change in the arrangement of the furniture of a room acts so slightly on
+the feelings of the adult, and so powerfully on the young. In the
+former, the reasoning powers neutralize the effect produced; to the
+latter, the change appears a complete revolution.</p>
+
+<p>This principle of classification, though peculiar to the mature mind, is
+not restricted to any particular class of men. It is found to be
+universal, wherever the reasoning powers are capable of acting. It is no
+doubt conspicuous in civilized societies, because there it is more
+cultivated; but it is not confined to them. The savage is prompted to
+its exercise under the tuition of Nature. For example, the various
+articles and arts which he employs in hunting, are all regularly
+classified in his mind, and retained upon his memory, as perfectly
+distinct from those which he employs in fishing; and neither of these
+classes of articles are ever confounded with his implements and weapons
+of war. His hooks and lines, are as naturally classified in his mind
+with his nets and his canoe, as his club or his tomahawk is with his
+other weapons used in battle. It is by this means that Nature aids the
+memory in the retention of knowledge, and keeps all the successive
+accumulations of the individual at the command of the will. When
+cultivated, as Nature designs that it should be, it forms an extensive
+cabinet in the mind, where every department of knowledge has its
+appropriate place; and which, when once systematically formed, can be
+furnished at leisure. When a new idea is acquired, it is immediately put
+in its place, and associated with others of the same kind; and when any
+portion of the knowledge which <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>we have accumulated is required, we know
+at once the particular place where it is to be found.</p>
+
+<p>The benefits of this principle in the above form are extensively felt
+and acted upon in society, even where the principle itself is neither
+observed nor known; for in the family, in the work shop, and in the
+manufactory, it is of the last importance. It is upon this principle
+that a clergyman, for the help of his own memory, as well as for
+assisting the memory of his hearers, arranges the subject of his sermons
+in a classified form;&mdash;his text is the root of the classification. This
+he divides into heads, which form the first branch in this table; and
+these again he sometimes sub-divides into particulars, which form a
+second branch depending on the first, and all proceeding from the
+root,&mdash;the original text. Similar, but more extensive, is the plan
+adopted in the divisions and subdivisions of objects in the Sciences,
+such as Botany, Zoology, Chemistry, &amp;c. in all of which the existence of
+this principle in Nature's educational process is acknowledged and
+exemplified. In these sciences, the efficiency of the principle in
+facilitating the reception of knowledge, and in assisting the memory in
+retaining it, and in putting it to use, is universally acknowledged.</p>
+
+<p>But there is another form in which the same principle appears, not so
+obvious indeed, but it is one which is at least equally important in the
+education of the young. Nature always brings it into operation when a
+teacher, while communicating any series of <i>connected truths</i>, such as a
+portion of history or of science, gives more of the details than the
+mind of his pupil can receive, or his memory retain at one time. It may
+be desirable that the pupil should be made thoroughly acquainted with
+all the minute, as well as with the general circumstances of a history
+or a science; but if so, it must be done, not at once, but by degrees,
+or steps. It is usually done by repeating the course,&mdash;"revising," as it
+is called,&mdash;and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>that perhaps more than once;&mdash;going over all the
+exercises again and again, till the several parts are perceived and
+remembered in their connection. In these "revisings," the mind forms an
+analytical table of the subject for itself, consisting of successive
+steps, formed by the successive courses. By the first course, or
+hearing, it is chiefly the great outlines of the subject that are
+perceived; and these form the first branch of a regular analytical
+table, which every succeeding course of reading or hearing tends to fill
+up. This will perhaps be best understood by an example.</p>
+
+<p>Let us suppose that a young person sits down to read a history for the
+first time, and that he reads it with attention and care. When we
+examine the state of his mind after he has finished it, we find that,
+independently of what, by the principle of grouping, he has got in the
+form of episode, he has been able to retain only the great outlines of
+the history, and no more. He remembers perhaps of whose reign he has
+been reading, and the principal events that took place during it; but
+the intermediate and minor events, as connected with the history, he has
+not been able to remember. Nothing has been imparted by this first
+reading, but the great landmarks of the narrative. These are destined to
+form the first branch of a regular analytical table, of which the reign
+of the particular monarch is the root. This is the frame-work of the
+whole history of that period, however numerous the minor circumstances
+may be; and a second reading will only enlarge his knowledge of the
+circumstances under each of the heads. In other words, it will enable
+him to sub-divide them into more minute details or periods, and thus
+form a series of second branches from each. Now it is quite obvious,
+that when this analysis of the circumstances of that period is once
+formed in the mind, no new event connected with it can ever come to his
+knowledge without being classed with some of the others. It will be
+disposed of according to the relation which it bears to the parts
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>already existing; and thus the whole texture will be regularly framed,
+and every event will have its proper place, and be readily available for
+future use. One part may be filled up and finished before another; but
+the regular proportions of the whole remain undisturbed. The pupil has,
+by the original outline and its several branches, got a date and a place
+for every new fact which he may afterwards glean, either in his reading
+or his conversation; and he has a place in which to put it, where it can
+easily be found. When placed there, it is safe in the keeping of the
+memory, and will always afterwards be at the command of the will.</p>
+
+<p>The connection of these circumstances, with the principle in education
+which we are at present endeavouring to illustrate, may not to some be
+very apparent. We shall therefore take another example from a
+circumstance similar to what occurs every day in ordinary life, and in
+which the principle, in the hands of Nature, is abundantly conspicuous.
+In the example we are here to give, she forms the several steps of the
+classification in a number of hearers by <i>once</i> reading a subject, very
+similar to what she does successively in the mind of one individual by
+<i>repeated</i> readings.</p>
+
+<p>Let us then suppose a teacher with two or three hundred pupils,
+including every degree of mental capacity, from the youngest child who
+is able to understand, up to his own classical assistant; and that he
+reads to them the history of Joseph as given in the Book of Genesis. Let
+us also suppose, that they all give him their best attention, and that
+they all hear the narrative for the first time. Such an experiment, let
+it be observed, has its parallel every day, in the church, in the class
+room, and in the seminary; and similar effects to those we are about to
+describe invariably take place in each of them.</p>
+
+<p>When the teacher has read and concluded this lengthened exercise, it
+will be found, that no two individuals among his hearers have acquired
+the same <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span>amount of knowledge. Some will have received and retained more
+of the circumstances, and some less, but no two, strictly speaking, will
+be alike. Those whose minds were incapable of connecting the several
+parts of the narrative into a whole, will retain what they have received
+in disjointed groups and patches,&mdash;episodes, as it were, in the
+narrative,&mdash;without being able very clearly to perceive its general
+design. This class, upon whom the principle of association chiefly has
+been at work, we leave out, and confine ourselves to the state of
+knowledge possessed by those who are in a greater or less degree capable
+of classification, and of taking some cognisance of the narrative as a
+connected whole.</p>
+
+<p>Among this latter class, some will have retained no more than the bare
+outline of the history, interspersed with groupings, as in the younger
+children. They will remember little more than that Joseph was at first a
+boy in his father's house;&mdash;that he was afterwards a slave, and in
+prison;&mdash;and at last, a great man and a governor. Here the <i>whole
+history</i> is divided into three distinct heads, or eras,&mdash;the first
+branch of an analytical table of the whole story, from one or other of
+which all the other particulars, of whatever kind, must of necessity
+take their rise, and branch off in their natural order. An advanced
+class of the auditors will have retained some of the more obvious
+circumstances connected with <i>each of these three great divisions</i>, as
+well as the divisions themselves. They will not only remember that
+Joseph was a boy in his father's house, but they will also be able to
+remember the more prominent subdivisions of the narrative regarding him
+while there; such as his father's partiality, his dreams, and his
+brothers' hatred. The second great division will be recollected as
+including the particulars of his being sold, his serving in Potiphar's
+house, and his conduct in prison; and the third division will be
+remembered as containing his appearance before Pharoah, his laying up
+corn, his conduct to his brothers, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>and his reception of his father and
+family. These subdivisions, it will at once be perceived, form the
+<i>second branch</i> of a regular analytical table, each of which has sprung
+from, and is intimately connected with, some one or other of the three
+great divisions forming the first branch, of which the "History of
+Joseph" is the comprehensive root.</p>
+
+<p>In like manner, a third class of the pupils, whose minds have been
+better cultivated, and whose memories are more retentive, will not only
+remember all this, but they will also remember, in connection with each
+of these subdivisions, many of the more specific events included in, or
+springing from them, and which carry forward this regular analytical
+table one step farther. As for example, under the subdivision entitled
+"Joseph's conduct to his brethren," they will remember the "detention of
+Simeon,"&mdash;"the feast in the palace,"&mdash;"the scene of the cup in the
+sack," and "Joseph's making himself known." Even these again might be
+subdivided into their more minute circumstances, as a fourth, or even a
+fifth branch, if necessary, all of which might be exactly delineated
+upon paper, as a regular analytical table of the history of Joseph.</p>
+
+<p>Here, then, we have an example of Nature herself dividing an audience
+into different classes, and that by one and the same operation,&mdash;by one
+reading,&mdash;forming in each class part of a regular analytical table of
+the whole history, each class being one step in advance of the other.
+The first has the foundation of the whole fabric broadly and solidly
+laid; and it is worthy of remark, that there is not one of the ideas
+acquired by the most talented of the hearers, that is not strictly and
+regularly derived from some one or other of the three general divisions
+possessed by the first and the least advanced; and any one of the ideas
+may be regularly traced back through the several divisions to the root
+itself. The additional facts possessed by the second class, are nothing
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>more than a more full developement of the circumstances remembered by
+the first; and those obtained by the third, are but a more extensive
+developement of the facts remembered by the second.</p>
+
+<p>This being the state of the several classes into which Nature divides
+every audience, it is of importance to trace the means which she employs
+for the purpose of <i>advancing</i> each, and of ultimately completing the
+analysis; or, in other words, perfecting the knowledge of the narrative,
+in each individual mind. This is equally beautiful, and equally simple.
+It is, if we may be allowed the expression, by a regular system of
+building. The foundation being laid, and the frame-work of the whole
+being erected, in the knowledge of the great general outline, confusion
+is ever after completely prevented. Every piece of information connected
+with the history, which may be afterwards received, has a specific place
+provided for it. It must belong to some one or other of the three great
+divisions; and it is there inserted as a part of the general building.
+It is now remembered in its connection, till all the circumstances,&mdash;the
+whole of the information,&mdash;gradually, and perhaps distantly received,
+complete the narrative.</p>
+
+<p>To follow out this plan of Nature regularly, as in a school education,
+the method must be exceedingly obvious; for if the first class, by once
+hearing the chapters read, have received merely the outline,&mdash;the
+frame-work of the narrative,&mdash;it must be obvious, that when this has by
+reflection become familiar, a second reading would enable them to fill
+up much of this outline, by which they would be on a par with the
+second. Another reading would, in like manner, add to the second, and
+form a third; and so forth of all the others. Each reading would add
+more and more to the knowledge of the pupil; and yet, every idea
+communicated would be nothing more than a fuller developement of the
+original outline,&mdash;the frame-work,&mdash;the skeleton of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>the story which he
+had acquired by the first reading. By successive readings, therefore,
+the first class will take the place of the second, the second of the
+third, and so on to the end. This is Nature's uniform method of
+perfecting her pupils in any branch of <i>connected</i> knowledge;&mdash;a method
+which, therefore, it should be the object of the Educationist to
+understand, and closely to imitate.</p>
+
+<p>From the cases which we have in this chapter supposed as examples, there
+are several important practical inferences to be derived, to which we
+shall here very briefly advert.</p>
+
+<p>In the first place, we are led to infer, from all the cases brought into
+notice, that every kind of external force, or precipitation in
+education, is abhorrent to Nature. In each of the cases supposed, we
+have a remarkable exhibition of the calm serenity of Nature's operations
+in the education of the young. For instance, in the last case supposed,
+the children all listened,&mdash;they all heard the same words,&mdash;the mental
+food was the same to each, however diversified their abilities might be;
+and it was indiscriminately offered in the same form to all, although
+all were not equally prepared to receive and digest it. The results
+accordingly were, in fact, as various as the number of the persons
+present. And yet, notwithstanding of all this, there was no hurry, no
+confusion, no attempt to stretch the mind beyond its strength. Each
+individual, according to his capacity, laid hold of as much as his mind
+could receive, and silently abandoned the remainder.&mdash;But if there had
+been any external urgency or force employed, to compel the child to
+accomplish more than his mind was capable of, this serenity and
+composure would have been destroyed; irritation, and confusion, and
+mental weakness, would have been the consequence; and altogether,
+matters would not have been made better, but worse, by the attempt.</p>
+
+<p>Another inference, which we think may <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>legitimately be drawn from the
+above examples, is this, that although Nature prompts the child silently
+to throw off or reject that which the mind at the time cannot receive,
+yet it would be better for the child if no more had been pressed upon
+him than he was capable of receiving. The very rejection of any portion
+of the mental food presented for acceptance, must in some measure tend
+to dissipate the mind, and exhaust its strength. This we think is
+demonstrated by the fact, that the child had to listen for <i>an hour</i>,
+and yet retained on his memory no more than experience shews us could
+have been much more successfully communicated in <i>five minutes</i>.</p>
+
+<p>This leads us to another remark, almost equally important; which is,
+that the want of classification among the children, will not only hurt
+them, but tend to waste the time, and unnecessarily to exhaust the
+strength of the teacher. The teacher's success with any one child, is
+not to be estimated by the pains he takes, or the extent of his labour,
+but by the amount of knowledge actually retained by the child. To employ
+an hour's labour, therefore, to communicate that knowledge which could
+with much better effect be given in five minutes, is both unreasonable
+and improper; and every one who will for a moment think on the subject
+must see, that a lesson, which in that short space of time conveyed the
+whole of the knowledge that the pupils had been able to pick up during
+the hour's exercise, would leave the teacher eleven-twelfths of his time
+to benefit the other classes. The nurseryman follows this plan with his
+trees, and with evident success, both in saving time, and room, and
+labour. When he sows his acorns, one square yard will contain more
+plants than will ultimately occupy an acre. It is only as they increase
+in growth, that they are thinned out and transplanted; and such should
+be the case in communicating knowledge to children. To attempt to teach
+the whole history at once, is like sowing the whole acre with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>acorns,
+and thinning them out during a quarter of a century. The loss of seed in
+this case is the least of the evils; for the ground would be robbed of
+its strength, nine-tenths of it would be rendered unnecessarily useless
+during a large portion of the time; and much of the anxiety, and care,
+and labour of the nurseryman would be thrown away. Ultimately he would
+find, that of the many thousands of oaks he had sowed, he had been able
+to rear no more <i>than the acre could carry</i>. By following out this
+principle in education, and giving the child as much as he can receive,
+and no more, of the whole series of truths to be communicated, his mind,
+at the close of the exercise, will be much more vigorous, the ideas
+received will be much better understood, more firmly rivetted upon the
+memory, and much more at the command of the will, while the quantity of
+knowledge really communicated, is at least equal in amount.&mdash;The only
+thing indeed that renders a contrary plan of procedure even tolerable to
+a child, is the wise provision of Nature, by which she induces him to
+throw off, with some degree of ease, the superfluous matter; but had the
+reception and retention of the whole by each child been demanded by the
+teacher, the very attempt to do so on the part of the pupil, would not
+only have been irritating and burdensome, but it would have been
+extremely hurtful to the mind, by stretching its powers beyond its
+strength.</p>
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> Note E.</p></div>
+<br />
+<br /><a name="CHAP_VIIIA" id="CHAP_VIIIA"></a>
+<br />
+<br />
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h3>CHAP. VIII.</h3>
+
+<h3><i>On Nature's Methods of Teaching her Pupils to make use of their
+Knowledge.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>We come now to another operation of Nature with the young, to which she
+appears to attach more importance than she does to any of her previous
+educational processes, and to which she obviously intends that a more
+than ordinary attention should be <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>paid on our parts. This is the
+training of her pupils to make use of their knowledge, and to apply the
+information they possess to guide them in the common affairs of life.
+This is obviously the great end which she has all along had in view; and
+to which the cultivation of the mind, and the acquisition of knowledge
+are merely preparatives. We shall first direct attention to a few of the
+indications of this principle as they actually appear in ordinary life;
+and then we shall endeavour to point out some of the laws by which she
+appears to regulate them.</p>
+
+<p>In the early periods of infancy we can plainly distinguish between
+certain actions which depend upon <i>instinct</i>, and which are performed by
+the infant perfectly and at once, without experience, and without
+teaching;&mdash;and others of which the infant at first appears to be
+incapable, but which it gradually <i>acquires</i> by experience, or more
+correctly, which it <i>learns</i> by an application of the knowledge which it
+is daily realizing. Among the former, or instinctive class, we may rank
+the acts of sucking, swallowing, and crying, which are purely acts of
+instinct; while among the numerous class belonging to the latter, we
+include all those actions which are progressively improved, and which
+are really the result of experience, derived from the application of
+their acquired knowledge. As an example of these, we may instance the
+acts of winking with the eyelids on the approach of an object to the
+eye; the avoiding of a blow; the rejection of what is bitter or
+unpalatable; the efforts made to possess that which has been found
+pleasant; and the shunning of those acts for which it has been reproved
+or punished. All these, and thousands of similar acts, are really the
+result of a <i>direct application of previous knowledge</i>, and which,
+without the possession of that knowledge, never are, nor could be
+performed.</p>
+
+<p>Mankind in infancy being, in the intention of Nature, placed under the
+care of tender and intelligent <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>parents are not provided with many
+instinctive faculties. Their physical welfare is at first left
+altogether to the care of the nurse; but, from a very early period of
+consciousness, they intellectually become the pupils of Nature. Almost
+all their actions are the results of experience;&mdash;of knowledge acquired,
+and knowledge applied. Their attainments at the beginning are no doubt
+few;&mdash;but, from the first, they are well marked, and go on with
+increasing rapidity. The acquisition of knowledge by them, and
+especially the application of it, are evident to the most cursory
+observer. For example, we see a child cling to its keeper, and refuse to
+go to a stranger;&mdash;we see it when hungry stretch out its arms, and cry
+to get to its nurse;&mdash;and when it has fallen in its efforts to walk, it
+will not for some time attempt it again. These, and many more which will
+occur to the reader, are the results of Nature's teaching;&mdash;her
+suggestions to her pupil for the right application of its knowledge. The
+child has been taught from experience that it is safe and comfortable
+with its keeper, and it applies this knowledge by refusing to leave her.
+It has learned how, and by whom, its hunger is to be satisfied; and it
+applies this knowledge by seeking to be with its nurse. It has learned
+by experience, that the attempt to walk is dangerous; and it applies
+that knowledge by avoiding the danger. Here the child is wholly as yet
+in the hands of Nature; and it is quite evident, that her design in
+first enabling the pupil to acquire those portions of knowledge, was,
+that she might induce him to apply them for his safety and comfort. No
+doubt the mental powers of the child were cultivated and disciplined by
+the acquisition of the knowledge, and still more by its application; but
+this disciplining of the mind, and accumulation of knowledge, were
+evidently a secondary object, and not the primary one. Health and
+cheerfulness are gained by tilling the ground; yet the ground is not
+tilled <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span>for the purpose of securing health and cheerfulness. It is for
+the produce of the harvest. So, in like manner, the cultivation of the
+child's mind, and the reception of the seeds of knowledge, are merely
+means employed for a further end,&mdash;the harvest of comfort and usefulness
+to be afterwards reaped. From all this we are directly led to the
+conclusion, that it is the intention of Nature, that all the knowledge
+acquired should be put to use; and therefore, that nothing should be
+taught the young, in the first place at least, except that which is
+really useful; while the proper use of all that they learn should be
+diligently pointed out.</p>
+
+<p>It may appear to some, that this truth is so plain and obvious, as to
+require no further illustration or enforcement.&mdash;We sincerely wish that
+it were so. But long experience justifies us in being sceptical on the
+point. And as the establishment of this principle, and a thorough
+knowledge of its working, are perhaps of more value than any other truth
+in the whole range of educational science, we shall offer a few remarks
+on its validity and importance, before proceeding to examine the means
+by which Nature carries it into operation.</p>
+
+<p>That knowledge, when once acquired, is intended by Nature to be put to
+use, is proved negatively by the well known fact, that almost all our
+<i>mental</i> acquirements, when not used, are soon lost. They gradually fade
+from the mind, and are at last blotted from the memory. Hence the
+disappearance in after life of all the academical and collegiate
+acquirements of those youths who move in a sphere where their use is not
+required; and of those portions of the early attainments of even
+professional men, which are not necessary for their particular pursuits.
+By the universal operation of this principle, Nature gives fair warning
+of the folly of useless learning; and plainly indicates, that whenever
+the benefits which she confers <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>are not put to use as she designed, they
+will gradually, but most certainly, be withdrawn.</p>
+
+<p>The same fact is also proved positively:&mdash;For we find, that the proper
+use of any portion of our knowledge, is invariably rewarded by its
+becoming still more familiar. The student who puts a principle in
+chemistry to the test of experiment, will understand it better, remember
+it longer, and be able to apply it to useful purposes, much more readily
+than his companion who merely reflects upon it. And of two individuals,
+who by a lecture have been taught the duty and the delights of mercy,
+that one will learn it best, and remember it longest, who, immediately
+on hearing it, is prompted to relieve a fellow creature from distress,
+or to save a family from ruin.</p>
+
+<p>This principle of making every thing conduce to the promotion of
+practical good, seems to pervade all the works of God; and there is no
+department in Nature, mineral, vegetable, or animal, that does not
+afford proofs of its existence. Every thing that the Almighty has formed
+is practically useful; and is arranged in such a manner as to give the
+clearest indications, that it was designed to be turned to some useful
+purpose by man. The annual and diurnal motions of the earth in its
+orbit; the obliquity of its axis; the inequality of its surface, and the
+disposition and disruption of its strata, all shew the most consummate
+wisdom, and are severally a call to intelligent man to turn them to use.
+On these, and on every other department of Nature's works, there is
+written in legible characters, that it is the <i>use</i> of knowledge, and
+not the <i>possession</i> of it merely, that is recommended. This she teaches
+by every operation of her hand, both directly, and by analogy. For could
+we suppose that the vegetable creation were capable of receiving
+knowledge, we might conclude from various facts, that this principle was
+not confined to the animal kingdom alone, but that it regulated the
+operations of all organic existences. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span>The living vegetable has at least
+the appearance of acting under its influence; for, as if it knew that
+light was necessary for its health and growth, it invariably turns
+towards the light;&mdash;as if it knew that certain kinds of decayed matter
+were better fitted for its nourishment than others, it pushes out new
+fibrous roots in the direction of the spot where they are to be
+found;&mdash;and even when isolated on a rock, or a wall, at a distance from
+sufficient soil and moisture, it husbands its scanty means, and sends
+down from its elevation an extra root to the ground, to collect
+additional nourishment where it is to be had.</p>
+
+<p>In every department of animal life, also, the principle appears to
+exist, and exhibits itself in the conduct of all free agents, from the
+insect to the elephant. The dog that has been kindly treated in a
+particular house, seldom fails to visit it again; and when he is
+violently driven from another, the same principle indisposes him to
+return. It is upon record, that a surgeon who had bandaged the broken
+leg of a dog, was afterwards visited by his patient, who brought
+another, requiring a similar operation. The horse, in like manner, is
+proverbially sagacious in the application of his knowledge.
+Mismanagement in a groom in one instance, may create a "vice," which may
+lessen his value during life. This "vice," which is confirmed by
+practice, is nothing more than the repeated application of his
+knowledge. Such a "vice," accordingly, is best cured by avoiding the
+circumstances which originally gave rise to it, till it dies from his
+memory. Many other instances of a similar kind in the lower animals will
+readily occur to the reader, all of which lead directly to the
+conclusion, that, even in the brute creation, Nature not only prompts
+them to collect information from what happens around them, and to act in
+correspondence to its indications; but that, in fact, all the knowledge
+they receive, or are capable of acquiring above instinct, is retained or
+lost, exactly in proportion as it is, or is not, put to use.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>In the case of rational creatures, this great design of Nature is still
+more distinctly marked,&mdash;is intended for more important purposes,&mdash;and
+is carried on by a separate system of internal machinery, part of which
+at least is peculiar to man. This system of mental machinery consists of
+two kinds, one of which may, we think, with propriety get the popular
+name of the "Animal, or Common Sense," and the other has already
+received the appropriate name of "The Moral Sense," or conscience. To
+Nature's method of using these principles, for prompting and directing
+us in the use of our knowledge, we shall now shortly advert.</p>
+<br />
+<br /><a name="CHAP_IXA" id="CHAP_IXA"></a>
+<br />
+<br />
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h3>CHAP. IX.</h3>
+
+<h3><i>On Nature's Methods of Applying Knowledge by the Principle of the
+Animal,<br /> or Common Sense.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>When an infant, by laying hold of a hot tea-pot burns its hand, it
+refuses to touch it again;&mdash;when a child has been frightened from a park
+or field, he will not willingly enter it a second time;&mdash;and when any
+thing is thrown in the direction of the head, we instantly stoop, or
+bend to one side, to evade it. These are instances of the application of
+knowledge, by the principle of "common sense," which do not belong to
+instinct; and, in many cases at least, anticipate the exercise of
+reason. Our object at present, however, is with the principle, and not
+with its name.</p>
+
+<p>When we analyze these operations, together with their causes, we find,
+that there are certain portions of knowledge daily and hourly acquired
+by the senses, which become so interwoven with our sentiments and
+feelings, that they usually remain unobserved, till some special
+occasion calls for their application. Now the principle we speak of, if
+it indeed be a separate principle, is employed by Nature to apply this
+latent knowledge, and to induce her pupil instantly, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>without
+waiting for the decisions of reason, to perform certain actions, or to
+pursue a certain line of conduct, which we almost instinctively feel to
+be useful and safe. No sane child, for example, will deliberately stand
+in the way of a horse or a carriage at full speed,&mdash;or walk over a
+precipice,&mdash;or take burning coals from the fire with his fingers; were
+he to do so, we would not dignify the act so far as to say that it was
+"unreasonable," for that would be too mild an epithet,&mdash;but we would
+pronounce it at once to be "contrary to common sense."</p>
+
+<p>In like manner, were an adult to bemire himself in crossing a ditch,
+instead of making use of the stepping-stones placed there for the
+purpose; or if he were to stand till he were drenched with a
+thunder-shower, instead of taking shelter for the time in the
+neighbouring shed, we would not say that it was "unreasonable," but that
+it was "contrary to common sense." In short, whenever any thing is done
+which universal experience shews to be hurtful <i>to ourselves</i>, (not to
+others) it is invariably denominated an act "contrary to common sense;"
+but whenever it involves hurt <i>to others</i>, it takes another character,
+and becomes a breach of the "moral sense."</p>
+
+<p>It is not our design, however, to come out of our way at present, to
+adapt the name to the principle in Nature of which we are here speaking,
+and far less shall we attempt to mould the principle into a form
+suitable to the name. Our business is with the principle itself, as it
+appears in ourselves and others; and we use the term "common sense,"
+merely because at present we cannot find one more appropriate, or which
+would suit our purpose so well. If this name shall be found proper for
+it, it is well;&mdash;but if not, we leave it to others to provide a better.</p>
+
+<p>We have said, that Nature prompts to the use of knowledge by means of
+two distinct principles; the one, which may be denominated the "Animal,"
+or "Common Sense," refers to actions of which <i>we <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>ourselves</i> are the
+subjects; and the other, known by the term of the "Moral Sense," or
+conscience, refers to actions of which <i>others</i> are the subjects. It is
+the former of these that we are at present to investigate.</p>
+
+<p>We must all have observed the promptness with which we avoid any sudden
+danger, or inconvenience, before we have time to reason about the
+matter. As, for example, when we stumble, we instantly put forth the
+proper foot to prevent our fall. This cannot be said to be an act of the
+reasoning powers, because they have not had time to operate; and it is
+equally clear that it is not an act of instinct, because infants, who
+have only begun to walk have not the capacity of doing it. It is
+evidently another principle which, availing itself of the knowledge
+which the person has previously acquired by experience, now uses it
+specially for the occasion.</p>
+
+<p>That this application of our knowledge arises neither from instinct nor
+from reason, will be obvious from many circumstances of ordinary
+occurrence.&mdash;For example, when any object approaches the eye we
+instantly shut it;&mdash;when any missile is thrown at us, we instantly turn
+the head aside to evade it;&mdash;or when in walking something destroys our
+equilibrium and we stumble, we instantly bend the body in the proper
+direction, and to the precise point, necessary to restore our balance,
+and to prevent our fall.&mdash;Now it is obvious, that all these
+contingencies are provided for by one and the same principle, whatever
+that principle may be; and that they are acts which do not depend upon
+instinct, properly so called, is proved from the circumstance, that
+infants, before they are taught by experience that the eye is so tender,
+and even adults who have but newly acquired the use of their sight,
+neither shut their eyes at the approach of objects, nor turn away their
+heads when a missile is thrown at them.&mdash;And we think it is equally
+clear, that it cannot be the result of reasoning, in the sense in which
+we generally understand <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>that term, because the mind has no time for
+consideration, far less for reasoning, during the short moment that
+occurs between the cause and the effect.</p>
+
+<p>The object which we have chiefly in view at present is, to point out the
+great end designed by Nature in all these actions, which is simply <i>the
+application of knowledge</i>. There is the knowledge that objects entering
+the eye will give pain, and that the shutting of the eye will defend it.
+This we have shown is not an instinctive operation, but must have been
+acquired by experience;&mdash;and it is this principle, into the nature of
+which we are now enquiring, that prompted the child in the special case
+to apply its knowledge by shutting the eye. In like manner, in the case
+of the missile thrown at the head, there is a previous knowledge of the
+effect which it will produce, and a knowledge also of the means by which
+it is to be avoided,&mdash;and it is avoided;&mdash;and in the case of losing the
+equilibrium, there is nothing more than the application of a latent
+knowledge, now suddenly brought into use on the spur of the moment, that
+by the movement of the foot the body will be supported. The principle,
+whatever it be, which instigates children and adults to do all this, is
+the subject of our present enquiry, and which for the present we have
+denominated the "Animal," or "Common sense." We shall therefore a little
+more particularly attend to its various indications.</p>
+
+<p>The operation of this principle in the infant has already been pointed
+out. When it has learned by experience that its nurse is kind, it
+stretches forth its little hands, and desires to be with the
+nurse;&mdash;when in its first attempt at walking it experiences a fall, it
+applies this knowledge, by refusing again for some time to walk;&mdash;and
+when it burns its finger at the flame of the candle, the application of
+that knowledge induces it ever after to avoid both fire and flame.</p>
+
+<p>In after life the same principle continues to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>operate both
+independently of reason, and in conjunction with it. In encountering the
+air of a cold night, we, without reasoning on the matter, wrap ourselves
+closer in our cloak. When we turn a corner, and meet a sharp frosty
+wind, we lower the head to protect the uncovered face. When we emerge
+from the house, and perceive that the dulness of the day indicates rain,
+we almost instinctively return for a cloak or an umbrella. And the
+mariner at sunset, when he sees an opening in the sky indicating a
+storm, immediately takes in sail, and makes all snug for the night. In
+all these cases we perceive a principle within us, frequently operating
+along with reason, but sometimes also without it, which prompts us to
+apply our previous knowledge for our present comfort and advantage.<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a>
+The constant operation of such a principle in our nature, no matter by
+what name it is called, leads us, as plainly as analogy and natural
+phenomena can do, to conclude, that it ought to be carefully studied,
+and assiduously cultivated in the young, during the period usually
+assigned for their education.</p>
+
+<p>When we carefully trace the operation of this principle in common life,
+it appears that, in fact, the greater portion of our physical comforts
+depends upon it. "Experience" is but another name for it. We find some
+substances warmer, softer, harder, or more workable than others, and we
+apply this knowledge by substituting one for another. The savage finds
+the wigwam more convenient, or more easily come at, than a cave or a
+crevice in a rock, and he builds a wigwam;&mdash;he finds a hut more durable
+than a wigwam, and he substitutes a hut;&mdash;he at last finds a cottage
+still more convenient, and he advances in his desires and his abilities
+by his former experience, and he builds one.&mdash;In every advance, however,
+it is the application of his previous knowledge that increases his
+comforts, and tends to perpetuate them; and accordingly, as a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>proper
+and a general application of the "moral sense," leads directly to
+national <i>virtue</i>; so the proper and general application of this
+principle of "common sense" goes to promote every kind of personal and
+family <i>comfort</i>, as well as national <i>prosperity</i>. Its ramifications
+pierce through every design and action of industry and genius. It is the
+exercise of this principle alone which, in the worldly sense,
+distinguishes the wise man from the fool; and which gives all the
+superiority which is possessed by a civilized, over a savage community.
+It is the chief guardian of our safety, and the parent of every personal
+and domestic comfort. It is, in short, familiarity with its exercise
+that imparts confidence to the philosopher, decision to the legislator,
+dexterity to the artificer, and perfection to the artist. In each case
+it is the accumulation of knowledge <i>put to use</i>, which makes the
+distinction between one man and another; and it is by the aggregation of
+such men that a nation becomes prosperous. It must never therefore be
+forgotten, that it is not the possession of knowledge, but the use which
+we make of it, that confers distinction. For no truism is more
+incontrovertible than this, that knowledge which we cannot or do not
+use, is really useless.</p>
+
+<p>There is no wonder then that Nature should be at some pains in training
+her pupils to an exercise on which so much of their happiness and safety
+depends; and it is of corresponding importance, that we should
+investigate the means, and the mode by which she usually accomplishes
+her end. If we can successfully attain this knowledge, we may be enabled
+to pursue a similar course in the training of the young, and with
+decided advantage.</p>
+
+<p>When we take any one of the numerous examples of the working of this
+principle in the adult, and carefully analyze it, we can detect three
+distinct stages in the operation, before the effect is produced. The
+<i>first</i> is the knowledge of some useful truth, present <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>to the mind, and
+at the command of the will;&mdash;there is, <i>secondly</i>, an inference drawn
+from that truth, or portion of our knowledge, or the impression of an
+inference which was formerly drawn from it, and which, as we have seen
+in the infant, may remain long after the circumstance from which the
+lesson was derived has been forgotten;&mdash;and there is, <i>thirdly</i>, a
+special application of that inference or impression to our present
+circumstances. For example, in the case of the person leaving the house,
+and suddenly returning to provide himself with an umbrella, there is
+first the knowledge of a fact, that "the sky is lowering;" then there is
+an inference drawn from this fact, that "there will most probably be
+rain;" but the comfort&mdash;the whole benefit arising from this knowledge,
+and from this reasoning upon it,&mdash;depends on the third stage of the
+operation, which is therefore the most important of all, namely, the
+application of the inference, or lesson, to his present circumstances. A
+mere knowledge of the fact that the sky lowered, would have remained a
+barren and a useless truth in the mind, unless he had proceeded to draw
+the proper inference from it; and the inference itself, after it was
+drawn, would have done him no good, but must rather have added to his
+uneasiness, had he not proceeded to the third step of the operation, and
+applied the whole to the regulation of his conduct, in providing himself
+with an umbrella or a cloak.</p>
+
+<p>In like manner, in the supposed case of the mariner expecting a storm,
+there was first the knowledge of the fact, that the "sky was in a
+certain state." Now of this knowledge every person on board might have
+been in possession as well as the master himself, without the slightest
+benefit accruing to themselves or the ship, unless they had been
+trained, or enabled to draw the proper inference or lesson from it. The
+mere possession of the knowledge, therefore, would have been of no
+advantage. But the practised eye, and the previous experience of the
+master, enabled <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span>him to draw the inference, that "there will be a
+storm." Even this, however, would not have saved the ship and crew,
+without the third, and the most important step of all,&mdash;the application
+of that inference or lesson to their present condition. It was that
+which induced him to give the necessary orders to prepare for the storm,
+and thus to secure the safety both of the ship and of all on board.</p>
+
+<p>Again, in the case of the infant burning its finger, there appears to be
+something like a similar process, which we can trace much better than
+the child itself. The child puts its finger to the flame of the candle,
+and it feels pain; from which it learns, for the first time, that flame
+burns. This is the knowledge which it has acquired. But there is also an
+inference drawn from that knowledge, not by reasoning, but by the
+operation of the principle under consideration, an inference of which it
+is probable the child itself at the time is unconscious, but the
+existence of which is sufficiently proved by its uniform conduct
+afterwards. By the operation of this principle in the child's mind,
+before he can reason, he has inferred, that if he shall again touch
+flame, he will again feel pain. He will very probably forget the
+particular circumstance in which his finger was burned, but the
+inference then drawn,&mdash;the impression made upon the mind, and which
+corresponds to an inference,&mdash;still remains, and is made the chief
+instrument which Nature employs in this most important part of all her
+valuable educational processes. The child accordingly is found ever
+after, not only preserving the particular finger that was burned, but
+all its fingers and members, from a burning candle; and not from a
+candle only, but from fire and flame of every kind.</p>
+
+<p>This appears to be the natural order of that process of which we are
+here speaking; and before leaving it, there are two or three
+circumstances connected with it, that we ought not to omit noticing,
+more particularly, because the whole of them appear to hold <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span>out
+additional evidence of the little value which Nature attaches to
+knowledge for its own sake, and of her decided approval of its
+acquisition, only, or at least chiefly, when it is reduced to practice.</p>
+
+<p>The first of these circumstances is, that Nature, in all cases, teaches
+popularly&mdash;not philosophically; that is, she does not refuse to teach
+one part of a connected series of phenomena, because the whole is not
+yet perceived; nor does she neglect the use of the legitimate
+application of an ascertained truth, because the principle or law by
+which it acts remains as yet undiscovered. Her object evidently is, the
+attainment of the most <i>useful</i> part of the knowledge presented to her
+pupil, and the <i>practical use</i> of that part; leaving the investigation
+of the other parts to the will or convenience of the person afterwards.
+The infant accordingly made use of its knowledge, although it knew
+nothing about the nature of flame; and the man and the mariner would
+have done as they did, although they had known nothing at all about the
+science of meteorology.</p>
+
+<p>The second remark which we would here make is, that Nature, in most
+cases, appears to put much more value on the inferences, or lessons,
+drawn from the knowledge we have acquired, than she does upon the
+knowledge itself. For example, in the case of the infant burning its
+finger, the circumstance itself will soon be forgotten; but the
+inference, or the impression acquired by its means, will remain. And
+when at any subsequent period it avoids fire or flame, its mind is not
+so much occupied by the abstract truth that flame will burn, as by the
+lesson learned from that truth, that it should not meddle with it. This
+inference it now practically applies to its present situation. That the
+abstract truth,&mdash;the knowledge originally derived from the fact,&mdash;is
+included in the lesson, may be quite true; but what we wish at present
+more particularly to point out is, that <i>it is seldom adverted to by the
+infant</i>. The inference,&mdash;the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>lesson which the truth suggested,&mdash;is all
+that the child thought of. That alone is the fabric which Nature has
+been employed in rearing; and the original truth has been used merely as
+scaffolding for the purpose. The edifice itself, accordingly, having
+been completed, the scaffolding is allowed to fall, as having answered
+its design.</p>
+
+<p>The same conclusion may be come to, by attending to the circumstances
+connected with the operation of the principle in adults.&mdash;The person who
+returned for his great-coat or umbrella after having drawn the inference
+from the appearance of the sky, thought only of the coming shower; and
+we could easily suppose a case, where the original indication of the sky
+might be totally forgotten, while the full impression that it would rain
+might still continue. In like manner, the mariner, in the bustle of
+preparation, thinks only of the dreaded storm, while the original
+circumstance,&mdash;the knowledge from which the inference was drawn,&mdash;is now
+unheeded, or entirely forgotten.</p>
+
+<p>The other circumstance to which we would here solicit attention, as
+proving the same thing, is one to which we formerly alluded. It is the
+remarkable fact, that knowledge, of whatever kind, when it is practised,
+becomes more and more familiar and useful; while that which is not acted
+upon, is soon blotted from the memory and lost. Writing, arithmetic, and
+spelling, not to speak of grammar, geography, and history, when not
+exercised in after life, are frequently found of no avail, even at times
+when they are specially required.&mdash;Why is this? They were once known.
+The knowledge was communicated at a time when the mind and memory were
+best fitted for receiving and retaining them. But Nature in this, as in
+every other instance, has been true to herself; and the knowledge which
+is not used has been blighted, and at last removed from the memory and
+lost.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>From all these circumstances taken together, we are led to conclude,
+that Nature never conveys knowledge without intending it to be
+used;&mdash;that by a principle in our constitution, which we have
+denominated "common sense," Nature prompts even infants to employ their
+knowledge for their own special benefit;&mdash;that this principle continues
+invariably to act, till it is assisted or superseded by reason;&mdash;and
+that the process consists in drawing inferences, or lessons, from known
+facts, and in practically applying them to present circumstances. All
+which points the Educationist directly to the conclusion, that the
+communication of knowledge is one of the <i>means</i>, but not the <i>end</i>, of
+education;&mdash;that the lessons derived from the knowledge communicated,
+are infinitely more valuable than the knowledge itself;&mdash;and that the
+great design of education is, and ought to be, to train the young to
+know how to use, and to put to use, not only the knowledge communicated
+at school, but all the knowledge which they may acquire in their future
+journey through life.</p>
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> Note F.</p></div>
+<br />
+<br /><a name="CHAP_XA" id="CHAP_XA"></a>
+<br />
+<br />
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h3>CHAP. X.</h3>
+
+<h3><i>On Nature's Method of applying Knowledge by means of the Moral Sense,<br />
+or Conscience.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>Nature enables her pupils to apply knowledge by means of the moral
+sense, or conscience, as well as by the animal, or common sense. There
+is however this great difference in the manner in which they
+operate,&mdash;that whereas every infringement of the natural or physical
+laws which regulate the application of knowledge by what we have called
+the common sense, is invariably followed by its proper punishment,&mdash;the
+consequences of infringing the laws which regulate the moral sense, are
+neither so immediate, nor at the time so apparent. The child knows, that
+by <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span>putting his finger to the candle, burning and pain will instantly
+follow;&mdash;but the evil consequences of purloining sweet-meats, or telling
+a lie to avoid punishment, are not so obvious. Does Nature then put less
+value on moral integrity, than on worldly prudence? Certainly not. But
+in the latter case she deals with man more as a physical and
+intellectual being; and in the former, as a moral, a responsible, and an
+immortal being. The lower animals to a great extent participate with us
+in the benefits arising from attention to the laws which govern physical
+enjoyments; but they know nothing of a moral sense, which is peculiar to
+intelligent and accountable creatures. From this we may safely conclude,
+that the application of knowledge by means of the moral sense, or
+conscience, is of infinitely more importance to man than the application
+of his knowledge by the animal, or common sense.</p>
+
+<p>For the purpose of arriving at accurate conclusions on this subject, in
+reference to education and the application of knowledge, we shall
+endeavour to investigate a few of the phenomena connected with the moral
+sense, as these are exhibited in the young and in adults; and shall, in
+doing so, attempt to trace the laws by which these phenomena are
+severally guided.</p>
+
+<p>1. The first thing we would here remark, is, that the operations of the
+moral sense appear to be resolvable into two classes, which may be
+termed its <i>legislative</i> and its <i>executive</i> powers. When conscience
+leads us merely to judge and to decide upon the character of a feeling
+or an action, whether good or evil, it acts in its <i>legislative</i>
+capacity; but when it reproves and punishes, or approves and rewards,
+for actions done, it acts in its <i>executive</i> capacity. These two
+departments of the moral sense seem quite distinct in their nature and
+operations; and, as we shall immediately see, they not only exist
+separately, but they sometimes act independently of each other.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>2. Another circumstance connected with conscience is, that her
+<i>legislative</i> powers do not develope themselves, nor appear to act, till
+the reasoning powers of the person begin to expand. Then, and then only
+does the pupil of Nature, who has not had the benefit of previous moral
+instruction, begin to decide on the merit or demerit of actions.
+Infants, and children who are left without instruction, appear to have
+no distinct perception that certain actions are right, and others wrong.
+In infancy, we frequently perceive the most rebellious outbreakings of
+ungoverned passion, with tearing, and scratching, and beating the
+parent, without any indication of compunction, either at the time, or
+after it has taken place. Even in children of more advanced years, while
+they remain without moral instruction, and before the reasoning powers
+are developed, the injuries which they occasion to each other, or which
+they inflict upon the old, the decrepit, or the helpless, are matters of
+unmingled glee and gratification, without the slightest sign of
+conscience interfering to prevent them, or of giving them any uneasiness
+after the mischief is done. Instead of sorrow, such children are found
+invariably delighted with the recollection of their tricks; and never
+fail to recapitulate them to their companions afterwards, with triumph
+and satisfaction.&mdash;But it is not so with the adult. As soon as the
+reasoning powers are developed, the legislative functions of conscience
+begin to act, enabling and impelling the person to decide at once on
+actions, whether they are right or wrong, good or evil. Such a person,
+therefore, could not strike nor abuse his parents, without knowing that
+he was doing wrong; nor could he tantalize or injure the aged or the
+helpless, without conscience putting him upon his guard, as well as
+reproving and punishing the crime by compunctious feelings after it was
+committed.</p>
+
+<p>From this we perceive, that the legislative powers of conscience are
+usually dormant in the child, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>do not, when left to Nature, act till
+the reasoning powers have exhibited themselves; from which we are led to
+conclude, that it is by an <i>early education</i>,&mdash;by <i>moral instruction</i>
+alone,&mdash;that the young are to be guarded against crime, and prepared and
+furnished to good works.</p>
+
+<p>3. This leads us to observe another remarkable circumstance,
+corroborative also of the above remark, which is, that although the
+legislative powers of conscience are but very imperfectly, if at all
+developed in children, yet the <i>executive</i> powers are never absent,
+where moral instruction has previously been communicated.&mdash;A child of
+very tender years, and even an infant, may be taught, that certain
+actions are good and should be performed, while others are evil and must
+be avoided. This is matter of daily experience; and a little attention
+to the subject will shew, that moral instruction in the case of the
+young, acts the same part that the legislative powers of conscience do
+in the adult. But what we wish at present more particularly to remark
+is, that whenever such moral instruction has been communicated, Nature
+at once sanctions it, and is ever ready to use the executive powers of
+the conscience for the purpose of rendering it effective. When therefore
+good actions have been pointed out as praiseworthy and deserving of
+approbation, there is a strong inducement to practise them, and a
+delightful feeling of satisfaction and self-approval after they have
+been performed. And when, on the contrary, certain other actions have
+been denounced as wicked, and which, if indulged in, will be punished
+either by their parents or by God, the child feels all the hesitation
+and fear to commit them, that is observable in similar cases among older
+persons; and, when committed he experiences the same remorse, and
+terror, and self-reproach, which in the adult follow the perpetration of
+an aggravated crime. This is a circumstance which must be obvious to
+every reader; and it distinctly intimates, that the God of Nature
+intends that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>the legislative powers of conscience should in all cases
+be <i>anticipated</i> by the parent and teacher. The moral instruction or the
+young is to be the rule; the neglect of it, although in some measure
+provided for, is to be the exception. The lesson is as plain as analogy
+can teach us, that, while there is written on the heart of man such an
+outline of the moral law as will leave him without excuse when called to
+judgment, yet it is not the design of the Creator that, in a matter of
+such vast importance as the moral perfection of a rational creature, we
+should trust to that, and, like savages, leave our children to gather
+information respecting moral good and evil solely from the slowly
+developed and imperfect dictates of their own nature. The whole
+phenomena of the natural conscience shew, that although God secures the
+operation of the legislative powers of conscience to direct the actions
+of the man when they are really required, yet he intends that they
+should be anticipated by moral instruction given by the parent. And this
+is proved by the remarkable fact, that when this instruction is
+communicated, the executive powers of conscience immediately come into
+operation, and homologate this instruction, by approving of it, adopting
+it, and acting upon it.</p>
+
+<p>4. This is still farther obvious from a fourth consideration, which is,
+that wherever moral instruction has been communicated to the young, the
+legislative powers of conscience are either altogether superseded, or
+left dormant.&mdash;Every person who in youth has received a regular moral
+and religious education, and who retains upon his mind the knowledge
+then communicated, is found through life to act upon <i>that</i> knowledge
+chiefly, if not entirely. He seldom thinks of the dictates of his
+natural conscience, and but rarely perceives them. In every decision to
+which he comes as to what is right or wrong, reference is generally made
+in his mind, either to the declarations of Scripture, or to the moral
+instructions which <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span>he has formerly received; and upon these he
+invariably falls back, when any action of a doubtful character is
+presented for his approval or rejection. From this very remarkable
+circumstance, we at once ascertain what are the intentions of Nature.
+She very plainly requires the early moral instruction of the young, by
+those into whose hands she has placed them; because she is here found to
+encourage and acknowledge this instruction at the expense of her own
+legislative powers, which not being now required, are allowed to lie
+idle.</p>
+
+<p>5. Another circumstance connected with this subject, is the well known
+fact, that children are found capable of moral instruction long before
+the time that Nature usually begins to develope the legislative powers
+of the conscience.&mdash;A child, almost as soon as he can be made to know
+that he has an earthly father, may be taught that he has another Father
+in heaven; and when he can be induced to feel that a certain line of
+conduct is necessary to secure the favour of the one, he may also be led
+to comprehend that certain dispositions and actions will please the
+other. Now, that a child can be taught and trained to do all this with
+respect to his parents, is matter of daily experience. As soon as he can
+understand any thing, and long before he can speak, he may be enabled to
+distinguish between right and wrong, as well as to do that which is
+good, and to avoid that which is evil; and in every case of this kind,
+Nature sanctions the moral instruction communicated, by invariably
+following it up with the practical operation of the executive powers of
+conscience, which always approve that which the child thinks is good,
+and reprove that which he supposes to be wrong. The triumphant gleam of
+satisfaction which brightens the countenance of a child, and the
+laughing look and pause for approval when he has done something that he
+knows to be right, are abundant proofs of the truth of this observation;
+while his cowering <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span>scowl, and fear of reproof or punishment, when he
+has done that which is wrong, are equal indications of the same thing.
+Nature, therefore, that has given the capacity of distinguishing between
+good and evil when thus communicated, and that invariably approves of
+the operation, and assists in it, has most certainly intended that it
+should be exercised. This consideration, taken in connection with its
+advantages to the family, to the child, to the future man, and to
+society, plainly points out the value and the importance of early
+religious instruction and moral training.</p>
+
+<p>6. Another circumstance, in connection with the application of knowledge
+by means of the conscience, should not be overlooked. It is the
+remarkable fact, that Nature has implanted in the mind of the young a
+principle, by which they unhesitatingly believe whatever they are
+told.&mdash;A child who has not been abused by frequent deceptions, is a
+perfect picture of docility. He never for a moment doubts either his
+parent or his teacher when he tells him what is right and what is wrong.
+If he be taught that it is a sin to eat flesh on Fridays, he never
+questions the truth of it; and if told that he may kill spiders, but
+should not hurl flies, he may wonder at the difference, but he never
+doubts the correctness of the statement. This disposition in children is
+applicable to every kind of instruction offered to them;&mdash;but the
+superior importance of moral, to every other kind of truth, and the
+beneficial effects of the principle when applied to moral and religious
+training, shew that it is chiefly designed by Nature for aiding the
+parent and teacher in this most important part of their labours.</p>
+
+<p>7. Another circumstance connected with this subject is, that the
+executive powers of conscience always act according to the belief of the
+person, and not according to what would have been the dictates of
+conscience in the exercise of her legislative functions.&mdash;This of itself
+is a sufficient proof of the separate and independent agency of these
+two principles. The <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>legislative powers, as at first implanted in the
+heart of man, there is reason to believe, would, if allowed to act
+freely, never have been in error; and even still, they are generally a
+witness for the purity of truth;&mdash;but the executive powers invariably
+act, not according to what is really the truth, but according to what
+the person himself believes to be right or wrong. The child who was told
+that it was a sin to eat flesh on a Friday, would be reproved by his
+conscience were he to indulge his appetite by doing so;&mdash;and the
+conscience of the zealous Musselman, which would smite him for indulging
+in a sip of wine, would commend and reward him by its approval, for
+indulging in cruelty and injustice to the unbeliever in his faith. The
+executive functions of conscience then act independently of the
+legislative, and frequently in opposition to them. There must be a
+feeling of wrong, before the executive powers will reprove; and there
+must be a sense of merit, before they will commend;&mdash;but a mistake in
+either case makes no apparent difference. This is another, and a
+powerful argument for the early moral instruction of the young; and it
+shews us also, the greater value which Nature puts upon the
+<i>application</i> and <i>use</i> of knowledge, than upon its possession. She not
+only encourages this application in all ordinary cases; but here we find
+her, for the purpose of maintaining the general principle, lending her
+assistance in the application and use of the knowledge received, even
+when the knowledge itself is erroneous, and the application mischievous.</p>
+
+<p>8. Another important circumstance which is worthy of especial notice,
+is, that conscience is much more readily acted upon by <i>examples</i>, than
+by <i>precepts</i>.&mdash;In communicating a knowledge of duty, this principle in
+Nature has become proverbial; but it is not less true with respect to
+the executive powers, in approving or reproving that which is right or
+wrong. It is the prerogative of conscience to excite us to approve or
+condemn the conduct of others, as well as our <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>own; and this is
+regulated, not by strict truth, but by our belief at the time, whether
+that belief be correct or the contrary. Now the precept, "Thou shalt not
+kill," would be sufficient to make the executive powers of conscience
+watchful, in deterring the individual from the crime, or in reproving
+and punishing him if he committed it. But the mere precept would have
+but little effect in exhibiting to him the full atrocity of the sin, in
+comparison with an anecdote or a story which detailed its commission.
+But even this would not be so powerful as the effect produced by a
+murder committed in a neighbouring street, and still more were it
+perpetrated in his own presence. The necessary inference to be drawn
+from this remarkable fact is, that moral truth is much more effectively
+taught by example than by precept; and accordingly we find, that at
+least four-fifths of scripture, which is altogether a moral instrument,
+consist of narrative, and are given specially, "that the man of God may
+be perfect, thoroughly furnished to every good work."</p>
+
+<p>9. Another circumstance worthy of observation is, that the executive
+powers of conscience appear to be exceedingly partial when exercised
+upon actions done by <i>ourselves</i>, in comparison of its decisions upon
+the same actions when they are committed by <i>others</i>.&mdash;When we ourselves
+perform a good action, the approval of our conscience is more lively and
+more extensive, than it would have been had the good action been that of
+another. On the contrary, it would be more ready to perform its
+functions, and more powerful in impressing upon our minds the demerit or
+wickedness of an action committed by another, than if we ourselves had
+committed it. The reason of this is obviously self-love, which partly
+overbears the natural operations of this principle. Violence of passion
+and strong desire, when we are tempted to commit a crime, are hostile
+movements against the dictates of conscience; and they too frequently,
+by <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>their excess, stifle and drown the still small voice which does
+speak out, but which, for the moment, is not heard within us.&mdash;But
+nothing of this kind takes place when the crime is committed by others.
+We are then much more impartial; and conscience is permitted to utter
+her voice, and to make her impressions without opposition. This
+impartial decision on the conduct of others, is found to be a great
+means of preventing us from the future commission of a similar crime;
+and this affords us another powerful argument in favour of early
+instruction and moral training. By attending early to this duty, the
+mind of the child is made up, and sentence has been pronounced on
+certain acts, before selfishness or the passions have had an opportunity
+of blinding the mind, or silencing the conscience. By proper moral
+training the pupil is fortified and prepared for combating his evil
+inclinations when temptations occur; but without this, he will have to
+encounter sudden temptations at a great disadvantage.</p>
+
+<p>10. Another circumstance connected with this subject is, that the moral
+sentiments and feelings above all others, are improved and strengthened
+by exercise; and are weakened, and often destroyed by disregard or
+opposition.&mdash;Every instance of moral exercise or moral discipline,
+invigorates the executive powers of conscience, and renders the moral
+perceptions of the person more acute and tender. Every successful
+struggle against a temptation, implants in the mind of a child a noble
+consciousness of dignity, and confers a large amount of moral strength,
+and a firmer determination to resist others. In this respect, the good
+derived from the mere knowledge of a duty and its actual performance is
+immense. A child who is merely told that a certain action is
+praiseworthy, is by no means so sensible of the fact, or of its value,
+as he is after he has actually performed it; and when, on the contrary,
+he is told that a certain action is wrong, he is no doubt prepared to
+avoid it; but it is <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>not till he has been tempted to its commission, and
+has successfully overcome the temptation, that he is fully aware of its
+enormity. When he has successfully resisted the first temptation, he is
+much better prepared than any exhortation or warning could make him for
+resisting and repelling a second;&mdash;while every successive victory will
+give strength to the executive powers of the conscience, and will render
+future conflicts less hazardous, and resistance more easy. For the same
+reason, an amiable action frequently performed does not pall by
+repetition, but appears more and more amiable, till the doing of it
+grows into a habit; and the approval of conscience becoming every day
+more satisfactory, the person will be stimulated to its frequent and
+regular observance.</p>
+
+<p>But the opposite of this is equally true.&mdash;The continued habit of
+suppressing the voice of conscience will greatly weaken, and will at
+last destroy its executive powers. When a person knows that a certain
+action is wrong, and is tempted to commit it,&mdash;conscience will speak
+out, and for the first time at least it will be listened to. But if this
+warning be neglected, and the sin be committed, the conscience will be
+proportionally weakened, and the self-will of the individual will
+acquire additional strength. When the temptation again presents itself,
+it is with redoubled power, and it meets with less resistance. It will
+invariably be found in such cases, that the person felt much more
+difficulty in resisting the admonitions of conscience in the case of the
+first temptation, than in that of the second; and he will also feel more
+during the second than he will during the third. Frequent resistance
+offered to the executive powers of conscience will at last lay them
+asleep. The beginning of this downward career is always the most
+difficult; but when once fairly begun, it grows every day more easy,
+till the habit of sin becomes like a second nature.</p>
+
+<p>11. There is yet another feature in the exhibition of the moral sense in
+adults, which ought not to be <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span>overlooked by the Educationist in his
+treatment of the young. We here allude to the remarkable fact, that the
+conscience scarcely ever refers to consequences connected merely with
+this world and time, but compels the man, in spite of himself, to fear,
+that his actions will, in some way or other, have an influence upon his
+happiness or his misery in another world, and through eternity.&mdash;The
+mere uneasiness arising from the fear of detection and punishment by
+men, is a perfectly different kind of feeling, and never is, and never
+ought to be, dignified with the name of conscience. It is the
+consequence of a mere animal calculation of chances;&mdash;similar to the
+feelings which give rise to the cautious prowling of the hungry lion, or
+the stealthy advances of the timorous fox. But the forebodings, as well
+as the gnawings of conscience, extend much farther, and strike much
+deeper, than these superficial and animal sensations. Conscience in man,
+as long as it is permitted to act freely, has always a reference to God,
+to a future judgment, and to eternity, and is but rarely affected by
+worldly considerations. The valuable lesson to be drawn from this
+circumstance obviously is, that the parent and teacher ought, in their
+moral training of the young, to make use of the same principle. The
+anticipated approbation or displeasure of their earthly parents or
+teachers, or even the fear of the rod and correction, is not enough.
+Children are capable of being restrained by much higher motives, and
+stimulated to duty by nobler and more generous feelings. The greatness,
+the holiness, the unwearied goodness, and the omnipresence of their
+heavenly Father, present to the rational and tender affections of the
+young, a constantly increasing stimulus to obedience and
+self-controul;&mdash;while the fear of mere physical suffering will be found
+daily to decrease, and may perhaps in some powerful minds at last
+altogether disappear. The horse and the dog were intended to be trained
+in the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>one way;&mdash;but rational and intelligent minds were obviously
+intended to be trained in the other.</p>
+
+<p>Of these facts, connected as they are with the application of knowledge
+by means of the moral sense, the Educationist must make use for the
+perfecting of his science. They are the most valuable, and therefore
+they ought to form the most important branch of his investigations. All
+the other parts of Nature's teaching were but means;&mdash;this is obviously
+the great end she designed by using them, and therefore it ought to be
+his also.</p>
+
+<p>In regard to the practical working of this important part of Nature's
+educational process, we need only remark here, that the application of
+the pupil's knowledge connected with the moral sense, is precisely the
+same in form, as in that connected with the common sense. There is
+always here first, as in the former case, some fundamental truth,
+generally derived from Scripture, or founded on some moral maxim, and
+presented in the form of a precept, a promise, a threatening, or an
+example;&mdash;there is next a lesson or inference drawn from this
+truth;&mdash;and there is, lastly, a practical application of that lesson or
+inference to present circumstances.</p>
+
+<p>For the purpose of illustrating this, let us suppose that a boy who has
+been trained in imitation of Nature, is tempted by some ungodly
+acquaintances to join with them in absenting himself from public
+worship, and in breaking the Sabbath. The moment that such a temptation
+is suggested to him, a feeling arises in his mind, which will take
+something like the following form:&mdash;"I ought not to absent myself from
+public worship;"&mdash;"I ought not to break the Sabbath;"&mdash;"I ought not to
+keep bad company." Here are three distinct lessons suited to the
+occasion, obviously derived from his previous knowledge, and which he
+has been trained either directly or indirectly to draw from "the only
+rule of duty," the Bible. When, accordingly, the temptation is farther
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>pressed upon him, and the reasons of his refusal are regularly put into
+form, they appear in something like the following shape and order:&mdash;"I
+must not absent myself from public worship; for thus it is written,
+'Forget not the assembling of yourselves together;' and, 'Jesus, <i>as his
+custom was</i>, went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day.'"&mdash;"I must not
+profane this holy day; for thus it is written, 'Remember the Sabbath day
+to keep it holy,'"&mdash;And, "I must not go with these boys; for thus it is
+written, 'Go not in the way of the ungodly;' and 'Evil communications
+corrupt good manners.'"</p>
+
+<p>Whoever will investigate the subject closely, will find, that the above
+is a pretty correct picture of the mental process, wherever temptation
+is opposed and overcome by means of religious principle;&mdash;but it is also
+worthy of remark, that the form is still nearly the same by whomsoever a
+temptation is resisted, and whether they do or do not take the
+Scriptures for their text-book and directory. The only difference in
+such a case is, that their lessons have been drawn from some <i>other</i>
+source. For example, another boy exposed to the above temptation might
+successfully resist it upon the following grounds. He might say, "I must
+not absent myself from public worship; because I shall then lose the
+promised reward for taking home the text;"&mdash;"I dare not profane the
+Sabbath; because, if I did, my father would punish me;"&mdash;"I will not go
+with these boys; because I would be ashamed to be seen in their
+company." In this latter example, we have the same lessons, and the same
+application, although these lessons have been derived from a more
+questionable, and a much more variable source. In both cases, however,
+it is the same operation of Nature, and which we ought always to imitate
+therefore upon scriptural and solid grounds.</p>
+
+<p>These examples might be multiplied in various forms, and yet they would
+in every case be found substantially alike. The application of
+knowledge, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>whether by the common or the moral sense, is carried forward
+only in one way, in which the truth, the lesson, and the application,
+follow each other in natural order, whether they be perceived or not. To
+this process, therefore, every branch and portion of our knowledge ought
+to be adapted, as it is obviously the great end designed by Nature in
+all her previous endeavours. The parent, therefore, or the teacher, who
+wilfully passes over, or but slightly attends to these plain
+indications, is really betraying his trust, and deeply injuring the
+future prospects of his immortal charge.</p>
+
+<p>The several circumstances enumerated in the previous part of this
+chapter, as connected with the moral sense, are capable of suggesting
+many important hints for the establishment of education; but there are
+one or two connected with the subject as a whole, to which we must very
+shortly allude.</p>
+
+<p>In the first place, from the foregoing facts we are powerfully led to
+the conclusion, that all kinds of physical good, such as health,
+strength, beauty, riches, and honours, and even the higher attainments
+of intellectual sagacity and knowledge, are, in the estimation of
+Nature, not once to be compared with the very lowest of the moral
+acquirements. With respect to the former, man shares them, though in a
+higher degree, with the brute creation;&mdash;but <i>morals</i> are altogether
+peculiar to higher intelligences. To man, in particular, the value of
+moral discipline is beyond calculation:&mdash;For, however much the present
+ignorance and grossness of men's minds may deceive them in weighing
+their respective worth, yet it would be easy to shew, that the knowledge
+and practice of but one additional truth in morals, are of more real
+value to a child, than a whole lifetime of physical enjoyment. Nature
+has accordingly implanted in his constitution, a complete system of
+moral machinery, to assist the parent in this first and most important
+part of his duty,&mdash;that of guiding his children in the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span>paths of
+religion and virtue. The executive powers of conscience are always alive
+and active, stimulating or restraining both young and old, wherever the
+action proposed partakes of the character of right or wrong. And, even
+where the parental duties in this respect have been neglected, Nature
+has, in part, graciously provided a remedy. In all such cases, during
+the years of advancing manhood, the law is gradually and vividly written
+upon the heart. Its dictates are generally, no doubt, dimmed and defaced
+by the natural depravity and recklessness of the sinner; but even then,
+they are sufficiently legible to leave him without excuse for his
+neglect of their demands.</p>
+
+<p>The preference which Nature gives to moral acquirements, is demonstrated
+also by another feature in her different modes of applying knowledge by
+the common and the moral senses. In the attainment of physical good,
+Nature leaves men, as she does the lower animals, in a great measure to
+themselves, under the guardianship of the common sense; but, in respect
+to actions that are morally good or evil, she deals with them in a much
+more solemn and dignified manner. A transgression of the laws of the
+natural or common sense, is, without discrimination and without mercy,
+visited with present and corresponding punishment; plainly indicating,
+that with respect to these there is to be no future reckoning;&mdash;while
+the trial and final judgment of moral acts are usually reserved for a
+future, a more solemn, and a more comprehensive investigation.</p>
+
+<p>Another inference which legitimately arises out of the above
+considerations, as well as from the facts themselves, is, that religion
+and morals are really intended to be the chief object of attention in
+the education of the young. This is a circumstance so clearly and so
+frequently pointed out to us, in our observation of Nature's educational
+processes, that no person, we think, of a philosophic turn of mind, can
+consistently refuse his assent to it. The facts <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>are so numerous, and
+the legitimate inferences to be drawn from them are so plain, that
+pre-conceived opinions should never induce us either to blink them from
+fear, or deny them from prejudice. These facts and inferences too, it
+should be observed, present themselves to our notice in all their own
+native power and simplicity, invulnerable in their own strength, and, in
+one sense, altogether independent of revelation. They are, no doubt,
+efficiently supported in every page of the Christian Record; but,
+without revelation, they force themselves upon our conviction, and
+cannot be consistently refuted. We state this fearlessly, from a
+consideration of numerous facts, to a few of which, selected from among
+many, we shall, before concluding, very shortly advert.</p>
+
+<p>In the first place, it is obvious to the most cursory observer, that
+moral attainments and moral greatness are more honoured by Nature, and
+are, of course, more valuable to man, than the possession of either
+intellectual or physical good.&mdash;Nature has, to the possessor, made
+virtue its own reward, in that calm consciousness of dignity,
+self-approval, and peace, which are its natural results; while, even
+from the mere looker-on, she compels an approval. On the contrary, we
+find, that the highest intellectual or physical attainments, when
+coupled with vice, lead directly and invariably to corresponding depths
+of degradation and misery. No one, we think, can deny this as a general
+principle; and if it be admitted, the question is settled; for no person
+acting rationally would seek the <i>lesser</i> good for his child, at the
+expense of the <i>greater</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Another proof of the same fact is, that Nature has provided for the
+physical and intellectual education of the young, by means of the animal
+or "common sense;" while morals are, in a great measure, left to the
+education of the parents. The principle of common sense, as we have
+seen, begins its operations and discipline in early infancy, and
+continues to act <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>through life; but the culture of the moral sense,&mdash;by
+far the most important of the two,&mdash;is left during infancy and childhood
+very much to the affections of the natural guardians of the child, and
+to the results of their education. Hence it is, that while Nature amply
+provides for the <i>neglect</i> of this duty, by the developement of the
+legislative powers of conscience towards manhood, they are comparatively
+feeble, and in ordinary cases are but little thought of or observed,
+wherever this duty has timeously been attended to. From all these
+circumstances we infer, that it is the intention of Nature, that the
+establishment and culture of religion and morals should in every case
+form the chief objects of education,&mdash;the main business of the family
+and the school;&mdash;an intention which she has pointed out and guarded by
+valuable rewards on the one hand, and severe penalties on the other.
+When the duty is faithfully attended to, Nature lends her powerful
+assistance, by the early developement of the executive powers of
+conscience, and the virtue of the pupil is the appropriate reward to
+both parties; but, when this is omitted, the growing depravity of the
+child becomes at once the reproof and the punishment of the parents, for
+this wilful violation of Nature's designs.</p>
+
+<p>In conclusion, it may be necessary to remark, that from these latter
+circumstances, another and a directly opposite inference may be drawn,
+which we must not allow to pass without observation.&mdash;It may be said,
+that the very postponement of the legislative powers of conscience till
+the years of manhood, shews, that religion and morals are not designed
+to be taught till that period arrive. Now, to this there are two
+answers.&mdash;<i>First</i>, if it were correct, it would set aside, and render
+useless almost all the other indications of Nature on this subject. In
+accordance with the view taken of the circumstances as above, these
+indications are perfectly harmonious and effective; but, in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>the view of
+the case which this argument supposes, they are all inconsistent and
+useless.&mdash;But, <i>secondly</i>, if this argument proves any thing, it proves
+too much, and would infer the absurd proposition, that physical and
+intellectual qualities are superior in value to moral attainments;&mdash;a
+proposition that is contradicted, as we have shewn, by every operation
+and circumstance in Nature and providence. It is in direct opposition
+also to all the unsophisticated feelings of human Nature. No thinking
+person will venture to affirm, that the beauty of the courtezan, the
+strength of the robber, or the intelligence and sagacity of the
+swindler, are more to be honoured than the generous qualities of a
+Wilberforce or a Howard. And therefore it is, that from a calm and
+dispassionate consideration of these facts, and independently altogether
+of revelation, we cannot see how any impartial philosophic mind can
+evade the conclusion, that the chief object to be attended to in the
+education of the young, and to which every thing else should be strictly
+subservient, is <i>their regular and early training in religion and
+morals</i>.</p>
+<br />
+<br /><a name="CHAP_XIA" id="CHAP_XIA"></a>
+<br />
+<br />
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h3>CHAP. XI.</h3>
+
+<h3><i>On Nature's Method of Training her Pupils to Communicate their
+Knowledge.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>There is yet a <i>Fourth</i> process in the educational system of Nature,
+which may be termed supplementary, as it is not intended solely, nor
+even chiefly, for the good of the pupil himself, but for the
+community.&mdash;This process of Nature consists in the training of her pupil
+to communicate, by language, not only his own wishes and wants, but
+also, and perhaps chiefly, the knowledge and experience which he himself
+has attained. The three previous processes of Nature were in a great
+measure selfish,&mdash;referring to the pupil as an individual, and are of
+use although <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>he should be alone, and isolated from all others of his
+species; but this is characteristically social, and to the monk and the
+hermit is altogether useless.</p>
+
+<p>That this ability to communicate our sentiments is intended by Nature,
+not for the sole benefit of the individual, but chiefly as an instrument
+of doing good to others, appears obvious from various circumstances. Its
+importance in education, and in the training of the young, would of
+itself, we think, be a sufficient proof of this; but it is rendered
+unquestionable by the invariable decision of every unbiassed mind, in
+judging of a person who is constantly speaking of and for himself; and
+of another whose sole object in conversation, is to exalt and promote
+the happiness of those around him. The one person, however meritorious
+otherwise, is pitied or laughed at;&mdash;the other is admired and applauded
+in spite of ourselves.</p>
+
+<p>The benevolence of this arrangement in the educational process of Nature
+is worthy of especial notice, as it leads us directly to the conclusion,
+that learning, of whatever kind, is not intended to be a monkish and
+personal thing, but is really designed by Nature for the benefit of the
+community at large. Those connected with education, therefore, are here
+taught, that the training of the young should be so conducted, that
+while the attainments of the pupil shall in every instance benefit
+himself, they shall at the same time be of such a kind, and shall be
+communicated in such a way, as shall advantage the persons with whom he
+is to mingle, and the community of which he is to form a part. Unless
+this lesson, taught us by Nature, be attended to, her plan is obviously
+left incomplete.</p>
+
+<p>In entering upon the consideration of this part of our subject, we
+cannot but remark the value and the importance which Nature has attached
+to the higher acquisitions of this anti-selfish portion of her teaching.
+Language is perverted and abused, when it is generally and chiefly
+employed for the benefit of the individual himself; and the decision of
+every <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>candid and well-disposed mind confirms the truth of this
+assertion. When, on the contrary, it is employed for the benefit of
+others, or for the good of the public in general, it commands attention,
+and compels approval. Eloquence, therefore, is obviously intended by
+Nature for the benefit of communities; and accordingly, she has so
+disposed matters in the constitution of men's minds, and of society,
+that communities shall in every instance do it homage. In proof of this,
+we find, in every age and nation, wherever Nature is not totally debased
+by art or crime, that the most powerful orator, has almost always been
+found to be the most influential man. Every other qualification in
+society has been made to bend to this, and even reason itself is often
+for the moment obscured, by means of its fascinations. Learning and
+intellect, riches, popularity, and power, have frequently been made to
+quail before it; and even virtue itself has for a time been deprived of
+its influence, when assailed by eloquence. Nay, even in more artificial
+communities, where Nature has been constrained and moulded anew to suit
+the tastes and caprices of selfish men, eloquence has still maintained
+its reputation, and has generally guided the possessor to honour and to
+power. Amongst the lower and unsophisticated classes of society its
+influence is almost universal; and in most polished communities, it is
+still acknowledged as a high attainment, and one of the best indications
+that has yet been afforded of superior mental culture.</p>
+
+<p>That this is not an erroneous estimate of the mental powers of a
+finished debater, will be evident from a slight analysis of what he has
+to achieve in the exercise of his art. He has, while his adversary is
+speaking, to receive and retain upon his mind, the whole of his
+argument,&mdash;separate its weak and strong points,&mdash;and call forth and
+arrange those views and illustrations which are calculated to overthrow
+and demolish it. This itself, even when performed in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span>silence, is a
+prodigious effort of mental strength; but when he commences to speak,
+and to manage these, with other equally important operations of his own
+mind at the same moment, the difficulty of succeeding is greatly
+increased. When he begins to pour forth his refutation in an
+uninterrupted flow of luminous eloquence;&mdash;meeting, combating, and
+setting aside his opponent's statements and reasonings;&mdash;carefully
+marking, as he goes along, the effect produced upon his hearers, and
+adapting his arguments to the varying emotions and circumstances of the
+audience;&mdash;withholding, transposing, or abridging the materials he had
+previously prepared, or seizing new illustrations suggested by passing
+incidents;&mdash;and all this not only without hesitation, and without
+confusion, but with the most perfect composure and self-controul;&mdash;such
+a man gives evidence of an energy, a grasp, a quickness of thought,
+which, as an exhibition of godlike power in a creature, has scarcely a
+parallel in the whole range of Nature's efforts. All kinds and degrees
+of physical glory, in comparison with this, sink into insignificance.</p>
+
+<p>It is but rare indeed that any country or age produces a Demosthenes, a
+Pitt, a Thomson, or a Brougham; and such persons have hitherto been
+considered as gifts of Nature, rather than the legitimate production of
+educational exercises. But this we conceive to be a mistake. They may
+perhaps have been self-taught, and self-exercised, as Demosthenes
+confessedly was; but that teaching, and especially mental and oral
+exercise, are necessary for the production of one of Nature's chief
+ornaments, both analogy and experience abundantly shew.<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> Fluency in
+the use of words is not enough,&mdash;copiousness of thought, such as may be
+of use in the study, is not enough;&mdash;for Nature's work, of which we are
+at present speaking, consists chiefly in the faculty of forming one
+train of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>thoughts in the mind, at the same time that the individual is
+giving expression to another. Every child, accordingly, who holds
+conversation with his companion, is practising on a limited scale the
+very exercise which, if carried out by regular gradations, would
+ultimately lead to that excellence which we have above described. In
+every case of free unconstrained conversation, the operation of this
+principle of Nature is apparent; for the idea is present to the mind
+some time before the tongue gives it utterance, and the person is
+preparing a second idea, at the moment he is communicating the first.
+Upon this simple principle the whole art of eloquence, when analyzed,
+appears to depend. We shall therefore endeavour to trace its operation,
+and the methods which Nature adopts for the purpose of perfecting it.</p>
+
+<p>That this ability is altogether acquired, and depends wholly upon
+exercise for its cultivation, is obvious in every stage of its progress,
+but especially towards its commencement. When Nature first begins to
+suggest to an infant the use of language, we perceive that it cannot
+think and speak at the same moment. Long after it has acquired the
+knowledge of words and names, and even the power of articulating them,
+it utters but one syllable, or one word at a time. Its language, for a
+while after it has acquired a pretty extensive acquaintance with nouns
+and adjectives, is made up of single, or at most double words, with an
+observable pause between each, as if, after uttering one, it had to
+collect its thoughts and again prepare for a new effort, before it was
+able to pronounce the next. This is the child's first step, or rather
+the child's first attempt, in this important exercise; and it is
+conspicuous chiefly by the want, even in the least degree, of that power
+of which we have spoken. By and bye, however, the child is able to put
+two syllables, or two words together, without the pause;&mdash;but not three.
+That is a work of time, and that again has to become familiar, before
+four, or more <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span>words be attempted. These, however, are at last mastered;
+and he slowly acquires by practice the ability to utter a short
+sentence, composed chiefly of nouns, adjectives, and verbs, without
+interruption, and at last without difficulty.</p>
+
+<p>In the process here described, we perceive the commencement of Nature's
+exercises in training her pupil to the acquisition of this valuable
+faculty. It consists chiefly, as we have said, in enabling the child by
+regular practice to arrive at such a command of the mental faculties,
+and the powers of articulation, as qualifies him to exercise both
+apparently at the same moment. His mind is employed in preparing one set
+of ideas, while the organs of speech are engaged in giving utterance to
+another. He thinks that which he is about to speak, at the moment he is
+speaking that which he previously thought; and if, as is generally
+admitted, the mind cannot be engaged upon two things at the same moment,
+there is here an instance of such a rapid and successive transition from
+one to another, as obviously to elude perception.</p>
+
+<p>The various means which Nature employs in working out this great end in
+the young are very remarkable. We have seen that a child at first does
+not possess the power of uttering even a word, while his thoughts are
+engaged on any thing else. The powers of the mind must as it were be
+concentrated upon that one word, till by long practice he can at last
+think on one and utter another. The same difficulty of speaking and
+thinking on different things is observable in his amusements; and Nature
+appears to employ the powerful auxiliary of his play to assist him in
+overcoming it. When a young child is engaged in any amusement which
+requires thought, the inability of the mind to do double duty is very
+evident. He cannot hear a question, nor speak a single sentence, and go
+on with his play at the same time. If a question be asked, he stops,
+looks up, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span>hears, answers, and then perhaps collects his thoughts, and
+again proceeds with his game as before; but for a long time he cannot
+even hear, far less speak, and play at the same moment. When a child is
+able to do this, it is a good sign of his having acquired considerable
+mental powers.</p>
+
+<p>The excitement of play, we have said, is one chief means which Nature
+employs for the cultivation of this faculty, and it is peculiarly worthy
+of attention by the Educationist. Every one must have observed the
+strong desire which children have, during their more exhilarating games,
+to exercise their lungs by shouting, and calling out, and giving
+direction, encouragement, or reproof, to their companions. In all these
+instances, the impetus of their play is not apparently stopt while they
+speak, and every time that this takes place, they are promoting their
+mental, as well as their physical health and well-being. The accuracy of
+this remark is perhaps more conspicuous, although not more real, in the
+less boisterous and more placid employment of the young. The lively
+prattle of the girl, while constructing her baby-house; her playful
+arrogation of authority and command over her playmates, and her
+serio-comic administering of commendation or reproof in the assumed
+character of "mistress" or "mother," are all instances of a similar
+kind. A little attention to the matter will convince any one, that every
+sentence uttered by a child while dressing a doll, or rigging a ship, or
+cutting a stick, is really intended and employed by Nature in advancing
+this great object. And we cannot help remarking, that the irksome
+silence so frequently enjoined upon children during their play, or
+during any species of active employment, is not only harsh and
+unnecessary, but is positively hurtful. It is in direct opposition both
+to the design and the practice of Nature. It is obstructing, or at least
+neglecting the cultivation and the developement of powers, which are
+destined to be a chief ornament <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>of life; a source of honour and
+enjoyment to the pupil himself, and ultimately a great benefit to
+society.</p>
+
+<p>The cultivation of this faculty in adults, after they have emancipated
+themselves from the discipline of Nature, is advanced or retarded by the
+use or neglect of similar means. Accordingly we find, that in every
+instance where the powers of the mind are actively, (not mechanically)
+employed, while the individual is at the same time called on to exercise
+his powers of speech and hearing on something else, this faculty of
+extemporaneous speaking is cultivated, and rendered more easy and
+fluent. Whereas, on the contrary, the most extensive acquaintance with
+words, even when combined with much knowledge, has but little influence
+in making a ready speaker. Many of the most voluble of our species
+have but a very scanty vocabulary, and still less knowledge; while men
+of extensive and profound learning, whose habits have been formed in the
+study, are often defective even in common conversation, and utterly
+unable to undertake with success the task of public extemporaneous
+speaking. From this cause it is, that some of our ablest men, and our
+greatest scholars, are necessitated to read that which they dare not
+trust themselves to speak; while others, by a different practice, and
+perhaps with fewer real attainments, feel no difficulty in arranging
+their ideas, and delivering them at the same time with ease and fluency.
+Hence it is also, that travelling, frequent intercourse with strangers,
+debating societies, and above all, forensic pleadings, sharpen the
+faculties, and give an ease and accuracy in thinking and speaking, which
+are but rarely acquired in the same degree in any other way.</p>
+
+<p>There is one particular feature in this department of Nature's teaching,
+which is of so much importance both to the young and to adults, that it
+ought not to be passed over without notice. It is the important fact,
+that the highest attainments in this valuable <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>accomplishment are within
+the reach of almost every individual pupil, by a very moderate diligence
+in the use of the proper means. The counterpart of this is equally true;
+for without culture, either regular or accidental, no portion of it can
+ever be acquired. This is abundantly proved both by experience and
+analogy. Experience has shewn, that in every case, perseverance alone,
+often without system, has made great and powerful speakers; and the
+analogy between the expression of our feelings by <i>words</i> and by
+<i>music</i>, shews what proper training may do in both cases. Every one will
+admit that it is easier to give expression to our feelings by the
+natural organs of speech, than by the mechanical use of a musical
+instrument; and if by making use of the proper means, and with a
+moderate degree of diligence and perseverance, every man can be trained
+to play dexterously on the violin, or the organ, and at the same moment
+maintain a perfect command over the operations of his mind,&mdash;we may
+reasonably conclude, from analogy, that with an equal, or even a smaller
+degree of diligence, when the means have been equally systematized, the
+most humble individual may be trained to manage the operations of his
+mind, while he is otherwise making use of his <i>tongue</i>, as the other is
+of his <i>fingers</i>.</p>
+
+<p>But the opposite of this, as we have stated above, is equally true. For,
+although a man may, by diligence and perseverance, attain a high degree
+of perfection in the exercise of this faculty; yet, even the lowest must
+be procured by the use of means. The art of thinking and speaking
+different ideas at the same time, as we have proved, is not an
+instinctive, but is wholly an acquired faculty, and must be attained by
+exercise wherever it is possessed. We have instanced as examples the
+case of the girl having at first to stop while dressing her doll, and
+the boy while rigging his ship; but what we wish to notice here is, that
+the principle is not peculiar to children, whose ideas are few, and
+whose language is <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>imperfect, but applies equally to adults, even of
+superior attainments, and well cultivated minds. We have in part proved
+this by the frequent defects of even learned men in conversation; but
+there is good reason to conclude, that even these defects would have
+been greater, if the few opportunities they have improved had been less
+numerous. In short, it appears, that the successful uttering of but two
+consecutive words, while the mind is otherwise engaged, must be acquired
+even in the adult, by education or by discipline. This important fact in
+education, might be demonstrated by numerous proofs, deduced from acts
+which are commonly understood to depend altogether on habit, and where
+the mind is obviously but little engaged. We shall take the case already
+supposed, that of the fingering of musical instruments. The rapidity
+with which the fingers in this exercise perform their office, would lead
+us to pronounce it to be purely mechanical, and to suppose that the mind
+was at perfect liberty to attend to any of the other functions of the
+body, during the performance. But this is not the case; for although by
+long practice, the operator has acquired the art of <i>thinking</i> upon
+various other subjects while playing, he finds upon a first trial, that
+he is then totally unable to articulate two words in succession. Here
+then is a case exactly parallel with that of the children who had to
+stop to speak during their play; proving that it does not arise from the
+lack of ideas, or a deficiency in words, but purely from want of
+discipline and practice; because many musicians by practice, and by
+practice alone, overcome the difficulty, and become able both to speak
+and to play at the same time.</p>
+
+<p>There is another circumstance connected with this part of our subject,
+which is worthy of remark. A person who is playing on an instrument, and
+who is desirous to speak, finds himself, without long practice, totally
+unable to do so; but he may, if he pleases, sing what he has to say,
+provided only that he <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>modulate his voice to the tune he is playing. The
+reason of this appears to be two-fold; first, that the mind, by
+following the tune in the articulation of the words, is relieved in a
+great measure from doing double duty; and secondly, and chiefly, because
+the person has already acquired, by more or less practice, the faculty
+of singing and playing at the same time. From this illustration, we
+perceive the necessity that exists in education, of cultivating in the
+young, by direct means and special exercises, this important faculty of
+managing the thoughts and giving expression to them at the same moment.
+It must be acquired by a course of mental discipline, which brings all
+the elements of the principle into operation; the collecting and
+managing of ideas, the chusing and arranging of words, and the giving of
+them utterance, at the same time. That direct exercises of this kind are
+necessary for the purpose, is obvious from the illustrations here given;
+where we find, that although a person, while playing on an instrument,
+may sing his words, he is yet unable to make the slightest deviation
+from singing to speaking, without a long and laborious practice.</p>
+
+<p>Here then we have been enabled to trace this supplementary process of
+Nature in the education of her pupils, and to detect the great leading
+principle or law, by which it is governed. The attainment itself is the
+ready and fluent communication of our ideas to others; and the mode
+employed by nature for arriving at it, appears to be the training of her
+pupils to exercise their minds upon one set of ideas, while they are
+giving expression to another. That the mind is actually engaged in two
+different ways, at the same moment of time, it is not necessary for us
+to suppose. It is sufficient for our purpose, that the operations so
+rapidly succeed each other, as to appear to do so. The ability to
+accomplish this, we have proved to be in every case an acquired habit,
+and is never possessed, even in the smallest degree, without effort. It
+is, in fact, the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>invariable result of exercise and education. The most
+gifted of our species are frequently destitute of it; while very feeble
+minds have been found to possess it, when by chance or design they have
+employed the proper means for its attainment. What is wanted by the
+Educationist therefore, is an exercise, or series of exercises, which
+will enable him to imitate Nature, by causing his pupil to employ his
+mind in preparing one set of ideas, while he is giving expression to
+another. Such an exercise, upon whatever subject, will always produce,
+in a greater or less degree, the effect which Nature by this
+supplementary process intends to accomplish; that of giving the pupil
+ease and fluency in conversation, and a ready faculty of delivering his
+sentiments; while we have seen, by numerous illustrations, that it is at
+least highly improbable that it ever can be acquired in any other way.
+We have also demonstrated the impropriety of all unnecessary artificial
+restrictions upon children while at their play, and of preventing their
+speaking, calling out, and giving orders, encouragement, or commendation
+to their companions during it. These illustrations and examples have
+also pointed out to us the importance of encouraging the young to speak
+or converse with their teachers or one another, while they are actively
+employed at work, in their amusements, or in any other way in which the
+mind is but partially engaged. Exercises of this kind in the domestic
+circle, where they could be more frequently resorted to, would be of
+great value in forwarding the mental capacities of the young, and might
+be at least equally and extensively useful, as similar exercises
+employed in the school. The consideration of suitable exercises for
+advancing these ends, by which Nature may be successfully imitated in
+this important part of her process, belongs to another department of
+this Treatise, to which accordingly we must refer.</p>
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> Note G.</p></div>
+<br />
+<br /><a name="CHAP_XIIA" id="CHAP_XIIA"></a>
+<br />
+<br />
+<hr /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span>
+<br />
+<h3>CHAP. XII.</h3>
+
+<h3><i>Recapitulation of the Philosophical Principles developed in the
+previous Chapters.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>Before proceeding to the third and more practical part of this Treatise,
+it will be of advantage here, shortly to review the progress we have
+made in establishing the several educational principles, exhibited in
+the operations of Nature, as it is upon these that the following
+practical recommendations are to be entirely founded. In doing this, we
+would wish to press upon the attention of the reader the important
+consideration, that however much we may fail in what is to <i>follow</i>, the
+principles which we have <i>already ascertained</i>, must still remain as
+stationary landmarks in education, at which all future advances, by
+whomsoever made, must infallibly set out. The previous chapters,
+therefore, in so far as they have given a correct exposition of Nature's
+modes of teaching, must constitute something like the model upon which
+all her future imitators in education will have to work. There may be a
+change of <i>order</i>, and a change of <i>names</i>, but the principles
+themselves, in so far as they have been discovered, will for ever remain
+unchanged and unchangeable.&mdash;It is very different, however, with what is
+to <i>follow</i>, in which we are to make some attempts at imitation. The
+principles which regulate the rapid movements of fish through water is
+one thing; and the attempt to imitate these principles by the
+ship-builder is quite another thing. The first, when correctly
+ascertained, remain the unalterable standard for every future naval
+architect; but the attempts at imitation will change and improve, as
+long as the minds of men are directed to the perfecting of
+ship-building. In like manner, the various facts in the educational
+processes of Nature, in so far as they have been correctly ascertained
+in the previous <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>part of this Treatise, must form the unalterable basis
+for every future improvement in education. These facts, or principles,
+will very probably be found to form only a part of her operations;&mdash;but
+as they do really form <i>a part</i>, they will become a nucleus, round which
+all the remaining principles when discovered will necessarily
+congregate. We shall here therefore endeavour very shortly to
+recapitulate the several principles or laws employed by Nature in her
+academy, so far as we have been able to detect them; as it must be upon
+these that not only we, but all our successors in the improvement of
+education, must hereafter proceed.</p>
+
+<p>We have seen in a former chapter, that the educational processes of
+Nature divide themselves distinctly into four different kinds. <i>First</i>,
+the cultivation of the powers of the mind:&mdash;<i>Second</i>, the acquisition of
+knowledge:&mdash;<i>Third</i>, the uses or application of that knowledge to the
+daily varying circumstances of the pupil:&mdash;and <i>Fourth</i>, the ability to
+communicate this knowledge and experience to others.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>first</i> department of Nature's teaching, that of cultivating the
+powers of her pupil's mind, we found to depend chiefly, if not entirely,
+upon one simple mental operation, that of "reiterating ideas;" and from
+numerous examples and experiments it has been shewn, that wherever this
+act of the mind takes place, there is, and there must be, mental
+culture; while, on the contrary, wherever it does not take place, there
+is not, so far as we can yet perceive, the slightest indication that the
+mind has either been exercised or benefited.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>second</i> department of Nature's teaching, we have seen, consists in
+inducing and assisting her pupils to acquire knowledge.&mdash;This object we
+found her accomplishing by means of four distinct principles, which she
+brings into operation in regular order, according to the age and mental
+capacity of the pupil. These we have named the principle of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span>"Perception
+and Reiteration," which is the same as that employed in her first
+process;&mdash;the principle which we have named "Individuation," which
+always precedes and prepares for the two following;&mdash;there is then the
+principle of "Association," or "Grouping," by which the imagination is
+cultivated, and the memory is assisted;&mdash;and there is, lastly, the
+principle of "Classification," or "Analysis," by which all knowledge
+when received is regularly classified according to its nature; by which
+means the memory is relieved, the whole is kept in due order, and
+remains constantly at the command of the will.&mdash;These four principles,
+so far as we have yet been able to investigate the processes of Nature,
+are the chief, if not the only, means which she employs in assisting and
+inducing the pupil to acquire knowledge; and which of course ought to be
+employed in a similar way, and in the same order, by the teacher in the
+management of his classes.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>third</i>, and by far the most important series of exercises in
+Nature's academy, we have ascertained, by extensive evidence, to be the
+training of her pupils to a constant practical application of their
+knowledge to the ordinary affairs of life.&mdash;These exercises she has
+separated into two distinct classes; the one connected with the physical
+and intellectual phenomena of our nature, and which is regulated by what
+we have termed the "animal, or common sense;" and the other connected
+with our moral nature, and regulated by our "moral sense," or
+conscience. In both of these departments, however, the methods which
+Nature employs in guiding to the practical application of the pupil's
+knowledge are precisely the same, consisting of a regular gradation of
+three distinct steps, or stages. These steps we have found to follow
+each other in the following order. There is always first, some
+fundamental truth, or idea&mdash;some definite part of our knowledge of which
+use is to be made;&mdash;there is next an inference, or lesson, drawn <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span>from
+that idea, or truth;&mdash;and there is, lastly, a practical application of
+that lesson, or inference, to the present circumstances of the
+individual. This part of Nature's educational process,&mdash;this
+application, or use of knowledge, we have ascertained and proved to be
+the great object which Nature designs by <i>all her previous efforts</i>.
+This part of her work, when completed, forms in fact the great Temple of
+Education,&mdash;all the others were but the scaffolding by which it was to
+be reared.&mdash;This is the end; those were but means employed for attaining
+it. In proof of this important fact we have seen, that when this object
+is successfully gained, all the previous steps have been homologated and
+confirmed; whereas, whenever this crowning operation is awanting, all
+the preceding labour of the pupil becomes useless and vain, his
+knowledge gradually melts from the memory, and is ultimately lost.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>fourth</i>, or supplementary process in this educational course as
+conducted by Nature, we found to consist in the training of her pupils
+to an ability to communicate with ease and fluency to others the
+knowledge and experience which they themselves had acquired.&mdash;This
+ability, as we have shewn, is not instinctive, but is in every instance
+the result of education. It is not always the accompaniment of great
+mental capacity; nor is it always at the command of those who have
+acquired extensive knowledge. Persons highly gifted in both respects,
+are often greatly deficient in readiness of utterance, and freedom of
+speech. On careful investigation we have seen, that it is attained only
+by practice, and by one simple exercise of the mental powers, in which
+the thoughts are engaged with one set of ideas, at the same moment that
+the voice is giving expression to others. This faculty has been found to
+be eminently social and benevolent, and intended, not so much for the
+benefit of the individual himself as for the benefit of society. Nature,
+accordingly, constrains mankind to do homage <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>to eloquence when it is
+employed for others, or for the public;&mdash;but strongly induces them to
+look with pity or contempt on the person who is always speaking of or
+for himself. These facts accordingly have led us to the important
+conclusion, that learning and the possession of knowledge are not
+intended merely for the person himself, but for the good of society; and
+therefore, that education in every community ought to be conducted in
+such a manner, that the attainments of each individual in it, shall
+either directly or indirectly benefit the whole.</p>
+
+<p>In these several departments of our mental constitution, and in the
+principles or laws by which they are carried on, we have the great
+thoroughfare,&mdash;the highway of education,&mdash;marked out, inclosed, and
+levelled by Nature herself. Hitherto, in our examination of the several
+processes in which we find her engaged, we have endeavoured strictly to
+confine ourselves to the great general principles which she exhibits in
+forwarding and perfecting them. We have not touched as yet on the
+methods by which, in our schools, they may be successfully imitated; nor
+have we made any enquiry into the particular truths or subjects which
+ought there to be taught. These matters belong to another part of this
+Treatise, and will be considered by themselves. And it is only necessary
+here to observe, that as it is the <i>use</i> of knowledge chiefly which
+Nature labours to attain, it is therefore <i>useful knowledge</i> which she
+requires to be taught. This is a principle so prominently held forth by
+Nature, and so repeatedly indicated and enforced, that in the school it
+ought never for an hour to be lost sight of. The whole business of the
+seminary must be practical; and the knowledge communicated must be
+useful, and such as can be put to use. If this rule be attended to, the
+knowledge communicated will be valuable and permanent;&mdash;but if it be
+neglected, the pretended <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>communications will soon melt from the memory,
+and the previous labours of both teacher and pupil will be in a great
+measure lost.</p>
+
+<p>The existence of these several principles in education has been
+ascertained by long experience and slow degrees;&mdash;and the accuracy of
+the views which we have taken of them, has been rigorously and
+repeatedly tested. No pains has been spared in projecting and conducting
+such experiments as appeared necessary for the purpose; and it has been
+by experience and experiment alone that their efficiency has been
+established. Many of these experiments were conducted in public,&mdash;some
+of them have for years been in circulation,&mdash;and the decisiveness of
+their results has never been questioned. The several principles in
+education which it was the object of these experiments to ascertain, are
+here for the first time, collected and exhibited in their natural order;
+and they are now presented to the friends of education with some degree
+of confidence. Judging historically, however, from the experience of
+others in breaking up new ground in the sciences, there is good reason
+to believe, that the present Treatise goes but a short way in
+establishing the science of education. There is yet much to be done; and
+others, no doubt, will follow to complete it. But if confidence is to be
+placed in history, it appears evident, that they must follow in the same
+course, if ever they are to succeed. Nature is our only instructress;
+and however much she may have hitherto been neglected, it is only by
+following her leadings with a child-like docility, that improvement is
+ever to be expected. By so following, however, success is certain. The
+prospects of the science at the present moment, both as to its spread
+and its improvement, are exceedingly cheering. The field, which is now
+being opened up for the labours of the Educationist, is extensive and
+inviting; and the anticipations of the philanthropist become the more
+delightful, on account of the improvements <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span>likely to ensue for carrying
+on the work. The errors and failings of former attempts will warn, while
+every new discovery will direct in the labour. The virgin soil has even
+yet in a great measure to be broken up; and if we shall be wise enough
+to employ the implements provided for us by Nature herself, the present
+generation may yet witness a rapid and abundant ingathering of blessings
+for the world. This is neither a hasty nor a groundless speculation.
+There are already abundant proofs to warrant us in cherishing it.
+Numerous patches of ground have again and again, under serious
+disadvantages, been partially cultivated; and each and all have
+invariably succeeded, and produced the first fruits of a ripe, a rich,
+and an increasing harvest.</p>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<hr /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>
+<br />
+<h2>PART III.</h2>
+<br />
+<h3>ON THE METHODS BY WHICH THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESSES OF NATURE MAY BE
+SUCCESSFULLY IMITATED.</h3>
+<br />
+<br /><a name="CHAP_IB" id="CHAP_IB"></a>
+<br />
+<br />
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h3>CHAP. I.</h3>
+
+<h3><i>On the Exercises by which Nature may be imitated in cultivating<br /> the
+Powers of the Mind.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>In the educational processes of Nature, her first object appears to be
+the cultivation of her pupil's mind; and this, therefore, ought also to
+be the first concern of the parent and teacher.&mdash;The wisdom of this
+arrangement is obvious. For as success in a great measure depends upon
+the vigour and extent of those powers, their early cultivation will
+render the succeeding exercises easy and pleasant, and will greatly
+abridge the anxiety and labour of both teacher and scholar.</p>
+
+<p>There is no doubt a great diversity in the natural capacities of
+children; and phrenology, as well as daily experience shews, that
+children who are apt in learning one thing, may be exceedingly dull and
+backward in acquiring others. But after making every allowance for this
+variety in the intellectual powers of children, it is well established
+by experience, and repeated experiments have confirmed the fact,<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> that
+the very dullest and most obtuse of the children found in any of our
+schools, are really capable of rapid cultivation, and may, by the use of
+proper <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>means, be very soon brought to bear their part in the usual
+exercises fitted for the ordinary children. A large proportion of the
+dulness so frequently complained of by teachers arises, not so much from
+any natural defect, or inherent mental weakness in the child, as from
+the want of that early mental exercise,&mdash;real mental culture,&mdash;of which
+we are here speaking. Whenever this dulness in a sane scholar continues
+for any length of time, there is good reason to fear that it is owing to
+some palpable mismanagement on the part of the parent or teacher. On
+examination it will most likely be found, either that the pupil has had
+exercises prescribed to him which the powers of his mind were as yet
+incapable of accomplishing; or, if the exercises themselves have been
+suitable, there has been more prescribed than he was able to overtake.
+In either case the effect will be the same. The mind has been
+unnaturally burdened, or overstretched; confusion of ideas and mental
+weakness have been the consequence; and if so, the very attempt to keep
+up with his companions in the class only tends to aggravate the evil.
+Hence arises the propriety of following Nature in making the expansion
+and cultivation of the powers of the mind our first object; and our
+design in the present chapter is to examine into the means by which, in
+the exercises of the school, she may be successfully imitated in the
+operations which she employs for this purpose.</p>
+
+<p>We have in our previous investigations seen, that the cultivation of the
+mental powers is a work of extraordinary simplicity, depending entirely
+upon one act of the mind,&mdash;the reiteration of ideas. We have proved, by
+a variety of familiar instances, that wherever this act takes place, the
+mind is, and must be exercised, and so far strengthened; while, on the
+contrary, wherever it does not take place, there is neither mental
+exercise, nor any perceptible accession of mental strength. It does not
+depend upon the particular form of the exercise, whether it consists of
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>reading, hearing, writing, or speaking; but simply and entirely upon
+the reality and the frequency of the reiteration of the included ideas
+during it. This makes the cultivation and strengthening of the powers of
+the mind a very simple and a very certain operation. For if the teacher
+can succeed by any means in producing frequent and successive
+repetitions of <i>this act</i> of the mind in any of his pupils, Nature will
+be true to her own law, and mental culture, and mental strength will
+assuredly follow;&mdash;but, on the contrary, whenever in a school exercise
+this act is awanting, there can be no permanent progression in the
+education of the pupil, and no amelioration in the state of his mind.
+The mechanical reading or repeating of words, for example, like the
+fingering of musical instruments, may be performed for months or years
+successively, without the powers of the mind being actively engaged in
+the process at all; leaving the child without mental exercise, and
+consequently without improvement.</p>
+
+<p>In following out the only legitimate plan for the accomplishment of this
+fundamental object, that of imitating Nature, the first thing required
+by the teacher is an exercise, or series of exercises, by which he shall
+be able <i>at his own will</i> to enforce upon his pupils this important act
+of the mind. If this object can be successfully attained, then the
+proper means for the intellectual improvement of the child are secured;
+but as long as it is awanting, his mental cultivation is either left to
+chance, or to the capricious decision of his own will;&mdash;for experience
+shews, that although a child may be compelled to read, or to repeat the
+<i>words</i> of his exercises, they contain no power by which the teacher can
+ensure the reiteration of the <i>ideas</i> they contain. The words may
+correctly and fluently pass from the tongue, while the mind is actively
+engaged upon something else, and as much beyond the reach of the teacher
+as ever. But if the desiderated exercise could be procured, the power of
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>enforcing mental activity upon a prescribed subject would then remain,
+not in the possession of the child, but would be transferred to the
+teacher, at whose pleasure the mental cultivation of the pupil would
+proceed, whether he himself willed it or no.</p>
+
+<p>In the "catechetical exercise," as it has been called, and which has of
+late years been extensively used by our best teachers, the desideratum
+above described has been most happily and effectively supplied to the
+Educationist. This valuable exercise may not perhaps be new;&mdash;but
+certainly its nature, and its importance in education, till of late
+years, has been altogether overlooked, or unknown. It differs from the
+former mode of catechising, (or rather of using catechisms) in this,
+that whereas a catechism provides an answer for the child in a set form
+of words,&mdash;the catechetical exercise, having first <i>provided him with
+the means</i>, compels him to search for, to select, and to construct an
+answer for himself. For example, an announcement is given by his
+teacher, or it is read from his book. This is the raw material upon
+which both the teacher and the child are to work, and within the
+boundaries of which the teacher especially must strictly confine
+himself. Upon this announcement a question is founded,<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> which obliges
+the child, before he can even prepare an answer, to reiterate in his own
+mind, not the <i>words</i>,&mdash;for that would not answer his purpose,&mdash;but the
+several <i>ideas</i> contained in the sentence or truth announced. All these
+ideas must be perceived,&mdash;they must pass in review before the mind,&mdash;and
+from among them he must select the one required, arrange it in his own
+way, and give it to the teacher entirely as his own idea, and clothed
+altogether in his own words.</p>
+
+<p>In the common method of making use of catechisms, the words of the
+answer may be read, or they may be committed to memory, and may be
+repeated <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span>with ease and fluency; while the ideas,&mdash;the truths they
+contain,&mdash;may neither be perceived nor reiterated. In this there is
+neither mental exercise, nor mental improvement;&mdash;and, what is worse,
+without the catechetical exercise, the teacher has no means of knowing
+whether it be so or not. By means of the catechetical exercise, on the
+contrary, there can be no evasion,&mdash;no doubt as to the mental activity
+of the pupil, and his consequent mental improvement. Its benefits are
+very extensive; and in employing it the teacher is not only sure that
+the ideas in the announcement have been perceived and reiterated, but
+that a numerous train of useful mental operations must have taken place,
+before his pupil could by any possibility return him an answer to his
+questions. We shall, before proceeding, point out a few of these.</p>
+
+<p>Let us then suppose that a child either reads, or repeats as the answer
+to a question, the words, "Jesus died for sinners."&mdash;At this point in
+the former mode of using a catechism, the exercise of the pupil stopped;
+and the parent or teacher understanding the meaning of the sentence, and
+clearly perceiving the ideas himself, usually took it for granted that
+the child also did so, or at least at some future time would do so. This
+was mere conjecture; and he had no means of ascertaining its certainty,
+however important. It is at this point that the catechetical exercise
+commences its operations. When the child has repeated the words, or when
+the teacher for the first time announces them, the mind of the child may
+be in a state very unfavourable to its improvement; but as soon as the
+teacher asks him a question founded upon one or more of the ideas which
+the announcement contains, and which he must answer without farther
+help, the state of his mind is instantly and materially changed.
+Hitherto he may have been altogether passive on the subject;&mdash;nay, his
+mind while reading or repeating the words, may have been busily engaged
+on something else, or altogether occupied with his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span>companions or his
+play;&mdash;but as soon as the teacher asks him "Who died?" there is an
+instant withdrawal of the mind from every thing else, and an exclusive
+concentration of its powers upon the ideas in the announcement. He must
+think,&mdash;and he must think in a certain way, and upon the specific ideas
+presented to him by the teacher,&mdash;before it is possible for him to
+return an answer. It is on this account that this exercise is so
+effective an instrument in cultivating the powers of the mind;&mdash;and it
+is to the long series of exercises which take place in this operation,
+that we are now calling the attention of the reader, that he may
+perceive how closely this exercise follows in the line prescribed by
+Nature, in creating occasions for the successive reiteration of
+different ideas suggested by one question.</p>
+
+<p>When, in pursuing the catechetical exercise, a question is asked from an
+announcement, there is first a call upon the attention, and an exercise
+of mind upon the <i>question</i> asked, the words of which must be translated
+by the pupil into their proper ideas, which accordingly he must both
+perceive and understand. He has then to revert to the <i>ideas</i> (not the
+words) contained in the original announcement, the words of which are
+perhaps still ringing in his ears; and these he must also perceive and
+reiterate in his mind, before he can either understand them or prepare
+to give an answer. At this point the child is necessarily in possession
+of the ideas&mdash;the truths&mdash;conveyed by the announcement; and therefore at
+this point one great end of the teacher has in so far been gained. But
+the full benefit of the exercise, in so far as it is capable of fixing
+these truths still more permanently on the memory, and of disciplining
+the mind, has not yet been exhausted. After the pupil has reiterated in
+his mind the ideas contained in the original sentence, or passage
+announced, he has again to revert to the question of the teacher, and
+compare it with the several ideas which the announcement contains. He
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span>has then to chuse from among them,&mdash;all of them being still held in
+review by the mind,&mdash;the particular idea to which his attention has been
+called by the question;&mdash;and last of all, and which is by no means the
+least as a mental exercise, he has to clothe this particular idea in
+words, and construct his sentence in such a way as to make it both sense
+and grammar. In this last effort, it is worthy of remark, children,
+after having been but a short while subjected to this exercise, almost
+invariably succeed, although they know nothing about grammar, and may
+perhaps never have heard of the name.</p>
+
+<p>But even this is not all. There has as yet been only one question asked,
+and the answer to this question refers to only one idea contained in the
+announcement. But it embraces at least three several ideas; and each of
+these ideas, by the catechetical exercise, is capable of originating
+other questions, perfectly distinct from each other, and each of which
+gives rise to a similar mental process, and with equally beneficial
+results, in exercising and strengthening the powers of the mind.</p>
+
+<p>It is also here of importance to take notice of the additional benefits
+that arise from the multiplying of questions upon one announcement. The
+first question proposed from the announcement, brought the mind of the
+child into immediate contact with all the ideas which it contained. They
+are now therefore familiar to him; and he is perfectly prepared for the
+second, and for every succeeding question formed upon it; and he
+fashions the answers with readiness and zest. Every such answer is a
+kind of triumph to the child, which he gives with ease and pleasure, and
+yet every one of them, as an exercise of the mind, is equally beneficial
+as the first. When the teacher therefore asks, "What did Jesus do?" and
+afterwards, "For whom did Jesus die?" a little reflection will at once
+shew, that a similar mental exercise must take place at each question,
+in which the child has not only to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span>reiterate the several original
+ideas, but must again and again compare the questions asked, with each
+one of them, choose out the one required, clothe it in his own language,
+and in this form repeat it audibly to his teacher.</p>
+
+<p>Before leaving this enquiry into the nature and effects of the
+catechetical exercise, there are two circumstances connected with it as
+a school-engine, which deserve particular attention. The first is, that
+Nature has made this same reiteration of ideas, for the securing of
+which this exercise is used, the chief means of conveying knowledge to
+the mind; and the second is, the undissembled delight which children
+exhibit while under its influence, wherever it is naturally and
+judiciously conducted. With respect to the former of these
+circumstances, it falls more particularly to be considered in another
+chapter, and under a following head; but with respect to the
+latter,&mdash;the delight felt in the exercise by the children
+themselves,&mdash;it deserves here a more close examination.</p>
+
+<p>Every one who has paid any attention to the subject must have observed
+the life, the energy, the enjoyment, which are observable in a class of
+children, while they are under the influence, and subjected to the
+discipline of the catechetical exercise. This will perhaps be still more
+remarkable, if ever they have had an opportunity of contrasting this
+lively scene with the death-like monotony of a school where the exercise
+is as yet unknown. Many can yet remember instances when it was first
+introduced into some of the Sabbath schools in Scotland, and the
+astonishment of the teachers at its instantaneous effects upon the mind
+and conduct of their children. The whole aspect of the school was
+changed; and the children, who had but a few minutes before been
+conspicuous only for their apathy, restlessness, or inattention, were
+instantly aroused to life, and energy, and delight. Similar effects in
+some children are still <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span>witnessed; but, happily for education, the
+first exhibition of it to a whole school is not so common. One striking
+proof of the novelty and extent of its effects upon the pupils, and of
+the vivid contrast it produced with that to which the teachers had at
+that time been accustomed, is afforded by the fact, that serious
+objections were sometimes made to its introduction, by well-meaning
+individuals, on account of its breaking in, as they said, upon the
+proper devotional solemnity of the children;&mdash;as if the apathy of
+languor and weariness was identical with reverence, and mental energy
+and joyous feelings were incompatible with the liveliest devotion. These
+opinions have now happily disappeared; and the catechetical exercise is
+not now, on that account, so frequently opposed. Christians now
+perceive, that by making these rough places smooth, and the crooked ways
+straight for the tottering feet of the lambs of the flock, they are
+following the best, as it is the appointed means, of "making ready a
+people prepared for the Lord."</p>
+
+<p>To the teacher, especially, it must be a matter of great practical
+importance, to perceive clearly the cause why this exercise is so
+fascinating to the young, as well as so beneficial in education. The
+cause, when we analyze all the circumstances, is simply this, that it
+resembles, in all its leading characteristics, those amusements and
+pastimes of which children are so fond. In other words, the prosecution
+of the catechetical exercise with the young, produces in reality the
+same effects as a game would do if played with their teacher. It brings
+into action, and it keeps in lively operation, all those mental
+elements, which, in ordinary cases, constitute their play; and the
+effects of course are nearly similar. We shall direct the reader's
+attention to this curious fact for a moment.</p>
+
+<p>It is easy to perceive, that the pleasure and happiness experienced by a
+child during his play, arise altogether from the <i>state of his mind</i>, to
+which the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span>physical exercises and amusements only conduce. When this
+mental satisfaction is examined, we find it to consist chiefly of two
+elements,&mdash;that of active thought, and that of self-approbation. The
+first,&mdash;that of active thought, or the reiteration of ideas, we have
+before pointed out and explained, as it is illustrated in their play,
+and in the pleasure they take in hearing stories, reading riddles,
+dressing dolls, and similar acts; and it is only here necessary to add,
+that their desire of congregating together for amusement has its origin
+in a similar cause. New ideas stimulate more powerfully to active
+thought; and children soon find, and insensibly draw the lesson, that
+the aggregate of new ideas is always enlarged by an increase of the
+number of persons who supply them. Two children will play with the same
+number of toys for a longer time, without tiring, than if they were
+alone;&mdash;and three or four would, in the same proportion, increase the
+interest and prolong the season of activity. But as soon as the
+reiteration of the ideas suggested by their game becomes languid or
+difficult, their play for the time loses its charms, and the fascination
+is gone. That it is the cessation of active thought, which is the chief
+cause of their play ceasing to please, is proved from the circumstance,
+that if another interesting companion shall be added to their number, or
+if any thing shall occur to renew this operation,&mdash;the reiteration of
+ideas,&mdash;upon the mind, the same degree of interest, and to a
+corresponding extent, is immediately felt, and the play is resumed. Now,
+the catechetical exercise is in reality the same operation in another
+form. The questions of the teacher excite the pupil to the same kind of
+active thought as that which gives relish to his play; and, while the
+teacher confines himself within the limits of the announcement, the
+mental excitement is active, but moderate, and always successful.</p>
+
+<p>This leads us to observe the influence which the catechetical exercise
+exerts in affording means for <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>that self-approbation, or sense of merit,
+which constitutes another element of delight to a child during his play.
+All must have observed the beneficial effects of this principle in
+children, as an incitement to emulation and good conduct. It is not only
+perceptible in the love of approbation from their superiors, but in
+their desire to excel at all times. We see it in the pleasure felt by
+the child when he outstrips his fellows in the race,&mdash;when he catches
+his companion at "hide and seek,"&mdash;when he finds the hidden article at
+"seek and find,"&mdash;in winning a game, expounding a riddle, or gaining a
+place in his class. In all these instances there is a feeling of pure
+satisfaction and delight;&mdash;a feeling of self-estimation, which is at
+once the guardian and the reward of virtue. Now, when the catechetical
+exercise is conducted in its purity,&mdash;that is, when the teacher keeps
+strictly to the announcement, without wandering where the child cannot
+follow him,&mdash;the answers are invariably within the limits of the child's
+capacity;&mdash;they are answered successfully; and every answer is a subject
+of triumph. He has a delightful consciousness of having overcome a
+difficulty, deserved approbation, and made an advance in the pathway of
+merit. When properly conducted, therefore, the catechetical exercise
+becomes to the pupils a succession of victories; and it imparts all that
+delight, softened and purified, which he experiences in excelling his
+companion, or in winning a game.&mdash;These are the reasons why the
+catechetical exercise is so much relished by the young, and why it has
+succeeded so powerfully, not only in smoothing the pathway of education,
+but also in shortening it.</p>
+
+<p>From a careful consideration of all these circumstances, we are led to
+conclude, that the catechetical exercise does, in a superior degree,
+fulfil all the stipulations required for imitating Nature, in exciting
+to the reiteration of ideas by children, and thus disciplining and
+cultivating the powers of their minds. We <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span>might also have remarked,
+that another advantage arising from persevering in this exercise, is the
+arresting of the attention of the children, and successfully training
+them to hear and understand through life the oral communications of
+others;&mdash;but we hasten to consider the time and the order in which this
+exercise should be made use of in schools.</p>
+
+<p>Nature intends, that the cultivation and strengthening of the powers of
+the mind shall in every case precede those exercises in which their
+strength is to be tried. In infants and young children we perceive this
+cultivation and invigorating of the mind going on, long before these
+powers are to be taxed even for their own preservation. The child is no
+doubt putting them to use; but in every such case it is voluntary, and
+not compulsory,&mdash;a matter of choice on the part of the child, and not of
+necessity. The infant, or even the child, is never required to take care
+of itself, to clothe itself, to wash itself, or even to feed itself. To
+require it to do so before the mind could comprehend the nature and the
+design of the particular duty, would be both unreasonable and cruel.
+This being the case, the exercises of the nursery and the school must be
+regulated in a similar manner, and follow the same law. The due
+cultivation of the mind, like the due preparation of the soil, must
+always precede the sowing of the seed. If this principle in Nature be
+duly attended to, the seeds of knowledge afterwards cast into the soil
+thus broken up and prepared, will be readily received and nourished to
+perfection; but if the soil be neglected, both the seed and the labour
+will be lost, the anticipations of the spring and summer will end in
+delusion, and the folly of the whole proceeding will be shewn by a
+succession of noxious weeds, and at last by an unproductive harvest.</p>
+
+<p>The evils which must necessarily result from thus running counter to
+Nature in this first part of her educational proceedings, may be aptly
+illustrated by the very <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span>common custom of beginning a child's education
+by teaching it to read. It would perhaps be difficult to convince many
+that this custom is either unnatural or improper. We shall not attempt
+here to <i>argue</i> the matter, but shall merely state a fact which they
+cannot deny, and which will answer the purpose we think much better than
+an argument.&mdash;To teach the art of reading was wont to require the labour
+of several months, sometimes years, before the perusal of a book could
+be managed by the child with any degree of ease,&mdash;and even then, without
+any thing approaching to satisfaction or pleasure. And even yet,
+although the error has in some measure been perceived of late years, yet
+the art of reading by the young, still requires several months'
+attendance at school, with corresponding labour to the teacher, and
+great irritation and unhappiness to the child. But experience has
+established the fact, that, by acting on the principle of previous
+preparation which we are here enforcing, and by calling into operation
+the principle of individuation formerly explained, the whole drudgery of
+teaching a child to read is got over in a week,&mdash;sometimes in a day; and
+this with much more ease and satisfaction, than could have been done by
+a thousand lessons while his mind was unprepared.<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a></p>
+
+<p>The accumulation of labour, and the loss of precious time by this
+non-observance of the dictates of Nature, are in themselves serious
+evils; but they are not by any means so great as some others which
+almost invariably accompany this unnatural mode of proceeding with the
+young. Many who have nominally been <i>taught to read</i>, are still quite
+unable to <i>understand by reading</i>. Those who have heard chapters read by
+families in the country, "verse about," will at once understand what we
+here mean; and even in towns and cities where <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span>newspapers and low-priced
+books are more numerous and more tempting, it often requires long
+practice before the emancipated child can read these publications so
+readily and intelligently as they are intended to be. It is another, and
+an entirely different course of learning to which he subjects himself,
+when he labours to acquire the capacity of understanding the words that
+he <i>reads</i>, as readily as the words that he <i>hears</i>. Where the
+inducements to this are sufficiently powerful, the ability is no doubt
+<i>at last</i> acquired;&mdash;but where these stimulants are awanting, the
+difficulty of understanding by reading has by the previous habit become
+so great, that reading is gradually disused, and at last forgotten.</p>
+
+<p>Many are at a loss to account for this; but it is easily explained on
+the above principles. To teach a child to read, before his mind is
+capable of understanding, or of reiterating the ideas conveyed by the
+words he is reading, is to train him to this habit of reading
+mechanically;&mdash;that is, of reading without understanding. He gradually
+acquires the habit of pronouncing the words which he traces with the
+eye, while the mind is busily engaged upon something else; in the same
+manner that a person acquires the habit of thinking, and even of
+speaking, while knitting a stocking, or sewing a seam. This habit is
+confirmed by constant practice; and then, the difficulty of getting off
+the habit is all but insurmountable. This difficulty will be best
+understood by the experience of those who have been during some time of
+their life compelled to abandon a habit after it was thoroughly
+confirmed;&mdash;or by those who will but try the difficulty of persevering
+to do something with the left hand, which has hitherto been done with
+the right. A very little consideration will shew, that when this habit
+of reading mechanically has once been established, it will require, like
+an improper mode of holding the pen in writing, ten-fold more labour and
+self-denial to <i>remedy</i> the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span>evil, than it would have taken at first to
+<i>prevent</i> it, by learning to do the thing properly and perfectly.</p>
+
+<p>Much therefore depends upon the early and persevering use of the
+catechetical exercise for cultivating a child's mind, before beginning
+to teach it the art of reading, or requiring it to make use of the
+powers of the mind on subjects which these powers are as yet incapable
+of comprehending. By proper <i>preliminary</i> exercises, the powers of the
+mind will be gradually expanded; ideas of every different kind, both
+individually and in connection with each other, will become familiar;
+the design of language in receiving and communicating truth will by
+degrees be practically understood; and, by means of the catechetical
+exercise, it will be gradually and successfully practised. These are
+obviously the means by which the present crooked ways in the child's
+early progress in education are to be made straight, and the rough and
+difficult paths which he has had so long to tread, may now be made both
+easy and smooth.<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a></p>
+
+<p>The effects of the catechetical exercise, and its uniform beneficial
+results, have given sufficient evidence of its being a close imitation
+of Nature in this part of her educational process. Its success indeed
+has been invariable, even when employed by those who remained
+unconscious of the great principles by which that success was to be
+regulated. The observations and experiments employed to ascertain in
+some measure the extent of its efficiency, have uniformly been
+satisfactory, and to a few of these we shall here very shortly advert.</p>
+
+<p>The first case of importance, which came under our notice, and to which
+we think it advisable to allude, is that of Mary L. who, about the year
+1820, resided in Lady Yester's parish in Edinburgh. This <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span>girl, when her
+name was taken up for the Local Sabbath Schools in that parish, was
+about seven or eight years of age, and in respect to mental capacity,
+appeared to be little better than an idiot. She could not comprehend the
+most simple idea, if it related to any thing beyond the household
+objects which were daily forced upon her observation, and which had
+individually become familiar to the senses; and was unable to receive
+any instruction with the other children, however young. The catechetical
+exercise was adopted with her, as with the other scholars; and although,
+for a long period, she was unable to <i>collect knowledge</i>, yet the
+constant discipline to which the powers of the mind were thus subjected,
+had the happiest effect in bringing them into tone, and at last giving
+her the command of them. The comprehending of a simple truth when
+announced, became more and more distinct, and the answering of the
+corresponding questions, became gradually more correct and easy. At a
+very early period she began to relish the exercises of the school; and
+although these occurred only on the Sundays, she continued rapidly to
+improve; till, in the course of a few years, she was able to join the
+higher classes of the children, and made a respectable appearance among
+her companions, at those times when they were submitted to
+examination.&mdash;When these schools were broken up, no stranger could have
+remarked any difference between Mary L. and an ordinary child of the
+same age.</p>
+
+<p>A similar instance occurred more recently in the case of two sisters,
+(Margaret and Mary J.) the condition of whose minds originally was
+better, although not much, than that of Mary L. At the respective ages
+of six and eight years, these sisters could scarcely receive or
+comprehend the simplest idea not connected with their daily ordinary
+affairs. For some years they had no more teaching, or regular mental
+exercise, than two hours weekly on the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span>Sundays, and during that period
+they were, in regard to mental capacity, advancing, but still nearly
+alike. The eldest (Margaret,) was then removed to another class, the
+teacher of which dedicated another evening during the week for the
+benefit of her scholars. The consequence of this apparently slight
+addition to the mental exercise of this girl soon became apparent; and
+in the course of a short time, the powers of Margaret's mind not only
+advanced beyond those of her sister's, but equalled at least those of
+children of the same age, who had not enjoyed similar opportunities of
+improvement. Her sister Mary, who continued to enjoy only the two hours
+on Sunday, advanced proportionally in mental strength;&mdash;and before she
+left the district in which the school was situated, her original
+incapacity could scarcely have been credited by a stranger. In proof of
+this, it may be added, that long after she had left the parish, the
+writer found her by accident in the school which she attended after
+removing, examined her with the other children, and made some strict and
+searching enquiries concerning her. The report of her teacher was
+exceedingly satisfactory; and, without knowing the reason of these
+enquiries, declared, that Mary J. was one of her best scholars. Before
+leaving this notice of these two children, there is a circumstance which
+may perhaps be worthy of recording. In Margaret's countenance there had
+gradually appeared, latterly, that which to a stranger gave all the
+ordinary indications of intellect, and rather superior intelligence;
+while in Mary's case, at the same period, there continued to be much of
+that vacancy of look, and stupid stare, indicative rather of what she
+was, than of what she had become. That also, however, was gradually
+disappearing.</p>
+
+<p>We shall advert only to one other instance, less remarkable perhaps, and
+certainly not so decisive, on account of the shortness of the time
+during which the experiment was continued. In the opinion of the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span>honourable and venerable examinators, however, it was considered as
+sufficiently decisive, and of much public importance. Its application to
+prison discipline may ultimately be of value, where prisoners are
+confined but for short periods, and where the cultivation of the mind,
+and the growing capacity to receive and retain religious truth are
+objects of importance.</p>
+
+<p>In the experiment in 1828, made before the Lord Provost, Principal,
+Professors, and Clergymen of Edinburgh, in the County Jail, a class of
+criminals which had been formed three weeks before, and exercised one
+hour daily, were thoroughly and individually examined without
+intermission during nearly three hours. Our present extract from the
+Report of that Experiment refers, not to the amount of knowledge
+acquired by these persons during these three weeks, but to the capacity
+which, at the end of that time, they were found to possess of acquiring
+every sort of knowledge. This experiment was so far imperfect, as the
+Examinators had no means of ascertaining the true state of their minds,
+previous to the commencement of their exercises. But having, upon
+enquiry found from the governor of the prison, that there had been no
+selection, that all the individuals in the ward had been taken, and that
+at the commencement of the experiment, they formed a fair sample of the
+prisoners commonly under his charge,&mdash;the progress of this mental
+cultivation during that short period, became a special object of
+examination by the Reverend and learned individuals who conducted it.
+Their Report of the Experiment bears, that "these individuals had been
+taken without any regard to their abilities, and former acquirements,
+and formed a fair average of the usual prisoners." In endeavouring to
+ascertain the grasp of mind which these individuals possessed, and the
+readiness with which they received and retained whatever was, even for
+the first time, communicated to them, "it was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span>mentioned, that a
+gentlemen on the previous day, in order to try the capacity of mind
+which they had attained, desired Mr Gall to catechise them upon a
+section, consisting of fourteen verses, which they had not seen before,
+and that, after just ten minutes' examination, one woman, who could not
+read, repeated the whole distinctly in her own words. Dr Brunton
+proposed, for a similar experiment, the parable of the 'talents,' with
+which none was acquainted except one woman, who was consequently not
+permitted to answer. With its being only read to them, and with a few
+minutes' catechising, they perceived its various circumstances, and were
+able to enumerate them in detail. This exercise demonstrated the
+capacity of attention, and the power of analyzing and laying hold of
+circumstances, which they had reached, as well as the indisputable
+superiority of this System, in unfolding and strengthening the mental
+faculties, even in adults."</p>
+
+<p>"The writer of the Report," it is added, "was not acquainted with the
+extent of their acquirements when Mr Gall commenced his operations; but
+judging from the examination, and from his knowledge of the contents of
+the books taught, he has no hesitation in averring, that the answers
+which they gave, arose entirely from information communicated by them.
+And when he reflects that their answers, being clothed in their own
+words, guaranteed the fact, that it was <i>the ideas</i> upon which they had
+seized, and that their knowledge participated in no degree of rote, the
+conviction to his mind is irresistible, that the universal application
+of the Lesson System to Prison Discipline, and to adults everywhere,
+would be followed by effects, incalculably precious to the individuals
+themselves, and to the improving of society in general."</p>
+
+<p>Numerous other instances might be adduced in proof of the efficiency of
+this method of attempting to imitate Nature in this first part of her
+educational <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span>process, who will always be faithful in adhering to her own
+laws, and countenancing her own work. These however may suffice;&mdash;and it
+ought not to escape observation, that in two of the cases first alluded
+to, the young persons enjoyed only two hours' instruction in the week,
+and these not divided, but continuously given at one time. For this
+reason, it might have been feared, that the benefits then received would
+have been lost, or neutralized, by the variety of objects or amusements
+which must have intervened during the week between the lessons. But it
+was not so. And we may here remark, that if with all these
+disadvantages, so much good was really done in cultivating the powers of
+the mind by this exercise, what may we not expect by the enlightened,
+regular, and daily application of the same powerful principles in our
+ordinary schools, when the teacher shall know where the virtue of the
+weapon which he wields really lies, and when the nature of the material
+he is called to work upon is also better understood. Every exercise and
+every operation in the school will then be made to "tell;" and every
+moment of the pupils' attendance will be improved. In these
+circumstances, we are far within the limits of the truth when we say,
+that more real substantial education will then be communicated in one
+month, than it has been usual to receive by the labours of a whole year.</p>
+
+<p>From what has been already ascertained, we are fully warranted in making
+the following remarks.</p>
+
+<p>1. From the above facts we can readily ascertain the cause, why some
+exercises employed in education are so much relished by the young, and
+so efficient in giving strength and elasticity to the mind; while
+others, on the contrary are so inefficient, so irksome, and sometimes so
+intolerable. Every exercise that tends to produce active thought,&mdash;the
+"reiteration of ideas,"&mdash;is natural, and therefore, not only promotes
+healthful mental vigour, but is also exciting and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span>delightful; while, on
+the contrary, whenever the mind is fettered by the mere decyphering of
+words, or the repeating of sounds, without reiterating ideas, the
+exercise is altogether unnatural, and must of course be irritating to
+the child, and barren of good.</p>
+
+<p>2. By a due consideration of the above principles, we see the reason why
+mental arithmetic, though it may not communicate any knowledge, is yet
+productive of considerable mental vigour. These exercises compel the
+young to a species of voluntary thought, the reiteration in the mind of
+the powers of numbers; and although the result of the particular
+calculations which are then made, may never again be of any service to
+the pupil, yet the consequent exercise of mind is beneficial. It should
+never be forgotten, however, that this exercise of mind upon <i>numbers</i>
+is altogether an artificial operation, and is on this account, neither
+so efficient nor so pleasant as the reiteration of moral or physical
+truths. The same degree of mental exercise, brought into operation upon
+some useful fact, where the imagination as well as the understanding,
+can take a part, would at once be more natural, more efficient, more
+pleasant, and more useful.</p>
+
+<p>3. From the nature and operation of the above principle, also, we can
+perceive in what the efficiency of Pestalozzi's "Exercises on Objects,"
+consists.&mdash;When a child is required to tell you the colour and the
+consistence of milk, qualities which have all along been familiar to
+him, it conveys to him no knowledge; but it excites to observation and
+active thought,&mdash;to the "reiteration of ideas;"&mdash;and for this reason it
+is salutary. But it is still equally true, as in the former case, that
+the same degree of mental exercise, brought into operation upon some
+useful practical truth, would be at least equally useful as a mental
+stimulant, and much more beneficial as an educational exercise.</p>
+
+<p>4. From the nature of this great fundamental <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span>principle in mental
+cultivation, as consisting in the reiteration of ideas, and not of
+words, we have a key by which we can satisfactorily explain the
+remarkable, and hitherto unaccountable fact, that many persons who, in
+youth and at school, have been ranked among the dullest scholars, have
+afterwards become the greatest men. An active mind, in exact proportion
+to its vigour, will powerfully struggle against the unnatural thraldom
+of mere mechanical verbal exercises. The mind in a healthful state will
+not be satisfied with words, which are but the medium of ideas, because
+ideas alone are the natural food of the mind. Till the powers of the
+mind, therefore, are sufficiently enfeebled by time and perseverance, it
+will struggle with its fetters, and it will be repressed only by
+coercion. Minds naturally weak, or gradually subdued, may and do submit
+to this artificial bondage,&mdash;this unnatural drudgery; but the vigorous
+and powerful mind, under favourable circumstances, spurns the trammels,
+and continues to struggle on. It may be a protracted warfare,&mdash;but it
+must at last come to a close; and it is not till the pupil has emerged
+from this mental dungeon, and has had these galling fetters fairly
+knocked off, that the natural elasticity and strength of his mind find
+themselves at freedom, with sufficient room and liberty to act. The
+impetus then received, and the delight in the mental independence then
+felt, have frequently led to the brightest results. Hence it is, that
+the reputed dunce of the school, has not unfrequently become the
+ornament of the senate.</p>
+
+<p>Lastly, we would remark, that from the facts here enumerated, we derive
+a good test by which to try every new exercise proposed for training the
+young, and for cultivating the powers of the mind. If the exercise
+recommended compels the child to active thought,&mdash;to the voluntary
+exercise of his own mind upon useful ideas,&mdash;that exercise, whatever be
+its form, will, to that extent at least, be beneficial. And <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span>if, at the
+same time, it can be associated with the acquisition of knowledge, with
+the application of knowledge, or with the ready communication of
+knowledge,&mdash;all of which, as we have seen, are concomitants in Nature's
+process,&mdash;it will, in an equal degree, be valuable and worthy of
+adoption. But if, on the contrary, the exercise may be performed without
+the necessity of voluntary thought, or the reiteration of ideas by the
+mind, however plausible or imposing it may appear, it is next to
+certain, that although such an exercise may be sufficiently burdensome
+to the child, and cause much labour and anxiety to the teacher, it will
+most assuredly be at least useless, if not injurious.</p>
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> See the Fifth Public Experiment in Education, conducted
+before Sir Thomas Kirkpatrick, and the clergy and teachers of Dumfries,
+in the month of October 1833.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> Note K.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> Note H.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> For the methods of employing this exercise and the books
+best adapted for it, see Note I.</p></div>
+<br />
+<br /><a name="CHAP_IIB" id="CHAP_IIB"></a>
+<br />
+<br />
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h3>CHAP. II.</h3>
+
+<h3><i>On the Methods by which Nature may be imitated in the Pupil's
+Acquisition of Knowledge; with a Review of the Analogy between the
+Mental and Physical Appetites of the Young.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>The second step in the progress of Nature's pupil is the acquisition of
+knowledge.&mdash;This has always been considered a chief object in every
+system of education; and the discovery of the most efficient means by
+which it may be accomplished, must be a matter of great importance.</p>
+
+<p>In our remarks upon this subject in a previous chapter, we have shewn,
+that Nature in her operations employs four distinct principles for
+accumulating knowledge, for retaining it upon the memory, and for
+keeping it in readiness for use at the command of the will. There are,
+<i>First</i>, the "reiteration of ideas" by the mind, without which there can
+be no knowledge; <i>Secondly</i>, the principle of "Individuation," by which
+the knowledge of objects and truths is acquired one by one; <i>Thirdly</i>,
+the principle of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span>"Grouping," or Association, in which the mind views as
+one object, what is really composed of many; and, <i>Fourthly</i>, the
+principle of "Analysis," or Classification, in which the judgment is
+brought into exercise, the different portions of our knowledge are
+arranged and classified under different heads and branches, and the
+whole retained in order at the command of the will, when any portion of
+it is required.&mdash;Our object now is to consider, what means are within
+the reach of the parent and the teacher, by which Nature in these
+several processes may be successfully imitated, while they endeavour to
+communicate the elements of knowledge to the young.</p>
+
+<p>Ideas being the only proper food of the mind, Nature has created in the
+young an extraordinary appetite and desire for their possession. There
+is a striking analogy in this respect, between the strengthening of the
+body by food, and the invigorating of the mind by knowledge; and before
+proceeding to detail the methods by which the parent or the teacher may
+successfully break down and prepare the bread of knowledge for their
+pupils in imitation of Nature, it will be of advantage here to consider
+more particularly some of the circumstances connected with this
+instructive analogy. By tracing the likeness so conspicuously held out
+to us in this analogy by Nature herself, we shall be greatly assisted in
+evading the bewildering and mystifying influence of prejudice, and the
+reader will be much better prepared to judge of the value of those means
+recommended for nourishing and strengthening the mind by knowledge, when
+he finds them to correspond so exactly with similar principles employed
+by Nature for the nourishing and strengthening of the body by food. We
+shall by this means, we hope, be able to detect some of those fallacies
+which have long tended to trammel the exertions, and to prevent the
+success of the teacher in his interesting labours.</p>
+
+<p>The first point of analogy to which we would <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span>advert, is the vigour and
+activity of the mental appetite in the young, which corresponds so
+strikingly with the frequent and urgent craving of their bodily appetite
+for food.&mdash;The desire of food for the body, and the desire of knowledge
+for the mind, are alike restless and insatiable in childhood; and a
+similar amount of satisfaction and pleasure is the consequence, whenever
+these desires are prudently gratified. That the desire for knowledge in
+the young is often weakened, and sometimes destroyed, is but too true;
+but this is the work of man, not of Nature. It will accordingly be found
+on investigation, with but few exceptions, that wherever the general
+appetite of the child, either for mental or bodily food, becomes languid
+or weak, it is either the effect for disease or of some grievous abuse.</p>
+
+<p>Another point of analogy consists, in the necessity of the personal
+active co-operation of the child himself in receiving and digesting his
+food.&mdash;There is no such thing in Nature as a child being fed and
+nourished by proxy. His food must be received, digested, and assimilated
+by his own powers, and by the use of his own organs, else he will never
+be fed. In the same way, the food for his mind can benefit him only in
+so far as he himself is the active agent. He must himself receive,
+reiterate in his own mind, and commit to the keeping of his memory,
+every idea presented to him by his teacher. No one can do this for
+him;&mdash;he must do it himself. In a family, the parent may provide, dress,
+and communicate the food to the child,&mdash;but he can do no more; and
+similar is the case with respect to the mental food provided by the
+teacher. He may no doubt select the most appropriate kinds,&mdash;he may
+simplify it,&mdash;he may break it down into morsels;&mdash;but his pupils, if
+they are to learn, must learn for themselves. When a pupil, to save
+himself trouble, tries to evade the learning of a preliminary lesson, or
+when the teacher winks at the evasion by performing the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span>exercise for
+him, it is as absurd as for a parent to eat the child's food, and expect
+at the same time that his boy is to be nourished by it. If the mental
+food be too strong for the child, something more simple must be provided
+for him; but to continue to administer knowledge which the pupil does
+not comprehend, and force the strong mental food of an adult upon the
+tender capacities of a child, is an error of the most mischievous kind.
+It prevents the mind from acting at all, without which there can be no
+improvement. The mind must wield its own weapons if ignorance is to be
+dislodged; and if the child is to advance at all, he must overcome the
+difficulties that lie in his way by the exertion of his own powers. His
+teacher may no doubt direct him as to the best and the easiest way of
+accomplishing his object; but that is all. The pupil must in every case
+perform the exercise for himself.</p>
+
+<p>This leads us to notice another point of analogy in this case, which is,
+the necessity of adapting the food to the age and capacities of those
+who are to receive it.&mdash;There is in the mental, as well as in the
+physical nourishment provided for our race, milk for the weak, as well
+as meat for the strong; and it is necessary in both cases that the kind
+and the quantity be carefully attended to. In the case of the strong,
+there is less danger; because, with regard both to the mental and bodily
+food, Nature has so ordered matters, that the food which is best adapted
+for the weak, will also nourish the strong; but the food adapted for the
+strong is never suitable, and is often poisonous to the weak. There must
+therefore be, in all cases where the young are concerned, as careful a
+selection of the mental food, as there is of the food for the body; and
+the parent or teacher should, in all cases, present only such subjects,
+and such ideas to his pupils, as the state of their faculties, or the
+progress of their knowledge, enables them to understand and apply.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span>Another striking point of analogy between mental and bodily nourishment,
+is to be found in the effects of repletion, when too great a quantity of
+food is communicated at one time.&mdash;As the increase of a child's bodily
+strength does not depend upon the mere quantity of food forced into his
+stomach, but upon that portion only which is healthfully digested and
+assimilated; so in like manner, the amount of a child's knowledge will
+not correspond to the number of ideas forced upon his attention by the
+teacher, but to those only which have been reiterated by the mind, and
+committed by that process to the keeping of the memory. In both cases,
+the evil of repletion is two-fold; there is the waste of food and of
+labour, while the strength and the growth of the child, instead of being
+promoted, are retarded and diminished. The physical appetite gains
+strength, by moderate exercise; but it is palled and weakened by every
+instance of repletion. The desire for food is never for any length of
+time at rest, so long as the stomach is kept in proper tone by moderate
+and frequent feeding; and the quantity of food which a healthy child
+will in these circumstances consume, is often surprising. But whenever
+the stomach is gorged, then restlessness, uneasiness, and not
+unfrequently disease, are the consequences. The digestive powers are
+weakened, the tone of the stomach is relaxed, and, instead of the
+healthful craving for food which should occur at the proper interval,
+the appetite is destroyed, and food of every kind is nauseated.&mdash;Exactly
+similar is the case with the mental appetite. The natural curiosity of
+children, or, in other words, their desire of information, before it is
+checked or overloaded by mismanagement, is almost insatiable; and the
+astonishing amount of knowledge which they usually acquire between the
+ages of one and three years, while under the guidance of Nature, has
+been formerly alluded to. But this desire of information, and this
+capacity for receiving it, are by no means <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span>confined to that early
+period of their lives. The same appetite for knowledge would increase
+and acquire additional strength, were it but properly directed, or
+furnished with moderate and suitable means of gratification. But when a
+parent or teacher impatiently attempts to force it upon the child more
+rapidly than he can receive it,&mdash;that is, than he can reiterate it in
+his mind for himself,&mdash;he not only irritates and harasses the child, but
+his attempt neutralizes the effect of the ideas which the child would
+otherwise pleasantly and efficiently have received. Every such attempt
+to do more than enough greatly weakens the powers of the pupil's mind,
+and discourages him from any after attempt to increase his knowledge.</p>
+
+<p>As a general maxim in the education of the young, it may here be
+observed, that as long as the understanding of a child remains clear,
+and he can distinctly perceive the truths which are communicated to him,
+he will find himself pleasantly and profitably employed, and will soon
+acquire a habit of distinct mental vision;&mdash;the powers of his mind will
+be rapidly expanded and strengthened, and he will receive and retain the
+knowledge communicated to him with ease and with pleasure. But when, on
+the contrary, he is overtasked, and more ideas are forced upon his
+attention than his capacity can receive, the mind becomes disturbed and
+confused, the mental perception becomes cloudy and indistinct, and all
+that is communicated in these circumstances is absolutely lost. If the
+parent or teacher insists on the pupil persevering in his mental meal,
+in the hope that things will get better, we can easily, from the present
+analogy, perceive the fallacy of such a hope. Perseverance will only
+create additional perplexity; the whole powers of the child's mind will
+become more and more enfeebled, or totally prostrated; the labour of the
+teacher will be lost; and he will find his pupil now, and for some time
+afterwards, much less <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span>able to take a clear and distinct view of any
+subject than he was before.</p>
+
+<p>There is yet one other point of analogy between the supply of food for
+the body and the mind, to which we must also allude. It is to be found
+in the baneful, and often destructive, effects of unnatural stimulants
+applied to the mental appetite, which strikingly correspond in their
+effects to the pernicious habit of supplying stimulants to the young in
+their ordinary food.&mdash;Stimulants will no doubt, in both cases, produce
+for the time additional excitement;&mdash;but they are neither natural nor
+necessary. In all ordinary cases, Nature has made ample provision for
+the supposed want, of which the craving&mdash;the natural and healthy
+craving&mdash;of children for knowledge and for food, gives ample testimony.
+To counteract or to weaken this natural desire would be improper;&mdash;but
+artificially to <i>increase</i> it is always dangerous. The reason is
+obvious; for the excitement thus caused being unnatural, it is always
+temporary; but its pernicious effects very soon become extensive and
+permanent. Every physician knows, that the habitual use of stimulants in
+the food of the young, weakens the tone of the stomach, palls the
+appetite, creates a disrelish for plain and wholesome food, and
+frequently destroys the powers of digestion for ever after. Very similar
+are the effects of unnatural stimulants to the mental appetite in
+training and teaching the young, when these stimulants are habitually,
+or even frequently administered. Their curiosity,&mdash;their appetite for
+knowledge,&mdash;is naturally so vigorous, that the repetition, or the
+reading of any story, however commonplace or uninteresting to us, gives
+them the sincerest pleasure, provided only that they understand and can
+follow it. This is a most wise and beneficent provision of Nature, of
+which parents and teachers should be careful to take advantage. It is
+because of this disposition in children, that in all ordinary cases, the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span>simplest narrative or anecdote in ordinary life, may be successfully
+employed in giving them mental strength, and in communicating permanent
+moral instruction. But whenever unnatural and injudicious excitements
+are used in their instruction, and the child's imagination has been
+stimulated and defiled by the ideas of giants and ogres, fairies and
+ghosts, the whole natural tone of the mind is destroyed, plain and even
+interesting stories and narratives lose their proper attraction, and a
+diseased and insatiable appetite for the marvellous and the horrible is
+generally created. Even to adults, and much more to children, whose
+minds have been thus abused, the plain paths of probability and truth
+have lost every charm; and the study of abstract but useful subjects
+becomes to them a nauseous task&mdash;an intolerable burden.</p>
+
+<p>The accuracy of this analogy, we think, will readily be admitted by all.
+And if so, it will at least help to illustrate, if it does not prove,
+some of the important conclusions to which we shall find ourselves led
+upon other, and philosophical grounds. But as the prejudices which,
+during several centuries, have been gradually congregating around the
+science of education are so many and so powerful, every legitimate
+means, and this among others, should be combined for the purpose of
+removing them.</p>
+<br />
+<br /><a name="CHAP_IIIB" id="CHAP_IIIB"></a>
+<br />
+<br />
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h3>CHAP. III.</h3>
+
+<h3><i>How Nature may be imitated in Communicating Knowledge to the Pupil, by
+the Reiteration of Ideas.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>The phenomenon in mechanics and natural philosophy, which is popularly
+termed "Suction," may be exhibited in a thousand different ways, and yet
+all are the result of but one cause. When we witness the various
+phenomena of the air and common pump,&mdash;the barometer and the cupping
+glass,&mdash;the sipping of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span>our tea, and the traversing of an insect on the
+mirror or the roof,&mdash;the operations appear so very dissimilar, that we
+are ready to attribute them to the action of a variety of agents. But it
+is not so;&mdash;for when we trace each of them back to its primitive cause,
+we find that each and all of these wonders are produced by the weight of
+the atmosphere, and <i>that alone</i>. In precisely the same manner,
+knowledge may apparently be communicated to the human mind in a thousand
+different ways; and yet, when we examine each, and trace it to its
+primitive cause, we find the phenomenon to be one&mdash;and <i>one alone</i>. The
+truth has been received and lodged with the memory,&mdash;made part of our
+knowledge&mdash;by <i>the reiteration of its idea</i> by the mind itself;&mdash;by an
+exercise of active, voluntary thought upon the knowledge thus
+communicated. The cause and the effect invariably follow each other both
+in old and young; for whenever a new idea is perceived and reiterated by
+the pupil,&mdash;if it should be but once,&mdash;the knowledge of the child is to
+that extent increased; but whenever this act of the mind is awanting,
+there can be no additional information received;&mdash;the increase of
+knowledge is found to be impossible. This appears to be a law of our
+Nature, to which we know of no exception.</p>
+
+<p>It is also worthy of remark here, that the retention or permanence of
+the ideas thus committed to the keeping of the memory depends upon two
+circumstances. The first is, the vigour of the mental powers, or the
+intensity of the impression made upon them at the time of
+reiteration;&mdash;and the second, and certainly the principal circumstance,
+is the frequency of their reiteration by the mind. In evidence of the
+first we see, that a fall, a fright, or a narrow escape from imminent
+danger, although it occurred but once, and perhaps in early infancy,
+will be remembered through life; and in proof of the second, we find,
+that the scenes and circumstances of childhood being frequently and
+daily reiterated by the mind, at a time when it has little <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span>else to
+reiterate, remain permanently on the memory. The object therefore most
+to be desired by the teacher, is an exercise, or a series of exercises,
+by which, in his attempts to communicate knowledge to his pupil, this
+act of reiteration may be secured, and if possible repeated at pleasure,
+for more permanently fixing on the memory the knowledge communicated.</p>
+
+<p>In a former chapter we shewed, that this act of reiteration is the
+instrument employed by Nature for cultivating the powers of the mind as
+well as for communicating and impressing knowledge;&mdash;and we have also
+shewn that Nature in that process was successfully imitated by means of
+the catechetical exercise. This exercise has accordingly been found as
+powerful and efficient in promoting this, her second object, as it is in
+the first. The success of the catechetical exercise in communicating
+knowledge clearly to the young, even when it is but imperfectly managed,
+has been extensive and uniform; but wherever its nature has been
+properly understood, and it has been scientifically conducted, the
+amount of knowledge communicated in a given time, and with a given
+amount of mental and physical labour, stands confessedly without a
+parallel in the previous history of education. Minds the most obtuse,
+habits of listlessness the most inveterate, and mental imbecility,
+bordering on idiotcy, have been powerfully assailed and overcome; and
+knowledge, by means of this exercise, has forced its way, and firmly
+secured a place for itself, in minds which previously were little more
+than a blank.</p>
+
+<p>The causes of its success in cultivating the powers of the mind were
+formerly explained; but its adaptation to the communicating of knowledge
+is still more peculiarly striking. We shall endeavour to point out a few
+of these peculiarities.</p>
+
+<p>Let us for that purpose suppose a teacher desirous of communicating to a
+child the important fact, that "God at first made all things of nothing
+to shew his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span>greatness;" it must be done, either by the child reading or
+hearing the sentence. If it be read, there is at least a chance, that
+the words may be all decyphered, and audibly pronounced, while the ideas
+contained in them have not yet reached the mind. The child may have
+carefully examined each word as it occurred, and may have reiterated
+each of them on his mind as he read them, and yet there may not be the
+slightest addition to his knowledge. The reiteration of <i>words</i>, as we
+have before explained, is not that which Nature requires, but the
+reiteration of <i>ideas</i>; and although we may, by substituting the one for
+the other, deceive ourselves, Nature will not be deceived; for unless
+the ideas contained in the sentence be reiterated by the mind, there can
+be no additional information conveyed.&mdash;The same thing may happen, if
+the words, instead of being read by the child, are announced by the
+teacher. The pupil may in that case hear the sounds; nay, he may repeat
+the words, and thus reiterate <i>them</i> in his mind after the teacher; but
+if he has not translated the words into their proper ideas as he
+proceeded, experience proves, that his knowledge remains as limited as
+before;&mdash;there has been no additional information. These cases are so
+common, and so uniform, that no farther illustration we think needs be
+given of them.</p>
+
+<p>The desideratum in both these cases is, some exercise by which the child
+shall be compelled to translate the words into their several ideas; and
+by reiterating the ideas themselves, not the words which convey them, he
+shall be enabled at once to commit them to the keeping of the memory,
+and thus make them part of his knowledge. The catechetical exercise
+supplies this want. For if, in either case, after the words have been
+read or repeated, the child is asked, "What did God make?" the
+translation of the words into the ideas, if previously neglected, is now
+forced upon him, because without this it is impossible for him to
+prepare the answer. The ideas must be <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span>drawn from the words, and
+reiterated by the mind, independently of the words, before the exercise
+can be completed. And not only must the particular idea which answers
+the question be extracted, but <i>the whole</i> of the ideas contained in the
+sentence must be reiterated by the mind, before the selection can be
+begun, and the choice made. It is also specially worthy of remark, that
+even in such a case as this, where, on the sentence being read or heard,
+the words alone were at first perceived, yet no sooner does the mind
+proceed to its legitimate object, the reiteration of the ideas which the
+words convey, than the words themselves are instantly lost sight of, and
+in one sense are never again thought of. As soon as the kernel is
+extracted, the shell has lost its value. The pupil having once got sight
+of the ideas, tenaciously keeps hold of <i>them</i>, and never once thinks
+again of the words, which were merely the instrument employed by Nature
+to convey them. When the question is asked, and he answers it, the
+process consists in his translating the words of the whole sentence into
+their several ideas, chusing out the idea which answers the question
+from all the others, and then in clothing that idea in words which are
+now entirely his own.</p>
+
+<p>In all this there is a long and intricate series of mental exercises, in
+every one of which the mind is actively employed, and it is in this, as
+before explained, that the value of this exercise, in cultivating the
+powers of the mind, really consists. But our present business is with
+the acquisition of knowledge by its means; and we have to observe, that
+in each of the mental operations required for the answer of a single
+question, the ideas contained in the original sentence have repeatedly
+to undergo the process of reiteration; by which they are more clearly
+perceived, and more permanently fixed on the memory, than they otherwise
+could have been. Hence the value of this exercise, even in those cases
+where the original sentence has been at the first fully understood. This
+will appear <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span>obvious by tracing the mental operation of the pupil from
+the beginning, when he has to answer the question.</p>
+
+<p>There is first the understanding of the question asked at him. This must
+be heard and reiterated by the mind before its purport can be perceived,
+and all this before he can commence the proper mental operation upon the
+original sentence from which his answer is to be selected. He has then
+to review the words of the original sentence, still sounding in his
+ears, and to translate them into their several ideas, before he can
+begin to select the one required. Then comes the act of selection,
+having to chuse out from among all the others the special idea required
+as his answer; and lastly, there is the clothing of that idea in words
+suitable for the occasion, and the audibly pronouncing of these words as
+the answer required. The rapidity with which the mind passes from one
+part of this exercise to another, may prevent these several operations
+from being perceived, but it is not the less true that they must have
+taken place. And hence arises the value of the catechetical exercise,
+not only in cultivating in an extraordinary degree the mental faculties
+of the pupil, but in powerfully forcing information upon the mind, and
+permanently fixing it upon the memory for after use.</p>
+
+<p>But even this does not exhaust the catalogue of benefits to be derived
+from the use of the catechetical exercise in communicating knowledge to
+the young. We have supposed only one question to have been asked by the
+teacher upon the original sentence, and yet we have seen that this one
+question has in fact in a great measure secured the understanding of the
+whole of the ideas contained in it. But instead of one question, the
+catechetical exercise has the power of originating many, each producing
+successively similar results, but with greater ease to the child, and
+with much more effect in rivetting the several ideas upon the memory.
+The first <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>question, when properly put, gives the pupil the command of
+the whole proposition; but it requires considerable mental effort in the
+child to recall the words, and internally to translate the ideas <i>for
+the first time</i>. But when this has once been done, and a second question
+is asked from the same sentence, the ideas being now more familiar,
+there is less mental labour required in preparing the answer, and there
+being equal success, there is of course more satisfaction. The ideas
+become much more clear and distinct before the mind by a second review;
+and the effect, in fixing the whole upon the memory, is much more
+powerful than it could be by means of the first. When therefore the
+teacher confines himself to the original sentence, and does not indulge
+in catechetical wanderings, the questions, "When did God make all
+things?" "How many things did God make?" "Of what did God make all
+things?" and, "Why did God make all things?" produce extensive and
+powerful effects. The pupil finds himself able to master each question
+in succession without difficulty, and the answering of each appears to
+him a triumph. Whoever has been in the habit of making use of this
+exercise in the manner explained above, must have witnessed with
+pleasure the life, and energy, and delight, which it invariably infuses
+into the scholar, giving education a perfectly different aspect from
+what it usually assumes in the eyes of the young, and making it even in
+the estimation of the pupil a formidable rival to his play. In this
+manner has Nature set her seal upon this exercise, as a near
+approximation to her own process for attaining the two preparatory
+objects she has in view in the education of the young; that of
+cultivating the powers of the mind, and that of communicating to her
+pupils the elements of knowledge.</p>
+
+<p>This exercise has been reduced to a regular system, which has placed it
+more directly at the command of all who undertake the instruction of the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span>young. By a little attention on the part of parents and teachers, to a
+few simple rules, they may catechise upon any book, and apply the
+exercise to any species of knowledge whatever. We shall endeavour to
+explain the nature and uses of these rules.</p>
+
+<p>For the purposes of this exercise, the school books of the pupil are
+supposed to consist of sentences, each of the principal <i>words</i> in which
+conveys some specific idea;&mdash;these again are combined into <i>clauses</i>,
+which also convey an idea;&mdash;and the combination of these clauses in a
+<i>sentence</i>, or <i>paragraph</i>, usually forms a complete truth. For example,
+the sentence, "God at first [made all things] of nothing [to shew his
+greatness,"] contains one great truth; but the sentence which conveys
+it, embodies at least two <i>clauses</i>, inclosed in brackets, while the
+whole is made up of <i>words</i>, each of which is the sign of an idea which
+may readily be separated from all the others. Now it is evident, that
+questions may be formed by the teacher relative to each of these three
+parts. He may ask a question, which shall require the <i>whole</i> truth for
+the answer; or one which will be answered by a <i>clause</i>; or another
+which is answered by a <i>word</i>.</p>
+
+<p>In "revising," accordingly, where time is an object, the teacher
+confines himself to those general questions which bring out the <i>whole
+truth</i> at once, as is exemplified in the Larger and Shorter Catechisms.
+This is called the "Connecting Exercise," because it is employed in
+uniting sections together, which have previously been taught to the
+pupils separately, but which are necessary to be perceived also in
+connection. This, however, would be too limited an exercise for the
+purpose of directing the mind to the several parts of a truth for the
+first time; and therefore the teacher in those cases forms his questions
+chiefly upon the <i>clauses</i> in the sentence, and the other words which
+have some material relation to them, and this is called the "General
+Exercise." But even this is not enough, where the child is dull, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span>or
+where healthful mental exercise is required; and accordingly in that
+case, the teacher not only questions upon the clauses in connection with
+the other principal words, but he takes the <i>words</i>, of which the
+clauses are composed, and catechises the child upon them also. This is
+called the "Verbal Exercise," which has been found of great value in the
+teacher's intercourse with his younger classes. Upon these principles
+the Initiatory Catechisms and their Keys have been formed, together with
+the several Helps for communicating Scriptural knowledge. The success of
+these school books, although labouring under all the disadvantages of
+new instruments, imperfectly formed to work out new principles, is
+mainly to be attributed to the close imitation of Nature aimed at in all
+their exercises.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>rule</i> for the parent or teacher in mastering these exercises is the
+same in all; it consists simply in forming the question in such a
+manner, as that the word, the clause, or the whole proposition, shall be
+required to make the answer. Sufficient explanation and examples of all
+this will be found in the Note.<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a></p>
+
+<p>The uniform results of many experiments, have established the importance
+of this exercise as an instrument in communicating knowledge to the
+ignorant, whether young or old. We shall shortly advert to a few of the
+circumstances connected with these experiments, for the purpose of
+satisfactorily establishing this.</p>
+
+<p>In an experiment made in May 1828, under the direction of the Very Rev.
+Dr Baird, Principal of the University of Edinburgh, before the Lord
+Provost, and several of the Professors and Clergymen of that city, nine
+adult criminals, "taken without regard to their abilities," and who, in
+the opinion of Governor Rose, "formed a fair average of the usual
+prisoners," were, in the space of three successive weeks, exercised in
+whole for eighteen or twenty hours. They were at <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span>the end of that time
+minutely examined in the Chapel of the County Jail, in the presence of
+the Right Honourable and Reverend Professors and Gentlemen, who formed
+Principal Baird's committee; and their Report of the experiment and its
+effects bears, that "the result of this important experiment was, in
+every point, satisfactory. Not only had much religious knowledge been
+acquired by the pupils, and that of the most substantial, and certainly
+the least evanescent kind; but it appeared to have been acquired with
+ease, and even with satisfaction&mdash;a circumstance of material importance
+in every case, but especially in that of adult prisoners." "The
+examination evidently brought out only a specimen of their knowledge,
+and did by no means comprise all that had been acquired by them; but,
+even though it had constituted the whole amount of their information,
+the fact that such a treasure had been amassed in three weeks is in
+itself astonishing. The writer of this Minute was not acquainted with
+the extent of their acquirements when Mr Gall commenced his operations;
+but judging from the examination, and from his knowledge of the contents
+of the books taught, he has no hesitation in averring, that the answers
+which they gave, arose entirely from information communicated by them.
+And when he reflects that their answers, being clothed in their own
+words, guaranteed the fact, that it was <i>the ideas</i> upon which they had
+seized, and that their knowledge participated in no degree of rote, the
+conviction to his mind is irresistible, that the universal application
+of the Lesson System to Prison Discipline, and to adults every where,
+would be followed by effects incalculably precious to the individuals
+themselves, and to the improving of society in general."</p>
+
+<p>The efficiency of this exercise in communicating knowledge, was equally
+conspicuous in another experiment, conducted under the eye of the
+Principal, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span>Professors, and Clergymen of Aberdeen, in July 1828. The
+persons on whom this experiment was made, were children taken from the
+lower classes of society, carefully selected on two several days, by a
+committee of clergymen appointed for the purpose, from the various
+schools in the city. These children were all carefully and individually
+examined in private by the committee, and were chosen from among their
+companions, not on account of their natural abilities, or educational
+acquirements, but specially and simply on account of their ignorance.
+The precautions taken by the Rev. and learned examinators, to secure
+accuracy in their ultimate decision, were at once judicious and
+complete; and were intended to enable them to say with confidence at the
+close of the experiment, that the results, whatever they might be, were
+really the effects of the exercise and discipline to which the children
+during it had been subjected, and were in no respect due to the previous
+capacity or the attainments of the children.</p>
+
+<p>To secure this important preliminary object, therefore, the
+sub-committee of clergymen above alluded to was appointed, as soon as
+the experiment was determined upon, with instructions to collect a class
+of the most ignorant children they could find, attending the several
+schools, and who it was thought would be, of course, most incapacitated
+for receiving instruction. This sub-committee, consisting of the Rev.
+John Murray, the Rev. Abercromby L. Gordon, and the Rev. David Simpson,
+in their previous Report, say, "We, on two several days, met with the
+children which were collected from the various schools, and examined
+them individually, and apart from each other; avoiding every appearance
+of formality, and endeavouring to draw them into familiar conversation,
+that we might correctly ascertain the state of their religious knowledge
+on the three following points, which we considered to be the best
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span>criterion by which to judge of their understanding of the other less
+important points in the gospel scheme of salvation.&mdash;These points were,
+1. Our connection, as sinners, with Adam; 2. Our connection with Christ
+as the Saviour; 3. The means by which we become interested in the
+salvation of Christ. On minutely examining each child on these points,
+one by one, and endeavouring, by varied and familiar language and
+cross-questioning, without confusing their ideas, to ascertain the
+knowledge which they possessed on these first principles, we accurately,
+and at the time, minuted the result, distinguishing those points which
+they understood, and those which they did not. From this list we
+afterwards selected twenty-two names, of children who appeared from the
+list, to be the most ignorant, by <i>not having any marks of approval on
+any one of these points</i> on which they were examined;&mdash;although delicacy
+to the children, as well as to their parents and teachers, prevented us
+from stating to them, that this was the principle by which we had been
+regulated in our selection. From these twenty-two children, Mr Gall has
+made up his class of ten, for this experiment, which he proposes shall
+continue for eight days, occupying two hours each day; and having thus
+chosen that class of pupils which appeared to us the most ignorant, we
+have, in justice to Mr Gall and this system of teaching, stated the
+fact, leaving the examinators to make what allowance they may on this
+account think proper, in determining on the failure or success of this
+very important and interesting experiment."</p>
+
+<p>This was the state of the children's knowledge and capacity when the
+experiment began; and the following was found to be the state of these
+same children's knowledge when examined publicly in the East Church,
+before the Very Rev. Principal, Professors, and Clergymen of the city,
+and a large congregation of the citizens, eight days afterwards.</p>
+
+<p>The children were first interrogated minutely on <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span>the doctrines of the
+gospel, which had been previously arranged in a list under sixteen
+different heads, embodying all the leading doctrinal points in the
+Confession of Faith and Shorter Catechism, a copy of which was handed to
+the Very Rev. Principal Jack, who presided. The Report of the
+Experiment, prepared by their Committee, goes on to say, that "After
+being examined generally and satisfactorily on each of these heads, the
+chairman, by means of a list of the names with which he was furnished,
+called up some of them individually, who were carefully examined, and
+shewed, by their answers, that they severally understood the nature of
+the above doctrines, and their mutual relation to each other.</p>
+
+<p>"They were then examined on the Old Testament History, from the account
+of the death of Moses, downwards, to that of the revolt of the Ten
+Tribes in the reign of Rehoboam. Here they distinctly stated and
+described all the leading circumstances of the narrative comprised in
+the 'First Step,' whose brief but comprehensive outline they appeared,
+in various instances, to have filled up at home, by reading in their
+Bibles the corresponding chapters. They were next examined in the same
+way, on several sections of the New Testament," with which they had also
+acquired an extensive practical knowledge, besides some useful
+information in Civil History, Biography, and Natural Philosophy, on all
+which they were closely and extensively examined.</p>
+
+<p>In another experiment, undertaken at the request, and under the
+sanction, of the Sunday School Union of London, the efficiency of this
+exercise, as a successful imitation of Nature in communicating
+knowledge, was also satisfactorily ascertained. We shall at present
+advert only to one feature of it, as being more immediately connected
+with the present branch of our subject, that of communicating knowledge
+to the most ignorant and depraved.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span>The Report of this Experiment, drawn up by the Secretaries of that
+Institution, records, that "it had been requested, that, if possible,
+children should be procured, somewhat resembling the heathen, (or
+persons in a savage state,) whose intellectual and moral attainments
+were bounded only by their knowledge of natural objects, and whose
+feelings and obligations were of course regulated principally by
+coercion and fear of punishment."</p>
+
+<p>Two gentlemen of the Committee, accordingly, undertook the search, and
+at last procured from the streets three children, a boy and two girls of
+the ages, so far as could be ascertained, (for they themselves could not
+tell,) of seven, nine, and eleven years, whom we shall designate G, H,
+and I. These children had no knowledge of letters; knew no more than the
+name of God, and that he was in the skies, but could not tell any thing
+about him, or what he had done. They knew not who made the sun, nor the
+world, nor themselves. They had no idea of a soul, or that they should
+live after death. One had a confused idea of the name of Jesus, as
+connected with prayers; which, however, she did not understand, but had
+never heard of Adam, Noah, or Abraham. When asked if they knew any thing
+of Moses, one on them (viz. I,) instantly recollected the name; but when
+examined, it was found that she only referred to a cant term usually
+bestowed upon the old-clothesmen of London. They had no idea of a
+Saviour; knew nothing of heaven or hell; had never heard of Christ, and
+knew not whether the name belonged to a man or a woman. The boy, (H,)
+when strictly interrogated on this point, and asked, whether he indeed
+knew nothing at all of Jesus Christ, thinking his veracity called in
+question, replied with much earnestness, and in a manner that showed the
+rude state of his mind, "No; upon my soul, I do not!"</p>
+
+<p>This class, after eleven days' teaching, conducted in public, and in the
+presence of numbers of teachers, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span>during one hour daily, were publicly
+examined in the Poultry Chapel, by a number of clergymen, before the
+Committee of the Sunday School Union, and a numerous congregation. The
+Report goes on to say, that the children of this class "were examined,
+minutely and individually, on the great leading doctrines of
+Christianity. The enumeration and illustrations of the several doctrines
+were given with a simplicity, and in a language, peculiarly their own;
+which clearly proved the value of that part of the Lesson System which
+enjoins the dealing with the ideas, rather than with the words; and
+which shewed, that they had acquired a clear knowledge of the several
+truths. They were also examined on some parts of the Old Testament
+History," with which, during that short period, they had been made
+thoroughly acquainted.</p>
+
+<p>These facts of themselves, and they could be enlarged to almost any
+extent, clearly prove the power and the value of this exercise in
+communicating knowledge to the young. And, as we have seen that its
+efficiency consists entirely in its close imitation of the process of
+Nature in accomplishing the same object, we are the better warranted to
+press upon the minds of all who are interested in education and the art
+of teaching, the importance of keeping strictly to Nature, so far as we
+can trace her operations; as it is by doing so alone that we are sure of
+success. It may no doubt be said, that there are other ways of
+communicating knowledge to the young, besides the catechetical exercise;
+and therefore the necessity of adopting it is neither so necessary nor
+so urgent. To this it may be answered, that there have been other plans
+adopted, in urgent cases, for the nourishment of the body, besides the
+common mode of eating and digesting food; but all such plans are
+unnatural, and are of course but momentary and inadequate;&mdash;this,
+therefore, would form no argument for depriving children of their food.
+But even this argument is <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span>not parallel; for, although it has been found
+that partial nourishment may be conveyed to the blood otherwise than by
+the stomach, it has not yet been ascertained that any idea can enter the
+mind, except by this act of "reiteration." Unless, therefore, something
+definite can be brought forward, which will secure the performance of
+this act, different from the catechetical exercise, or the several
+modifications of it, that exercise ought to be considered as a necessary
+agent in every attempt of the teacher to communicate knowledge.</p>
+
+<p>But this admission in a philosophical question is much more than is at
+all necessary for our present purpose. It is in every view of the case
+sufficient to shew, that knowledge cannot be imparted without voluntary
+active thought upon the ideas communicated, or what we have termed,
+"reiteration;"&mdash;and if this be once admitted, and if it can be shewn
+that the catechetical exercise produces this result <i>more certainly</i>,
+and <i>more powerfully</i>, than any other mode of instruction yet known,
+then nothing but prejudice will lead to the neglect of this, or will
+give the preference to another. And it is a remarkable fact, that on
+investigation it will be found, that almost every useful exercise
+introduced into schools within the last thirty years, owes its
+efficiency to the presence, more or less, of the principles which we
+have been explaining, as embodied in the catechetical exercise.<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a></p>
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> Note L.</p></div>
+<br />
+<br /><a name="CHAP_IVB" id="CHAP_IVB"></a>
+<br />
+<br />
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h3>CHAP. IV.</h3>
+
+<h3><i>On the Means by which Nature may be imitated in Exercising the<br />
+Principle of Individuation.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>While it appears to be a law of Nature, that there can be no
+accumulation of knowledge without <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span>the act of reiteration, yet there are
+other principles which she brings into operation in connection with it,
+by which the amount of the various branches of knowledge received is
+greatly increased, and the knowledge itself more easily comprehended,
+and more permanently retained upon the memory.</p>
+
+<p>The first of these principles, which we have before alluded to and
+described, is that of "individuation;" that principle by which an infant
+or child is induced to concentrate the powers of its mind upon a new
+object, and that to the exclusion for the time of every other, till it
+has become acquainted with it.</p>
+
+<p>In a former chapter we found, that as long as a child remains solely
+under the guidance of Nature, it will not allow its attention to be
+distracted by different <i>unknown</i> objects at the same time; but whenever
+it selects one for examination, it invariably for the time abandons the
+consideration of every other. The consequence of this is, that infants,
+with all their physical and mental imbecility, acquire more real
+knowledge under the tuition of Nature in one year, than children who are
+double their age usually gain by the imperfect and unnatural exercises
+of unreformed schools in three or four. The cause of this is easily
+detected, and may be illustrated by the analogy of any one of the
+senses. The eye, for example, like the mind, must not only see the
+object, but it must look upon it&mdash;examine it&mdash;before the child can
+either become acquainted with it at the time, or remember it afterwards.
+But if unknown objects are made rapidly to flit past the eye of the
+child, so that this cannot be done before there is time to fix the
+attention upon any of them, the labour of the exhibitor is not only
+lost, but the sight of the child is impaired;&mdash;the eye itself is
+injured, and is less able, for some time afterwards, to look steadily
+upon any other object, even when that object is stationary. Such is the
+injury and the confusion created in the mind of a child when it is
+hurried forward from object to object, or from truth to truth, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span>before
+the mind has had leisure to lay hold of them, or to concentrate its
+powers upon the ideas they suggest. The labour of the teacher in that
+case is not only lost, and the child harassed and irritated, but the
+powers of the mind, instead of being brightened and strengthened, are
+bewildered and mystified, and must therefore be weakened in a
+corresponding degree.</p>
+
+<p>The method to be adopted therefore for the imitation of Nature in the
+working of this principle, will consist in bringing forward, for the
+consideration of the child, every new letter, or word, or truth, or
+object, <i>by itself</i>. When presented separately and alone, there is no
+distraction of mind&mdash;no confusion of ideas; the child is allowed to
+consider it well before learning it, so that he will know something of
+its form or its nature, and will remember it again when it is either
+presented to his notice alone, or when it is grouped with others. His
+idea of the object or truth may be indistinct and faint at first, but it
+is correct so far as it goes; and the ideas which he retains concerning
+it, are obviously much more extensive, than if the mind at its first
+presentation had been disturbed or bewildered by the addition of
+something else.</p>
+
+<p>His idea of the object or the truth, after being repeatedly considered,
+may still be very inadequate, but it will now be distinct; and it is the
+want of this precision in the pupil's mind that so frequently deceives
+teachers, and confuses and obstructs the future advance of the scholars.
+When a child hears, or reads a passage, the teacher, who understands it
+himself, too often takes it for granted that the child as he proceeds is
+reiterating the ideas as well as himself, and is of course master of the
+subject. But this is not always the case; and wherever the child has not
+succeeded in doing so, all that follows in that lesson is usually to the
+child the cause of confusion and difficulty. He finds himself at a
+stand; and however far he may in these circumstances be dragged
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span>forward, he has not advanced a step, and he must at some future
+period,&mdash;and the sooner the better,&mdash;return again to the same point, and
+proceed anew under serious disadvantages.</p>
+
+<p>In almost every stage of a child's education, the neglect of this
+principle is seriously and painfully felt. It is the cause of acute
+mental suffering to well affected and zealous pupils; and it is the
+chief origin of all the heartlessness, and idleness, and apathy, which
+are found to pervade and regulate the conduct of those that are less
+active. A careful appliance of this principle of individuation,
+therefore, is always of importance in education; but it ought never to
+be forgotten, that it is more peculiarly valuable and necessary at the
+commencement, than at any other period of a child's progress in
+learning. We shall advert to a few of the methods by which it may be
+applied in ordinary school education, in contrast with some instances in
+which it is neglected.</p>
+
+<p>In teaching the alphabet to children, the principle of individuation is
+indispensable; and its neglect has been productive of serious and
+permanent mischief. A child of good capacity, by a proper attention to
+this principle, will, with pleasure and ease, learn the names and forms
+of the letters, with the labour of only a few hours;<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> while, by
+neglecting the principle, the same child would, after years of
+irritation and weariness, be still found ignorant of its alphabet. The
+overlooking of the principle at this period has done an immense deal of
+injury to the cause of education. It has, at the very starting post in
+the race of improvement, quenched and destroyed all the real, as well as
+the imaginary delights of learning and knowledge. It has given the tyro
+such an erroneous but overwhelming impression of the difficulties and
+miseries which he must endure in his future <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span>advance, that the disgust
+then created has often so interwoven itself with his every feeling, that
+education has during life appeared to him the natural and necessary
+enemy to every kind of enjoyment.</p>
+
+<p>It used to be common, and the practice may still we believe be found
+lingering among some of the lovers of antiquity, to make a child
+commence at the letter A, and proceed along the alphabet without
+stopping till he arrived at Z; and this lesson not unfrequently included
+both the alphabets of capitals and small letters. Now the cruelty of
+such an exercise with a child will at once be apparent, if we shall only
+change its form. If a teacher were to read over to an infant twice a-day
+a whole page or paragraph <i>without stopping</i> of C&aelig;sar or Cicero in
+Latin, and demand that on hearing it he shall learn it, we could at once
+judge of the difficulty, and the feelings of a volatile mind chained to
+the constant and daily repetition of such a task; and if this exercise
+were termed its "education," we can easily conceive the amount of
+affection that the child would learn to cherish towards it. Now this is
+really no exaggerated illustration of the matter in hand, for in both
+cases the principle of individuation, so carefully guarded and enforced
+by Nature, is equally outraged; and it is only where, by some means or
+other, a remedy for the evil accidentally occurs, that the result in the
+case of the alphabet, is not exactly the same as it would have been in
+the case of the classics above supposed. The writer once saw in a Sunday
+school, where the children were taught twice each Sabbath, a class in
+which some of the children had attended for upwards of two years, and
+were still in their alphabet; and if the same mode had been pursued,
+there is little doubt that they would have been in it yet.</p>
+
+<p>The remedy for this evil is obvious. Instead of confounding the eye and
+the mind of the child, by rapidly parading twenty-six, or fifty-four
+forms, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>continuously and without intermission before the pupil, the
+letters ought to be presented to the child singly, or at most by two at
+a time; and these two should be rendered familiar, both in name and in
+form, before another character is introduced. When a few of the more
+conspicuous letters have become familiar, another is to be brought
+forward, and the child may be made to amuse himself, by picking out from
+a page of a book, all the letters he has learned, naming them, and if
+necessary describing them to a companion or a sub-monitor as they occur.
+Or he may be set down by himself, with a waste leaf from an old book, or
+pamphlet, or newspaper, to prick with a pin the new letter or letters
+last taught him; or, as an introduction to his writing, he may be made
+to score them gently with ink from a fine tipped pen. In these
+exercises, and all others which are in their nature similar, the
+principle of individuation is acknowledged and acted upon; and therefore
+it is, that a child will, by their means, acquire an acquaintance with
+the letters in an exceedingly short time, and, which is of still greater
+importance, without irritation or trouble. These methods may sometimes
+be rendered yet more effective, by the teacher applying the catechetical
+exercise to this comparatively dry and rather forbidding part of a
+child's education. It proceeds upon the principle of describing each
+letter, and attaching its name to the description, such as "round o,"
+"spectacle g," "top dotted i," &amp;c. as in the "Classified Alphabet." The
+teacher has thus an opportunity of exercising the child's imagination,
+as well as its memory, and making a monotonous, and comparatively
+unintellectual exercise, one of considerable variety and amusement.</p>
+
+<p>In teaching the alphabet to adults, whose minds are capable of
+appreciating and applying the principle of analysis, the "Classified
+Alphabet" should invariably be used. By this means their memory, in
+endeavouring to recall the form and name of any <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span>particular letter,
+instead of having to search through the whole <i>twenty-six</i>, has never to
+think of more than the four or five which compose its class,&mdash;a
+circumstance which makes the alphabet much more easily acquired by the
+adult than by a child. But even here, the principle of individuation
+must not be lost sight of; each letter in the class must be separately
+learned, and each class must be familiar, before another is taught.</p>
+
+<p>The principle of individuation continues to be equally necessary in
+teaching children to combine the letters in the formation of words; and
+when it is attended to, and when the only real use of letters, as the
+mere symbols of sound, is understood by the pupil, a smart child may be
+taught to read in a few minutes. This is not a theory, but a
+fact,&mdash;evidenced in the experience of many, and in the presence of
+thousands. Nor is it necessary that the words which are taught, should
+consist only of two or three letters; if the word be familiar to the
+child in speech, it becomes instantly known, when divided and taught in
+parts or syllables; and when once it is learned by the sounds of the
+letters, though these sounds merely approximate to the pronunciation of
+the word, it is sufficient to give a <i>hint</i> of what the word is, and
+when once it is known, it will not likely be again forgotten. By this
+means, the child is never puzzled except by entirely new words; and by
+knowing the use of the letters in their sounds, he receives a key by
+which at least to <i>guess</i> at them, which the sense of the subject
+greatly assists; so that one day, or even one hour, is sometimes, and we
+have no doubt will soon be generally, sufficient to overcome the
+hitherto forbidding and harassing drudgery of learning to read.</p>
+
+<p>In teaching children their first lessons, it is of great importance that
+the main design of reading should be clearly understood, and attended
+to. As writing, philosophically considered, is nothing more than an
+artificial substitute for speaking, so reading <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span>is nothing more than an
+artificial substitute for hearing, and is subject to all the laws which
+regulate that act. Now one of the chief laws impressed by Nature on the
+act of <i>hearing</i> the speech of others, is the very remarkable one
+formerly alluded to, namely, the exclusive occupation of the mind with
+the <i>ideas</i> communicated, to the entire exclusion of the <i>words</i>, which
+are merely the means by which the ideas are conveyed. The words are no
+doubt heard, but they are never thought of;&mdash;for if they were, the mind
+would instantly become distracted, and the ideas would be lost. This law
+equally applies to the act of <i>reading</i>; and every one feels, that
+perfection in this art is never attained, till the mind is exclusively
+occupied with the ideas in the book, and never in any case with the
+words which convey them. But in learning to read, the difficulty of
+decyphering the words, tends to interfere with this law, and this must
+be guarded against. The remedy simply is, to allow the child time to
+overcome this first difficulty, by repeatedly, if necessary, reading the
+sentence till he can read it perfectly; and then, before leaving it, to
+discipline the mind to the perception of the ideas it contains, now that
+the child can read it well.</p>
+
+<p>The catechetical exercise, as in the "First Class Book on the Lesson
+System," will almost always accomplish the object here pointed out; and
+the value of the exercise it recommends will be best understood and
+appreciated, by observing the evils which invariably follow its neglect.
+For if the child be allowed to read on and on, while the difficulty of
+decyphering the words in the book remains, the ideas will be left
+behind, the attention will be fatigued, and at last exhausted. The child
+will continue to read without understanding; and the habit thus acquired
+of reading the words, without perceiving the ideas at all, will soon be
+established and confirmed. Custom has robbed this relict of a former age
+of much of its repulsiveness; but it is not the less <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span>hurtful on that
+account. Were we to run a parallel with it in any other matter, its true
+nature and deformity would at once appear. For example, were we to
+suppose ourselves listening to an imperative message from a superior, by
+a messenger with whose language we were but partially acquainted, we
+would not allow him to proceed with his communication from beginning to
+end, while the very first sentence he uttered, had not been understood,
+and the mind was unprepared for that which was to follow. We would stop
+him at the close of the very first sentence, and would master the
+meaning of that, before we would advance with him another step; and then
+we would make him proceed at such a pace as we could keep up with him.
+If he left us again behind, there would be but one remedy. He must
+return and repeat the sentence where he left us, till we had
+comprehended his master's meaning; and if he refused to do this, he
+could not conscientiously say to him on his return, that he had
+delivered his message. By following this plan, and adopting this branch
+of the natural principle of individuation in such a case, two benefits
+would arise. We would first become perfectly acquainted with the will
+and message of our superior; and next, we would, at the close of the
+exercise, be so much more familiar with the language in which it was
+delivered, as that it would require less effort on a future occasion, to
+comprehend the meaning of the same speaker. If this method had not been
+adopted, and the message had been given entire and without a pause, it
+might have been rehearsed in our hearing a hundred times, but the
+meaning would neither have been mastered, nor would our knowledge of the
+language have been in the least improved.</p>
+
+<p>The application of this principle of individuation in the early stages
+of a child's learning to read, suggests the propriety also of making
+some preparation for his reading every new lesson in succession. We have
+seen that it is chiefly the new words in a lesson <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span>that create
+difficulty, and prevent the operation of that important law in Nature
+which induces the mind at once to lay hold of the ideas. To obviate this
+distraction of mind therefore beforehand, the new words which <i>are to
+occur</i> in the lesson should be selected, and made familiar to the child
+previously, and by themselves;&mdash;he should be taught to read them easily
+by the combination of their letters, and clearly to understand their
+meaning, in precisely the same shade in which they are used in the
+lesson he is to read. When this is done, the lesson will be read with
+ease and with profit;&mdash;while, without this, the difficulty will be much
+greater, if not beyond his powers. In accordance with this plan, the
+"First Class Book," before referred to, has been constructed, and its
+efficiency on that account is greatly increased.</p>
+
+<p>The neglect of this special application of the principle has been long
+and painfully felt in society, and most of all where the young have been
+sent earliest to school. The habit of reading the words without
+understanding the meaning of what they read, having once been acquired,
+the weak powers of children are not sufficient to overcome the
+difficulties with which this habit has surrounded them. They feel
+themselves burdened and harassed with unnatural and unmeaning exercises
+for years, before they can acquire the art of reading the words of the
+simplest school book; and, what is still worse, after they have left the
+school, and have entered upon the busy scenes of life, they find, that
+they have now to teach themselves an entirely new art,&mdash;the art of
+<i>understanding by reading</i>. Instead of all this waste of energy, and
+patience, and time, experience has fully proved, that by following the
+plain and easy dictates of Nature, as above explained, all the drudgery
+of learning to read may be got over in a week,&mdash;it has been times
+without number accomplished in a single day,<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a>&mdash;and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span>this without any
+harassing exertion, and generally with delight. Of the truth of this, a
+few out of many instances may here be enumerated.</p>
+
+<p>In the summer of 1831, the writer one morning found himself, by mere
+accident, and a perfect stranger, in a Sunday school in the borough of
+Southwark, London. He attached himself first to a class of children,
+some of whom he found on enquiry had been two years at the school, and
+were yet only learning the alphabet. In the same school, and on the same
+morning, a young man who only knew his letters, but had never yet
+attempted to put them together, was classified with the infants, whom he
+had willingly joined in his anxiety to learn. He had a lesson by
+himself. By a rigid adherence to the above principle of individuation,
+this young man, to his own great astonishment, was able in a few minutes
+to read a verse. The lesson went on, and in somewhat less than half an
+hour he had mastered several verses, and now knew perfectly how to make
+use of the letters in decyphering the several words. By that one lesson
+he found himself quite able to teach himself. In proof of this, as was
+afterwards ascertained, he read that same day on going home, without
+help, nineteen verses of the same chapter; and these verses, on
+returning to school on the same afternoon, he read correctly and without
+hesitation, to his usual and astonished teacher. There can be no doubt,
+from this circumstance, that if it had been at all necessary, he could,
+without further aid, and with still greater ease, have read a second
+nineteen verses, and perfected himself by practice in this important,
+and supposed difficult art of reading, by this one lesson of less than
+half an hour.</p>
+
+<p>In a later experiment, made in Dumfries, in the presence and under the
+sanction of Sir Thomas Kirkpatrick, and the clergymen and teachers of
+that town, the power of this principle was put to a severe trial, in a
+very unexpected and extraordinary manner. The week-day teachers of that
+town having heard of some <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span>of the above circumstances, and of the powers
+of the Lesson System generally, in enabling children to read with but
+little trouble, were desirous of having its powers tested in that town,
+where the writer happened to be for a few days. He agreed; and Sir
+Thomas Kirkpatrick, the Sheriff of the county, with the clergymen and
+teachers, at his request, formed themselves into a committee for the
+purposes of the investigation. A sub-committee of the week-day teachers
+were appointed to procure a boy to be taught, which they did, and who,
+on being closely examined at a preliminary public meeting of the whole
+examinators, was found totally ignorant of words, and knew not one
+letter from another, with the exception, of "the round o."</p>
+
+<p>With this boy the writer retired, having agreed to call them again
+together at a public meeting, as soon as he was ready. This at the time
+he did not doubt would have been on the very next day;&mdash;but he was
+disappointed. He had not been five minutes with his pupil, till he
+found, to his great mortification, that he had little or no intellect to
+work upon. The boy was twelve years of age, and yet he was perfectly
+ignorant of all the days of the week, except one, the market day, on
+which he was in the practice of making a few pence by holding the
+farmers' horses. He could in no case tell what day of the week went
+before or followed another. He could count numbers forward mechanically
+till among the teens; but by no effort of mind could he tell what number
+came before nine, till he had again counted forward from one. The most
+obvious deduction from the simplest idea appeared to be quite beyond the
+grasp of his mind. For example, though repeatedly told that John was
+Zebedee's son, yet, after frequent trials, he could never make out, nor
+comprehend who was John's father. Yet this boy,&mdash;one certainly among the
+lowest in the grade of intellect of our species,&mdash;by a rigid application
+of the principle of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span>individuation, was enabled to overcome a great part
+of the drudgery of learning to read, by exactly eight hours' teaching.
+This boy, who at the preliminary meeting on Wednesday, knew only "the
+round o," read correctly in the Court-House on the following Monday, a
+section of the New Testament, to the Rev. Dr Duncan, minister of
+Ruthwell, before the Sheriff, clergymen, teachers, and a large assembly
+of the inhabitants of Dumfries. To ascertain that he had in that time
+really <i>learned to read</i>, and that he did not repeat the words of the
+section by rote, he was made to read before the audience, in a chapter
+of the Old Testament, and then from a newspaper, the same words that he
+had read in his lesson. This he did readily, and without a mistake.</p>
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> For some practical information and directions connected
+with the subjects in this chapter, see Note M.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> Note N.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> Note H.</p></div>
+<br />
+<br /><a name="CHAP_VB" id="CHAP_VB"></a>
+<br />
+<br />
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h3>CHAP. V.</h3>
+
+<h3><i>On the Means by which Nature may be imitated in Applying the<br /> Principle
+of Grouping, or Association.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>The principle of Grouping, or Association, as employed by Nature in her
+educational process, is obviously intended to enable the pupil easily to
+receive knowledge, and to assist the memory in retaining and keeping it
+ever after at the command of the will. It is employed to unite many
+objects or truths into one aggregate mass, which is received as
+one,&mdash;having the component parts so linked, or associated together, that
+when any one part is afterwards brought before the mind, it has the
+power of immediately conjuring up, and holding in review, all the
+others. For example, when a child enters a room in which its parents and
+relations are severally employed, the whole scene is at a single glance
+comprehended and understood, and will afterwards be distinctly
+remembered in all its parts. The elements of the scene are no doubt all
+familiar, but the particular grouping of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span>these elements are <i>entirely
+new</i>, and form an addition to his knowledge, as we formerly explained,
+as substantial, and as distinct, as the grouping of any other kind of
+objects or circumstances could possibly do. Here then is a certain
+amount of knowledge acquired by the child, which could be recorded in
+writing, or which might be communicated by words; but which, by the
+operation of this principle of grouping, has been acquired with greater
+ease, and in much less time, than he could either have read it, or
+described it. It has been done in this instance by Nature bringing the
+<i>ideas</i> suggested by the group directly before the mind of the child,
+without even the intervention of words; and we see by this example, how
+much more laborious it would have been to communicate the very same
+amount of knowledge to the pupil, by making him <i>read</i> the description
+of it, and how utterly preposterous and unnatural it would be to compel
+him, for the same purpose, to commit the words of that description to
+memory. The words are merely an artificial contrivance for the conveying
+of ideas;&mdash;and the more they can be kept out of view, it will be better
+for the teacher, and more natural and easy for the child.</p>
+
+<p>In communicating knowledge, therefore, to the young, the more directly
+and simply the ideas to be communicated are presented to the mind the
+better. They must usually be communicated by words; but these, as the
+mere instruments of conveyance, should be kept as much as possible out
+of view. To bring them at all under the notice of the child is a defect;
+but to make them the chief object of learning, or to make the pupil
+commit them to memory, is not only laborious and unnecessary, but is
+unnatural and hurtful.</p>
+
+<p>In all this we ought simply to take our lessons from Nature, if we wish
+to succeed in conveying knowledge by the combination of simple objects.
+In the above example, we have seen that a single <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span>glance was sufficient
+to give the infant a distinct idea of the whole scene; and the reason
+is, that the principle of individuation had previously done its work.
+Each of the elements of which the scene was composed, had undergone an
+individual and separate examination, and therefore each was familiar.
+This is Nature's method of communicating knowledge to the young; and it
+is obvious, that a different arrangement of the objects or actions would
+have made no difference in the effects produced by the operation of the
+principle. Whatever the circumstances might have been, the new scene,
+with all its variety of incidents, persons, and things, which it would
+take ten-fold more time to enumerate than to learn, would at once be
+impressed on the mind, and delivered over to the keeping of the memory,
+without labour, or any perceptible effort. The whole grouping forms a
+chain of circumstances, any one link in which, when afterwards laid hold
+of by the mind, brings up all the others in connection with it. The
+memory by this means is relieved from the burden of remembering all the
+individualities, and the innumerable details of the scene, by
+maintaining a comprehensive hold of the whole united group, as one
+undivided object for remembrance.</p>
+
+<p>From this it appears evident, that this principle is intended to succeed
+that of individuation, and never to precede it. Objects and truths which
+form the elements of knowledge must be individually familiar, before
+they can be successfully grouped, or associated together in masses, in
+the way in which the several parts of the knowledge of the young are
+usually presented; but after these objects or truths have once become
+known, they may be permanently associated together in any variety of
+form without fatigue, and be retained on the memory for use without
+confusion or distraction of any kind.</p>
+
+<p>In our investigations into the nature and working of this principle, as
+detailed in a former chapter, we <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span>found several causes which gave rise
+to certain uniform effects, which, for the purpose of imitation or
+avoidance, may be classed under the following heads:&mdash;We found,</p>
+
+<p>1. That wherever the principle of grouping acted with effect, it had
+always been preceded by the principle of individuation.</p>
+
+<p>2. That wherever the principle of individuation was made to interfere,
+the effect intended by the principle of association was in the same
+degree obstructed or destroyed.</p>
+
+<p>3. That whenever ideas or objects, whether known or unknown, were
+presented to a child in greater number than the mind could receive or
+reiterate them, it silently dropped the surplus;&mdash;but if these were
+<i>forced</i> upon the mind, all the mischiefs arising from the interference
+of the two hostile principles immediately took place.</p>
+
+<p>4. That children, in grouping under the tuition of Nature, received and
+retained the impressions of objects presented to their notice, in a
+natural and regular order;&mdash;forming in their minds a continuous moving
+scene, where motion formed a part of it; and that this movement of the
+objects, actually was a portion of the grouping.</p>
+
+<p>These being the facts connected with this portion of Nature's
+educational process, the object of the teacher should be to endeavour to
+imitate her in all these circumstances; carefully avoiding what she has
+shewn to be inoperative and hurtful, and copying as closely as possible
+all those that tend to forward the objects of instruction.</p>
+
+<p>The first thing then to be attended to by the teacher, is, that in every
+attempt to communicate knowledge to a child by the grouping of objects,
+he takes care that the principle of individuation has preceded it;&mdash;that
+is, that the various ideas or objects to be grouped, be individually
+familiar to the pupil. In communicating a story, therefore, or an
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span>anecdote, or in teaching a child to read, care must be taken that the
+objects or individual truths, the words, or the letters, be previously
+taught by themselves, before he be called upon to group them in masses,
+whether greater or smaller. If this be neglected, an important law of
+Nature is violated, and the lesson to this extent will be ineffective,
+or worse. But if, on the contrary, this rule be attended to, the pupil,
+when he comes to these objects in the act of grouping, is prepared for
+the process; he meets with nothing that he is not familiar with; he has
+nothing to learn, and has only to allow the objects to take their proper
+places, as when he looked into the room, and grouped its contents as
+before supposed. All this being perfectly natural, is accomplished
+without effort, and with ease and pleasure.&mdash;This precaution on the part
+of the teacher, will at once remove many of the difficulties and
+embarrassments which have hitherto pressed so heavily upon the pupil in
+almost every stage of his advance, but more especially in the early
+stages of his learning to read.<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a></p>
+
+<p>As an illustration of our meaning, we may notice here, that a child who
+knows what is meant by "sheep," and "the keeping of sheep," of "tilling
+the ground," and "making an offering to God," &amp;c. is prepared to hear or
+to read an abridgement of the story of Cain and Abel. We say <i>an
+abridgement</i> or <i>first step</i>, for reasons which shall afterwards be
+explained. Without a previous knowledge of these several elements of
+which this story is compounded, he could neither have listened to it
+with pleasure, nor read it with any degree of profit; but as soon as
+these are individually familiar, the grouping,&mdash;the knowledge of the
+whole story,&mdash;is a matter of ease, and generally of delight. As the
+story advances, it causes a constant and regular series of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span>groupings on
+the mind by the imagination, which are at once exquisitely pleasing and
+permanent. The child, as in a living and moving picture, imagines a man
+laboriously digging the ground, and another man in a distant field
+placidly engaged in attending to the wants and the safety of a flock of
+sheep. He imagines the former heaping an altar with fruits and without
+fire; and the latter killing a lamb, laying its parts on an altar, while
+a stream of fire descends from the skies and consumes it. His
+imagination goes on with increasing interest to picture the
+quarrel-scene in the field; and he in effect sees the blow given by the
+club of Cain, that destroyed the life of his brother. All this living
+and moving scene will be remembered in groups; and these groups will be
+more or less closely linked together, and will be imagined more or less
+distinctly as a whole, in proportion to the mental advancement of the
+particular child.</p>
+
+<p>The next thing to be attended to in communicating knowledge to a child
+by grouping, is, that no strange for unknown object or idea be
+introduced among those which he is called upon to group; because in that
+case, the operation will be materially interfered with, and either
+marred or destroyed. The completeness of this operation in the hands of
+Nature, depends in a great measure, as we have seen, upon the perfect
+composure and self-possession of the mind during the process. If there
+be no interruption,&mdash;no element of distraction introduced into the
+exercise,&mdash;all the circumstances, as they arise in the gradual
+developement of the story, are comprehended and grouped. The living and
+moving picture is permanently fixed upon the memory, so that it may be
+recalled and reviewed at any future time. But if, on the contrary, the
+placidity of the mind be interrupted,&mdash;if some strange and unknown
+object be introduced, whose agency is really necessary for connecting
+the several parts of the story,&mdash;the very attempt <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span>of the child to
+become individually acquainted with it, throws the whole process into
+confusion; and he has either to drop the contemplation of this necessary
+part of the machinery, or to lose the benefit of all that is detailed
+during the time he is engaged with it. In either case the end is not
+gained; and the great design aimed at by the teacher,&mdash;the communication
+of the knowledge connected with the narrative,&mdash;is more or less
+frustrated. Like the landscape pictured on the placid bosom of the lake,
+the formation and contemplation of his own undisturbed imaginings are
+delightful to the child; but the introduction of an unknown object, like
+the dropping of a stone in the former case, produces confusion and
+distortion, which are always unpleasant and painful.</p>
+
+<p>One general reason why the introduction of unknown objects into these
+groupings of the child is so pernicious, may also be here adverted to.
+It arises from the circumstance, that no person, whether young or old,
+can form, even in his imagination, the idea of an entirely new thing.
+This is commonly illustrated by the well known fact, that it is
+impossible to conceive of a new sense;&mdash;but it is equally applicable to
+the conception of a new object. Adults can no doubt conceive and picture
+on their imaginations, objects and scenes which they never saw;&mdash;but
+this mental act is not the imagining of an entirely new thing. All such
+scenes or things are compounded of objects, or parts of objects, which
+they have seen, and with which they are familiar. They can readily
+picture to themselves a centaur or a cerberus, a mermaid or a
+dragon,&mdash;creatures which have no existence, and which never did exist;
+but a little reflection will shew, that nothing which the mind conceives
+of these supposed animals is really new, but is merely a new combination
+of elements, or parts of other animals, already familiar. Children
+accordingly can easily conceive the idea of a giant or a dwarf, a woman
+without a head, or a man with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span>two, because the elements of which these
+anomalies are compounded are individually familiar to them;&mdash;but were
+they told of a person sitting in a howdah, or being conveyed in a
+palanquin, without having these objects previously explained or
+described to them, the mind would either be drawn from the story to find
+out what these meant, and thus they would lose it; or they would, on the
+spur of the moment, substitute in their minds something else which
+perhaps had no likeness to them, and which would lead them into serious
+error. For example, they might suppose that the one was a house, and the
+other a ship;&mdash;a supposition which would distort the whole narrative,
+and would render many of its parts inconsistent and incomprehensible.</p>
+
+<p>As adults then, in every similar case, are under the necessity of
+drawing materials from their general knowledge, for the purpose of
+compounding all such unknown objects, it must be much more difficult for
+a child to do this, not only because of his want of ability, but his
+want of materials. The remedy therefore in this case is, to explain and
+describe the objects that are to be grouped, before the pupil be called
+upon to do so. And when the object has not been seen by the child, and
+cannot be exhibited by a picture, or otherwise, the teacher must exert
+his ingenuity in enabling him to form an idea of the thing that is
+unknown, by a combination of parts of objects which are. Thus a tiger
+may be described as resembling a large cat; a wolf, a fox, or even a
+lion, as resembling certain kinds of dogs; a howdah as a smaller sofa,
+and a palanquin, as a light crib. In all these cases, it is worthy of
+notice, that a mere difference of size never creates confusion;&mdash;simply
+because, by a natural law in optics, such differences are of constant
+occurrence in the experience both of children and adults. A water neut
+will convey a sufficiently correct idea of a crocodile; and the picture
+of an elephant, only one inch square, will create no <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span>difficulty, if the
+correct height be given. When these rules have been attended to, it will
+be found, that this principle in Nature has been successfully imitated;
+and the pupil, by the previous process of individuation, will be
+perfectly prepared for the delightful task of grouping the objects which
+he now knows. When he comes to these objects in the narrative, he
+conceives the idea of them accurately, and he groups them without
+effort. There is no hesitation, and no confusion in his ideas. The
+painting formed upon the mind is correct; the whole picture is united
+into one connected scene, and is permanently imprinted on the memory for
+future use.</p>
+
+<p>Another circumstance connected with this principle of grouping in
+children, we found to be, that when, at any time a greater number of
+objects were presented to the mind than it was able to reiterate and
+group, it silently dropt the surplus, and grouped those only which came
+within the reach of its powers; but if in any instance an attempt was
+made to <i>force</i> the child to receive and reiterate the ideas of objects
+beyond a certain point, the mind got confused, and its powers
+weakened.&mdash;The imitation of Nature in this point is also of great
+importance in education, particularly in teaching and exercising
+children in reading. To perceive this more clearly, it will be necessary
+to make a few remarks on the nature of the art of reading.</p>
+
+<p>Reading is nothing more than a mechanical invention, imitative of the
+act of hearing; as writing is a mechanical mode of indicating sounds,
+and thus becomes a substitute for the art of speaking, and conveying
+ideas. But there is this material difference between reading and
+hearing, that in hearing the person giving attention is in a great
+measure passive, and may, or may not attend as he pleases. He may
+receive part of what is said, and, as prompted by Nature, he may
+silently drop all that he cannot easily reiterate. But in the act of
+reading, the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span>person has both the active and the passive operations to
+perform. His mind, while he reads, must be actively engaged in
+decyphering the words of his book, and the ideas are, or should be, by
+this act, forced upon the observation of the mind at the same time. As
+long, therefore, as the child is required to read nothing except that
+which he understands, and to read no more, and no faster, than his mind
+can without distraction receive and reiterate the ideas which he reads,
+the act of grouping will be performed with ease, and with evident
+delight, and the powers of the mind will be healthfully and extensively
+exercised and strengthened:&mdash;But if this simple principle of Nature be
+violated, the exercise becomes irritating to the child, and most
+pernicious in its consequences. The neglect of this application of the
+principle is so common in education, that it usually escapes
+observation; but on this very account it demands from us here a more
+thorough investigation.</p>
+
+<p>We say then, that this principle is violated when a child is required to
+read that which it does not, and perhaps cannot understand; and also
+when he is required to read more, or to read faster, than he is able to
+reiterate the ideas in his own mind. On each of these cases we shall say
+a few words, for the purpose of warning and directing the teacher in
+applying this important principle in education.</p>
+
+<p>Let us then suppose a child set to read a section which he does not, and
+which there is every probability he cannot understand, and then let us
+carefully mark the consequences. The child in such a case reads the
+words in his book, which ought to convey to his mind the ideas which the
+words contain. This is the sole purpose of either hearing or reading.
+But this is not accomplished. The words are read, and the ideas are not
+perceived; but the child is required to read on. He does so; and of
+course when the first part of the subject or sentence has been beyond
+his reach, the second, which most probably hangs upon <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span>it, must be much
+more so. In this therefore he also fails; but he is still required to
+read on. Here is a practice begun, which at once defeats the very
+intention of reading, and allows the child's mind to roam upon any thing
+or every thing, while the eye is mechanically engaged with his book. The
+habit is soon formed. The child reads; but his attention is gone. He
+does not, and at length he cannot, understand by reading. This habit, as
+we formerly explained, when it is once formed, it requires great efforts
+on the part of the child to overcome. Most people when they are actively
+engaged in life, do at last overcome it; while thousands, who have
+nominally been taught to read, never can surmount the difficulties it
+involves. Many on this account, and for want of practising an art which
+they cannot profitably use, lose the art altogether.</p>
+
+<p>But again, let us suppose a child set to read that which he may
+understand, but which he is required to read more rapidly than allows
+him to perceive and to reiterate the ideas while reading, and let us
+mark what are the necessary consequences in such a case. The child is
+called on to read a sentence, and he does so. He understands it too. But
+the art of reading is not yet familiar, and he has to bend part of his
+attention to the decyphering of the words, as well as to the perception
+and reiteration of the ideas. This requires more time in a child to whom
+reading is not yet familiar, than to a child more advanced. But give him
+a little time, and the matter is accomplished the ideas have been
+received, and they will be reiterated, grouped, and committed to the
+keeping of the memory,&mdash;and then they will form part of his knowledge.
+But if this time be not given,&mdash;if the child, while engaged in
+collecting the ideas from the words of one sentence, be urged forward to
+the reading of another, the mental confusion formerly described
+instantly takes place. More ideas are forced upon the mind than it can
+reiterate; no group can be <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span>formed, because the elements of which it
+ought to be composed, have not yet been perceived; the imagination gets
+bewildered;&mdash;the mind is unnaturally burdened;&mdash;its faculties are
+overstretched;&mdash;the child is discouraged and irritated; the powers of
+his mind fatigued and weakened; and the whole object of the teacher is
+at once defeated, and rendered worse than useless.&mdash;In every case,
+therefore, when the child is called on to read, sufficient time should
+be given;&mdash;the teacher taking care that the main design of reading, that
+of collecting and grouping ideas, be always accomplished; and that the
+pupil reads no more at one time than he can thoroughly understand and
+retain.</p>
+
+<p>There is yet another circumstance connected with this process of
+grouping, which ought not to be overlooked. It refers to the order in
+which the objects to be grouped by the child are presented to his
+notice. A child under the guidance of Nature, receives and retains its
+impressions of objects in a natural and simple order. When it witnesses
+a scene, the group of objects, or actions formed and pictured on the
+mind by the imagination, is exactly as they were seen, the one
+circumstance following the other in natural and regular order. In
+telling a story therefore to a child, and more especially in composing
+lessons for them to read, this part of Nature's plan should be carefully
+studied and acted upon. The elements of which the several groupings are
+composed, or the circumstances in the narrative to be related, should be
+presented in the order in which the eye would catch them in Nature, or
+the order in which they occurred, that there may be no unnecessary
+retrogression of the mind, no confounding of ideas, no fear of losing
+the links that connect and bind together the minor groupings of the
+story. In the history of Cain and Abel, for example, the child is not to
+be required to paint upon his imagination, a deadly struggle between two
+persons of whom as yet he knows <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span>nothing; and then, retiring backwards
+in the story, be made acquainted with the circumstances connected with
+their several offerings to God; and last of all, their parentage, their
+occupations, and their characters. The minds of the young and
+inexperienced would be perplexed and bewildered by such a plan of
+proceeding; and the irregularity would most probably be the cause of
+their losing the whole story. The opposite of this plan is no doubt
+frequently adopted in works of fiction prepared for adults, and for the
+sake of effect; but every one must see that it is unnecessary in simple
+history, and is not at all adapted for the instruction of the young.
+When Nature's method is adopted, the child collects and groups the
+incidents as he proceeds, and paints, without effort, the whole living
+and moving scene on his imagination, as if he himself had stood by, and
+been an eye-witness of the original events.</p>
+
+<p>The ascertained benefits of these modes of imitating Nature, are
+literally innumerable; and it is happily within the power of every
+parent or teacher, in a single hour, to test them for himself. We shall
+merely advert to one or two instances which occurred in the recorded
+experiments, where their effects, in combination with the other
+principles, were conspicuous.</p>
+
+<p>In the experiment upon the prisoners in the County Jail of Edinburgh,
+the acquisition of their knowledge of Old Testament History, instead of
+being a burden, was to them a source of unmingled gratification. There
+were painted upon their minds the leading incidents in the history of
+the patriarchs, not only in groups, but their judgments being ripened,
+they were able to perceive them in regular connection. These pictures,
+then so pleasantly impressed on their imaginations, are likely to remain
+with them through the whole of their lives. The Report says, that "they
+were examined on their knowledge of the Book of Genesis," and "gave a
+distinct <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span>account of its prominent facts from Adam down to the
+settlement in Goshen, and shewed by their answers that these
+circumstances were understood by them in their proper nature and
+bearings."</p>
+
+<p>By the same means, but in less time, and to a greater extent, the same
+object was attained with the children in Aberdeen, who, though chosen
+from the schools specially on account of their want of knowledge, were,
+by only a few hours teaching, enabled, besides many other subjects of
+knowledge, to receive and retain on their minds the great leading
+circumstances that occurred from "the death of Moses downwards, to that
+of the revolt of the ten tribes in the reign of Rehoboam."</p>
+
+<p>In the experiment in London also, a large portion of Old Testament
+history, with much other knowledge, was acquired in a few hours by a boy
+of about nine years of age, who, previously to the commencement of the
+experiment, knew no more of God than the name;&mdash;who had no idea of a
+soul, or that he should live after death;&mdash;who "had never heard of Adam,
+Noah, or Abraham;"&mdash;"had no idea of a Saviour; knew nothing of heaven or
+hell; had never heard of Christ, and knew not whether the name belonged
+to a man or a woman." Yet this boy, in an exceedingly short time, could
+give an account of many groupings in the Old Testament history.</p>
+
+<p>We shall only remark, in conclusion, that if, by the proper application
+of this principle, so much knowledge may be acquired by rude and
+ignorant children, not only without effort, but in the enjoyment of
+great satisfaction; what may not be expected in ordinary circumstances,
+when the pupils are regularly trained and prepared for the purpose, and
+when all the principles employed by Nature in this great work, are made
+to unite their aids, and to work in harmony together for producing an
+enlightened and virtuous population? This may most assuredly be gained
+in an exceedingly short period of time, by a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span>close and persevering
+imitation of Nature in these educational processes.</p>
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> Note O.</p></div>
+<br />
+<br /><a name="CHAP_VIB" id="CHAP_VIB"></a>
+<br />
+<br />
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h3>CHAP. VI.</h3>
+
+<h3><i>On the Methods by which Nature may be imitated in<br /> Communicating
+Knowledge by Classification, or Analysis.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>In a former chapter we had occasion to notice a fourth principle brought
+into operation by Nature in the acquisition of knowledge, which is the
+principle of Classification, or Analysis; and we shall now enquire how
+this principle may be successfully imitated by the teacher for the
+furtherance of his art.</p>
+
+<p>There are two forms, which in a former chapter we endeavoured to trace
+out and explain, in which this principle of Analysis appears in the
+educational process of Nature. We shall here again very shortly advert
+to them, beginning with that which in education is perhaps the most
+important, but which hitherto has certainly been least attended
+to,&mdash;that of teaching connected truths by progressive steps.</p>
+
+<p>When we read a connected section of history for the first time, and then
+examine the state of our knowledge respecting it, we find that we have
+retained some of the ideas or truths which we read, but that we have
+lost more. When that portion which we have retained is carefully
+examined, we find that it consists chiefly of the more prominent
+features of the narrative, with perhaps here and there occasional
+groupings of isolated circumstances. We have, in fact, retained upon the
+memory, little more than the general outline,&mdash;the great frame-work of
+the history. There will be the beginning, the middle, and the end,
+containing perhaps few of the minor details, but what is retained is all
+in regular order, bound <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span>together as a continuous narrative, and,
+however meagre, the whole forms in the imagination of the reader, a
+distinct and connected whole. There is perhaps no more of the intended
+fabric of the history erected in the mind than the mere skeleton of the
+building; but this frame-work, however defective in the details, is
+complete both as to shape and size, and is a correct model of the
+finished building from top to bottom. This is the state of every
+advanced pupil's mind, after he has for the first time closed the
+reading of any portion of history or biography. If the narrative itself
+has been correct, this general outline,&mdash;this great frame-work of the
+history,&mdash;remains on his mind through life, without any material
+alteration. Additional information afterwards will assist in filling up
+the empty spaces left between the more massive materials, but it will
+neither shake, nor shift them; and even the most minute details of
+individual or family incidents, connected with the general narrative,
+while they add additional interest, and fill up or ornament different
+and separate parts, will never alter the general form of the fabric, nor
+displace any of the main pillars upon which it is supported.</p>
+
+<p>This is one way of illustrating this analytical process of Nature; but
+for the purposes of imitating it in education it is not perhaps the
+best. The idea of a regular analytical table of the history, formed of
+successive branches, by successive readings, is by far the most natural
+and applicable. By a first reading of a portion of history, there are
+certain great leading points established in the mind of the reader,
+which form the first branches of a regular analysis, and to some one or
+other of which parts or divisions every circumstance of a more minute
+kind connected with the history, will be found to be related. This first
+great division of the history attained by the first reading, if correct,
+will, and must, remain the same, whatever addition may afterwards be
+made to it. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span>By a second reading, our knowledge of the leading points
+will greatly assist us in collecting and remembering many of the more
+minute circumstances embodied in them, or intimately connected with
+them; but even then, an ordinary mind, and more especially a young
+person, will not have made himself master of all the details. A third,
+and perhaps a fourth reading, will be found necessary to give him a full
+command of all the minuter circumstances recorded.<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a></p>
+
+<p>In endeavouring to take advantage of this principle, so extensively
+employed by Nature, it is of great importance to observe, that a certain
+definite effect is produced by each successive reading. A first reading
+establishes in the mind of the pupil a regular frame-work of the whole
+history, which it is the business of every successive reading to fill up
+and complete. There is by the first course, a separation of the whole
+subject into heads, forming the regular divisions of a first branch of
+the analysis;&mdash;the second course tends to subdivide these again into
+their several parts; and to form a second branch in this analytical
+table;&mdash;and a third course, would enable the pupil to perceive and to
+separate the parts of the narrative included in these several divisions,
+by which there would arise a third branch, all included in the second,
+and even in the first.</p>
+
+<p>We have here supposed, that the pupil has been engaged with the very
+same chapters in each of these several courses;&mdash;and that he read the
+same words in the first course that he read in those which followed. He
+had to read the whole, although he could retain but little. He had to
+labour the whole field for the sake of procuring plants, which could
+have been more certainly and more healthfully raised upon a square yard.
+His reading for hours has produced no more knowledge than is expressed
+by the first branch of the supposed analysis; and therefore, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span>if the
+teacher would but analyse the subject for the child, whether it be a
+science or a history,&mdash;suppose for example, the History of Joseph,&mdash;and
+give his younger pupils no more at first than the simple <i>outline</i> of
+the story, some very important advantages would be the result. In the
+first place, the very difficult task of keeping the volatile mind of a
+child continuously fixed to the subject during the lengthened reading of
+the whole narrative will be unnecessary;&mdash;the irritation and uneasiness
+which such a lengthened exercise must produce in a child will be
+avoided;&mdash;time will be economised, the labour of the teacher will be
+spared, and the mind of the child at the close of the exercise, instead
+of being fagged and prostrated, will be found vigorous and lively. And
+yet, with all this, the positive result will be the same. The child's
+knowledge of the subject in this latter case, will in reality be as
+extensive, and much more distinct and permanent, than in the former.</p>
+
+<p>Here is the first step gained; and to attain the second, a similar
+course must be pursued. Nature, who formed this first branch of the
+analytical table on the minds of the first class of the children, formed
+another and more extended branch in the minds of the second class. The
+teacher therefore has only to take each of the branches which form the
+first step, and sub-divide them into their natural heads, so as to form
+a second,&mdash;and to teach this to his children in the same manner that he
+taught them the former. By this means, the first class will now possess
+an equal degree of knowledge with those who occupied the second;&mdash;and by
+a similar process, the others would advance to the third and the fourth
+classes according to circumstances.</p>
+
+<p>The plan here proposed for imitating Nature by progressive steps, has
+been tried with undeviating success for many years. Its efficiency, as
+embracing the principle employed by Nature for the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span>communication of
+knowledge, has been repeatedly subjected to the most delicate and at the
+same time the most searching experiments. By its means, in connection of
+course with the catechetical exercise by which it is wrought, very
+extraordinary effects have been produced even upon individuals whose
+minds and circumstances were greatly below the average of common
+children.</p>
+
+<p>In the experiment made upon the adult criminals in the County Jail of
+Edinburgh, the pupils acquired easily and permanently a thorough
+knowledge of the history contained in the Book of Genesis. "They gave a
+distinct account of its prominent facts, from Adam, down to the
+settlement in Goshen, and shewed by their answers, that these
+circumstances were understood by them, in their proper nature and
+bearings. They gave, in the next place, a connected view of the leading
+doctrines of revelation; when their answers evinced, most
+satisfactorily, that they apprehended, not merely each separate truth,
+but that they perceived its relation to others, and possessed a
+considerable knowledge of the divine system as a whole. They were also
+examined upon several sections of the New Testament; where their answers
+displayed an equally clear and accurate knowledge of the subject." These
+persons, be it observed, belonged to a class of individuals, who are
+generally considered to be peculiarly hostile to the reception of
+information of this kind, and certainly who are least able to comprehend
+and retain it; and all this, besides other portions of knowledge, on
+which they were examined during the experiment, was communicated with
+ease by about twenty hours teaching.</p>
+
+<p>By the experiment made at Aberdeen, upon children the most ignorant that
+the Committee of Clergymen could find among the several schools in the
+city, it was ascertained, that after only nine or ten hours teaching,
+they had not only received a thorough knowledge of "several sections of
+New Testament <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span>History," but that they had acquired a knowledge of all
+the leading events included in the Old Testament History, from "the
+death of Moses, downwards to that of the revolt of the Ten Tribes in the
+reign of Rehoboam. Here they distinctly stated and described all the
+leading circumstances of the narrative comprised in the 'First Step,'
+whose brief but comprehensive outline they appeared, in various
+instances, to have filled up at home, by reading in their Bibles the
+corresponding chapters."</p>
+
+<p>The efficiency of this form of analytical teaching, as exhibited in
+successive steps, when employed for the purpose of teaching a knowledge
+of civil history and biography, was also proved with equal
+certainty;&mdash;for these same children showed a thorough knowledge of that
+portion of the History of England embraced by the reign of Charles I.
+and the Commonwealth; and in biography, the life of the late John Newton
+having been employed for the purpose, they shewed such an acquaintance
+with the leading facts, and the uses to be made of them, that the
+reverend gentlemen in this report of the experiment say, that the
+children had "to be restrained, as the time would not permit."</p>
+
+<p>In teaching the sciences, particularly the science of natural
+philosophy, this method of employing the principle of analysis has been
+found equally successful. Nature indeed, by the regular division of her
+several works, has obviously pointed this out as the proper method of
+proceeding, especially with the young; and the success that has
+invariably accompanied the attempt, shews that the opinion is well
+founded.</p>
+
+<p>In the experiment at Aberdeen, the class of children, who were specially
+selected from their companions on account of their ignorance only a few
+days before, were "interrogated, scientifically, as to the production,
+the nature, and the properties of several familiar objects, with the
+view of shewing how <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span>admirably calculated the Lesson System is, for
+furnishing the young with a knowledge of natural science and of the
+arts. One of their little companions being raised before them on a
+bench, they described every part of his dress, from the bonnet
+downwards, detailing every process and stage of the manufacture. The
+bonnet, which was put on his head for this purpose, the coat, the
+silk-handkerchief, the cotton vest, were all traced respectively from
+the sheep, the egg of the silk-worm, and the cotton-pod. The buttons,
+which were of brass, were stated to be a composition of copper and zinc,
+which were separately and scientifically described, with the reasons
+assigned, (as good as could be given,) for their admixture, in the
+composition of brass." "A lady's parasol, and a gentleman's watch were
+described in the same manner. The ivory knob, the brass crampet, the
+bamboo, the whalebone, the silk, were no sooner adverted to, than they
+were scientifically described. When their attention was called to the
+seals of the gentleman's watch, they immediately said, 'These are of
+pure, and those of jeweller's gold,' and described the difference. The
+steel ring was traced to the iron-stone in the mine, with a description
+of the mode of separating the metal from its combinations. The processes
+requisite for the preparation of wrought-iron from the cast-iron, and of
+steel from the wrought-iron, with the distinguishing properties of each
+of these metals, were accurately described, and some practical lessons
+drawn from these properties; such as, that a knife ought never to be put
+into the fire, and that a razor should be dipped in warm water previous
+to its being used. Various articles were collected from individuals in
+the meeting, and successively presented to them, all of which they
+described. India-rubber, cork, sponge, pocket combs, &amp;c. A small pocket
+thermometer, with its tube and its mercury, its principles and use, and
+even the Turkey-leather on the cover, were all fully described. After
+explaining the nature and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span>properties of coal-gas, one of the boys
+stated to the meeting, that since the commencement of this experiment,
+he had himself attempted, and succeeded in making gas-light by means of
+a tobacco-pipe;&mdash;his method of doing which he also described."</p>
+
+<p>The other form in which the principle of Analysis may, in imitation of
+Nature, be successfully employed in communicating knowledge to the
+young, is not to be considered as new, although the working of the
+principle may not have been very clearly perceived, or systematically
+regulated. It is seen most simply perhaps in the division of any
+subject,&mdash;a sermon for example&mdash;into its great general heads; and then
+endeavouring to illustrate these, by sub-dividing each into its several
+particulars. By this means the whole subject is bound together, the
+judgment is healthfully exercised, and the memory is greatly assisted in
+making use of the information communicated.</p>
+
+<p>It is upon this plan that the several discourses and speeches in the
+Acts of the Apostles have been analysed, as an introduction to the
+teaching of the epistles to the young.<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> Upon the same principle
+depends the success of the "Analysis of Prayer," of which we shall
+afterwards have to speak; and it is by means of this principle, in
+connection with the successive steps, that the several departments of
+natural philosophy are proposed to be taught.</p>
+
+<p>The efficiency of the principle in this form, as applied to the teaching
+of natural philosophy to mere school boys, has been ascertained by
+numerous experiments, of which the one in Aberdeen, already alluded to,
+has afforded good evidence. But the experiment conducted in Newry, on
+account of several concurrent circumstances, is still more remarkable
+and appropriate, and to it therefore we propose briefly to refer.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span>"In the year 1830, the writer, in passing through the town of Newry on
+his way to Dublin, was waited upon by several Sunday school teachers,
+and was requested to afford them some information as to teaching their
+schools, and for that purpose to hold a meeting with them and their
+fellow teachers, before leaving the place. To this he readily agreed;
+but as he intended to go to Dublin by the coach, which passed through
+Newry in the afternoon, the meeting had to take place that same day at
+two o'clock. At that meeting, the Earl of Kilmorey and a party of his
+friends were very unexpectedly present; and they, after the business of
+the meeting was over, joined with the others in requesting him to
+postpone his departure, and to hold a public meeting on the following
+Tuesday, of which due intimation would be given, and many teachers in
+the neighbourhood, who must otherwise be greatly disappointed, would be
+able to attend." To this request, accordingly, he at once acceded.</p>
+
+<p>"In visiting the schools next day, the propriety of preparing a class or
+two of children for the public meeting was suggested and approved of;
+and the day-teacher being applied to, gave Mr Gall a list of six of his
+boys for the purpose. With these children he met on Monday; and after
+instructing them in the doctrines of the Gospel, and teaching them how
+to draw lessons from Scripture, he began to teach them some parts of
+natural philosophy, and to draw lessons also from these. Their aptness,
+and eagerness to learn, suggested the idea of selecting one of the
+sciences, and confining their attention principally to it, for the
+purpose of ascertaining how much of the really useful parts of it they
+could acquire and learn to use, in the short space of time which must
+intervene between that period and the hour of meeting. Considering what
+would be most useful and interesting, rather than what would be most
+easy, he hastily fixed on the science of anatomy and physiology, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span>and
+resolved to mark the time during which they were engaged with him in
+learning it. These lessons were altogether oral and catechetical,&mdash;as
+neither he nor the children at that time had any books to assist them in
+their labours.</p>
+
+<p>"The method adopted by Mr Gall in communicating a knowledge of this
+important and difficult science to these school-boys, was strictly
+analytical;&mdash;classifying and connecting every part of his subject, and
+bringing out the several branches of the analysis in natural order, so
+that the connection of all the parts was easily seen, and of course well
+remembered. An illustration of his method may induce some parents to try
+it themselves.</p>
+
+<p>"He first directed their attention to the bones, and taught them in a
+few words their nature and uses, as the pillars and safeguards of the
+body;&mdash;the shank, the joint, and the ligaments, forming the branches of
+this part of the analysis. He then led them to imagine these bones
+clothed with the fleshy parts, or muscles, of which the mass, the
+ligaments, and the sinews, formed the branches. He explained the nature
+of their contraction; and shewed them, that the muscles being fastened
+at one end by the ligament to a bone, its contraction pulled the sinew
+at the other, and thus bent the joint which lay between them.&mdash;He then
+taught them the nature and uses of the several viscera, which occupy the
+chest and belly, and their connection with each other. This prepared the
+way for considering the nature of the fluids of the body, particularly
+the blood, and its circulation from the heart and lungs by the arteries,
+and to them again by the veins, with the pulsation of the one, and the
+valves of the other. The passage of the blood through the lungs, and the
+uses of the air-cells and blood-vessels in that organ were described;
+when the boys, (having previously had a lesson on the nature of water,
+atmospheric air, and the gases,) readily understood the importance of
+bringing the oxygen into <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span>contact with the blood, for its renovation
+from the venous to the arterial state. The nature of the stomach and of
+digestion, of the intestines, lacteals, and absorbents, was next
+explained, more in regard to their nature than their names,&mdash;which last
+were most difficult to remember;&mdash;but the knowledge of the function,
+invariably assisted the memory in recalling the name of the organ. They
+were next made acquainted with the brain, the spinal cord, and the
+nervous system generally, as the source of motion in the muscles, and
+the medium of sensation in conveying intelligence from the several
+organs of sense to the brain, by which alone the soul, in some way
+unknown, receives intelligence of outward objects. This prepared the way
+for an account of the organs of sense, and the mechanism of their parts;
+and lastly, they were made acquainted with the integuments, skin, hair,
+and nails, with the most obvious of their peculiarities.&mdash;On all these
+they were assiduously and repeatedly catechised, till the truths were
+not only understood, but were in some degree familiar to them. In this
+they were greatly assisted by a consideration of their own bodies; which
+Mr Gall took care to make a kind of text-book, not only for making him
+better understood, but for enabling them more easily and permanently to
+remember what he told them. When he shewed them, by their hands, feet,
+and face, the ramifications of the blood-vessels and nerves,&mdash;the
+mechanism of the joints,&mdash;the contraction of the various muscles,&mdash;the
+situation and particular uses of which he himself did not even know, but
+which were nevertheless moved at their own will, and whenever they
+pleased,&mdash;the young anatomists were greatly pleased and astonished; and
+this added to their eagerness for farther information, and to their zeal
+in shewing that they understood, and were able again to communicate it.</p>
+
+<p>"These preparatory meetings were never protracted to any great extent,
+as the whole time was divided <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span>into three or four portions,&mdash;the boys
+being dismissed to think over the subject, (for they had nothing to
+read,) and to meet again at a certain hour. The watch was again
+produced, and the time marked; and when the whole period occupied by
+this science and its connections was added together, it amounted to two
+hours and a half exactly. One of these lessons, and the longest, was
+given during a stroll in the fields.</p>
+
+<p>"The public meeting of parents and teachers was held at Newry on the 5th
+of October 1830, when the above class, with others, were examined on the
+religious knowledge which had been communicated to them on the previous
+days, with its lessons and uses; after which the six boys were taken by
+themselves, and thoroughly and searchingly catechised on their knowledge
+of the anatomy and physiology of the human body. They were examined
+first on the nature and uses of the bones, their shapes, substance,
+joints, and ligaments. Then on the nature and offices of the muscles,
+with their blood-vessels, nerves, ligaments, sinews, and motions;&mdash;the
+uses of the several viscera;&mdash;the heart with its pulsations, its power,
+its ventricles and auricles, and their several uses;&mdash;the lungs, with
+their air-cells, blood-vessels, and their use in arterializing the
+blood;&mdash;the stomach, intestines, &amp;c. with their peristaltic motions,
+lacteals, &amp;c.;&mdash;the brain, spinal cord, and nerves, with their
+connections, ramifications, and uses;&mdash;the senses, with their several
+organs, their mechanism, and their manner of acting. On all these they
+were questioned, and cross-questioned, in every variety of form: And
+that the audience might be satisfied that this was not a mere catalogue
+of names, but that in fact the physiology of the several parts was
+really known, and would be remembered, even if the names of the organs
+should be forgotten, they were made repeatedly to traverse the
+connecting links of the analysis forward from the root, through its
+several branches, to the extreme limit in the ultimate effect; and, at
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span>other times backward, from the ultimate effect to the primitive organ,
+or part of the body from which it took its origin. For example, they
+could readily trace forward the movement of the arm joint, or any other
+joint, from the ligament of the muscle at its junction with the bone,
+through its contraction by the nerve at the fiat of the will, by which
+the sinew of the muscle, fastened at the opposite side of the joint, is
+pulled, and the joint bent;&mdash;or they could trace backward any of the
+operations of the senses,&mdash;the sight, for example, from the object seen,
+through the coats of the eye, to the inverted picture of it formed upon
+the retina, which communicated the sensation to the optic nerve, by
+which it was conveyed to the brain. In all which they invariably
+succeeded, and shewed that the whole was clearly and connectedly
+understood.</p>
+
+<p>"When this had been minutely and extensively done on the several parts
+of the body, some medical gentlemen who were present were requested to
+catechise them on any of the topics they had learnt, for the purpose of
+assuring themselves and the audience that the children really and
+familiarly understood all that they had been catechised upon. One of the
+medical gentlemen, for himself and the others present, then stated
+publicly to the meeting, that the extent of the children's knowledge of
+this difficult science was beyond any thing that they could have
+conceived. And afterwards affirmed, that he had seen students who had
+attended the medical classes for six months, who did not know so much of
+the human body as these children now did."</p>
+
+<p>This experiment became more remarkable from a circumstance which took
+place within a few days afterwards, and which tended still more strongly
+to prove the permanence and efficiency of this method of imitating
+Nature; shewing, not only that truth when communicated as Nature
+directs, is easily received, and permanently retained upon the memory,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span>but that all such truths when thus communicated, become more and more
+familiar to the mind, and more decidedly under the controul, and at the
+command of the will. The circumstance is thus recorded in the account of
+the experiment<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> from which we have already quoted.</p>
+
+<p>"At the close of the meeting, Mr Gall took farewell of his young
+friends, not expecting to have the pleasure of seeing them again; and
+(after a promised visit to Ravenstile,) he proceeded on the following
+Thursday to Rostrevor, where he found a numerous audience, (publicly
+called together by Lady Lifford, the Rev. Mr Jacobs, and others, to
+receive him,) already assembled.</p>
+
+<p>"Here, in the course of teaching a class of children brought to him for
+the first time, and explaining the nature and capabilities of the
+system, reference was made to the above experiment only a few days
+before in their neighbourhood at Newry. Two gentlemen,<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> officially
+and intimately connected with the Kildare Place Society of Dublin, being
+accidentally present, were at their own desire introduced to Mr Gall by
+a clerical friend after the close of the exercises. The circumstances of
+the Newry experiment, which had been mentioned during the meeting, were
+strongly doubted, till affirmed by the clerical friend who introduced
+them; who, having been present and witnessed it, assured them that the
+circumstances connected with the event had not been exaggerated. They
+then stated, that it must of necessity have been a mere transient
+glimpse received of the science by the children; which, being easily
+got, would be as easily lost; and that its evanescent nature would
+without all question be found, by their <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span>almost immediately having
+forgotten the whole of what had been told them. Mr Gall, however,
+assured them, that so far from that being the case, he was convinced,
+from long experience, that the information communicated would be much
+more lasting than that received in any other way. That the impressions,
+so repeatedly made upon their minds by the <i>catechetical exercises</i>,
+would remain with them very likely through life; while the effect of the
+<i>analytical mode</i>, by which he had linked the whole together, would
+prevent any of the important branches from ever being separated from the
+rest. If, therefore, they remembered any of the truths, they would most
+probably remember all. And besides, he shewed, that the daily use, in
+the ordinary business of life, which they would find for the lessons
+from the truths taught, would revive part, and perhaps the whole, upon
+their memories every day. But as it was of importance that they should
+be satisfied, and to set the matter at rest, he agreed <i>to call the boys
+unexpectedly together</i> at another public meeting in Newry, where they
+might be present and judge for themselves; and without seeing or talking
+with the boys, he would examine them again publicly, and as extensively
+as before; when he was convinced they would shew, that the whole was as
+fresh on their memories as when they at first received it. In short,
+that they would be able to undergo the most searching ordeal, with
+equal, if not greater ease, than they had done formerly.</p>
+
+<p>"This was accordingly done. A meeting took place next day, equally
+respectable, and perhaps more numerous than the former, to which the
+boys were brought from their school, without preparation, or knowing
+what they were to be asked. They were then more fully and searchingly
+examined than at first; and there being more time, they were much longer
+under the exercise. It was then found, that the information formerly
+communicated was not only <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span>remembered, but that the several truths were
+much more familiar, in themselves and in their connection with each
+other, than they had been at the former meeting. This had evidently
+arisen from their own frequent meditations upon them since that time,
+and their application of the several lessons, either with one another,
+their parents, or themselves. The medical gentlemen were again present,
+and professed themselves equally pleased."</p>
+
+<p>From the number and variety of these facts, which might be indefinitely
+extended, it is obvious, that a new path lies open to the Educationist,
+which, as yet, has been scarcely entered upon. The same amount of
+success is at the command of every teacher who will follow in the same
+course, and keep rigidly in the path pointed out to him by Nature.</p>
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> Note P.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> Note Q.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> Complete Directory for Sunday School Teachers, vol. i. p.
+267, and Effects of the Lesson System, p. 37.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> Counsellor Jackson, M. P. Secretary to the Kildare Place
+Society, and Mr Hamilton, brother-in-law to the Duke of Wellington, one
+of the Committee.</p></div>
+<br />
+<br /><a name="CHAP_VIIB" id="CHAP_VIIB"></a>
+<br />
+<br />
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h3>CHAP. VII.</h3>
+
+<h3><i>On the Imitation of Nature in Teaching the Practical Use of Knowledge.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>The third step in the educational process of Nature we have found to be,
+the training of her pupil to the practical use of his knowledge.&mdash;All
+her other processes, we have seen from numerous circumstances, are
+merely preparatory and subservient to this; and therefore, the attempt
+at imitation here by the teacher is of corresponding importance. The
+practical application of knowledge must be the great end of all the
+pupil's learning; and the parent or teacher should conduct his exercises
+and labours in such a manner as shall be most likely to attain it. The
+powers of the mind are to be cultivated;&mdash;but they are to be cultivated
+chiefly that the pupil may be able to collect and make use of his
+knowledge:&mdash;And knowledge is to be pursued and stored up;&mdash;but this is
+to be done that it may remain at his command, and be readily put to use
+when it is required. To <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span>suppose any thing else, is to suppose something
+directly opposed to all the indications of Nature, and to the plainest
+suggestions both of reason and experience.</p>
+
+<p>If in this department then, the teacher is to imitate Nature with
+effect, there are two preliminary objects of which he ought never to
+lose sight. The first is, that he studiously select from the numerous
+subjects which may form the staple of education, those only, or at least
+chiefly, which are to be most useful, and which may most easily and most
+frequently be put to use by the pupil;&mdash;and the second is, that whatever
+be the truth or the subject taught, the child should, at the time of
+learning, be instructed in the methods and the circumstances in which it
+may be used. To neglect these preliminary points, is really to betray
+the cause of education, and, besides inflicting a lasting injury on the
+young, to deceive the public.</p>
+
+<p>In our enquiries into Nature's method of applying knowledge, we found,
+in a former chapter, that she employs two distinct agencies in the work.
+The one we denominated the Natural, or Common Sense; and the other is
+the Conscience, or Moral Sense:&mdash;the one appearing to regulate our
+knowledge in so far as it refers to the promotion of our own personal
+and physical comforts; and the other, in so far as it refers to the
+rights and the well-being of others, and to our own moral good. The
+method which she employs in working out these two principles, is, as we
+before explained, very nearly the same; consisting of the perception of
+some useful truth,&mdash;the deduction of a lesson from that truth,&mdash;and the
+application of that lesson to corresponding circumstances. On that
+account, our attempts to imitate her operations as exhibited by the one,
+will, in form, be nearly the same as in the other. We shall here,
+therefore, attend to the methods by which Nature may be successfully
+imitated under both agencies, and shall then state a few illustrations
+and facts which are more peculiarly applicable to each in particular.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span>Before doing this, however, we cannot help once more pressing upon the
+mind of all connected with education, the great importance&mdash;the
+necessity&mdash;of that part of the subject upon which we are now to enter.
+We have said, and we again repeat, that <i>this</i> is education; and every
+thing else taught to a child is, or ought to be, either preliminary or
+supplementary;&mdash;<i>belonging</i> to education, perhaps, but not education
+itself. It is <i>practice</i>, and not <i>theory</i>, that constitutes the basis
+of all improvement, whether in the arts, or in morals and religion; and
+it is to this practical application of what he learns, that every child
+should be trained, by whatever name the mode of doing so may be known.
+All our blessings are destined to come to us by the use of proper means;
+and this general principle applies both to temporal and spiritual
+matters. Now "the use of means," is only another mode of expressing "the
+practical application of knowledge." And if so, what are we to think of
+the philosophy or the candour of the person, who is apparently the
+friend of education, but who remains indifferent or hostile to the thing
+itself, merely because it is presented to him under another name. He may
+be a zealous advocate for the spread of knowledge;&mdash;but that is not
+education.&mdash;Knowledge is but the <i>means</i>,&mdash;the application of it is the
+<i>end</i>; and when therefore he stops short at the communication of
+knowledge, while he is indifferent to the teaching of its use, he
+endangers the whole of his previous labour. One single truth put to use,
+is of more real value to a child than a thousand are, as long as they
+remain unused; and of this, every friend of the young ought to be
+convinced. Our health, our food, and our general happiness depend, not
+on knowledge <i>received</i>, but on knowledge <i>applied</i>; and therefore, to
+teach knowledge that is inapplicable or useless, or to teach useful
+knowledge without teaching at the same time how it may be put to use by
+the pupil, is neither reasonable nor just. Hence the importance of our
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span>present investigation; and hence we have no hesitation in saying, that
+the enquiry, "How can Nature be most successfully imitated in her
+application of knowledge?" is the most momentous question that can be
+put by the teacher; and a successful answer will constitute the most
+precious boon that can be afforded to education. To assist in this
+enquiry is the design of the present chapter; and we shall accordingly
+examine a little more in detail the circumstances that take place in the
+experience of the young, when they are induced to apply their knowledge
+under the guidance of Nature, and without another teacher.</p>
+
+<p>For this purpose, let us suppose two children about to cross a piece of
+soft ground. The one goes forward, and his foot sinks in the mud. Does
+the other follow him? No indeed. The most stupid child we could find, if
+within the limits of sanity, would immediately stand still, or seek a
+passage at another point. Here then is an example of the way in which
+children, while entirely under the guidance of Nature, make use of their
+knowledge, by applying the principle of which we are here speaking in
+cases of urgency and danger; and we shall now endeavour to analyse the
+process, that we may the more readily arrive at some exercise, by which
+it may be artificially imitated, whether the application be urgent and
+required at the moment or not.</p>
+
+<p>We have supposed one child going forward on the soft ground, while the
+other is slowly following him. When the foot of the first sinks, the
+other instantly stands still; and a spectator can perceive, better
+perhaps than the child himself, that something like the following mental
+process takes place on the occasion. The child thinks with himself,
+"Tom's foot has sunk; if I go forward, I also will sink; I will
+therefore stand still, or cross at another place." This is an exact
+parallel to thousands of similar instances which come under the notice
+of parents and others <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span>every day; and is a process quite familiar to
+adults who have paid any attention to the operation of their own minds
+when similarly circumstanced. When it is analysed, we find it to
+consist, as shewn in a former chapter, of three distinct parts, not one
+of which can be left out if the effect is to be produced. There is
+always, at the commencement of such an operation, the knowledge of some
+fact; "Tom's foot has sunk." There is, secondly, an inference or lesson
+drawn from this knowledge, "If I go forward, I also will sink." And
+there is, thirdly, the practical application of that lesson, or
+inference, to the child's present circumstances: "I will stand still, or
+cross at another place."</p>
+
+<p>It is this process, or one in every point similar, that takes place in
+the mind, either of the young or the old, whenever they apply the facts
+gleaned by observation or experience for the guidance of their conduct.
+Now what we are at present in search of, is an exercise applicable to
+<i>reading</i>, as well as to observation;&mdash;to the <i>school</i>, as well as to
+the play ground or the parlour;&mdash;and to knowledge whose use may not be
+required at the instant, as well as that to which we are driven by
+necessity.</p>
+
+<p>The desideratum here desired is to be found by the teacher in the
+method, now very extensively known, of drawing lessons from useful
+truths, and then applying them to the future probable circumstances of
+the pupils. For example, when a child reads, or is told that Jacob was
+punished by God for cheating his brother and telling a lie, the great
+object of the parent or teacher is to render these truths
+<i>practical</i>,&mdash;which the question, "What does that teach you?" never
+fails to do. The child, as soon as he knows the design of his teacher in
+communicating practical truths, and is asked the above question, will
+tell him, that he ought never to cheat his neighbour, or tell a lie. The
+application of these lessons, when thus established as a rule of duty
+founded on Scripture, is as extensive as the circumstances in which they
+may <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span>be required are various;&mdash;and the teacher has only to suppose such
+a case, and to ask his pupil, if he were placed in these circumstances,
+what he should do. The dullest of his children will at once perceive the
+duty, and the source from which he derives confidence in performing it.</p>
+
+<p>There is no difficulty, as we have seen, in drawing and applying
+practical lessons in cases of urgency, where experience and the common
+sense of the individual prompt him to it;&mdash;and this attempt to imitate
+Nature in less urgent cases, and especially in hearing, or in the more
+artificial operation of reading, has been found in experience to be
+completely successful. We shall endeavour to point this out by a few
+familiar examples.</p>
+
+<p>Let us for this purpose suppose, that one of the boys formerly mentioned
+is accompanied by his teacher, instead of his companion, and is
+approaching the soft ground which lies between them and the house.
+Before they arrive at the spot, his teacher tells him, that the marsh
+before them is so soft that even a child's foot would sink if he
+attempted to tread upon it. The boy might hear, and perfectly understand
+the truth, and yet he might not at the time think of the use to which it
+ought to be put. But if the teacher shall immediately add, "What does
+that teach you?"&mdash;his attention would instantly be called, not so much
+to the truth itself, as to the uses which ought to be made of it, and
+his answer in such a plain case would be ready, "We must not cross
+there, but seek a road to the house by some other way." Now here the
+fact was verbally communicated; and although the object was in sight,
+and the use of the fact might in some measure have been anticipated so
+as to suggest the answer, yet a little consideration will shew, that a
+similar effect would have been produced by the question, had the parties
+been in the house, or had the truth been derived from reading, and not
+from the oral communication of the teacher.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span>It is the want of something like this in the acquisition of truth by
+books, which renders that kind of knowledge in general of so little
+practical benefit. The truths and facts learned while attending school,
+are too often received as mere abstractions, without reference to their
+uses, or to the personal application of those uses to the circumstances
+of the child or his companions. Events daily occur in which the pupil's
+knowledge might be of important service;&mdash;but the benefits to be derived
+from it not having been taught, and the method of applying the facts
+which he has acquired by reading not having been explained,&mdash;the
+knowledge and its uses are seldom seen together, and the practical
+benefit of the teaching is accordingly lost. This at once accounts for
+the very remarkable circumstance, that children, and not unfrequently
+adults also, derive far more benefit from the scanty knowledge which
+they have gleaned by observation and experience, than from the many
+thousands of highly useful facts which have again and again been pressed
+upon their notice by reading and study. In almost every case Nature
+prompts us, as we have seen, to turn to our own benefit the knowledge
+which she has imparted; but as the mode of teaching reading, which is
+the <i>artificial</i> method of acquiring information, often overlooks the
+use we are to make of it, we remain satisfied with the knowledge itself,
+and do not think of its application. To illustrate this fact in some
+measure, let us suppose a basket of filberts set down for the use of a
+company of boys, and that one of them tries to crack the shells with his
+front teeth. He fails. But he sees his companions put the nuts farther
+back in the mouth, and succeed. Does he lose his share, by continuing to
+misapply the lever-power provided for him by Nature?&mdash;No indeed. He, by
+a single observation, at once draws and applies the lesson;&mdash;he
+immediately cracks his nuts as readily as his companions, and he
+continues to do so all his lifetime after. But the same <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span>boy may have,
+that very forenoon, been reading a treatise on the power of the lever,
+and might read it again and again without considering himself at all
+interested in the matter, or thinking it probable that he ever would.
+His reading, without the application we are here recommending, would
+never have led him to perceive the slightest similarity between the
+fulcrum of the lever, and the insertion of his jaw; or any connection
+between the lesson of the school, and the employment of the
+parlour:&mdash;But that would.</p>
+
+<p>This is but one of a thousand examples that might be given, of the evils
+arising from the non-application of knowledge in reading, and which are
+applicable, not to children merely, but also to adults. The drawing and
+applying of lessons, the exercise which we are here recommending, has
+been found a valuable remedy for this defect in ordinary reading. The
+object of the teacher by its use, is to accomplish in the pupil by
+<i>reading</i>, what we have shewn Nature so frequently does by
+<i>observation</i>;&mdash;that is, to train the child to apply for his own use, or
+the use of others, those truths which he acquires from his <i>book</i>, in
+the same way that he does those which he derives from <i>experience</i>. To
+illustrate this, we shall instance a few cases of every day occurrence,
+in which the question, "What does this teach you?" when supplemented to
+the fact communicated, will almost invariably answer the purpose
+desired, whether the truth from which the lesson is to be drawn, has
+been received by observation, by oral instruction, or by reading.</p>
+
+<p>When an observing well-disposed child sees a school-fellow praised and
+rewarded for being obliging and kind to the aged or the poor, there is
+formed in the mind of that child, more or less distinctly, a resolution
+to follow the example on the first opportunity. Here is the fact and the
+lesson, with the application in prospect. This whole feeling may be
+faint and evanescent, but it is real; and it only wants the cultivating
+hand of the teacher to arrest it, and to render <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span>it permanent.
+Accordingly, if on the child hearing the praise given to his companion
+for being kind and obliging to the poor, he had at the time been asked,
+"What does that teach you?" the lesson suggested by Nature would
+instantly have assumed a tangible form; and in communicating the answer
+to the teacher, both the truth and the lesson would have been brought
+more distinctly before the mind, and the reply, "I should be kind and
+obliging to the poor," would tend to fix the duty on the memory, and
+would be a good preparation for putting it in practice when the next
+occasion should occur.</p>
+
+<p>Again, if another thoughtful and well disposed child sees a companion
+severely punished for telling a lie, the question, "What does that teach
+me?" is in some shape or degree formed in his mind, and his resolution,
+however faint, is taken to avoid that sin in future. This, it is
+obvious, is nothing more than a practical answer to the above question,
+forced upon the child by the directness of the circumstances, but which
+would not have so readily made its appearance, or produced its effect,
+in cases of a less obtrusive kind, or in one of more remote application;
+and every person must see, that the beneficial effects desired would
+have been more definite, more effectual, and much more permanent, had
+this faint indication of Nature's intention been followed up by orally
+asking the question at the child, and requiring him audibly to return an
+answer.</p>
+
+<p>Let us once more suppose a child in the act of reading the history of
+Cain and Abel, in the manner in which it is commonly read by the young,
+and that the child thoroughly understands all the circumstances. He may
+be deeply interested in the story, while the uses to be made of it may
+not be very clearly perceived. But if, after reading any one of the
+moral circumstances, such as "Cain hated his brother," or after having
+it announced to him by the teacher, he was asked, "What does that teach
+you?" <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span>the practical use of the truth would at once be forced upon his
+mind, and he would now very readily answer, "It teaches me that I should
+not hate my brother." In this case also, it is quite obvious, that
+without such a question having been proposed, and the answer to it
+given, the practical uses of the truth recorded might have been
+altogether overlooked; and even although they had not, still the
+question and its answer will always have the effect of making them stand
+out much more prominently before the mind, and will enable the memory to
+hold them more tenaciously, and bring them forth more readily for
+practice, than if such an operation had been neglected. Hence the great
+importance of training the young by this exercise early to perceive the
+uses of every kind of knowledge, particularly Scriptural knowledge;
+because the habit formed in youth, will continue to render every useful
+truth of practical benefit during life.</p>
+
+<p>We may remark here, that the exercise is not limited in its application
+to the young. For if an adult were first told, that the squalid beggar
+before him, though once respectable and rich, had made himself wretched
+by a course of idleness and dissipation, and were then asked, "What does
+that teach you?" he would instantly perceive the lesson, and would be
+stimulated to apply it. When, in like manner, the farmer is told that
+his neighbour has ruined himself by over-cropping his ground; or the
+iron master, that the use of the hot-blast has doubled the profits of
+his rival; a similar question would at once lead to the legitimate
+conclusion, and most likely to the proper conduct.</p>
+
+<p>In all these examples, the operation of mind which we have endeavoured
+to describe, is so exceedingly simple, that it is perhaps difficult to
+decide how much is the work of Nature, and how much belongs to the
+exercise here recommended. This at once proves its efficiency, as an
+imitation of her process, in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span>following her in the path which she has
+here pointed out; and it at the same time recommends itself as strictly
+accordant with observation and experience. The teacher then, in order to
+render the knowledge he communicates useful, has only to do regularly
+and by system, that which, under the direction of Nature, every
+intelligent and enquiring mind in its best moments does for itself.
+Wherever a useful truth has been communicated in the school or family,
+or a moral act or precept has been read or announced, the question by
+the parent or the teacher, "What does that teach you?" will lead the
+pupil to reflection, not only on its nature, but on its use; and the
+ability to do so, as we shall afterwards see, may be acquired by almost
+any individual with ease. Regular training in this way, leads directly
+to habits of reflection and observation, which are of themselves of
+great value; but which, when found acting in connection with the desire
+and ability to turn every truth observed into a practical channel,
+become doubly estimable, and a public blessing. The pupil therefore
+ought early to be trained of himself to supplement the question, "What
+does this teach me?" or, "What can I learn from this?" to every
+circumstance or truth to which his attention is called; because the
+ability to answer it forms the chief, if not the only correct measure of
+a well educated person. In proof of this it is only necessary to remark,
+that as it is not the man who has accumulated the greatest amount of
+anatomical and surgical knowledge, but he who can make the best use of
+it, that is really the best surgeon; so it is not the man who has
+<i>acquired</i> the largest portion of knowledge, but he who <i>can make the
+best use</i> of the largest portion, that is the best scholar. Hence it is,
+that all the exercises in a child's education should have in view the
+practical use of what he learns, and of what he is to continue through
+life to learn, as the great end to which all his learning should be
+subservient.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span>The moral advantages likely to result from the general adoption of this
+mode of teaching useful knowledge are exceedingly cheering, and the only
+surprise is, that it has been so long overlooked. That the principle,
+though not directly applied to the purposes of education, was well
+known, and frequently practised by our forefathers, appears obvious from
+many of their valuable writings. One beautiful example of its
+application is familiar to thousands, though not always perceived, in
+the illustration given of the Lord's prayer towards the close of the
+Assembly's Larger and Shorter Catechisms. The study of the lessons there
+drawn from the truths stated or implied in that prayer, will afford a
+better idea of the value of this mode of teaching, than perhaps any
+farther explanation we could give, and to these therefore we refer the
+reader.</p>
+
+<p>Before closing these general observations upon the value and necessity
+of this method of training the young to the practical use of knowledge,
+there is a circumstance which should not be omitted, as it tends to
+double all the advantages of the exercise, both to the teacher and the
+pupil. It will be found in general, especially in morals, that every
+practical lesson that is drawn from a truth or passage, actually
+embodies two,&mdash;both of which are equally legitimate and connected with
+the subject. There is always a <i>negative</i> lesson implied, when the
+<i>positive</i> lesson is expressed; and there is in like manner a <i>positive</i>
+implied, whenever it is the <i>negative</i> that is expressed. As for
+example, when the child, from the history of Cain and Abel, draws the
+negative lesson that he should <i>not hate</i> his brother; the opposite of
+that lesson is equally binding in the positive form, that he should
+<i>love</i> his brother. And when, from the history of Job, the positive
+lesson is drawn that we ought to be patient; the negative of that lesson
+becomes equally binding, and the child may, by the very same fact, be
+taught and enjoined <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span>not to be fretful, discontented, or impatient,
+during sickness or trouble. Of this method of multiplying the practical
+uses of knowledge, we have a most appropriate example in the Assembly's
+Larger and Shorter Catechisms, where the illustrations given of the
+decalogue are conducted upon this important principle, and in a similar
+way.</p>
+<br />
+<br /><a name="CHAP_VIIIB" id="CHAP_VIIIB"></a>
+<br />
+<br />
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h3>CHAP. VIII.</h3>
+
+<h3><i>On the Imitation of Nature in Teaching the Use of Knowledge<br /> by means of
+the Animal or Common Sense.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>A large portion of what has been advanced in the foregoing chapter, has
+reference to the practical application of all kinds of knowledge,
+whether by the Animal or Moral sense; and we shall here offer a few
+additional remarks on the teaching of those branches which are more
+immediately connected with the former.</p>
+
+<p>When a person is sent to learn an art or trade, such as a carpenter, he
+is not sent to hear lectures, or to get merely an abstract knowledge of
+the several truths connected with it; but he is sent to practise the
+little knowledge that he is able of himself to pick up. His is a
+practical learning; ninety-nine parts in every hundred being employed in
+the practice, for one that is employed in acquiring the abstract
+principles of his occupation. When, on the contrary, a child is sent to
+school, to prepare him for this practical application of his knowledge,
+the former proportions are generally reversed, and ninety-nine parts of
+his time and labour are taken up in attaining abstract knowledge, for
+one that is occupied in assisting him to reduce it to practice. Both
+modes of teaching the boy are obviously wrong. He would, when sent to
+it, learn his business in much less time by a previous acquaintance with
+its principles; and all these ought <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span>to have been furnished him as a
+part of his general knowledge while he attended the school. Such
+information, indeed, ought to have formed a large portion of his
+education;&mdash;and it will be a matter of surprise to every one who closely
+considers the subject, how soon and how easily the principles, even of
+so complicated a trade as a carpenter, may be acquired when they are
+taught in the right way, and at the proper time. A few of the simplest
+principles in mechanics practically learned,&mdash;a knowledge of the
+strength and adhesion of bodies,&mdash;of the nature of edge tools,&mdash;and the
+importance of accuracy and caution, might have been made familiar to him
+while attending his studies; and if carefully and constantly reduced to
+practice, these would have been of the greatest service to him when
+called to the work-shop.</p>
+
+<p>The methods by which natural philosophy ought to be taught in schools,
+must partake of all the laws which Nature employs in the several parts
+of her teaching. Individuation, Grouping, and especially Analysis, must
+be rigidly attended to. By dividing all the subjects of general
+knowledge into the two grand divisions of Terrestrial and Celestial, and
+these again into their several parts, the whole field of useful
+knowledge would be mapped out, and connected together, so that each
+subject would occupy a distinct place of its own, and be readily found
+when it was required. The facts, or at least the most useful facts
+connected with each of these, would very soon be communicated; and when
+turned into a popular and useful form, by drawing and applying the
+corresponding lessons, the ease and delight of laying up these precious
+stores of useful knowledge by children, will not be easily conceived by
+those who have not witnessed it.</p>
+
+<p>With respect to <i>the ease</i> with which this method of communicating
+knowledge can be accomplished, we may remark in general, that when a
+principle has been explained, and has become familiar to the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span>child, all
+the phenomena arising out of it, when pointed out, are readily perceived
+and retained upon the memory in connection with it. For example, by a
+knowledge of the principle which teaches that fluids press equally on
+all sides, when considered in connection with the weight of the
+atmosphere, a child, with very little trouble, would be put into the
+full possession of the cause of many facts in natural philosophy,
+exceedingly dissimilar in their appearance, but which are all mastered
+with ease and intelligence by a knowledge of this law. When the
+principle and its mode of working have been explained, the child is
+provided with a key, by which he may, in the exercise of his own powers,
+unlock one by one all the mysterious phenomena of the air and common
+pump, the cupping-glass, the barometer, the old steam and fire engine,
+the toy sucker and pop-gun, the walking of a fly on the ceiling, the
+ascent of smoke in the chimney, the sipping of tea from a cup, the
+sucking of a wound, and the true cause of the inspiration and expiration
+of the air in breathing. To teach these singly, would obviously be
+exceedingly troublesome to the teacher, and laborious for the child; but
+when thus linked together, as similar effects from the same cause, they
+are understood at once, and each of them helps to illustrate and explain
+all the others. They are received without confusion, and are remembered
+without difficulty. All this may in general be done even with children,
+as we shall immediately prove, by the method recommended above, of
+requiring, after the illustration of the principle, the lessons which it
+is calculated to teach.</p>
+
+<p>The results of this simple method of imitating Nature in one of the most
+valuable of her processes, have been found remarkably uniform and
+successful; and when it shall be regularly brought into operation in
+connection with the other parts of the system, it promises to be still
+more valuable and extensive. But even already, with all the
+disadvantages of time, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span>place, and persons, the importance and
+efficiency of the exercise have been highly satisfactory. We shall
+shortly advert to a few instances of its success, which have been
+publicly exhibited and recorded.</p>
+
+<p>The criminals in the jail of Edinburgh, after three weeks teaching, had
+acquired a considerable degree of expertness in perceiving and drawing
+lessons from the moral circumstances which they read from Scripture. In
+the report of that experiment, the examinators say, "They gave a
+distinct account, (from the book of Genesis,) of the prominent facts,
+from Adam, down to the settlement in Goshen, and shewed by their
+answers, that the circumstances were understood by them, in their proper
+nature and bearings. From each peculiar circumstance, they deduced an
+appropriate lesson, calculated to guide their conduct, when placed in a
+like, or analogous situation. It is within the truth to allege, that in
+this part of their examination, they submitted upwards of fifty palpable
+lessons, that cannot fail, we would conceive, hereafter to have a
+powerful influence upon their affections and deportment."</p>
+
+<p>In the experiments both in Newry and London, the children were found
+quite adequate to the exercise; and in the latter instance, three
+children, who at their first lesson did not know they had a soul, were
+able to perceive and to draw lessons from almost any moral truth or fact
+presented to them. This they did repeatedly when publicly examined by
+the Committee of the London Sunday School Union, in presence of a large
+body of clergymen, and a numerous congregation in the Poultry Chapel.
+But we shall at present direct attention more particularly to the
+children selected from the several schools in Aberdeen, as given in the
+Report by Principal Jack, and the Professors and Clergymen in that
+place. After mentioning, that these children, so very ignorant only
+eight days before, had acquired a thorough acquaintance with the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span>leading facts in Old Testament History, they say, "From the various
+incidents in the Sacred Record, with which they had thus been brought so
+closely into contact, they drew, as they proceeded, a variety of
+practical lessons, evincing, that they clearly perceived, not only the
+nature and qualities of the actions, whether good or evil, of the
+persons there set before them, but the use that ought to be made of such
+descriptions of character, as examples or warnings, intended for
+application to the ordinary business of life.</p>
+
+<p>"They were next examined, in the same way, on several sections of the
+New Testament, from which they had also learned to point out the
+practical lessons, so important and necessary for the regulation of the
+heart and life. The Meeting, as well as this Committee, were surprised
+at the minute and accurate acquaintance which they displayed with the
+multiplicity of objects presented to them,&mdash;at the great extent of the
+record over which they had travelled,&mdash;and at the facility with which
+they seemed to draw useful lessons from almost every occurrence
+mentioned in the passages which they had read."</p>
+
+<p>They were able also to apply this same principle,&mdash;the practical
+application of useful knowledge,&mdash;to the perusal of civil history, and
+also biography. The report states, that "they were examined on that
+portion of the History of England, embraced by the reign of Charles I.
+and the Commonwealth; and from the details of this period, they drew
+from the <i>same circumstances</i>, or announcements, political, domestic,
+and personal lessons, as these applied to a nation, to a family, and to
+individuals;&mdash;lessons which it ought be the leading design of history to
+furnish, though, both by the writers and readers of history, this
+Committee are sorry to say, they are too generally overlooked.</p>
+
+<p>"They were then examined on biography,&mdash;the Life of the late Rev. John
+Newton being chosen for <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span>that purpose; from whose history they also drew
+some very useful practical lessons, and seemed very desirous of
+enlarging, but had to be restrained, as the time would not permit."</p>
+
+<p>The practicability and the importance of teaching children to apply the
+same valuable principle to every branch and portion of natural
+philosophy were also ascertained. The same report, after stating the
+fact, that the children scientifically described to the meeting numerous
+objects presented to them from the several kingdoms of Nature, goes on
+to say, that "here also they found no want of capacity or of materials
+for practical lessons. A boy, after describing copper as possessing
+poisonous qualities, and stating, that cooking utensils, as well as
+money, were made of it, was asked what practical lessons he could draw
+from these circumstances, replied, That no person should put halfpence
+in his mouth; and that people should take care to keep clean pans and
+kettles."</p>
+
+<p>The common school boys in Newry also found no difficulty in the
+exercise, as applied to the abstruse and difficult sciences of anatomy
+and physiology. The account of that experiment, says, that they were
+"examined as to the <i>uses</i> which they ought to make of all this
+information, by drawing practical lessons from the several truths.
+Accordingly, announcements from the different branches of the science
+were given, from which they now very readily drew numerous and valuable
+practical lessons, several of which were given at this time of
+themselves, and which had not been previously taught them. These were
+drawn directly from the announcements; and all, according to their
+nature, calculated to be exceedingly useful for promoting the health,
+the comfort, and the general happiness of themselves, their friends, or
+their companions."</p>
+
+<p>But by far the most extensive and satisfactory evidence of the value and
+efficiency of this exercise, in the mental and moral training of the
+young, was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span>afforded by the experiment undertaken at the request of the
+Lesson System Association of Leith, and conducted in the Assembly Rooms
+there, in the presence of the Magistrates and Clergy of that town, of
+Bishop Russell, Lord Murray, (then Lord Advocate,) and a numerous
+meeting of the friends of education. The children were those connected
+with a Sabbath school, who had been regularly trained by their teacher,
+a plain but pious workman of the town, to draw lessons every Sabbath
+from the several subjects and passages of Scripture taught them. To give
+all the specimens which afford evidence of the value and efficiency of
+this exercise in the education of children, would be to transcribe the
+report of the Association; we shall therefore confine ourselves to a few
+of the circumstances only, which were taken in short-hand by a public
+reporter who was present.</p>
+
+<p>After some important and satisfactory exercises on the being and
+attributes of God, from which the children drew many valuable practical
+lessons, it is said, that the examinator "expressed his entire
+satisfaction with the result, and remarked, that he himself was
+astonished, not only at the immense store of biblical knowledge
+possessed by these children, but the power which they possessed over it,
+and the facility with which they could, on any occasion, use it in
+'giving a reason for the hope that is in them.' He then proceeded to the
+next subject of examination which had been prescribed to him, which was,
+to ascertain the extent of their mental powers and literary attainments,
+which would be most satisfactorily shown by their ability to read the
+Bible profitably; and for this purpose he requested that some of the
+clergymen present would suggest <i>any</i> passage from the New Testament on
+which to exercise them. The Rev. Dr Russell (now Bishop Russell,)
+suggested the parable of the labourers hired at different hours, Matt.
+xx. 1-16. Mr Gall accordingly read <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span>it distinctly, verse by verse,
+catechising the children as he proceeded, and then made them relate the
+whole in their own words, which they did most correctly.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr Gall then selected some of the verses, and called upon them to
+separate the circumstances, or parts of each verse, and to state each as
+a separate proposition. This also they did with the greatest ease; and
+in some cases a variety of divisions were brought forward, thus proving
+the high intellectual powers which they had acquired, and the ease with
+which they could analyse any passage, however difficult.</p>
+
+<p>"It was next to be ascertained what power the children had acquired of
+drawing lessons from Scripture; and for this purpose, Mr Gall, in order
+to husband the time of the meeting, confined the children's attention to
+one verse only, and proposed to submit each of the moral circumstances
+contained in that verse, one by one, as they themselves had divided it.
+The following are the lessons drawn by the children, as taken down in
+short-hand by the Reporter.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Mr G.</i>&mdash;The householder invited labourers at the eleventh hour;&mdash;what
+does that teach you?&mdash;It teaches us, that God at various seasons calls
+people to his church.&mdash;It teaches us, that we ought never to despair,
+but bear in mind the language of Jesus to the repentant thief on the
+cross,&mdash;'To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise.'&mdash;It teaches us, that
+we ought not to boast of to-morrow, since we know not what a day or an
+hour may bring forth.&mdash;It teaches us, that time is short, and that life
+is the only period for preparation and hope.&mdash;It teaches us, that we
+ought to be prepared,&mdash;have our loins girt, and our lamps burning; for
+we know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh.&mdash;It
+teaches us, that we ought to number our days, and apply our hearts to
+heavenly wisdom.&mdash;It teaches us, that we ought not to put off the day of
+repentance; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span>because for every day we put it off, we shall have one more
+to repent <i>of</i>, and one less to repent <i>in</i>.&mdash;It teaches us,</p>
+
+<p class="noin">
+<span style="margin-left: 13.5em;">'That life is the season God hath given</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 13.5em;">To fly from hell, and rise to heaven;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 13.5em;">That day of grace fleets fast away,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 13.5em;">And none its rapid course can stay.'</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>"Mr Gall here requested the children to pause for a moment, that he
+might express the high gratification he felt at the fluency, the
+readiness, and the appropriateness of the lessons which they had drawn.
+He was only afraid that they had inadvertently fallen upon a passage
+with which the children were familiar, by having had it recently under
+their notice; and he therefore requested Mr Cameron to state to the
+meeting whether this was really the case or not. Mr Cameron rose and
+said, that what the meeting now saw was no more than could be seen any
+Sunday in the Charlotte Street School. They had not had any preparation
+for this meeting; and he did not remember of ever having had this
+passage taught in the school. He would recommend that the children be
+allowed a little freedom; and when they were done with that
+announcement, let any other be taken, for it was the same to them
+whatever subject might be chosen.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr Gall accordingly repeated the announcement again, and called on them
+to proceed with any other lessons from it which occurred to them. They
+accordingly commenced again, and answered as follows: It teaches us,
+that we ought to remember our Creator in the days of our youth, while
+the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh in which we shall say we
+have no pleasure in them.&mdash;It teaches us, that we ought to prepare for
+death; to gird up our loins, and trim our lamps, lest it be said unto us
+in the great day of the Lord, when he maketh up his jewels, 'Depart from
+me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his
+angels.'&mdash;It teaches us so to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span>conduct ourselves, that whether we live
+we live unto the Lord, and whether we die we die unto the Lord; and that
+whether we live therefore or die, we may be the Lord's; for to that end
+Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of
+the dead and the living.<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a>&mdash;It teaches us to improve our time lest we
+find that the harvest is past, and the summer ended, and us not
+saved.&mdash;It teaches us, that we ought to study, in that whether we eat or
+drink, or whatsoever we do, we do all to the glory of God.&mdash;It teaches
+us, that we ought to endeavour to secure an interest in Christ in
+time.&mdash;It teaches us, that delays are dangerous.&mdash;It teaches us, that
+the day of the Lord cometh like a thief in the night, and that when
+sinners shall say, 'Peace and safety,' sudden destruction cometh upon
+them.&mdash;It teaches us, that we ought to acquaint ourselves early with
+God; and that we ought to walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
+redeeming the time, because the days are evil.&mdash;It teaches us, that we
+ought to seek the Lord while he may be found, and call upon him while he
+is near; that the wicked ought to forsake his way, and the unrighteous
+man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, who will have mercy
+upon him, and to our God, who will abundantly pardon.&mdash;It teaches us to
+improve our time; and to bear in mind, that though patriarchs lived
+long, the burden of the historian's tale is always, 'and they died.'&mdash;It
+teaches us, that we ought not to allow <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span>pleasures and enjoyments to
+interfere with, or overcome, our more important duty of seeking God.&mdash;It
+teaches us, that we are never too young to pray, and to remember that
+God says, 'Now;'&mdash;the devil, 'To-morrow.'</p>
+
+<p>"Mr Gall here took advantage of a short pause, and said, 'We shall now
+change the announcement. Give me a few lessons from the fact stated in
+this parable, that <i>when the husbandman invited the labourers into the
+vineyard at the eleventh hour, they accepted the invitation</i>.&mdash;What does
+that teach you?'&mdash;It teaches us, that we ought to accept the invitation
+of Jesus to come with him, 'Ho! every one that thirsteth, come ye to the
+waters, and he that hath no money; come ye buy and eat; yea, come, buy
+wine and milk without money, and without price. Seek ye the Lord while
+he may be found; call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake
+his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto
+the Lord, who will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will
+abundantly pardon.'&mdash;It teaches us, that we ought to show a willingness
+to accept the invitation of Christ, since 'he is not willing that any
+should perish, but that all should come unto him and live.'&mdash;It teaches
+us, that we ought to accept the invitation of Christ, since we are
+informed in the Scriptures, 'that whosoever cometh unto him he will in
+no ways cast out.' It teaches us, that we ought to accept of the
+invitation of Christ; for the Bible informs us, that the invitation is
+held forth to all; 'for whosoever will, let him take of the waters of
+life freely.'&mdash;'Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden,
+and I will give you rest.'&mdash;It teaches us, that we ought not to hesitate
+in accepting the invitation of Christ; for God says he will not always
+strive with man.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr Gall here again expressed not only his satisfaction, but his
+astonishment, at the success with which Mr Cameron had taught the
+Scriptures to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span>these children. This exhibited itself in two ways;
+<i>first</i>, in enabling them to draw lessons from any passage of Scripture;
+and <i>second</i>, in having so disposed of what Scripture they had already
+been taught, that whenever a doctrine or duty was to be brought before
+them, scriptural declarations crowded around them 'as a light to their
+feet, and a lamp to their path.' He himself had no doubt that the
+children were no more prepared upon this passage than upon any other;
+but it would exhibit this fact more satisfactorily, if <i>another</i> passage
+were selected, which he requested some of the gentlemen present to do.</p>
+
+<p>"The clergymen present accordingly requested Mr Gall to try the
+concluding portion of the second chapter of Luke, which details Christ's
+visit to Jerusalem at twelve years of age. After having read and
+catechised the children on this passage, as he had done on the former,
+he proceeded at once to call for lessons. Mr Gall gave us the
+announcement that <i>'Joseph and Mary worshipped God in public</i>,' and
+asked for one or two lessons from this? It teaches us, that we ought to
+worship God both in public and in private.&mdash;It teaches us, that no
+trifles ought to hinder us from worshipping God.&mdash;One child quoted the
+following verse:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p class="noin">
+<span style="margin-left: 11.5em;">'Come then, O house of Jacob, come,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 12.5em;">And worship at his shrine!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 11.5em;">And walking in the light of God,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 12.5em;">With holy beauties shine.'</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>"Mr Gall then said, Let us change the announcement: 'Joseph and Mary
+went regularly every year to the feast of the passover?'&mdash;What does that
+teach you?&mdash;That teaches us, that we ought to attend the house of God
+regularly.&mdash;It teaches that we ought to attend church both times of the
+day.&mdash;It teaches us that we ought to worship God regularly; for God
+loveth order, and not confusion.</p>
+
+<p>"Let us change the announcement again. 'Jesus attended the passover when
+he was twelve years of age.' What does this teach you?&mdash;It teaches us,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span>that parents should train up their children in the way they should
+go.&mdash;It teaches us, that learning young is learning fair.&mdash;It teaches
+us, that children should never be thought too young to be brought up in
+the fear of the Lord.&mdash;It teaches us, that children should obey their
+parents.&mdash;What are we to learn from their 'fulfilling the days?'&mdash;It
+teaches us, that we should not leave the church until the sermon is
+over.&mdash;It teaches us, that we ought not to disturb others by leaving the
+church."</p>
+
+<p>Remarkable as this exhibition was of the attainment of extraordinary
+mental power by mere children, yet it is but justice to say, that the
+above is merely a specimen of the elasticity and grasp of mind which
+these children had acquired. Some idea of the extent of this may be
+formed when it is considered, that all these passages and, subjects were
+chosen for them at the moment, and by strangers. And it is worthy of
+remark, that if such an amount of mental power, and such an accumulation
+of knowledge, of the best and most practical kind, were easily and
+pleasantly acquired by children in the lowest ranks of life, of their
+own voluntary choice, under every disadvantage, and with no more than
+two hours teaching in the week; what may we not expect, when the
+principles here developed, are wielded and applied by those who
+thoroughly understand them, not for two hours, with an interval of six
+busy days, but every day of the week?&mdash;The prospect is cheering.</p>
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> At this part, the Report of the Experiment contains the
+following Note:&mdash;"The reader will perceive that some of the lessons
+diverge at times from the announcement; but it is of great importance,
+in an experiment of this kind, neither to omit nor amend what is wrong,
+but to give exactly the words that were spoken. Not the least remarkable
+circumstance elicited by this experiment is the fact, that these
+children, who know nothing of the rules of grammar, have obviously, by
+the mental exercise induced by the system, become pretty correct
+practical grammarians. The variations made in many of the passages of
+Scripture quoted by them show this."</p></div>
+<br />
+<br /><a name="CHAP_IXB" id="CHAP_IXB"></a>
+<br />
+<br />
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h3>CHAP. IX.</h3>
+
+<h3><i>On the Imitation of Nature in Teaching the Practical Use of Knowledge<br />
+by means of the Moral Sense, or Conscience.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>In a former chapter we endeavoured to collect a few facts specially
+connected with the moral sense, as exhibited in the young, and the
+methods which Nature <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span>employs, when conscience is made use of for the
+application of their knowledge.<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> We shall in this chapter offer a few
+additional remarks on the imitation of Nature in this important
+department; but before doing so, it will be proper to clear our way by
+making a few preliminary observations.</p>
+
+<p>No one disputes the general principle, that education is proper for
+man;&mdash;and if so, then education must be beneficial in all circumstances,
+and at every period of his life. In particular, were we to ask whether
+education were necessary in early childhood, and infancy, universal
+experience would at once answer the question, and would demonstrate,
+that it is much more necessary and more valuable at that season, than at
+any future period of the individual's life. In proof of this, we find,
+that enlightened restraint upon the temper, and a regulating care with
+regard to the conduct, are productive of the most beneficial results;
+while, on the contrary, when this discipline is neglected, the violence
+of self-will generally becomes so strong, and the checks upon the temper
+so weak, that the character of the child formed at this period may be
+such as to make him for life his own tormentor, and the pest of all with
+whom he is to be associated.&mdash;No one can reasonably deny this; and the
+conclusion is plain, that education of some kind or other is really more
+necessary for the infant and the child, than it is either for the youth
+or the man.</p>
+
+<p>If this general principle be once admitted, and we set it down as an
+axiom that the infant and the child are to learn <i>something</i>,&mdash;it
+naturally follows, that we are required to teach them those useful
+things for which Nature has more especially fitted them; while we are
+forbidden to force branches of knowledge upon them of which they are
+incapable. Our object then, ought to be to ascertain both the positive
+and the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span>negative of this proposition; endeavouring to find out what the
+infant and child <i>are</i> capable of learning, and what they <i>are not</i>. Now
+it is an important fact, not only that infants and young children are
+peculiarly fitted, by the constitution of their minds and affections,
+for learning and practising the principles of religion and morals; but
+it is still more remarkable, that they are, for a long period, incapable
+of learning or practising any thing else. If this can be established,
+then nothing can be more decisive as to the intention of Nature, that
+moral and religious training, is not only the great end in view by a
+course of education generally, but that it is, and ought always to be,
+the first object of the parent and teacher, and the only true and solid
+basis upon which they are to build all that is to follow. Let us
+therefore for a moment enquire a little more particularly into this
+important subject.</p>
+
+<p>When we carefully examine the conduct of an enlightened and affectionate
+mother or nurse with the infant, as soon as it can distinguish right
+from wrong and good from evil, we find it to consist of two kinds, which
+are perfectly distinct from each other. The one regards the comfort and
+physical welfare of the child;&mdash;the other regards the regulation of its
+temper, its passions, and its conduct. It is of the latter only that we
+are here to speak.</p>
+
+<p>When this moral training of the judicious mother is examined, we find it
+uniformly and entirely to consist in an indefatigable watchfulness in
+preventing or checking whatever is evil in the child, and in
+encouraging, and teaching, and training to the practice of whatever is
+good. She is careful to enforce obedience and submission in every
+case;&mdash;to win and encourage the indications of affection; to check
+retaliation or revenge; to subdue the violence of passion or inordinate
+desire;&mdash;to keep under every manifestation of self-will;&mdash;and to soothe
+down and banish every appearance of fretfulness and bad <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span>temper. In
+short, she trains her young charge to feel and to practise all the
+amiable and kindly affections of our nature, encouraging and commending
+him in their exercise;&mdash;while, on the contrary, she prevents,
+discourages, reproves, and if necessary punishes, the exhibition of
+dispositions and conduct of an opposite kind. This, as every one who has
+examined the subject knows, is the sum and substance of the mother's
+educational efforts during this early period of her child's
+progress;&mdash;and what we wish to press upon the observation of the reader
+is, that the child at this period is literally incapable of learning any
+thing else which at all deserves the name of education. He may be taught
+to be obedient; to be submissive; to be kind and obliging; to moderate,
+and even to suppress his passions; to controul his wishes and his
+will;&mdash;to be forbearing and forgiving;&mdash;and to be gentle, peaceable,
+orderly, cleanly, and perhaps mannerly. Is there any thing else?&mdash;Is
+there any one element of a different kind, that ever does, or ever can
+enter into the course of an infant or young child's education? If there
+be, what is it?&mdash;Let it be examined;&mdash;and we have no hesitation in
+saying, that if it be "education," or any thing that deserves the name,
+it will be found to resolve itself into some one or other of the moral
+qualities which we have above enumerated. If therefore children, during
+the earlier stages of their educational progress are to be taught at
+all, religion and morals <i>must</i> be, the subjects, seeing that they are
+for a long period capable of learning nothing else. And it is here
+worthy of especial notice, that in teaching religion and morals, there
+is a negative as well as a positive scale;&mdash;and experience has uniformly
+demonstrated, that if the parent or teacher neglect to improve the child
+by raising him in the positive side, he will, by his own efforts, sink
+deeper in the negative. Selfishness, as exhibited in the natural
+depravity of human nature, will in all such cases strengthen daily; and
+all the evil passions <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span>which selfishness and self-will call into
+exercise, will then be strengthened and confirmed perhaps for life.</p>
+
+<p>But while we perceive that the young are incapable of learning any thing
+else than what is properly termed religion and morals, we find it to be
+equally true, that they are peculiarly fitted and furnished by Nature
+for making rapid and permanent progress whenever religion and morals are
+made the subjects of regular instruction and training. Few who have
+considered carefully the facts stated above, will question the accuracy
+of this assertion in so far as <i>morals</i> are concerned; but there are
+some who will doubt the capacity of infants and children to be
+influenced by <i>religion</i>. Now this doubt arises from not observing the
+difference,&mdash;and the only difference,&mdash;that exists between morality and
+religion. A man or a child is <i>moral</i> when he is kind and forgiving for
+his own sake, and to please himself or his parents;&mdash;but he is
+<i>religious</i> when he does the same thing for conscience sake, and to
+please God. Now children, by the very constitution of their minds, are
+well fitted for receiving all that kind of religious knowledge which
+acts upon the feelings, and influences the conduct; while the heart is
+peculiarly sensitive, and is disposed to bend under the influence of
+every expression of affection and tenderness exhibited by others towards
+them. Their faith in all that they are told, as we have seen, is
+unhesitating and entire; and the capacity of their lively imaginations,
+for comprehending things mighty and sublime, which is too often abused
+by the ideas of giants, and ogres, and ghosts, is sanctified and refined
+by hearing of the greatness, and goodness, and love of the great Creator
+of heaven and of earth. When they are informed of his affection and
+tenderness to them individually;&mdash;of his mercy and grace in saving them
+from the awful consequences of sin by the substitution of his own Son
+for their sakes;&mdash;of his numerous benefits, and his unceasing care;&mdash;of
+his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span>constant presence with them though unseen; and of his hatred of
+sin, and his love of holiness;&mdash;there is no mixture of doubt to
+neutralize the effects of these truths; and they much more willingly and
+unreservedly give themselves up to their influence, than those who are
+older. Hence, the repeated declarations of our Lord, that "unless we
+become as little children, we shall in no case enter into the kingdom of
+God." A simple enumeration therefore of the benefits they have received
+from this kind and condescending heavenly Father, is well fitted to fill
+the heart of an unsophisticated child with affection and zeal,&mdash;and most
+powerfully to constrain him to avoid every thing that he is told will
+grieve and offend him, and to watch for opportunities to do what he now
+knows will honour and please him. This is religion; and it is peculiarly
+the religion of the young;&mdash;and that man or woman will be found most
+religious, who, both in spirit and in action, shall approach nearest to
+it in its purity and simplicity.</p>
+
+<p>From all these considerations we see, that Nature has intended that the
+first part of the child's education shall consist almost exclusively of
+moral and religious training;&mdash;and this we think cannot be disputed by
+any one who considers the above facts dispassionately, or who will allow
+his mind to act as it ought to do under the influence of ascertained
+truth. We shall now therefore offer a few remarks on the manner in which
+this may most effectually be carried into effect; or, in other words,
+how Nature may most successfully be imitated in the application of
+knowledge by means of the moral sense.</p>
+
+<p>1. The first thing to be observed here then is, that the early efforts
+of the parent or teacher are to be employed for disciplining the child
+under the influence of the executive powers of conscience.&mdash;The child is
+to be trained to the perfect government of his inclinations and temper,
+by a watchful attention on the part of the parent to every instance of
+their <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span>exhibition in his daily conduct, the regulation of the desires,
+the softening down of the passions, the eradicating of evil
+propensities, the restraining and overcoming the exercise of self-will,
+the converting of selfishness into benevolence, and the cultivating and
+strengthening of self-controul within, and of sympathy, and forbearance,
+and kindness to all without. These are the great ends which the parent
+and teacher are to have in view in all their dealings with the child.
+They are, in short, to take care that their pupil be reduced to a state
+of enlightened submission, and uniform obedience; and for that purpose,
+they are to employ all the means and the machinery provided by Nature,
+in the use of which she has afforded them abundant examples.</p>
+
+<p>In the accomplishment of these ends, <i>the agent</i> employed has much in
+her power. It is a delicate, as well as an important work; and here,
+more than perhaps in any after period of the child's educational
+progress, an affectionate and enlightened agency is of the greatest
+importance. In that constant watchfulness and exertion, necessary to
+check or to controul the unceasing and often unreasonable desires of a
+froward child, there is naturally created in the mind of a hireling or a
+stranger, a feeling of irritation and dislike, which nothing but
+enlightened philanthropy, or high moral principle, will ever be able
+thoroughly to overcome;&mdash;and these qualifications are scarcely to be
+expected in those who are usually picked up to assist the mother during
+this important season. In families, Nature has graciously balanced this
+effect, and amply provided for it, in the deep-seated and unalterable
+affection of the parent. The mother then is the proper agent, selected
+and duly qualified by Nature for superintending this important work
+during this early period. The out-bursts and irregularities of natural
+depravity in the young, must be met by an unconquerable affection,
+exhibited in the exercise of gentleness, guided by firmness;&mdash;of
+kindness <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span>and forbearance, combined with a steady and an untiring
+perseverance. Irregularity or caprice in the nurse, may be the ruin of
+the morals of the child. The selection of assistance here is often
+requisite, and yet how few comparatively of those into whose hands
+children and infants are placed, possess the high qualifications
+necessary for this important occupation?<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> The parent who from any
+cause is prevented from taking charge of the superintendence of her
+offspring at this period, incurs a serious responsibility in the choice
+of her assistant; for if these qualifications be awanting, or, if they
+be not exercised by the nurse or the keeper, the happiness and moral
+welfare of the child during life are in imminent danger.</p>
+
+<p>2. The child is not only to be trained to think and to act properly, but
+he must be trained to do so <i>under the influence of motives</i>. If this be
+neglected, we are not imitating Nature in her mode of applying knowledge
+by means of the moral sense. We have seen, as formerly noticed, that a
+child under the influence of conscience, has always a painful feeling of
+self-reproach, or remorse, after it has done wrong; and a delightful
+feeling of self-approval and joy, when it has done something that is
+praiseworthy. These are employed by Nature as powerful motives to
+prevent the repetition of the one, and to win the child to the frequent
+or regular performance of the other;&mdash;and this is their effect. In
+imitating her in this part of her educational process, we must in like
+manner follow in the spirit of this principle. There must be motives of
+action held out to the child; something that will tend to keep him from
+the commission of evil, and something that will stimulate and encourage
+him in doing good. Both are necessary, and therefore, neither of them
+should be neglected. What these motives ought to be, we shall
+immediately shew; but at present, we are anxious to establish the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span>fact,
+that motives to do good, should be invariably employed with our pupils,
+as well as motives to avoid evil. In ordinary life, we generally find
+too much of the one, and too little of the other. The fear of punishment
+held out to prevent mischief or evil, is common enough; but there is
+seldom sufficient attention paid to the providing of proper incitements
+to the practice of virtue. Some, indeed, have gone the length of
+affirming that there ought to be no such incitement held out to the
+young; under the erroneous idea, that actions performed for an
+equivalent, or in the hope of a reward, cease to be virtuous. But the
+same reasoning would apply with almost equal force to the fear of
+punishment in stimulating to duty, or in deterring from wickedness; and
+yet they would scarcely affirm, that the child who, for fear of the
+consequences, refused to break the Sabbath or to tell a lie, was equally
+guilty with the boy who did both. There are, no doubt, some motives to
+virtue that are higher and more noble than others, as there are
+differences in the degrading nature of punishment employed to deter men
+from vice. But both kinds may be necessary for different persons. The
+man who forgives his enemy because he seeks the approbation of his Maker
+and the reward promised by him, and the man who does so, because he
+wishes to live in quiet, and to consult his own ease;&mdash;the boy who
+refrains from sin lest he should offend God, and another who does the
+same from the fear of the rod,&mdash;are each influenced by motives, although
+they are of a very different kind. But it is plain, that the motives
+employed may be equally efficient, and that they ought to be used
+according to their influence upon the individual, and his advancement in
+the paths of morality and religion. Where the higher motive has not as
+yet acquired influence, the lower motive must be employed; but to refuse
+the employment of either would be wrong, and the sentiment which would
+totally exclude them, has no countenance <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span>in Nature, in experience, nor
+in Scripture. In Nature, we see the directly opposite principle
+exhibited; and find that the remorse of conscience consequent upon
+crime, in preventing future transgressions, is not more powerful in
+those whose moral status is low, than is the feeling of delight and joy
+after an act of benevolence, which excites to new deeds of charity, in
+those whose religious attainments are greater. Scripture, and the
+history of all those whom Scripture holds out for imitation, unite in
+teaching the same sentiment. There are many more promises in the sacred
+record given to virtue, than there are threatenings against vice; and
+the highest altitudes of holiness are not only represented as having
+been attained by the influence of these promises; but the persons who
+have already reached them, are still urged to greater exertions, and a
+farther advance, by the reiteration of their number and their value.
+Moses, we are told, "had an eye to the recompense of reward;" and our
+Lord himself, "for the joy that was set before him," endured the cross.
+Let us not then attempt a better method than God has sanctioned; and in
+our intercourse with the young, let us not only deter them from the
+commission of evil by the fear of disfavour or the rod, but let us also
+incite them to virtue, by the hope of approbation and of a future
+reward.</p>
+
+<p>3. In our enquiry into the practical working of the moral sense, we
+found, not only that there were motives of action employed for
+encouraging the pupil to virtue, and for deterring him from vice; but we
+found also, that these motives referred chiefly to God, to a future
+judgment, and to eternity. In our attempts to imitate Nature in this
+particular feature of her dealing with the moral sense, we begin more
+distinctly to perceive the high value of Religious Instruction to the
+young, and are led directly to the conclusion, that the motives to be
+employed with children for encouraging and rewarding good <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span>conduct, must
+be those chiefly of a spiritual kind, referring to God, and to his
+favour or disapprobation, rather than to the rod, or to any secular
+reward. The importance of imitating Nature in this matter, for giving a
+high tone both to the sentiments and to the morals of the young, is very
+great. It is now generally admitted, that secular, and especially
+corporal punishments, are never required, except in connection with a
+very low and degraded state of the moral sentiments; but it is equally
+correct with respect to secular rewards for moral actions. They may both
+of them at times be necessary, but in that case they are necessary
+evils; and, as a class of motives, they should never be the rule, but
+invariably the exception.&mdash;We must not, however, be misunderstood. We
+are no more for abandoning <i>secular rewards</i>, than we are for giving up
+corporal punishments. We speak not here of their <i>abandonment</i>, but of
+their <i>enlightened regulation</i>;&mdash;both of them may be of service. But
+what we wish to point out as an important feature in moral training is,
+that they are, or should be, but seldom necessary; and that they ought
+never to be resorted to except when they really are so. The differences
+observable in the results arising from <i>secular</i>, and those from <i>moral</i>
+motives, are very different, both as regards their power in restraining
+from vice, and their influence in stimulating to virtue. What, for
+example, would we think of the moral condition of a child, or of the
+virtue of his actions, if he had to be hired by a comfit, or a piece of
+money, to do every act of kindness which he performed; or if he refused
+to relieve a sister, or prevent an injury to his companion, unless
+similarly rewarded? This secular spirit in morals, when thus exposed in
+its deformity, is obnoxious to every sentiment of virtue, and shews
+itself to be a mere system of buying and selling. But how very different
+does the reward appear, and the feeling which it excites, when that
+reward assumes the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span>moral character, and is found to be the desire of
+pleasing the parent, and much more when it seeks the approbation of the
+Almighty? Every one will see how beneficial and elevating the effects of
+cherishing the one must be, and how debasing comparatively is the
+influence of the other. That children are capable of being acted upon by
+these higher motives, we have already seen; and, when we aim at securing
+the effects which they are calculated to produce, we are closely
+imitating Nature in one of her most important operations, and may
+therefore calculate upon a corresponding degree of success.<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a></p>
+
+<p>4. In the operations of Nature by means of the moral sense, we found,
+that the impressions made upon the mind in reference to sin or duty,
+were always most efficient, and most permanent, when the sin or duty was
+presented to them in the form of example;&mdash;that the example increased in
+efficiency and interest as it was familiar or near;&mdash;and that it became
+still more powerful when it was actually seen or experienced.&mdash;From
+these circumstances we are led to conclude, that the lives and conduct
+of men, and especially the narrative parts of Scripture, are the proper
+materials to be employed in the moral training of the young; and the
+mode of making use of them is also very plainly indicated. The closer we
+can bring the lesson taught to the child's own experience, or to his own
+circumstances, the more familiar will it become, and the deeper will be
+the impression it will make. An instance of infant disinterestedness or
+heroism, in the parlour or the play-ground, pointed out, and placed in
+connection with corresponding circumstances in the lives or conduct of
+those from whom they have previously drawn moral lessons, will render
+the latter much more familiar and practical, and will create more
+energetic desires, and stronger feelings of emulation with respect to
+the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span>former. Or if the conduct of the person of whom the child hears or
+reads, can be brought home and applied to his own case and
+circumstances; or if he can be made to perceive the very same
+dispositions or conduct exhibited in his companions; or if he can be
+made to see how he himself can embody in his own conduct those
+principles and actions which God has approved, and requires to be
+imitated,&mdash;the end of the teacher will be much more certainly gained,
+than it can be in any other way. This is moral training, conducted by
+the proper moral means; and to attempt to gain the same end by means
+which do not either more or less embody these principles, will be found
+to be much more difficult, and much less efficient. Whoever will
+consider what is implied by our Lord's address to the Pharisees who
+erroneously blamed his disciples for unlawfully, as they thought,
+plucking the ears of corn on the Sabbath, will see this method of
+reading and applying Scripture distinctly pointed out. "Have ye never
+read," said our Lord, "what David did, and those who were with him?"
+This they might have done frequently; but the mere reading could never
+answer the purpose for which it was recorded. The moral lesson must be
+drawn, and it must also be applied to similar cases of mere ceremonial
+observance.</p>
+
+<p>To apply this principle, then, to the moral training of the young by
+means of Scripture History, the method is obvious.&mdash;The events of the
+narrative are to be used as examples or warnings to the child in
+corresponding circumstances. If, for example, the teacher wishes to
+enforce the duty and the benefits of patience, the history of Job has
+been provided for the purpose. When that story is taught, and the
+lessons drawn and applied to the ordinary contingencies of life, such as
+accident, disease, or distress in a companion; or to circumstances in
+which the child himself may hereafter be placed; he will be better
+prepared for his duty in such events, or, in the words of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span>Scripture, he
+will be "thoroughly furnished" to this good work. If they are to be
+taught meekness, the history of Moses, or of other pious men who have
+been tried and disciplined as he was, will be found best adapted for the
+purpose. And more especially, the life of our Lord, in which all the
+virtues concentrate, has been given "as our example, that we may follow
+his steps," and which ought especially to be employed in training the
+young "to love and to good works." The reason why example is preferable
+to precept in teaching children, will be obvious, when we consider the
+nature of the principle of grouping, as exercised by the young, and the
+difficulty they experience in remembering abstract or didactic subjects.
+When a child receives instruction by a story, the imagination is
+enlisted in the exercise, the grouping of the persons and circumstances
+assists the memory, and the moral and practical lessons which they have
+drawn from the narrative, are associated with it, and remain ready at
+the command of the will whenever they are required.&mdash;It was for this
+reason among others, that our Lord taught so frequently by parables;
+and, in doing so, has not only set the parent and teacher an important
+example, but has, in his teaching, illustrated a principle in our nature
+which he himself had long before implanted for this very purpose.</p>
+
+<p>5. In our investigations into the working of the moral sense, we found,
+that there was a marked difference between the decisions of conscience
+when judging of actions done by <i>ourselves</i>, and those which were
+performed by <i>others</i>. As long as the child is innocent of any
+particular vice, he can judge impartially of its nature and demerit; but
+when the temptation to commit it has really begun to darken his mind,
+and more particularly when he has at last fallen before it, all the
+selfish principles of his nature are employed to deceive his better
+judgment, and to drown or overbear the voice of conscience within <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span>him.
+From this we learn the importance of preparing the mind <i>beforehand</i>,
+for encountering those temptations to which the pupil will most likely
+be exposed; not only by teaching him to draw the proper lessons from
+corresponding subjects, but by making him apply these lessons to his own
+case and affairs. The teacher is to suppose circumstances, in which he,
+his parents, and companions, are most likely to be placed, and in which
+the lessons drawn from the narrative will be required to weaken or to
+prevent the influences of temptation. As, for example, it might be
+asked, "If you had accidentally broken a pane of glass, and your parents
+asked you who did it, what should you do?" There would in this case,
+while it was only supposed, be no temptation to stifle conscience, or to
+bend to the influences of selfishness or fear, and the child would
+accordingly answer readily, that he ought to confess his fault, and tell
+that he himself had done it. When again asked, "From what do you get
+that lesson?" he will most probably reply, "From Jacob telling a lie to
+his parent;&mdash;from Ananias and Sapphira telling a lie;&mdash;from the command,
+'Lie not one to another,' and 'Confess your faults one to another,'" &amp;c.
+By this means the child is forewarned;&mdash;he is prepared and fortified
+against the sin, if the temptation should occur; but which would not
+have been the case without this or some similar exercise.</p>
+
+<p>6. We have also seen, in our investigations into the working of the
+moral sense, the deplorable effects of stifling conscience, and of the
+child's being permitted to repeat his transgressions; while, upon the
+same principle, the most beneficial consequences result from the child's
+frequently practising self-denial, self-controul, and acts of
+benevolence. In the one case, sin and vice lose much of their deformity,
+and gain greatly in strength; while, in the other, every act of virtue
+makes vice appear more hideous, and excites to a more decided advance in
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span>the paths of rectitude. From these circumstances we are led to
+conclude, that every act of sin in the pupil ought to be carefully
+guarded against by the parent or teacher, and, if possible, prevented;
+while every exertion ought to be made to induce to the performance of
+good and kind actions, however humble or unimportant these actions in
+themselves may be. If God does "not despise the day of small things,"
+neither should we; and one act of kindness by a child, however trifling,
+will most assuredly prepare the way for another. This circumstance also
+shews the impropriety of attempting to magnify faults, when perhaps no
+fault was designed; and the evil consequences, as well as the injustice,
+of refraining to commend a child, when commendation is due. The timorous
+fear, in many conscientious parents, of making children <i>vain</i>, is the
+common excuse for this unnatural conduct. Such persons seem to confound
+things <i>vain</i> with things <i>valuable</i>, though they are perfectly opposed
+to each other. Approbation for any definite quality, excites the
+individual to excel in <i>that</i> quality, whether it be worthless or
+otherwise. But virtuous deeds are not worthless; and by commending, as
+our Lord repeatedly did, those who have done well, they, by that
+principle of our nature of which we are here speaking, are strongly
+excited to do better. To feed vanity, is to commend vanities; and they
+who prize and commend beauty, or fashion, or dress, or frivolous
+accomplishments, may be guilty of this folly; but not the parent or the
+person who commends in a child those things which are really
+commendable, and after which it is his greatest glory to aspire.</p>
+
+<p>7. We have already taken notice of Nature's mode of employing motives
+for the prevention of evil, and for the encouragement of the child in
+virtue, and how this is to be imitated in the education of the young;
+but we have left for this last section, and for separate consideration,
+the greatest and most <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span>powerful motive of all. This is a view of the
+inherent sinfulness and danger of sin, and the means appointed by God
+for man's redemption from it. All other motives to restrain men from
+sin, and to induce them to follow holiness, when compared with an
+enlightened view of this one, sink into insignificance. God's hatred of
+sin, and his holy abhorrence of it in every form, when contemplated in
+the abstract, may have a response from the head of him who compares it
+with his own detestation of meanness, and fraud, and profligacy; but
+when this hatred of vice in the Almighty is viewed in connection with
+gospel truth, and is contemplated in its effects upon One to whom it was
+only imputed, it begins to wear a very different complexion; and, as a
+motive to beware of that which God is determined to punish, and which he
+would not pass over even in his own Son, it leaves all other motives at
+an immeasurable distance. The same thing may be said of God's goodness
+and mercy in the gospel, as a motive for us to love him, and to glory in
+denying ourselves to serve him. The extent of the danger from which he
+has saved us, the amount and the permanence of the glory which he has
+procured for us, and the price that was paid for both, will powerfully
+"constrain" spiritual minds, to "live no longer to themselves, but to
+him who hath died for them."</p>
+
+<p>But the question which will be asked here is, "Are children capable of
+all this?"&mdash;We unhesitatingly answer, from long experience, that they
+are. Whoever doubts the fact has only to try. Can a child not understand
+that a distinction ought to be made between the person in a family who
+endeavours to make all happy, and another whose constant aim is to make
+them all miserable?&mdash;Can he not understand, that the parent who refuses
+to punish a wicked child, is in effect bribing others to join him in his
+wickedness?&mdash;Can he not understand that a debt due by one, may be paid
+by another?&mdash;and that a simple reliance on the word of his benefactor,
+followed by submission to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span>his will, may be all that is required to
+secure his discharge?&mdash;No one will say that a child is incapable of
+understanding these simple truths; and if he can comprehend <i>them</i>, he
+can be made to understand and appreciate the leading truths of the
+gospel. The teacher has only himself clearly to perceive them; and then,
+divesting the truths of those unnecessary technicalities which are
+sometimes, it is feared, used very improperly and unnecessarily, he
+ought to convey them to the child, either orally, or by some simple
+catechism suited for the purpose. Wherever this is done in effect, there
+education will prosper; and when it shall become general among the
+young, it will be found to be "as life from the dead."</p>
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> See pages 111 to 129</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> Note X.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> Note Y.</p></div>
+<br />
+<br /><a name="CHAP_XB" id="CHAP_XB"></a>
+<br />
+<br />
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h3>CHAP. X.</h3>
+
+<h3><i>On the Application of our Knowledge to the Common Affairs of Life.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>There is another point connected with the practical use of our
+knowledge, which deserves a separate and careful consideration. It is
+the method of applying our knowledge, or rather the lessons derived from
+our knowledge, to the common and daily affairs of life. In this exercise
+both old and young are equally concerned;&mdash;but it is evident that youth
+is the proper time for training to its practice.</p>
+
+<p>To acquire this valuable art, the pupils in every seminary ought to be
+regularly and frequently exercised in the application of their
+lessons;&mdash;first, when they have been drawn from a particular subject,
+which has occupied their attention for the day; and afterwards
+generally, from any part of their previous knowledge. To illustrate what
+we mean by this application of our knowledge, let us suppose a person
+placed in difficult circumstances, and that he is desirous of knowing
+the path of duty, and the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span>particular line of conduct which he should
+pursue. If he is to trust to himself for the information required, it is
+evident that he must either fall back upon his previous knowledge, and
+the instructions he has already received; or he must go forward upon a
+mere conjecture, or on chance, which is always dangerous. All knowledge
+is given expressly for such cases, and especially Scripture knowledge;
+the great design of which is, "that the man of God may be thoroughly
+furnished to good works." But if the person has not been trained to make
+use of his knowledge in this way and for this purpose, he will be nearly
+as much at a loss as if his knowledge had never been received. Hence the
+great importance of training the young early and constantly to draw upon
+their knowledge for direction and guidance in every variety of situation
+in which the parent or teacher can suppose them to be placed in future
+life. By this means they will be prepared for encountering temptation,
+which is often more than the half of the battle;&mdash;they will form the
+habit of acting by rule, instead of being carried forward by fashion, by
+prejudice, or by chance;&mdash;and they will soon acquire a manly confidence,
+in deciding and acting, both as to the matter and the manner, of
+performing all that they are called upon to do, in every juncture, and
+whether the duty be important in the ordinary sense of that term or
+otherwise.</p>
+
+<p>For this special mode of applying knowledge, we have not only the
+indications plainly given in Nature, which we have endeavoured to
+illustrate, but we have also Scripture precept, and Scripture example.
+Leaving the numerous instances in the Old Testament, we shall confine
+ourselves to a few given by our Lord himself, and his apostles. For
+example, he prepared his disciples for the temptations which the love of
+worldly goods would throw in the way of their escape from the
+destruction of Jerusalem, by enjoining them to "Remember Lot's wife."
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span>Now let us observe how a teacher, in communicating the history of Lot's
+wife for the first time, would have prepared these disciples for such a
+difficulty in the same way. When they had read, that while fleeing for
+her life, the love of her worldly goods made her sinfully look back, so
+that she was turned into a pillar of salt; the obvious lesson drawn from
+this would be, that "we ought to be on our guard against worldly
+mindedness;"&mdash;and the <i>application</i> of that lesson to the coming
+circumstances would have been something like this. "When you are
+commanded to flee from Jerusalem for your lives, and remember that your
+worldly goods are left behind, what should you do?"&mdash;"We should not turn
+back for them." "From what do you get that lesson?"&mdash;"From the conduct
+and fate of Lot's wife."</p>
+
+<p>In a similar way, the apostle James prepared Christians for humble
+resignation and patient endurance under coming trials, by calling to
+their remembrance "the patience of Job." He stated the trials to which
+they were to be exposed, and then he directed their attention to the
+Scripture example which was to regulate them in their endurance of them.
+Now it is obvious that a teacher, in communicating the history of Job to
+the young, should follow this example, and should make the same use of
+it that the apostle did, not only by drawing the lesson, that he "ought
+to be patient," but in <i>applying</i> that lesson to temptations to which
+the child is likely to be exposed, as James did to the circumstances in
+which he knew Christians were to be placed. As for example, when the
+child had drawn the lesson, that "we should be patient under suffering,"
+the teacher might apply it in a great variety of ways, each of which
+would be a delightful exercise of mind to the child,&mdash;would impress the
+lesson and its source more firmly upon the memory,&mdash;and would prepare
+him for the circumstances in which the lesson might be required. Were
+the teacher accordingly to ask, "If you were confined by long continued
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span>sickness;&mdash;or if you were suffering under great pain;&mdash;or if you were
+oppressed by the cruelty of others, and could not help yourself;&mdash;or, if
+you were grieved by being separated from your friends,&mdash;what would be
+your duty?" The answer to each would be, "We ought to be
+patient."&mdash;"From what do you get that lesson?"&mdash;"From the conduct of
+Job, who was patient under his sufferings."</p>
+
+<p>The apostle Paul follows a similar plan, in applying the practical
+lessons drawn from the conduct of the Israelites in the wilderness, for
+fortifying the Corinthians against temptations to which they were likely
+to be exposed,<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> and tells them that this is the use to be made of Old
+Testament history. These lives are "ensamples," and are "written for our
+admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come."&mdash;In like manner he
+forewarned the Hebrews against discontent and covetousness,<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> by
+drawing a <i>general</i> lesson from a <i>special</i> promise made to Joshua; and
+then exhorts every Christian to apply it to himself personally, by
+employing the language which he puts into their mouths, "The Lord is my
+helper, and I will not fear what man can do unto me."</p>
+
+<p>In the same way, when our Lord repeatedly says, "Have ye not read?" and,
+"Thus it is written," he gives us obvious indications of the importance
+of the duty of thus preparing for temptation, by the application of our
+lessons from Scripture. They are each and all of them examples of
+practical lessons derived from knowledge formerly acquired, and now
+employed in the way of application, to connect that knowledge with
+corresponding circumstances as they occur in ordinary life. The lesson,
+it will be observed, and as we formerly explained, is always made the
+connecting link which unites the two; and without which there is no such
+thing as the bringing of knowledge and its use together, when that
+knowledge is <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span>required. In other words, without the lesson, knowledge is
+<i>useless</i>; and, without the application of the lesson, knowledge is
+<i>never used</i>. Both therefore are necessary, and both should be rendered
+familiar to the young. It is only necessary here to observe, that in
+teaching the children to <i>draw</i> the lessons, the teacher proceeds
+forwards from the knowledge communicated, and, by deducing the lesson,
+prepares the child for the events in life when they shall be
+necessary;&mdash;but in <i>applying</i> the lessons, he proceeds backwards, from
+the events, through the lesson to the knowledge from which it is
+derived. We have a beautiful example of this in the recorded temptations
+of our Lord. He was tempted to turn stones into bread; here was the
+event which required a knowledge of the corresponding duty; and he
+immediately applied the lesson that "we should not distrust God," and
+through this lesson, though not expressed, he went directly back to the
+source from which it was drawn, by saying, "Thus it is written, Man
+shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God." When in like
+manner he was tempted to throw himself from the temple, he immediately,
+through the lesson "that we should not unnecessarily presume on the
+goodness of God," went to the passage of Scripture from which it was
+drawn;&mdash;and, in the same way, when tempted to worship Satan, there was
+precisely the same process;&mdash;a lesson, derived from previous knowledge
+and applicable to the circumstances, used as a uniting link to make the
+duty and the Scripture exactly to correspond.</p>
+
+<p>Of doing all this which we have described above; even children are
+capable. This has been again and again proved by repeated experiments,
+and now by extensive experience in many schools. The difficulties of
+introducing it, even for the first time in any seminary, do not lie with
+the children, who in every case have shewn themselves quite adequate to
+the exercise; and wherever it has been followed up with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span>corresponding
+energy, they have been raised much higher in the grade of intelligence
+and mental capacity by its means. This will be evident from the
+following, taken from among many examples.</p>
+
+<p>The criminals in Edinburgh Jail during the short time they were under
+instruction, acquired considerable facility in this valuable art. The
+report states, that "some of them were afterwards exercised on the
+application of the lessons. This part consists in supposing certain
+circumstances and temptations, to which they may be exposed in ordinary
+life, and then leaving them, by a very profitable, and usually a very
+pleasant operation of their own minds, in reference to these, to call up
+to their recollection, and to hold in review, the whole accumulated
+range of their previous knowledge. Among the various classes of things
+thus brought in order before the eye of the mind, they are easily taught
+to discriminate all those precepts and examples which are analogous to
+the cases supposed, from which again they very readily select
+appropriate lessons to <i>guide them in these emergencies</i>; thus linking
+the lessons to the circumstances, which is done in the previous exercise
+of deducing them; and then the circumstances to the lessons; and in this
+manner, establishing a double tie between the understanding and the
+conscience.</p>
+
+<p>"For example, a woman from the Lock-up House, being asked how she ought
+to conduct herself when the term of her confinement was expired?
+answered, That she ought not to return to her sinful courses, or wicked
+companions, lest a worse fate should befal her. When again interrogated
+where she got this lesson, she immediately referred to the case of Lot,
+who, being once rescued from captivity by Abraham, returned again to
+wicked Sodom, where he soon lost all his property, and escaped only with
+his life. Another being asked what she should do, when involved in a
+quarrel with troublesome companions? replied, That she should endeavour
+to be at peace, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span>even though she should lose a little by it; and
+produced as her authority the conduct of Abraham, who when Lot's
+herdsmen and his could not agree, gave Lot his choice of the country, in
+order to secure peace."</p>
+
+<p>The children in Aberdeen also found no difficulty in perceiving the use,
+and in applying the lessons to their common affairs. The report of that
+Experiment states, that "the most important part of the exercise,&mdash;that
+which shewed more particularly the great value of this System, and with
+which the Meeting were especially struck,&mdash;was the appropriate
+application of the lessons from Scripture, which they had previously
+drawn. They were desired to suppose themselves placed in a great variety
+of situations, and were asked how they ought to conduct themselves in
+each of these. A few examples may be given, though it is quite
+impossible to do justice to the subject. A boy, for instance, was asked,
+'If your parents should become infirm and poor, how ought you to act
+towards them?' 'I ought,' replied the boy, 'to work, and help them.' And
+being asked, 'Whence he drew that lesson?' he referred to the conduct of
+Ruth, who supported Naomi and herself, by gleaning in the fields.&mdash;A
+girl was asked, 'If your mother were busy, and had more to do in the
+family than she could easily accomplish, what ought you to do?' Her
+answer was, 'I ought to give her assistance;' and she referred to the
+conduct of Saul, in assisting his father to recover the asses which were
+lost; and to that of David, in feeding his father's sheep when his
+brothers were at the wars.&mdash;A little boy was asked, 'If your parents
+were too indulgent, and seemed to give you all your own will, what ought
+you to do?' 'I ought not to take it,' replied the boy very readily; and
+added, that it was taking his own will that caused the ruin of the
+prodigal son. Another boy being asked, 'If you should become rich, what
+would be <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span>your duty to the poor?' answered, 'I ought to be good to the
+poor; but it would be better to give them work than to give them money;
+for Boaz did not give Ruth grain, but bade his shearers let some fall,
+that she might get it by her own industry.'"</p>
+
+<p>In the Experiment in London, a child was asked, "When you live with
+brothers and sisters who are wicked, what should you do?" and answered,
+"I should not join with them in their sins." And when asked where she
+got that lesson, answered, "From Joseph, who would not join with his
+brothers in their sin."&mdash;Another was asked, "When you see others going
+heedlessly on in the commission of sin, what should you do?" and
+answered, "I should warn them of their danger;" and referred to Noah,
+who warned the wicked while building the ark.&mdash;Again, "When people about
+you are given to quarrel, what should you do?" We should endeavour to
+make peace; and referred to Abram endeavouring to remain at peace with
+Lot's herdsmen.&mdash;"When you have grown up to be men and women, what
+should you do?" "We should go to a trade, and be industrious;" and
+referred to Cain and Abel following their different employments.&mdash;"When
+two situations occur, one where you will get more money, but where the
+people are wicked and ungodly; and the other, where you will get less
+money, but have better company, which should you choose?" "The good
+company, though with less money;" and referred to Lot's desire for
+riches taking him to live in wicked Sodom, where he lost all that he
+had.&mdash;"When your parents get old, and are unable to support themselves,
+what should you do?" "We should work for them;" and referred to Ruth
+gleaning for the support of her old mother-in-law; and another referred
+to Joseph bringing his father to nourish him in Goshen.&mdash;"When your
+parents or masters give you any important work or duty to perform, what
+should you do?" "We should pray to God for success, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span>and for his
+direction and help in performing it;" and referred to Abraham's servant
+praying at the well.&mdash;"When we find people wishing to take advantage of
+us and cheat us, what should we do?" "Leave them;" and referred to Jacob
+with his family leaving Laban.&mdash;"Were any one to tempt you to lie or
+commit a sin, what should you do?" "We ought not to be tempted;" and
+referred to Abraham making Sarah tell a lie in Egypt.&mdash;"How should you
+behave to strangers?" "We should be kind to them;" and referred to Lot
+lodging the angels.&mdash;"Were a master or mistress to have the choice of
+two servants, one clever, but ungodly, and the other not so clever, but
+pious, which one should be chosen?" "The pious servant;" and referred to
+Potiphar, whom God blessed and prospered for Joseph's sake.&mdash;"When any
+one has injured us, what should we do?" "Forgive them;" and referred to
+Joseph forgiving and nourishing his brethren.&mdash;"When you have once
+escaped the snares and designs of bad company, what should you do?" "We
+should never go back again;" and referred to Lot going back again to
+live in Sodom from which he at last escaped only with his life.</p>
+
+<p>In the account given of the Newry Experiment, the boys were equally
+ready in applying for their own benefit the lessons they had drawn from
+their knowledge of anatomy and physiology. The account says, that "the
+most interesting, as well as the most edifying part of the examination,
+and which exhibited the great value of this method of teaching the
+sciences to the young, was the <i>application</i> of these lessons to the
+circumstances of ordinary life. Circumstances were supposed, in which
+they or others might be placed, and they were required to apply the
+lessons they had drawn for their direction, and for regulating their
+conduct in every such case. This they did with great sagacity, and
+evident delight, and in a manner which convinced the audience that the
+few hours during which they had been employed in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span>making these
+acquisitions, instead of being irksome and laborious, as education is
+too often considered by the young, were obviously among the happiest and
+the shortest they had ever spent in almost any employment,&mdash;their play
+not excepted. We shall give a specimen of these, and the answers given,
+as nearly as can be recollected.</p>
+
+<p>"The case of walking in a frosty day was supposed, and they were asked
+what, in that case, ought to be done? The answer was, That we should
+take care not to fall. Why? Because the bones are easily broken in
+frosty weather.&mdash;When heated and feverish in a close room, what should
+be done? Let in fresh air; because it is the want of oxygen in the air
+we breathe that causes such a feeling, but which the admission of fresh
+air supplies.&mdash;When troubled with listlessness, and impeded circulation,
+what should we do? Take exercise; because the contraction of the muscles
+by walking, working, or otherwise, forces the blood to the heart, and
+through the lungs, by which health and vigour is promoted.&mdash;Where should
+we take exercise? In the country, or in the open air; because there the
+air is purer than in a house or a town, where fires, smoke, frequent
+breathing, and other things, render the atmosphere unwholesome.&mdash;Would
+breathing rapidly, without exercise, not nourish the blood equally well?
+No; because although more air be drawn into the lungs, there would be no
+more blood to combine with its oxygen.&mdash;What should be done, when
+candles in a crowded church burn dim, although they do not need
+snuffing? Let in fresh air; because the air is then unwholesome for want
+of oxygen; which, carried to a great extent, would cause fainting in the
+people, and would extinguish the candles themselves.&mdash;When a fire is
+like to go out, what should be done? Blow it up with bellows. Why not by
+the mouth? Because the air blown from the lungs has lost great part of
+its oxygen, by which alone the fire burns. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span>Why then does a fire blown
+with the mouth burn at all? Because part of the oxygen remains, said one
+boy; and another added, "and because part of the surrounding air is
+blown in along with it."</p>
+
+<p>At the second meeting with these boys, occasioned by the unexpected
+circumstances formerly alluded to, they were summarily, and without
+previous notice, taken from their school to another public meeting,
+without knowing for what purpose they were brought, and had to undergo a
+still more searching examination on what they had been previously
+taught. Here again they shewed their dexterity in making use of their
+lessons, by the application of them, and proved that they had been doing
+so to themselves in the intercourse which they had had with their
+relations at home. The account goes on to say, that "they were then more
+fully and searchingly examined than at first; and there being more time,
+they were much longer under the exercise. It was then found, that the
+information formerly communicated was not only remembered, but that the
+several truths were much more familiar, in themselves and in their
+connection with each other, than they had been at the former meeting.
+This had evidently arisen from their own frequent meditations upon them
+since that time, and their application of the several lessons, either
+with one another, their parents, or themselves. The medical gentlemen
+were again present, and professed themselves equally pleased. The
+lessons, <i>with considerable additions</i>, were also given, and the
+applications especially were greatly extended. In these last they
+appeared to be perfectly at home; and relevant circumstances might have
+been multiplied for double the time, without their having any difficulty
+in applying the lessons, and giving a reason for their application."</p>
+
+<p>But the most satisfactory of all the experiments on this point, as
+implying the possession of a well-cultivated mind, holding at command an
+extensive field <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span>of useful knowledge, was the one in Leith, although
+from accident, or inadvertence on the part of the reporter, a large
+portion of it has been lost to the public. The following fragment,
+however, will be sufficient to shew its nature and its value. The
+examinator wished "to ascertain the power which the children possessed
+of applying the passage to their own conduct; and for this purpose, he
+proposed several circumstances in which they might be placed, and asked
+them to show how this portion of Scripture directed them to
+act.&mdash;Supposing, said he, that your father and mother were to neglect to
+take you to church next Sunday, would that be wrong?&mdash;Yes.&mdash;From what do
+you get that lesson? And when he was twelve years old, they went up to
+Jerusalem after the custom of the feast.&mdash;Is it right that children
+should go to church with their parents? Yes.&mdash;Why? Because Jesus went
+with his parents.&mdash;Would it be right for you to go out of church during
+the time of the service? No.&mdash;Why? Joseph and Mary remained till the
+service was over.</p>
+
+<p>"The next point to be ascertained was, whether the children were able,
+not only to perceive what passages of Scripture were applicable in
+particular circumstances, but also to find out what circumstances in
+life those passages might be applied to. For this purpose, Mr Gall
+asked, 'Could you tell me any circumstances which may happen, in which
+you may be called on to remember that Joseph and Mary attended public
+worship?'&mdash;If a friend were to take dinner or tea with us, that should
+not detain us from attending church.&mdash;Idle amusements should not detain
+us from church; and nothing should keep us from it but sickness.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr Gall again expressed his unabated satisfaction at the results of the
+examination, in proving the intellectual acquirements of the children.
+But so important did the application of the lessons appear to him, that
+he must trespass still further upon the time <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span>of the meeting by a more
+severe test of the children's practical training on this particular
+point. It was a test which he believed to be altogether new to them; but
+if they should succeed, it will prove still more satisfactorily, that
+their knowledge of Scripture has made it become, in reality, a light to
+their feet, and a lamp to their path.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr Gall then produced a little narrative tract, which he read aloud to
+the children; and after the statement of each moral circumstance
+detailed in it, he asked the children whether it was right or wrong.
+When the children answered that it was <i>right</i>, he required them to
+prove that it was so, by some statement in the word of God, because the
+Bible should to them, and to every Christian, be the <i>only</i> standard of
+what is right and wrong; and so, in the same manner, when they said that
+it was <i>wrong</i>, he required them also to prove it from Scripture.</p>
+
+<p>"As soon as the children perceived what was wanted, passages of
+Scripture, both of precept and example, were brought forward with as
+much readiness and discrimination as before. The only exception, was one
+or two quotations from the Shorter Catechism in proof of their
+positions, which were of course rejected, as deficient of the required
+authority."</p>
+
+<p>The concluding remarks by the Right Honourable and Reverend reporters of
+the Experiment in Edinburgh, may with propriety be here given, as it is
+applicable, not only to prison discipline, but to education in general.
+"The result of this important experiment," they say, "was, in every
+point, satisfactory. Not only had much religious knowledge been acquired
+by the pupils, and that of the most substantial, and certainly the least
+evanescent kind; but it appeared to have been acquired with ease, and
+even with satisfaction&mdash;a circumstance of material importance in every
+case, but especially in that of adult prisoners. But the most uncommon
+and important feature of it was, the readiness which they, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span>in this
+short period, had acquired of deducing <i>Practical Lessons</i> from what
+they had read or heard, for the regulation of their conduct. Every
+leading circumstance in Scripture, by this peculiar feature of the
+System, was made to reflect its light on the various common occurrences
+of ordinary life, by which the pupils themselves were enabled to judge
+of the real nature of each particular act, and to adopt, or to shun it,
+as the conscience thus enlightened should dictate. The acting and
+re-acting, indeed, of every branch of the System, upon each other,
+interweaves so thoroughly the lessons of Scripture with the feelings and
+thoughts of their minds, and associates them so closely with the common
+circumstances of life, that it is almost impossible that either the
+portions of the Bible which they have thus learned, or the practical
+lessons thus drawn from them, should, at any future period, escape from
+their remembrance. The evolutions of their future life, will disclose
+circumstances which they are prepared to meet, by having lessons laid up
+in store, adapted to such occurrences; and especially, when the mental
+habit is formed of applying Scripture in this manner, there is scarcely
+an event which can happen, but against its tempting influence they will
+be fortified by the armour of divine truth.&mdash;Their compliance with
+temptation, should that take place, will not be done without a
+compunction of conscience, arising from some pointed and warning example
+that comes in all its urgency before their minds;&mdash;and they will, when
+seduced from rectitude, have a light within them, and a clue of divine
+truth, to guide them out of the dark and mazy labyrinth of error and
+crime, into the path of duty and virtue. It is God alone that can bless
+such instruction, and render it savingly efficacious; but surely the
+inference is fair, that this System furnishes us with an instrument,
+which, if skilfully employed, will effect all that man can do for his
+erring brother or sister."</p>
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> 1 Cor. x. 1-11.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> Heb. xiii. 5, 6</p></div>
+<br />
+<br /><a name="CHAP_XIB" id="CHAP_XIB"></a>
+<br />
+<br />
+<hr /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span>
+<br />
+<h3>CHAP. XI.</h3>
+
+<h3><i>On the Imitation of Nature, in training her Pupils fluently to<br />
+communicate their Knowledge.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>There is a fourth, or supplementary process in Nature's educational
+course, the successful imitation of which promises to be of great
+general benefit, as soon as it shall be universally adopted in our
+elementary schools. It is, as it were, the door-way of intellect,&mdash;the
+break in the cloud, through which the sun-light of concocted knowledge
+is to find its way, to enlighten and cheer the general community.&mdash;We
+refer to that acquirement, by which persons are enabled, without
+distraction of mind, internally to prepare and arrange their ideas, at
+the moment they are verbally communicating them to others.</p>
+
+<p>When this process is analysed, we find, as explained in a former
+chapter, that it consists simply in an ability to think, and to arrange
+our thoughts at the time we are speaking;&mdash;to exercise the mind on one
+set of ideas, at the moment we are giving expression to another. Simple
+as this at first sight may appear, we have seen that it is but very
+gradually arrived at;&mdash;that many persons, otherwise possessing great
+abilities, never can command it;&mdash;that it is altogether an acquisition
+depending upon the use of proper means;&mdash;but that, at the same time, any
+person whatever, by submitting to the appropriate discipline, may attain
+almost any degree of perfection in its exercise. The object required by
+the teacher, therefore, is a series of exercises, by means of which his
+pupils will be trained to think and to speak at the same moment; to have
+their minds busily occupied with some object or idea, while their powers
+of speech are engaged in giving utterance to something else. For the
+purpose of suggesting such an exercise, we shall again attend shortly to
+the exhibition <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span>of the process, as we find it under the superintendence
+of Nature.</p>
+
+<p>An infant, as we formerly explained, can for a long period utter only
+one or two words at a time,&mdash;not because it is unacquainted with more,
+but because it has not yet acquired the power of thinking the second
+word, while it is giving utterance to the first. It has to attain, by
+steady practice, and by slow degrees, the ability of commanding the
+thoughts, while uttering two, three, or more words consecutively,
+without a pause. A child also, whose mind is engaged with its toys,
+cannot for some time, during its early mental advances, attend to a
+speaker; much less can it think of, and arrange an answer to a question,
+while it continues its play. It has to stop, and think; it then gives
+the information required; and after this it will perhaps resume its
+play, but not sooner. When a child can speak and continue its
+amusements, it is an evidence of considerable mental power; and as
+Nature makes use of its play, for the purpose of increasing this
+ability, the teacher, and especially the parents, ought to excite and
+encourage every attempt at conversation while the pupil is so employed.
+But our object at present is to arrive at one or more regular exercises
+that shall embody the principle; exercises which may at all times be at
+the command, and under the controul of the teacher and parent, and which
+may form part of the daily useful arrangements of the school or the
+family. The following are a few, among many, which we shall briefly
+notice, before introducing one which promises to be still more
+beneficial, and more generally applicable to the economy of literary
+pursuits, and the arrangements of the academy.</p>
+
+<p>One of the exercises which assists in attaining the end here in view, we
+have already alluded to, as being successfully employed by Nature for
+the purpose,&mdash;that is, the child's play. Any amusement which requires
+thought or attention, is well calculated to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span>answer this purpose,&mdash;and
+if the child can be induced and trained to speak and play at the same
+time, his thinking powers being occupied by the external use of his
+toys, the end of the teacher will in so far be gained. Questions put to
+a child at that time, and answers given by him while he continues to
+exercise his mind upon his amusements, will prepare the way, and greatly
+assist in giving him the power of exercising it upon ideas, without the
+help of these external and tangible objects. The principle in both cases
+is the same, although in the one it is not carried out to the same
+extent as it is in the other. And here we cannot help remarking, how
+extensive and important a field the working of this principle opens up
+to the ingenious toy-man. If a game, or games, can be invented, where
+the child must have his attention occupied with one object, while he is
+obliged to answer questions, or to make observations, or to detail
+facts, or in any other way to employ his speaking powers
+extemporaneously, (not repeating words by rote,) the person who does so
+will greatly edify the young, and benefit the public.</p>
+
+<p>Another method by which the principle may be called into exercise, is to
+tell a short story, or simple anecdote, and then to require the child to
+rehearse it again. In doing this, the mind of the child is employed in
+communing with the memory, while he is engaged in detailing to the
+teacher or monitor, the special circumstances in their order. Upon the
+principles of individuation and grouping, too, (the two most important
+principles, be it observed, which Nature employs with young children,)
+we can perceive, that it will be much easier for the child, and at least
+equally powerful in producing the effect, if the teacher or parent shall
+confine himself to one or two stories or anecdotes at a time, till, by
+repeated attempts, the child can in its own words, and in its own way,
+readily and fluently detail the whole of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span>circumstances to the
+parent or teacher, whenever required.</p>
+
+<p>A similar mode of accomplishing the same object, when the child is able
+to read, is, to require him at home to peruse a story of some length,
+and to rehearse what he can remember of it next day. This ought,
+however, in every case to be a narrative, or anecdote, consisting of
+groupings which the child can, on reading, picture on his mind. If this
+be neglected, there is danger of the child's being harassed and
+burdened, without any corresponding benefit being produced. It is here
+also worthy of remark, that Dr Mayo's "Lessons on Objects" may be
+employed for this purpose with considerable effect. If a list of
+qualities, such as colour, consistence, texture, &amp;c. be put into the
+child's hand, and he be required to elucidate and rehearse those
+relating to one particular object, either placed before him, or, what is
+better, one with which he is acquainted, but which at the time he does
+not see, the eye and the mind will be engaged with his paper, and in
+recollecting the particular qualities of the object, at the same time
+that he is employed in communicating his recollections.</p>
+
+<p>Another method for producing the same end, consists in the parent or
+teacher repeating a sentence to the child, and requiring him to remember
+it, and to spell the several words in their order. Here the child has to
+remember the whole sentence, to observe the order of the several words,
+to chuse them one after another as he advances, and to remember and
+rehearse the letters of which each is composed. The mental exercise here
+is exceedingly useful, besides the advantages of training children to
+correct spelling. At the commencement of this exercise with a child, the
+sentence must be short, and he may be permitted to repeat each word
+after he has spelled it, which will help him to remember the word that
+follows;&mdash;but as he advances, he may be made to spell the whole without
+pronouncing the words; and the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span>length of the sentence may be made to
+correspond with his ability. Great care however should be taken by the
+teacher that this exercise be correctly performed.</p>
+
+<p>Many other methods for exercising the child's mind and oral powers at
+the same moment, will be suggested by the ingenuity of teachers, and by
+experience; and wherever a teacher hits upon one which he finds
+efficient, and which works well with his children, it is to be hoped
+that he will not deprive others of its benefit. Such communications in
+education, like mercy, are twice blessed. But the exercise which, for
+its simplicity and power, as well as for the extent of its application
+to the business and arrangements of the school, appears to answer the
+purpose best, and which embodies most extensively the stipulations
+required for the successful imitation of Nature in this part of her
+process, is that which has been termed the "Paraphrastic Exercise." The
+exercise here alluded to has this important recommendation in its
+practical working, that while it can be employed with the child who can
+read no more than a sentence, it may be so modified and extended, as to
+exercise the mental and oral powers of the best and cleverest of the
+scholars to their full extent. It consists in making a child read a
+sentence or passage aloud; and, while he is doing so, in requiring him
+at the same moment, to be actively employed in detecting and throwing
+out certain specified words in the passage, and in selecting, arranging,
+and substituting others in their place; the child still keeping to the
+precise meaning of the author, and studying and practising, as far as
+possible, simplicity, brevity, elegance, and grammatical accuracy. It
+may be asked, "What child will ever be able to do this?" We answer with
+confidence, that every sane pupil, by using the proper means, may attain
+it. This is no hypothesis, but a fact, of which the experiment in Leith
+gives good collateral proof, and of which long <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span>and uniform experience
+has afforded direct and ample evidence. Any teacher, or parent indeed,
+may by a single experiment upon the very dullest of his pupils who can
+read, be satisfied on the point. Such a child, by leaving out and
+paraphrasing first one word in a sentence, then two, three, or more, as
+he acquires ability, will derive all the advantages above described;
+and, by advancing in the exercise, he may have his talents taxed during
+the whole progress of his education to the full extent of their powers.
+It is in this that one great recommendation lies to this exercise,&mdash;it
+being adapted to every grade of intellect, from the child who can only
+paraphrase a single word at a time, to the student who, while glancing
+his eye over the passage, can give the scope of the whole in a perfectly
+new form, and in a language and style entirely his own. Of the nature
+and versatility of this exercise we shall give a single example.</p>
+
+<p>Let us for this purpose suppose that a child sees in the first answer of
+the First Initiatory Catechism the words, "God at first created all
+things to shew his greatness," and that the teacher wishes to exercise
+his mind in the way, and upon the principle of which we are here
+speaking, by making him paraphrase it. He begins by ascertaining that
+the child knows the exact meaning of one or more of the several terms
+used in the sentence, and can give the meaning in other words. As for
+example, he should be able to explain that the first word means, "the
+Almighty;"&mdash;that the words at "first," here signifies, at "the beginning
+of time;"&mdash;that "created" means, "brought into existence;"&mdash;that the
+term "all things," as here used, indicates, "all the worlds in Nature,
+with their inhabitants;"&mdash;that the phrase to "shew," means to "exhibit
+to his rational creatures;"&mdash;and that his "greatness," at the close
+implies, his "infinite majesty and perfections."</p>
+
+<p>Now it must be obvious, that any one of these explanations may be made
+familiar to the dullest <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span>child that can read; and if <i>this</i> can be done,
+the principle may immediately be brought into exercise. For example,
+when the child knows that the first word means "the Almighty," and that
+"first" is another way of expressing "the beginning of time," he is
+required to read the whole sentence, and in doing so, to throw out these
+two words, and to substitute their meanings. He will then at once read
+the sentence thus: "[The Almighty,] at [the beginning of time,] created
+all things to shew his greatness." The same thing may be done with any
+one or more of the others; and if the child at first feels any
+difficulty with two, the teacher has only, upon the principle of
+individuation, to make one of them familiar, before he be required to
+attend to a second; and to have two rendered easy before he goes forward
+to the third. Each explanation can be mastered in its turn, and may then
+be employed in forming the paraphrase; by which means the child's mind
+is called to the performance of double duty,&mdash;reading from his
+book,&mdash;throwing out the required words,&mdash;remembering their
+explanations,&mdash;inserting them regularly and grammatically,&mdash;and perhaps
+transposing, and re-constructing the whole sentence,&mdash;at the moment that
+he is giving utterance to that which the mind had previously arranged.</p>
+
+<p>The same thing may be done with a sentence from any book, although not
+so systematically prepared for the purpose as the Initiatory Catechisms
+have been. The explanations of any of the words which may be pointed
+out, or under-scored by the teacher, can easily be mastered in the usual
+way by any of the children capable of reading them; and if he shall be
+gradually and regularly trained to do this frequently, his command of
+words, in expressing his <i>own</i> ideas, and his ability to use them
+correctly, will very soon become extensive and fluent. The importance of
+this to the young is much more valuable and necessary than is generally
+supposed. Nature <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span>evidently intends that childhood and youth should be
+the seed-time of language; and the exercise here recommended, when
+persevered in, is well calculated to produce an abundant harvest of
+words, suited for all kinds of oral communications.&mdash;Its importance in
+this respect, as well as its efficiency in fulfilling all the
+stipulations necessary for imitating Nature in the exercise of the
+principle which we are here illustrating, will be obvious to any reader
+by a very simple experiment.</p>
+
+<p>For this purpose the sentence which we have already employed may, for
+the sake of illustration, be represented in the following form.&mdash;"[God]
+at [first] [created] all [things] to [shew] his [greatness.]"&mdash;Here each
+of the words, which we formerly supposed to be explained by the child,
+is inclosed in brackets. Now if the reader will be at the pains of
+trying the experiment upon himself, and shall endeavour to observe the
+various operations of his own mind during it, he will at once perceive
+the correctness of the above remarks. That he may have the full benefit
+of this experiment, he has only to fix upon any one&mdash;but only one&mdash;of
+the inclosed words in the above sentence, and having ascertained its
+precise meaning as before given, he must <i>read</i> the sentence aloud from
+the beginning, following the words with his eye in the ordinary way,
+till he arrives at the word he has fixed on. This he leaves out, and in
+its stead inserts the explanation, and then goes on to read the
+remainder of the sentence.&mdash;At the first trial he will perhaps be able
+to detect in his own mind some of the difficulties, which the less
+matured intellect of the young pupil has to encounter in his early
+attempts to succeed in the exercise; but he will also see, that it is a
+difficulty easily overcome when it is presented singly, and when the
+pupil is permitted to grapple with the paraphrasing of each word by
+itself. The reader will also be able to trace the operation of the young
+mind while engaged with the explanations, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span>which differ entirely from
+the words which he is at the moment looking upon and reading. He will
+observe, that when the eye of the child arrives at the word fixed upon,
+he has to pause in his utterance for a moment, till the mind goes in
+search of what it requires; in the same way, and upon precisely the same
+principle, that an infant who has managed to speak one word, has to
+stop, and go in search of the next, and then to concentrate the powers
+of its mind upon it, before he can give it expression. But if the reader
+will repeat the operation to himself upon the <i>same word</i>, till he can
+read its explanation in the sentence without difficulty and without a
+pause; and then do the same with two, then with three, and so on, till
+he has completed the whole; he will be able to appreciate in some
+measure the importance of this exercise in training the young to such a
+command of language, as will enable them, on all known subjects, to
+deliver fluently, and in any variety of form, the precise shade of
+meaning which they wish to express.</p>
+
+<p>This of itself will be a great attainment by the pupil; but it is not
+all. The reader will also perceive what must be the necessary result of
+persevering in this exercise, during the time of a child's attendance at
+school, in training him to that calm self-possession,&mdash;that perfect
+command of the mind and the thoughts,&mdash;while engaged in speaking, which
+the frequent and gradually extended use of this exercise is so well
+calculated to afford. All the children of a school, without exception,
+may be exercised by its means, and upon the same paragraph; for while,
+by the paraphrasing of but one word in a clause, it is within the reach
+of the humblest intellect; yet, by the changes and transpositions
+necessary in more difficult passages, either to smooth asperities, or to
+avoid grammatical errors, it provides an extemporaneous exercise suited
+to the talents of the highest grade in any seminary.</p>
+
+<p>The collateral advantages also of this exercise, are <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span>both valuable and
+extensive. The operation of the principle which supposes double duty by
+the mind, enters into the nature of numerous acts in ordinary life,
+besides that of thinking and speaking, and which a perfect command of
+the thoughts in paraphrasing will tend greatly to facilitate.&mdash;For
+example, it will greatly assist the pupil in making observations during
+conversation, in attending to the weak and strong points of an argument,
+and in preparing his materials for a reply, while he is all the time
+hearing and storing up the ideas of a speaker.&mdash;It will enable him more
+extensively, and more deliberately to employ his mind on useful subjects
+while engaged with his work, even in those cases where a considerable
+degree of thought is required;&mdash;and it will greatly aid him in acquiring
+the art of "a ready writer," and will be available, both when he himself
+writes his own thoughts, or when he requires to dictate them to others.
+Many persons who can express their ideas well enough by speech, find
+themselves greatly at a loss when they sit down to write them;&mdash;and this
+arises entirely from the want of that command of the mind which is
+necessary whenever it is called on to do double duty. The person cannot
+think of that which he wishes to write, and at the same moment guide the
+hand in writing; in the same way, and for the same reason, that a child
+cannot answer a question and yet continue his play. By the use of the
+paraphrastic exercise, however, the pupil will soon be enabled not only
+to concoct in his own mind what he intends to write, during the time he
+is writing; but the faculty may, by the same means, be cultivated to
+such an extent, that he may at last be able to dictate to two clerks at
+a time, and sometimes perhaps, (as it has been affirmed some have done)
+even to three.</p>
+
+<p>A similar collateral advantage, which will arise from the persevering
+use of the paraphrastic exercise, deserves a separate consideration.&mdash;It
+will gradually create a capacity to take written notes of a subject,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span>either in the church, the senate, or the lecture room, during the time
+that the speaker is engaged in delivering it. It is in the ability to
+hear and concoct in the mind one set of ideas, while writing down an
+entirely different set, that the whole art of accurate "reporting"
+consists. The writing part of the process is purely mechanical; the
+perfection of the art consists chiefly in the command which the reporter
+acquires over the powers of his mind. The person while so employed has
+to hear and reiterate the ideas of the speaker as he proceeds; these he
+must remember and arrange, selecting, abridging, condensing, or
+abandoning, according to the extent of his manual dexterity in writing.
+But it is worthy of remark, that if the person be able to think,&mdash;to
+exercise his mind,&mdash;and to continue to write without stopping while he
+does so, the <i>amount</i> of what he writes is a mere accident, and depends,
+not upon the state of the mind, but upon the mechanical part of the
+operation, which is aided by the arts of stenography and abbreviation.
+This mental capacity is most likely to be acquired by the regular and
+persevering use of the paraphrastic exercise. It will train the pupil to
+that command over his thoughts, which, with a little practice in this
+particular mode of applying it, will soon enable him, with perfect
+self-possession, to hear and to keep up with a speaker, while he
+continues without a pause, to write down as much of what has been said,
+as his command of the pen will allow. Without this mental ability, he
+could not while listening write at all; but when it has been
+sufficiently acquired, there is no limit to his taking down all that is
+spoken, except what arises from the imperfection of the mechanical part
+of the process,&mdash;his manual dexterity. All these collateral advantages
+will accrue to the pupils by the use of this exercise; and this latter
+one will be greatly promoted in a school by a piece of history, an
+anecdote, or a paragraph of any kind, which none of the pupils know,
+being read slowly for only a few <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span>minutes, while the whole of the pupils
+who can write are required to take notes at the time, and to stop and
+give them in, as soon as the reading is finished.<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a></p>
+
+<p>It is also here worthy of remark,&mdash;and it is perhaps another proof of
+the efficiency of the several exercises before enumerated as imitations
+of Nature,&mdash;that they all, more or less, embody a portion of this
+principle of double duty performed by the mind. In each of them, when
+properly conducted, the pupil is compelled to speak, and to think at the
+same moment. Not a little of their efficiency and value indeed, may be
+attributed to this circumstance. In the catechetical exercise, for
+example, it is not difficult to trace its operation. For in the attempt
+of the child to answer a question previously put to him, the teacher
+will be at no loss to perceive the mind gradually acquiring an ability
+to think of the original question and of the ideas contained in the
+subject from which he has selected his answer, at the very moment he is
+giving it utterance. And a knowledge of the fact should excite teachers
+in general, so to employ this exercise as to produce this effect.&mdash;The
+analytical exercise also, in its whole extent, calls into operation the
+working of this principle, whether employed synthetically or
+analytically. When children are employed with the analytical exercise
+proper,&mdash;as in tracing a practical lesson backwards to the subject or
+circumstance from which it has been drawn, and in attaching that
+circumstance to the story or class of truths to which it belongs; or
+when, as in the "Analysis of Prayer," a text of Scripture has to be
+classified according to its nature, among the several parts into which
+prayer is divided;&mdash;in all these cases, there is this same double
+operation of the mind, searching and comparing one set of ideas, while
+the pupil is employed in giving expression to others.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span>The exhibition of the principle will be easily traced, from what took
+place in the experiment in London, where the report states, that "the
+third class were next examined on the nature and practice of prayer.
+They shewed great skill in comprehending and defining the several
+component parts of prayer, as invocation, adoration, confession,
+thanksgiving, petition, &amp;c. They first gave examples of each separately;
+and then, with great facility, made selections from each division in its
+order, which they gave consecutively; shewing, that they had acquired,
+with ease and aptitude, by means of this classification, a most
+desirable scriptural directory in the important duty of prayer. They
+then turned several lessons and passages of scripture into prayer; and
+the Chairman, and several of the gentlemen present, read to them
+passages from various parts of the Bible, which they readily classified,
+as taught in the 'Questions on Prayer,' and turned them into adoration,
+petition, confession, or thanksgiving; according to their nature, and as
+they appeared best suited for each. Some of the texts were of a mixed,
+and even of a complicated nature; but in every case, even when they were
+not previously acquainted with the passages, they divided them into
+parts, and referred each of these to its proper class, as in the more
+simple and unique verses."</p>
+
+<p>But a similar working of the same principle takes place when the
+analytical exercise is employed synthetically, and when the pupil is
+required to go from the root, forward to the extreme branches of the
+analysis, as is done when he forms an extemporaneous prayer, from a
+previous acquaintance with its several divisions and their proper order.
+In this very necessary and important branch of a child's education, the
+"Analysis of Prayer" is usually employed, and has, in thousands of
+instances, been found exceedingly effective. During this exercise, the
+child has steadily to keep in view the precise form and order of the
+Analysis, and at the same moment he has to select <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span>the matter required
+under each of the parts from the miscellaneous contents of his memory,
+to put them in order, and to give them expression. In doing this there
+is a variety of mental operations going on at the same moment, during
+all of which the pupil will soon be enabled continuously to give
+expression to his own ideas, with as much ease and self-possession as if
+he were doing nothing more than mechanically repeating words previously
+committed to memory. This is a valuable attainment; and yet the whole of
+this complicated operation of attending to the several branches of the
+analysis, and of selecting, forming, and giving utterance to his
+confessions, his thanksgivings, and his petitions, with perfect
+composure and self-possession, is within the reach of every Christian
+child. It is accomplished by a persevering exercise of the principle
+which has been illustrated above, and which is exemplified in the
+paraphrastic exercise. Many adults, it is believed, have been enabled,
+with ease and comfort, to commence family worship by its means; and
+numerous classes have been trained to the exercise in a few lessons. We
+shall here detain the reader by only a single example.</p>
+
+<p>The writer having been requested to meet with the Sunday School Teachers
+of Greenock and its neighbourhood, about the year 1827 or 1828, paid a
+visit to that place, and had the proposed meeting in a large hall of the
+town, where he endeavoured to explain to them, practically, a few of the
+principles connected with Sunday School Teaching, as more scientifically
+detailed in the present Treatise. For the purposes of that meeting,
+three children belonging to one of the Sunday Schools, were for a few
+hours previously instructed, and prepared to exhibit the working of some
+of those principles which, it was hoped, would lessen the labour of the
+Sunday School Teachers, and at the same time increase their influence
+and their usefulness. These children, (two girls and a boy,) about the
+ages of ten or twelve years, were regularly <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span>instructed by means of the
+catechetical exercise, in the doctrines, examples, and duties of
+Christianity; and among other subjects, they were made acquainted with
+the "Analysis of Prayer," and exercised by its means, without its being
+hinted to them, however, what use was intended to be made of it.</p>
+
+<p>The meeting was a crowded one; where, besides the Sunday School
+Teachers, and Parents of the children, nearly all the Clergymen of the
+place were present. When the more ostensible business of the meeting had
+been concluded, the writer consulted privately with two or three of the
+clergymen, and asked, whether they, knowing the general sentiments of
+the persons composing the meeting, would think it improper that one of
+the three children who had shewn themselves so intelligent, should be
+called on solemnly to engage in prayer with the audience before
+dismissing. To this they replied, that there could be no objections to
+such a thing, provided the children were able;&mdash;but of their ability,
+they very seriously doubted. On this point, however, the writer assured
+them there was no fear; and if that were the only objection, they would
+themselves immediately see that it was groundless. The boy accordingly,
+without his even conjecturing such a thing previously, was, before the
+meeting was dismissed, publicly called on to engage in prayer. He was
+for a moment surprised, and hesitated; but almost immediately, on the
+request being repeated, he shut his eyes, and commenced, with a solemn
+and faltering voice for one or two sentences; when, recovering from
+every appearance of trepidation, he proceeded with much propriety and
+solemnity of manner, with great latitude, and yet perfect regularity and
+self-possession, through all the departments of adoration, confession,
+thanksgiving, and petition, in language entirely his own, selecting for
+himself, and arranging his sentences agreeably to the Analysis, which
+was evidently his guide from the beginning to the end. This <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span>Treatise
+will, there is little doubt, be read by some who were that evening
+present, and who will remember the universal feeling of surprise and
+delight, at the perfect propriety of expression, the serenity of mind,
+and the solemnity of manner, which characterised the whole of this
+uncommon exercise. It did appear to many as a most unaccountable thing;
+but when the principle is perceived, as explained above, the wonder must
+at once cease, and we can distinctly see, that by using the proper
+means, the same ability is within the reach of all who will be at the
+pains to make the trial.</p>
+
+<p>This same principle is also exercised to a very considerable extent in
+drawing and applying lessons from a previous announcement. A very little
+attention to the operations of the mind in that exercise will be
+sufficient to shew this. Let us suppose, for example, that an
+announcement is made to a child, from which he is required to draw a
+practical lesson. This announcement must be distinctly present to his
+mind, while he is engaged in considering its meaning, its moral
+character, and its bearing on his own sentiments and conduct;&mdash;but more
+especially, all this, besides the original announcement, has still to be
+kept in view, while he is engaged in giving the lesson to the teacher in
+his own language as required. But in the application of the lessons, the
+principle is still more extensively called into operation. The child is
+asked, how he should act in certain given circumstances. These
+circumstances must accordingly be kept steadily before the mind, during
+the whole of the succeeding mental operation. He has to consider the
+lesson, or the conduct which he should pursue in these circumstances,
+and then, by the association of his ideas, he must call up from the
+whole of his accumulated knowledge, the precepts, the examples, the
+warnings, and even the implications, which form his authority for
+deciding on the conduct which he ought to pursue. These again must be
+kept before <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span>the mind, while he is preparing, and giving in his own
+language his conclusions to his teacher.</p>
+
+<p>All this was very obvious in the several public experiments, where the
+drawing of lessons, and the application of them by the pupils, were
+introduced.&mdash;In the case of the adult prisoners in Edinburgh County
+Jail, it was very observable; and the rolling of the eye, and the
+unconscious movement of the head, as if deeply engaged in some mental
+research when an application was required, were peculiarly pleasing and
+obvious to all the spectators. The reason was, that they had to keep
+before their mind, the circumstance, or statement involved in the
+question asked, while they had, at the same time, to review the several
+portions of their knowledge, chuse out the passage or example which was
+calculated to direct them in the duty; and then, still keeping these
+accumulated ideas present before the mind, they had to prepare and give
+expression to their answers. The same thing had to be done, but to a
+much greater extent, by the children in Aberdeen, in London, and in
+Newry. But the most satisfactory evidence of the beneficial working of
+this principle, in the drawing and applying of lessons, and by this
+means in giving even to children a command of language, and a power of
+extemporaneous speech which is but rarely attained even by adults, is to
+be found in the Seventh Experiment in Leith. The writer feels more at
+liberty in descanting upon the extraordinary results of that
+investigation with the children, because he had no share in their
+previous instruction; the peculiar merits of which belonged entirely to
+their zealous and pious teacher. He was a plain unlettered man; and yet
+he has trained hundreds of children in his Sunday school, whose
+intellectual attainments, for their age and rank in life, the writer has
+seldom known to be surpassed. There were exhibited by the children, from
+the beginning of the experiment to the end, an amount of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span>knowledge, a
+degree of mental culture, a grasp of mind, and a fluency of expression,
+which had never before been witnessed in children of a similar class, or
+of the same age, by any person then present. The pupils were at the time
+quite unprepared for any extraordinary exhibition;&mdash;the subjects were
+chosen indiscriminately by the clergymen present, and were repeatedly
+changed;&mdash;and what is still more extraordinary, it was found, upon
+investigation, that the subjects were in general entirely new, or at
+least they had never been previously used as exercises in the school.
+The children, however, with all these disadvantages, were perfectly at
+home in each one of them. There appeared to be no exhausting of their
+resources; and the ease, and copiousness, and fluency of their language,
+were remarked by all present, as extraordinary, and by some as almost
+incredible. Many who were present, could scarcely believe that the
+children spoke extemporaneously. All these phenomena were simply the
+effects of the principle of which we are here speaking, regularly
+brought into operation, in the weekly acts of drawing and applying their
+practical lessons. The exhibition of so much mental power possessed by
+mere children,&mdash;and these children collected from the very humblest and
+rudest classes inhabiting a sea-port town,&mdash;appeared to be a
+circumstance altogether new. The official persons present, and the very
+Rev. Bishop Russell, who took an active part in the examination,
+expressed their decided satisfaction at the results of the whole
+experiment; and the effects of these principles, as illustrated by such
+children, made the present Lord Murray remark publicly at the close of
+the meeting, that it was obviously "a valuable discovery, calculated to
+be extensively useful to society."</p>
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> Note Z.</p></div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<hr /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span>
+<br />
+<h2>PART IV.</h2>
+<br />
+<h2>ON THE SELECTION OF PROPER TRUTHS AND SUBJECTS TO BE TAUGHT IN SCHOOLS
+AND FAMILIES.</h2>
+<br />
+<br /><a name="CHAP_IC" id="CHAP_IC"></a>
+<br />
+<br />
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h3>CHAP. I.</h3>
+
+<h3><i>On the General Principles which ought to regulate our choice of<br /> Truths
+and Subjects to be taught to the Young.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>In all cases where our temporal interests are concerned, a proper
+discrimination in the selection of such exercises and studies as shall
+best suit our purpose, is considered as not only prudent, but necessary.
+The neglect of this would, indeed, by men of the world, be esteemed the
+height of folly. No ship-master thinks of perfecting his apprentices by
+lectures on agriculture; nor does the farmer train his son and successor
+to cultivate the land, by enforcing upon him the study of navigation. In
+a public school, therefore, when all classes of the community are to be
+taught, the truths and exercises should be selected in such a manner,
+that they shall, if possible, be equally useful to all; leaving the
+navigator and the agriculturist, the surgeon and the lawyer, to
+supplement their <i>general</i> education, by the study of those special
+branches of learning which their several professions require.</p>
+
+<p>But even this is not enough:&mdash;Among those subjects and exercises in
+which all the children in a school may be equally interested, there are
+many which are neither equally useful, nor equally indispensable. A
+thorough consideration, and a careful <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span>selection of those which are most
+valuable in themselves, and which are most likely to be useful during
+life, become both prudent and necessary. In all ordinary cases, men act
+upon this principle. Health, food, and recreation, are all good and
+useful things; but even from among these we are sometimes compelled to
+make a choice, and the principle of our decision is always the same.
+When we cannot procure all, we chuse those which appear to us the most
+necessary, and abandon the others without regret. A man readily denies
+himself to sports and amusement, when he finds that he must labour for a
+supply of food and necessaries; and even the pleasures of the table are
+willingly sacrificed, for the purpose of securing or restoring the
+blessings of health. In like manner, those branches of education which
+are most important for securing the welfare of the pupils, and most for
+the benefit of society, ought to be selected and preferred before all
+others; seeing that to neglect, or wilfully to err in this matter, would
+be injurious to the child, and unjust to the community.&mdash;Our object at
+present therefore is, to enquire what those general principles are which
+ought to regulate us in our choice of subjects and exercises for the
+education of youth.</p>
+
+<p>1. The first and fundamental rule which ought to guide the Educationist
+and the Parent in the selection of subjects for the school, is to chuse
+those which are to promote the happiness and welfare of <i>the pupil
+himself</i>; without regard, in the first instance at least, to the
+interests or the ease of his friends, of the teacher, or of any third
+party whatever.&mdash;Children are not the property of their parents, nor
+even of the community. They are strictly and unalienably the property of
+the Almighty, whose servants and stewards the parents and the public
+are. The child's happiness and welfare are entirely his own;&mdash;the free
+gift of his Maker and Master, of which no man, without his full consent,
+has a right to deprive him. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span>This happiness, and the full enjoyment of
+what he receives, both here and hereafter, have been made to depend on
+his allegiance and his faithfulness, not to his parents, nor even to the
+public, but to the great Lord of both. This allegiance therefore, is his
+first and chief concern, with which the will and the wishes, the
+interests or the ease, of teachers and parents, have nothing to do. If
+the directions of his Maker and Lord are attended to, he has nothing to
+fear. There is in that case secured for him an inheritance that is
+incorruptible, and far beyond the reach or the power of any creature. It
+is for the enjoyment of this inheritance that he has been born;&mdash;it is
+with the design of attaining it, and for increasing its amount, that his
+time is prolonged upon earth;&mdash;it is to secure it for him, and to
+prepare him for it, that the parent has been appointed his guardian and
+guide;&mdash;and it is for the purpose of promoting and overseeing all this
+among its members, that a visible church, and church officers, have been
+established and perpetuated in the world.</p>
+
+<p>In so far as each individual child is concerned, the parent is the
+immediate agent appointed by the Almighty for attending to these
+objects; and although, in a matter of so much importance, he is
+permitted to avail himself of the assistance of the teacher, he, and he
+only, is responsible to God for the due performance of those momentous
+duties which he owes to his child. When therefore the parents, for the
+purpose of forwarding some trifling personal advantage, or the teacher,
+for his own ease or caprice, are found indifferent to the kind of
+exercises used in the school, or to the results of what is taught in
+it;&mdash;doing any thing, or nothing, provided the time is allowed to pass,
+with at least the appearance of teaching;&mdash;they are, in such a case,
+betraying an important trust; they are heedlessly frustrating the
+wishes, and resisting the commands of their Master and Lord; they are
+sapping the foundations of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span>society; and are thoughtlessly and basely
+defrauding the helpless and unconscious pupil of a most valuable
+patrimony.&mdash;In committing to parents the keeping and administration of
+this sacred deposit, reason, conscience, and Scripture, all unite in
+declaring, that it is given them, not for the promotion of their own
+personal advantages, but for the child's benefit; and that, while they
+never can be permanently bettered by its neglect, their good, even in
+this world, will be best and most surely advanced by a faithful
+discharge of their duty to their offspring.</p>
+
+<p>These remarks go to establish the general principle, that the parent is
+not the proprietor, but merely the guardian and the administrator of the
+child's interests. These interests are of various kinds. And although
+the above remarks refer chiefly to the spiritual and eternal advantages
+of the young, that circumstance arises merely from their superior value
+and importance. The argument is equally conclusive in regard to every
+one of his temporal concerns. For if both the parent and the child be
+the special property of God, and if the parent has been appointed by him
+as the conservator and guardian of the child's happiness, he has no
+right either to lessen or to destroy it for any selfish purpose of his
+own. In every case&mdash;even of discipline&mdash;he is bound to follow the
+command and the example given him by his Father and Master in heaven,
+not to chastise his offspring for his "own pleasure," but for the
+"child's profit." The rule therefore which ought to regulate the parent,
+and of course the Educationist, in making choice of the subjects and
+exercises for the school, is, that they shall really and permanently
+conduce to the <i>pupil's</i> welfare and happiness, irrespective of the
+conflicting interests or wishes, either of the teacher, the parent, or
+the public. These will usually be in harmony; but as a general
+principle, the exercises are to be chosen with reference to the welfare
+of the <i>child</i>,&mdash;not of the <i>community</i>.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span>2. Another rule which ought to be attended to in the selection of
+subjects and exercises for the seminary, is nearly allied to the former,
+but which we think, from its vast importance, should have a separate
+consideration. It is this, that a decided preference should be given to
+<i>every thing which advances the concerns of the soul, above those of the
+body;&mdash;which prefers heaven to earth,&mdash;and eternity to time</i>.&mdash;Man is an
+accountable and an immortal creature;&mdash;and therefore there is no more
+comparison between the value of those things which refer to his
+happiness in eternity, and those which refer only to his enjoyments
+during his lifetime, than there is between a drop of water and the
+contents of the ocean;&mdash;nay, between a grain of sand and the whole
+physical universe. The truth of this observation, when viewed in the
+abstract, is never questioned; and yet the educational principles which
+it naturally suggests are too often jostled aside, and practically
+neglected. It plainly teaches us, that the young ought to be made aware
+of the comparative nothingness of temporal and sensual objects, when
+placed in competition with those which refer to their souls and
+eternity; and that the subjects which are to be taught them in the
+school, should tend to produce these feelings.&mdash;But this is not always
+the case; and even when the subjects are in themselves unobjectionable,
+the methods taken for teaching them frequently neutralize their effects.
+The national evils which have arisen from this neglect are extensive and
+lamentable, consisting in an almost exclusive attention among all
+classes to temporal matters, and to sensual gratifications. These
+characteristic, features in our people may all be traced, from their
+exhibition in general society, to the want of a thorough knowledge of
+those truths which tend so powerfully to deaden the influence of the
+things of sense and time, and to moderate our pursuit after them. It is
+in a particular manner at this point that the reckless <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span>cupidity, and
+the debased and short-sighted selfishness of the lower classes, ought to
+be met and removed, by the enlightened and kindly instructions of more
+capacious minds. Society, as at present constituted, acts as if there
+were no futurity. Time is the eternity of thousands; and therefore they
+think only of time. Had they, as rational creatures, but a correct
+view,&mdash;however faint,&mdash;of their destination in eternity, their conduct
+and pursuits would very soon be changed, and their selected enjoyments
+would become, not only more rational, but much more exquisite. Education
+is the instrument by which alone this can be effected, whether in the
+church or in the school; and to this point, both parents and children
+should be assiduously directed for their own sakes, and for the sake of
+the community.</p>
+
+<p>Hitherto there has in education been too much of the mere shadow of
+rational knowledge, without the substance; and the consequence has been,
+that many parents in the lower classes have never been able to perceive
+their <i>own</i> best interests, and therefore it is that their children by
+them have been equally neglected. Nor is this only a partial evil, or
+confined to the lower classes.&mdash;It is, on the contrary, when we examine
+the matter closely, nearly universal. Among ignorant and thoughtless
+parents, who are either unable or unwilling to look any further than the
+few short years of life, the training of their children to figure
+respectably and gracefully during it, may not perhaps excite much
+wonder;&mdash;but that such conduct should be followed by Christian parents,
+who know that both they and their children have souls, and that there is
+such a thing as eternity before them both, is truly humbling. Nor is it
+much for the credit of the philosophy of the present day, that while its
+promoters admit as an axiom the superiority of moral and religious
+attainments, they are found in practice to bestow their chief attention,
+and to lavish most of their approbation on physical investigations and
+on <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span>intellectual pursuits. Every sound thinker must see, that by doing
+so, the first principles of philosophy are violated; and many well
+meaning persons are, by this inverted state of public opinion,
+insensibly drawn away from the more valuable food provided for them as
+responsible and immortal beings, to feed on the mere chaff and garbage
+of temporal and sensual enjoyments; or the more valuable, but still
+temporary crumbs of the intellectual table. That this practical abuse of
+acknowledged truths should be found among the ignorant and the depraved,
+might perhaps be expected; but that it should be witnessed, and yet
+winked at, by men of learning and study, whose comprehensive minds,
+although still inadequate to comprehend the full import of an eternity
+of advancing knowledge, can yet appreciate the comparative
+insignificance of seventy&mdash;nay of seventy thousand&mdash;years' investigation
+into the mysteries of Nature, is very painful. We do not, in saying
+this, depreciate in the slightest degree the sublime discoveries which
+are daily being made of the Almighty and his works;&mdash;but we say, upon
+the soundest principles of philosophy, that were all these discoveries
+multiplied ten thousand times, they could not for a moment compete with
+what yet remains to be communicated to the successful aspirant after the
+revelations of eternity. Religion and morals are the only means by which
+success in that great competition can be gained; and therefore, to a
+child, a knowledge of all that man has yet discovered, or can ever know
+in this imperfect state of existence, is really as nothing, in
+comparison with the knowledge and practice of but one religious truth,
+or with the slightest advance in the science of morals.&mdash;A child once
+possessed of a living soul is born for eternity. Its happiness has been
+made to depend, not on the possession of physical good, or of
+intellectual power, but entirely on its moral condition;&mdash;and the
+physical good it receives, and the intellectual power it attains; are
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span>nothing more than means intended by the Almighty to be used for the
+purpose of perfecting his moral condition while he is still in this
+world. The whole period of his existence here, is but the moment of his
+birth for eternity. Care and enlightened attention to his moral
+condition during that short period of probation, will usher him
+spiritually alive and fully prepared for enjoying an eternal weight of
+intelligence and glory;&mdash;while inattention, or misdirected activity now,
+may no doubt put him prematurely in possession of a few intellectual
+morsels of this eternal feast, but it will assuredly shut him out from
+its everlasting enjoyment, and will entail on him comparative ignorance,
+and a living death for ever.</p>
+
+<p>In this view of the case then,&mdash;and what Christian will deny that it is
+the correct one,&mdash;there cannot be a more short-sighted proposition
+suggested in the counsels of men, than that which would sanction a
+system of education for an <i>immortal</i> being, that either overlooked, or
+deliberately set aside, his well-being in eternity. The very idea is
+monstrous. It is a deliberate levelling of man to the rank of mere
+sentient animals; and is another form of expressing the ancient advice
+of the sensualist, "Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die." By
+every person of learning, then, and even by individuals of humbler
+attainments, in the exercise of a plain common understanding, the
+importance of the rule in education which we are here recommending, must
+at once be admitted;&mdash;That in the selection of truths and exercises for
+educating and training the young, a decided preference should always be
+given to those which have a reference to their well-being and happiness,
+not in time so much as in eternity.</p>
+
+<p>3. In selecting subjects and exercises for the education of the young,
+those are to be preferred, by which <i>the largest amount of true and
+solid happiness is to be secured to the pupil</i>.&mdash;A man's happiness is
+his only possession. Every thing else which he has, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span>is only the means
+which he employs for the purpose of acquiring or retaining it. Happiness
+accordingly, by the very constitution of our nature, is the great object
+of pursuit by every man.<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> The means of happiness are no doubt
+frequently mistaken, and often substituted for happiness itself. But
+even these conflicting circumstances, when properly considered, all tend
+to shew, that happiness is the great object desired, and that it is
+universally sought after by every intelligent mind. By a wise and
+beneficent arrangement of the Almighty, it has been so ordered, that
+happiness is to be found only in the exercise of the affections;&mdash;and
+the amount of the happiness which they confer, is found to be
+proportionate to the excellence of the object beloved. The love of God
+himself, accordingly, is the first of duties, and includes the
+perfection of happiness. The love of all that are like him, and in
+proportion as they are so, ranks next in the scale; and hence it is,
+that all moral excellence,&mdash;the culture of the affections and the
+heart,&mdash;is to be preferred to intellectual attainments, as these again
+are to take precedence of mere physical good.</p>
+
+<p>This established order for the attainment of happiness, is in society
+most strangely inverted. Beauty, strength, honour, and riches,&mdash;mere
+physical qualities,&mdash;are generally preferred to the qualities of the
+mind;&mdash;and mental attainments, again, too often command more
+consideration than moral worth. This is altogether an unnatural state of
+things; and the consequences of its prevalence in any community, must be
+proportionally disastrous. How far the modes for conducting the
+education of the young hitherto have tended to extend or perpetuate this
+error, it is not for us here to say. But if they have, the sooner the
+evil is rectified the better. Happiness, as we have said, is the single
+aim of man,&mdash;however he may mistake <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span>its nature, or the means by which
+it is to be attained. And as it is to be found, not in intellectual
+power, nor in the possession of physical good, but only in moral
+culture, it follows, that the attainment of this moral excellence should
+be the one chief design aimed at in the education of the young.</p>
+
+<p>The benevolence and wisdom of this arrangement are obvious. For had
+happiness been made to depend on the possession of <i>intellectual</i> power,
+few comparatively could have commanded the time and means which are
+necessary for the purpose; and had it been attached to the possession of
+riches, or honour, or any other species of <i>physical</i> good, there would
+have been still fewer. But it is not necessarily attached to the
+possession of either. Men may enjoy riches and honours, beauty and
+health, and yet they may be unhappy. The highest mental attainments
+also, when disjoined from moral excellence, tend only, as in the fallen
+angels, to stimulate their pride, and to aggravate their misery. But
+happiness is exclusively and unalterably attached to the cultivation of
+<i>the affections</i>,&mdash;to the acquisition of moral excellence;&mdash;so that it
+is equally within the reach of every individual, however obscure, or
+however talented. Few men can be intellectually great,&mdash;fewer still can
+be rich or powerful; but every man may, if he pleases, be good,&mdash;and
+therefore happy. In choosing the subjects and exercises then for the
+education of the young, those which tend to the production and to the
+cultivation of the moral affections,&mdash;love to God, and love to men,&mdash;are
+always to be preferred to those which have relation merely to the
+attainment of <i>intellectual</i> acquirements, or the possession of mere
+<i>physical</i> good.</p>
+
+<p>4. In choosing subjects and exercises for the education of the young,
+reference should be had, all other things being equal, to <i>the
+prosperity and welfare of the community in general</i>.&mdash;We have already
+shewn that, under God, the happiness and welfare of every <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span>individual
+are his own special property, and must in all cases, therefore, be at
+his special disposal. No ordinary combination of circumstances will ever
+warrant an unjust encroachment on what is so peculiarly his own. But the
+happiness and welfare of an individual are almost uniformly found to be
+connected with the happiness and prosperity of those with whom he has to
+associate. The Educationist, therefore, ought to have the welfare of the
+community in view, while he is selecting those exercises which are
+specially to benefit his pupil; and he will almost invariably find, that
+by choosing those subjects and exercises for the individual, which will
+tend most surely to promote the general well-being of society, he will
+not only not require a sacrifice of any of the personal benefits to
+which the child has a claim, but that he will greatly increase their
+amount, and add to their value. When this is the case, to overlook the
+good of the community in selecting exercises and subjects for the
+school, would be of no advantage to the pupils, and would be an act of
+positive injustice to the public at large.</p>
+
+<p>These general principles, we think, when considered singly, must approve
+themselves to every thinking mind; and if so, they must be still more
+beneficial when they are combined, and acted upon systematically in the
+preliminary arrangements of any seminary. The nearer, therefore, the
+Educationist can keep to them in making his selection of subjects and
+exercises, the better will it be both for the pupil and for the
+community at large, while the benefits expected from an exercise where
+there is any material deviation from them, will most probably turn out
+to be delusive, and the exercise itself detected as the mere bequest of
+an antiquated prejudice, or the temporary idol of fashion. These
+principles being admitted to be sound in the abstract, will greatly
+assist us in deciding upon the relative value and appropriateness of
+some of the propositions which we <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span>shall immediately have to submit to
+the reader; and we would here only remark, for his guidance, that if, in
+the following recommendations, he finds an exercise correctly to accord
+with the above principles, while he yet hesitates as to the propriety of
+its adoption in the school, or feels inclined to accede to its
+exclusion,&mdash;he ought, in such a case, carefully to review the grounds of
+his decision, as these are most likely to be erroneous. He has good
+reason to suspect that he is labouring under prejudice, or is unduly
+biassed by long cherished opinions, when he refuses the legitimate
+application of a general law,&mdash;a law which he has previously admitted to
+be sound,&mdash;and which is as likely to be applicable to the case in hand,
+as to any other of a similar kind.</p>
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> Note R.</p></div>
+<br />
+<br /><a name="CHAP_IIC" id="CHAP_IIC"></a>
+<br />
+<br />
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h3>CHAP. II.</h3>
+
+<h3><i>On the particular Branches of Education required for Elementary
+Schools.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>In making choice of suitable subjects for the education of a community,
+there are two considerations which ought to regulate us in our
+selection. The one is, the indications of Nature respecting any branch
+of education; and the other is, the peculiar usages of the place and
+persons with whom the pupil is destined to associate. As an example of
+the former class of subjects, we may instance reading and writing; and
+of the latter, book-keeping and the classics. The branches belonging to
+the former will be found more or less useful to all without exception;
+while those which rank under the second class, although requisite for
+some, will be found unnecessary, and generally useless, to many. From
+the character of the present work, our business is chiefly with the
+former class; and we shall therefore advert very shortly to a few of
+them, pointing out the intimations of Nature <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span>respecting them, and
+giving a few hints as to the best methods by which they may be taught.</p>
+
+<p>And first of all, <i>Religion and Morals</i> are clearly pointed out by
+Nature as a branch of education peculiarly necessary for the young. On
+this we shall not here again enlarge, but shall merely refer the reader
+to some of our previous pages, where it has been made sufficiently
+clear.<a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a></p>
+
+<p>Next in importance as a branch of education plainly indicated by Nature,
+we ought to rank <i>the principles of Natural Philosophy</i>. We say next <i>in
+importance</i>, not <i>in time</i>; because they are evidently not to be taught
+to the child in this order, although it will be found in experience that
+these principles may be communicated by successive "steps" much sooner
+than is generally thought.<a name="FNanchor_31_31" id="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> Nature begins early; and so should we.
+The very infant becomes practically a natural philosopher, and continues
+to act regularly upon the truths or principles which experience enables
+him to detect. He soon learns that flame burns, that clothes keep his
+body warm, that stumbling will cause a fall, and that the support of a
+chair or stool will prevent it. As he grows up he learns the danger of
+handling sharp knives, hot irons, and burning coals; he learns to detect
+some of the effects of the mechanical powers, which he frequently
+applies, although he cannot explain them. This we perceive exemplified
+in his ingenious contrivances in cutting his sticks, wrenching with
+forks, hammering with stones, kicking with his toes, and afterwards more
+powerfully with his heels; in trundling his hoop, in sailing his mimic
+fleets by the force of his breath, and in adapting to the requisite
+moving powers his wind and water mills. He even learns to know something
+of the composition of forces, as we perceive by his contrivances in the
+flying of his kite, the shooting of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span>his marbles, and the rebounding of
+his ball. Now, as these adaptations are never to be ranked under the
+class of instinctive actions, but have been in every case acquired by
+actual experience, it shews, that there is an outgoing of the mind in
+search of principles, and we think it is probable, that these principles
+are often, although perhaps but dimly perceived, from the various, and
+frequently successful contrivances of the child in difficulties, and in
+circumstances when he is desirous of procuring relief. This at all
+events shews us, that children are very early prepared, and capable of
+receiving instruction of this kind.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>importance</i> attached by Nature to this branch of learning, is not
+less remarkable, than is its universality. It is the great hinge upon
+which every temporal comfort of the individual is made to turn. What we
+have here termed "natural philosophy," is to the body and to time, what
+religion and morals are to the soul and eternity;&mdash;the well-being of
+both depends almost entirely upon the proper application of their
+several principles. It is no doubt true, that the principles are not
+always very clearly perceived; but it is equally true, that the
+application of these principles will be more easy, more frequent, and
+much more effective, when they are made familiar by teaching. Hence the
+importance of this branch of education for the young.</p>
+
+<p>Next in importance as branches of education, and prior perhaps in point
+of time, come the arts of <i>Reading</i> and <i>Writing</i>.&mdash;Speech is a valuable
+gift of Nature, bestowed upon us for the communication of our ideas, and
+<i>writing</i> is nothing more than a successful imitation of Nature in doing
+so. The hearing of speech, in like manner, is closely copied in the art
+of <i>reading</i>. These two arts, therefore, as most successful imitations
+of Nature, recommend themselves at once to the notice of the teacher as
+an important branch of education for the young. The one enabling him to
+speak with the hand, and to communicate his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span>ideas to his friend from
+any distance; and the other, the art of hearing by the eye, and by which
+he can make the good and the wise speak to him as often and as long as
+he may feel inclined.<a name="FNanchor_32_32" id="FNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a></p>
+
+<p>Of <i>Arithmetic</i>, we may only remark, that the necessity of sometimes
+ascertaining the number of objects, of adding to their number, and at
+other times of subtracting from them, indicates sufficiently that this
+is a branch of education recommended by Nature. It may only be necessary
+here to remark, that, from various concurring circumstances, it appears,
+that what is called the Denary Scale is that which is most conducive to
+general utility. As to the nature of Arithmetic, and the best methods of
+teaching it, we must refer to the Note.<a name="FNanchor_33_33" id="FNanchor_33_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a></p>
+
+<p><i>Music</i> is one of Nature's best gifts. The love of it is almost
+universal; and few comparatively are unable to relish and practise it.
+Its effect in elevating and refining the sentiments in civilized
+society, is matter of daily observation; and its power to "soothe the
+savage breast," has been often verified. To neglect the cultivation of
+music, therefore, during childhood and youth, when it can be best done,
+not only without interference with other branches of study, but with
+decided advantage in forwarding them, is both imprudent and unjust. We
+say that it is <i>unjust</i>;&mdash;for while much ingenuity and large sums of
+money have been expended in producing musical instruments for the
+gratification of men, the child of the poorest beggar is in possession
+of an instrument in the human voice, which for sweetness, variety,
+expression, and above all, for its adaptation to language, has never
+been equalled, and stands quite unapproachable by all the contrivances
+of man. How cruel then in parents or teachers to allow an instrument so
+noble and so valuable to fall to ruin from the want of exercise! It is
+to deprive their pupil of a constant solace <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span>in affliction, and to dry
+up one of the cheapest, the readiest, and the most innocent and
+elevating sources both of personal and social enjoyment. Of its uses,
+and methods of teaching in the school, we must again refer to the
+Notes.<a name="FNanchor_34_34" id="FNanchor_34_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a></p>
+
+<p><i>Dancing</i> is obviously the sister of music, and is perhaps equally
+sanctioned by Nature. It is obviously capable of being consecrated and
+employed for high moral purposes; and its abuse therefore should form no
+argument against its regular cultivation. That it was so employed by the
+appointment of God himself, is matter of history; and that it is still
+capable of being preserved from abuse, cannot reasonably be denied. The
+stand that has so frequently been made against even the innocent
+enjoyment of this boon of Nature, is now admitted to be a prejudice,
+derived originally from its flagrant and frequent abuse. These
+prejudices are gradually and silently melting away; and it is cheering
+to see the better feelings of our nature effectively advancing the art
+to its legitimate place in education, under the guise of gymnastics and
+callisthenics. That these, however, are but imperfect substitutes for
+what Nature has intended for the young, is obvious, when we contrast
+them with the gambols of the kitten, the friskings of the lamb, and the
+unrestrained romps of healthy children newly let loose from the school.
+The truth is, that the accumulation of the animal spirits must be thrown
+off by exercise, whether the parent or teacher wills it or no; and if
+the children are not taught to do this <i>by rule</i>, as in dancing, they
+will do it without rule, and perhaps beyond the proper limit, both as to
+time, place, and quantity. Education indeed cannot be expected to
+flourish to the extent desired, till the mental labours of the school
+can be occasionally relieved by some physical exercise, either within
+doors, or in the open air.<a name="FNanchor_35_35" id="FNanchor_35_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a></p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span>The love of pictures and of <i>Drawing</i> is also a boon bestowed upon us by
+Nature, and is a desirable acquisition for the young. The art may
+generally be acquired with little trouble, and often with great
+enjoyment. It is certainly neither so necessary, nor so valuable, as
+some of the branches of which we have been speaking; but as it may be
+easily attained, and as its future exercise will always be a source of
+innocent and refined enjoyment, it ought to occupy a place in every
+educational institution. Almost every person is gratified by looking
+upon a good picture; and few comparatively are unable to acquire the
+rudiments of the art which produces them. It requires but little
+teaching, provided good copies be procured;&mdash;and even these will be
+frequently unnecessary, where the pupils are encouraged to copy from
+Nature. The proper methods of doing this, however, must be left to the
+circumstances of the school, and to future experiments.</p>
+
+<p>With respect to the teaching of <i>History</i>, a little consideration will
+convince us, that it does not consist in the mere communication of
+historical facts. History is, or ought to be, a science; and the
+succession of events is nothing more than the implements employed by the
+master in teaching it. The <i>facts</i> of history, like those of chemistry,
+agriculture, or mechanics, are taught merely as means to an end.&mdash;They
+are the elements from which we derive principles, which are to be
+practically applied by the learner; and it is <i>the ability to apply
+these</i> that constitutes the learning. The facts upon which any science
+is based, must no doubt be known before it can be taught;&mdash;but they may
+be known without the science having ever been mastered: For it is not a
+knowledge of the facts, but the capacity to <i>make use</i> of them, that
+entitles a man to the appellation of a chemist, an agriculturist, a
+mechanic, or a historian.</p>
+
+<p>Viewing the study of history in this light, we at once perceive, that
+the teaching which it requires is <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span>not a dry detail of dates and
+circumstances;&mdash;but the practical uses which ought to be made of them.
+The only legitimate use of history is to direct us how we ought to
+conduct ourselves as citizens, and how rulers and governors can most
+safely and successfully manage the affairs of the public, in all the
+varying events of political change. The teacher therefore is to
+communicate the facts, for the purpose of turning them to use, by
+drawing, and teaching his pupils how to draw lessons of prudence,
+energy, or caution, as regards the nation;&mdash;in the same way that
+Biography is taught for the sake of drawing lessons of a more personal
+kind, as regards a family or a neighbourhood. Both were practically
+exhibited in the experiment in Aberdeen; by which it was made obvious,
+that children, as well as adults, were capable of studying it. Where the
+circumstances of a seminary will admit, it ought not to be neglected.
+The mere inconveniences which may for some time attend the introduction
+of such a mode of teaching history is no good reason for its neglect;
+and the want of practical elementary books drawn up upon this plan, in
+the form of successive "Steps," is the chief desideratum, which we hope
+soon to see supplied.</p>
+
+<p><i>Geography</i> is another branch of education pointed out to us by Nature
+for the benefit of man. We speak here, however, of physical geography,
+and not of the historical and political departments of it. These belong
+more properly to history. The chief object in teaching this science, is
+to convey to the mind of the pupil a correct idea of this world as a
+sphere, on the top of which he stands, and of the relative positions of
+all the kingdoms and countries on its surface. This will be, and it
+ought to be, a work of time. The more correctly and familiarly the pupil
+can form the idea of this sphere as a whole, the sooner and the better
+will he become acquainted with its parts. Acting upon the principles of
+reiteration and analysis, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span>formerly described, the pupil ought to
+sketch, however rudely, the great outlines of the four divisions of the
+earth, upon a blank, or slate globe, till he can do so with some degree
+of correctness. The separated divisions may then be sketched on a common
+slate, without caring as yet for the details; and when this can be
+accomplished readily, the same thing may be done with the different
+kingdoms of which they are severally composed. The child ought never to
+be harassed by the minute details, till he comes to sketch the
+countries, or the counties. What is required <i>before this</i>, is their
+relative position, more than their form; and this, upon the principle of
+analysis, will be easiest and most permanently acquired by mastering in
+the first place the great outlines.</p>
+
+<p>Children, by mere imitation, will practically acquire the art of
+<i>Grammar</i>, long before they are capable of learning it as a science. It
+ought invariably to be taught by "Steps;" and the child should have a
+perfect knowledge of the etymological part, before he is allowed to
+advance to syntax. The efficiency of this concluding part of grammar,
+depends entirely upon his familiarity with the former. It will therefore
+be found here, as in the practice of arithmetic, that the prize will
+ultimately be awarded, not to him who expends most labour and strength
+in running, but to him who has made the best preparation for the race.</p>
+
+<p>The art of <i>Composition</i>, or the ability to express our thoughts in an
+orderly and natural form, is the last branch of education to which, as
+recommended by Nature, we shall here allude. The perfection of this art
+appears to depend on three circumstances. There must be a clear
+understanding of the subject upon which the person is to write;&mdash;there
+must, in the second place, be a distinct perception of the most natural
+order in which it ought to be presented to the mind and imagination of
+others;&mdash;and the third is, an ability to manage these materials with
+facility, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span>and without distraction of mind, while engaged in writing
+them. As to the first of these three, nothing requires to be said here,
+as the exercises recommended in the previous part of this Treatise will
+almost invariably accomplish it. With respect to the second, that of
+presenting the ideas connected with the subject in due and proper order,
+it may be remarked, that the hints formerly given, as to the natural
+order of "grouping" objects to be presented to the imagination, will be
+of great use here, and to them we must refer;<a name="FNanchor_36_36" id="FNanchor_36_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a>&mdash;and the third object
+here required, that of managing the thoughts at the moment of writing
+them, has been in effect already described and treated of, in a previous
+part of this Treatise.<a name="FNanchor_37_37" id="FNanchor_37_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a> It is the same kind of ability as that which
+is required for acquiring fluency and ease in extemporaneous speaking,
+and is to be gained by the use of the same means. It is here only
+necessary to observe, that abstract teaching and general directions are
+not the things most required for forwarding a child in this branch of
+his education. These, at an advanced stage of his learning, will no
+doubt be of service; but till the pupil can write with some degree of
+freedom, they are in a great measure useless, or worse. What is wanted
+most in our elementary schools, is a successful <i>beginning</i>;&mdash;suitable
+exercises to assist the pupil in writing his own thoughts properly, but
+in his own way. Many methods have been devised to effect this, and with
+more or less success;&mdash;but we believe the most efficient, because the
+most natural and simple, is that which has been engrafted upon the
+paraphrastic exercise. In regard to its ease, it is only necessary to
+say, that a child who can but write a sentence, may begin to practise
+it;&mdash;and its efficiency may be argued from the fact, that while every
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span>step is progressive, the advanced exercises give ample scope for the
+abilities of the cleverest in the school.<a name="FNanchor_38_38" id="FNanchor_38_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a></p>
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> See Part II. chap. x. p. 111. Part III. chap. ix. p. 257,
+and p. 310-313. For the methods of teaching, see Note S.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> Note T.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> Note U.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_33_33" id="Footnote_33_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> Note V.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_34_34" id="Footnote_34_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> Note W.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_35_35" id="Footnote_35_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> Note A a.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_36_36" id="Footnote_36_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> See pages 215, 216.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_37_37" id="Footnote_37_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> See Pages 297, &amp;c.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_38_38" id="Footnote_38_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_38"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> See Key to Second Initiatory Catechism, pages xxi. &amp;
+xxii.</p></div>
+<br />
+<br /><a name="CHAP_IIIC" id="CHAP_IIIC"></a>
+<br />
+<br />
+<hr />
+<br />
+<h3>CHAP III.</h3>
+
+<h3><i>On the Easiest Methods of Introducing these Principles, for the first
+time,<br /> into Schools already established.</i></h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>That the educational principles attempted to be developed in the
+preceding pages, shall ultimately pervade the great fields of Elementary
+learning, admits we think of but little doubt; and yet the diminutive
+word "When?" in relation to this change, forms a question, which it
+would be extremely difficult to answer. Every improvement of the kind
+hitherto has been gradual; and experience shews, that the admission of
+the most important principles in Science, has been often retarded,
+rather than forwarded, by undue precipitation on the part of their
+friends. It is with this historical fact in view that the following
+hints are now offered, in order to render any sudden change unnecessary,
+and to enable teachers gradually to feel their way to greater success by
+<i>new</i> methods, without making any material change for some time on the
+<i>old</i>. We speak advisedly when we say, that two half hours daily, if
+regularly and honestly employed in working out these principles in a
+school, will do more real good in forwarding the education of the pupils
+attending it, than all the rest of the day put together. This portion of
+time, divided between the two parts of the day, would not materially
+interfere with the usual routine of any seminary, which might still be
+proceeded with as before, till the teacher saw his way more clearly in
+enlarging the exercises, and extending the time.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span><i>Younger Classes.</i>&mdash;With respect to the young children who are as yet
+incapable of understanding by reading, we would advise that they be
+repeatedly exercised by a monitor in sections of four or five, during
+not more than ten or fifteen minutes at a time, by means of the
+"Scripture Groupings for children." The Key to that little book will
+enable any monitor, or even scholar, who can read, efficiently to
+perform this duty. The design here is chiefly mental exercise; but with
+that mental exercise, the most important and valuable information may be
+communicated. The monitor is to announce a sentence, and then to
+catechise on it, taking care to avoid all "Catechetical Wanderings,"<a name="FNanchor_39_39" id="FNanchor_39_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a>
+and confining himself strictly to the sentence announced, from which the
+child in that case will always be able to bring his answer.</p>
+
+<p>When a section has been mastered, the children may be encouraged to tell
+the story in their own way, the monitor taking care that the child is
+not reiterating the <i>words</i>, instead of the <i>ideas</i>. A few of the moral
+circumstances may also be presented to their minds, and the lessons
+drawn and applied according to their capacity.</p>
+
+<p><i>Second Classes.</i>&mdash;Where the children are capable of reading, they may
+get a section of the "Groupings," or of any of the "First Steps," to
+read at home. On this they ought to be catechised in school, before
+reading it there, to see whether it has been previously read and
+understood or not. This preparation ought to be strictly enforced. They
+may then read it by sentences in turn, be catechised upon it, have the
+moral circumstances separated, and the lessons drawn and applied. One
+section should in general be <i>thoroughly known and mastered</i>, before
+passing to another; and all the previous sections should be frequently
+and extensively revised, chiefly by the application of their several
+lessons.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span><i>Higher Classes.</i>&mdash;The whole school, with the exception perhaps of the
+very young classes, may be taken together, and catechised on some
+section of one of the Steps, or on a passage of Scripture previously
+prescribed. This they ought each to read and understand <i>at home</i>, and
+be prepared to paraphrase it, to separate the moral circumstances, and
+to draw the corresponding lessons.<a name="FNanchor_40_40" id="FNanchor_40_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a> This will in a short time be easy
+for them; and to ensure the preparation, the name of each pupil ought to
+be kept on a separate card, and these being shuffled, the teacher, after
+asking the question at the whole, may take the upmost card, and require
+that child to answer it. All must in that case be prepared, as none can
+know but he may be the person who shall be called on publicly to answer.
+The application of the lessons will be found the most useful, and to the
+children the most interesting part of this exercise. In this the teacher
+supposes a circumstance, or situation, corresponding to the lesson
+drawn, in which the pupils may be placed; and he requires them to say
+how they ought to act in such a case. When they give their <i>opinion</i>,
+they must then give their <i>authority</i>; that is, they must refer to the
+lesson, and through the lesson, to the Scripture truth from which it was
+drawn.</p>
+
+<p><i>Natural Philosophy.</i>&mdash;In teaching the principles of <i>Natural
+Philosophy</i>, a select class may be formed, more circumscribed as to
+number, and from among the more advanced scholars. To these, a section,
+or part of section, of the "First Step to Natural Philosophy," is to be
+given to prepare at home,&mdash;to understand, and to be ready to draw and
+apply the lessons,&mdash;in a manner similar to that prescribed above, and as
+illustrated in the Key to that work.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span><i>Writing.</i>&mdash;In teaching the art of <i>Writing</i>, upon the preceding
+principles, the chief object is to train the pupils easily and readily
+to <i>write down their own thoughts</i>. To accomplish this, a certain
+portion of their time may be occupied as follows. The teacher reads a
+sentence, or a paragraph, or, what will perhaps be better, a short
+story, or anecdote, and requires the whole of them to write it down in
+their <i>books</i> for after examination. These of course are to be examined
+and corrected, with any necessary remarks by the teacher or
+assistant.&mdash;In this exercise, there is no necessity for circumscribing
+the pupils as to time,&mdash;it being required that they write accurately,
+grammatically, and neatly, whether in large or small text. To all those
+who are first finished, some other exercise ought to be provided that
+they may in that manner usefully occupy the time that may remain of
+their hour.</p>
+
+<p><i>Arithmetic.</i>&mdash;The introduction of the Arithmetic Rod, and its Key, into
+a school, will be productive of many advantages.<a name="FNanchor_41_41" id="FNanchor_41_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a> The line of figures
+upon the A side of the Rod, being painted on a board in sight of the
+whole school, and which is never required to be altered, the teacher has
+only to announce a sum to be added to each of the figures; the first
+pupil that is done, deposits his slate on a table, stool, or form, and
+goes to his place; the next places his slate above his, and the others
+in the same way as they finish. The answer in the Key will shew their
+accuracy, and the order in which their slates lie points out their
+respective merits. Another very important object is gained by this
+exercise; for the teacher, by recording the time taken by any one of the
+pupils in adding a particular sum to the line, can measure by the watch
+the rate of his improvement every month, every week, or even every day.
+The parents of any child, by means of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span>Rod and its Key, can also do
+this at home with perfect exactness.</p>
+
+<p>These hints for the regulation of teachers are thrown out with great
+deference, as they have not been sufficiently tested by actual
+experiments. Teachers, however, will be able, each for himself,
+according to the circumstances of his school, and the capacities of his
+children, to adopt such parts as he finds most effective; and so to
+modify others, that the end shall perhaps be more efficiently gained,
+than by strictly adhering to any one of them.&mdash;Education in all its
+parts is yet in its infancy; and these crude hints can only be expected
+to help it forward to maturity.</p>
+
+<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_39_39" id="Footnote_39_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_39"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> See Complete Directory for Sunday School Teachers, vol. i.
+p. 278.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_40_40" id="Footnote_40_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_40"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> For these exercises the Teacher or monitor will find
+himself greatly assisted by means of the "Helps" to Genesis, Luke, Acts,
+&amp;c. where, besides the lessons, all the explanations are given in the
+form of a paraphrase.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_41_41" id="Footnote_41_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_41"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> See Note V.</p></div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<h3>THE END.</h3>
+<br />
+<br /><a name="NOTES" id="NOTES"></a>
+<br />
+<br />
+<hr /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span>
+<br />
+<h3>NOTES</h3>
+<br />
+
+<p>Note A, pages 45 and 55.&mdash;It may perhaps be reasonably objected to this
+term of "Reiteration," that it is a new term for an act of the mind
+which has already received another name. The Author's excuse is
+two-fold. In the first place, he thinks, that any other term which he
+could have employed, might have been misunderstood, as writers are not
+as yet at one on the subject. But, secondly, no other term would have
+included so fully all that he intends to designate by the act of
+"Reiteration." In this he may be mistaken; but as it is of little
+consequence by what name an object may be called, provided the thing so
+named be properly defined, he thought it safest to apply the term he
+best understood, and which, in his opinion, most correctly describes the
+act itself.</p>
+
+<p>The same thing may be said of the terms, "Individuation," "Grouping,"
+and "Classification," which may perhaps be nothing more than
+"Abstraction," "Combination," and "Generalization." His misconception of
+those latter terms, and of what is included in them, may have led him to
+think that the mental operations which he has perceived in the young are
+different. If so, there can be little harm in using the terms here
+adopted; but if, on the contrary, they do really include more, it would
+have been hurtful to use a term which had been previously defined, and
+which did not include the whole that was intended.</p>
+
+
+<p>Note B, p. 56.&mdash;It may be a question, but one certainly of little
+practical consequence, whether we ought to place the principle of
+"Individuation," or this of "Reiteration," first in order. The child, no
+doubt, fixes upon the individual object before he can reiterate it; but
+it is still this act of reiteration that first impresses the idea on the
+mind, and constitutes it a part of his knowledge.</p>
+
+
+<p>Note C, p. 58.&mdash;It may be proper here to explain once for all, that it
+is not the intention of the Author, as indeed he has not the ability, to
+define scientifically the mental processes which he thinks he has
+observed in the young. His object is simply to point them out, so that
+they may be successfully imitated by the teacher in the exercises of the
+school.</p>
+
+
+<p>Note D, p. 60.&mdash;The fact, that children who learn to repeat words
+without understanding them, do sometimes acquire the meaning of them
+afterwards, is no valid objection to the accuracy of this statement.
+Repeated experiments, in various forms, and with different persons, have
+established the important fact, that when children at any future period
+master the ideas contained in the words which they had previously
+committed to memory, it is not <i>because</i> of that exercise, but <i>in spite
+of it</i>. They have attained them by another, and a perfectly different
+process. It is generally by reading the words from the memory,&mdash;thinking
+them over,&mdash;and in that way <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span>searching for, and reiterating the ideas
+they contain. This is much more difficult than when the person reads for
+the first time the same words from a book; and it has this serious
+disadvantage, that it has to be read from the memory <i>every time</i> the
+ideas are required, which is not the case when the ideas are reiterated
+in the natural way by hearing, or by reading.&mdash;On this subject see the
+Experiment made before the Clergy and Teachers of Stirling, in July
+1833, with "Blind Alick" of that place, who could repeat the whole
+Bible;&mdash;and the Supplementary Experiment to ascertain the same
+principle, made in the House of Correction in Belfast, before the
+Teachers and Clergymen of that town, in December 1837.</p>
+
+
+<p>Note E, p. 83.&mdash;Perhaps it may be found, that "Grouping," and
+"Classification," are only different manifestations of the same
+principle. But even if it were so, it would have been necessary here to
+treat of them separately, on account of the very different uses made of
+them by Nature. The present, be it observed, is not a metaphysical
+treatise, but a humble attempt to be popularly useful.&mdash;See Note C.</p>
+
+
+<p>Note F, p. 105.&mdash;This principle may by some be considered as "instinct,"
+and others may affirm that it is "reason." All that we require to do
+here is to point out the phenomenon,&mdash;not to define it. The name is of
+little consequence. It is the principle itself, as perceived in its
+manifestations, that we have to do with, for the purpose of successfully
+imitating it in our dealings with the young.</p>
+
+
+<p>Note G, p. 132.&mdash;There needs scarcely any farther proof of this than the
+fact, that barristers, by constant practice, are usually the most fluent
+extemporaneous speakers. It is also strongly corroborative of the
+statement in the text, that clergymen generally, and especially those
+who are most accustomed to the use of extemporaneous prayers and
+sermons, find most ease in replying to an opponent on any subject that
+is familiar to them.</p>
+
+
+<p>Note H, p. 160, &amp; 201.&mdash;It is a very remarkable fact, to which the
+attention of the writer was lately called, that Mrs Wesley, the mother
+of the Rev. John Wesley, founder of the Wesleyan Methodists, appears to
+have acted upon the principles here developed. In Southey's Life of that
+great man, there occurs the following Note:</p>
+
+<p>"Mrs Wesley thus describes her peculiar method (of teaching her children
+to read,) in a letter to her son John, (the founder of the Wesleyan
+Methodists.)</p>
+
+<p>"None of them were taught to read till five years old, except Kezzy, in
+whose case I was overruled; and she was more years in learning than any
+of the rest had been months. The way of teaching was this: The day
+before a child began to learn, the house was set in order, every one's
+work appointed them, and a charge given that none should come into the
+room from nine till twelve, or from two till five, which were our school
+hours. One day was allowed the child wherein to learn its letters, and
+each of them did in that time know <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span>all its letters, great and small,
+except Molly and Nancy, who were a day and a half before they knew them
+perfectly, for which I then thought them very dull; but the reason why I
+thought them so, was because the rest learned them so readily; and your
+brother Samuel, who was the first child I ever taught, learnt the
+alphabet in a few hours. He was five years old the 10th of February; the
+next day he began to learn; and as soon as he knew the letters, began at
+the 1st chapter of Genesis. He was taught to spell the 1st verse, then
+to read it over and over till he could read it off hand without any
+hesitation;&mdash;so on to the second, &amp;c. till he took ten verses to a
+lesson, which he quickly did. Easter fell low that year, and by
+Whitsuntide he could read a chapter very well; for he read continually,
+and had such a prodigious memory, that I cannot remember ever to have
+told him the same word twice. What was yet stranger, any word he had
+learnt in his lesson, he knew wherever he saw it, either in his Bible or
+any other book, by which means he learnt very soon to read an English
+author well.</p>
+
+<p>"The same method was observed with them all. As soon as they knew the
+letters, they were first put to spell and read one line, then a verse,
+never leaving till perfect in their lesson, were it shorter or longer.
+So one or other continued reading at school, time about, without any
+intermission; and before we left school, each child read what he had
+learned that morning, and ere we parted in the afternoon, what he had
+learned that day."&mdash;<i>Southey's Life of Wesley</i>, Note, p. 429.</p>
+
+<p>In the above simple narrative, there is a distinct reference to the
+principles of "Reiteration," and "Individuation," and hence Mrs Wesley's
+great success.</p>
+
+
+<p>Note I, p. 162.&mdash;When the true nature of Education is better understood,
+it will be found that a child may have advanced far on its path by oral
+instruction, before it be either necessary or desirable that he should
+be compelled to read for himself. To assist the parent and teacher in
+this preliminary part of their duty, the "First Initiatory Catechism,"
+or the "First Steps" to the Old and the New Testaments, with their
+respective Keys, may be used with advantage,&mdash;they having been
+constructed upon the principles here recommended. But the best Book <i>to
+begin with</i>, will be the "Groupings from Scripture," with its Key for
+the use of monitors, or older children, who can by its means greatly
+assist the parent or teacher in the work. In making use of that little
+book, the sentences are to be announced in whole or in parts to the
+pupils one by one; and upon which they are to be thoroughly and
+extensively catechised. As for example, the first announcement may be
+given thus:&mdash;"<i>God made the first man</i>," from which the following
+questions may be formed&mdash;"Who made the first man?" "Whom did God make?"
+"What man did God make?" "What did God do to the first man?" The teacher
+or monitor ought then to add the additional fact, "that God made the
+first man <i>of clay</i>," and catechise again upon the whole. After this is
+well understood, he may complete the sentence, "God made the first man
+of clay, <i>and called him Adam</i>." The child will then be able&mdash;not to
+repeat the words <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</a></span>only, for that is not the effect of this
+exercise,&mdash;but to communicate the ideas in his <i>own words</i>; which,
+however, will generally be found to be the very same as in the book.
+This distinction is most important. When the whole section has been
+completely mastered, the lessons and their applications may also be
+taught;&mdash;by all of which the mental faculties will soon become vigorous
+and lively, and the pupil will be well prepared for all the exercises to
+which he may afterwards be called.</p>
+
+
+<p>Note K, p. 151.&mdash;The art of catechising from any lesson or book, is a
+very simple one when the principle is understood. It consists simply in
+selecting the most important words contained in the announcement, and
+forming a question upon each of them, in such a manner, as to require
+that particular word from the pupil as the answer to the question raised
+upon it. For example, when the teacher has in four words announced the
+fact, that "Jesus died for sinners;" he will be able to form a question
+from the three chief ones, "Jesus,"&mdash;"died," and "sinners." These
+questions will be, "Who died?"&mdash;"What did Jesus do for sinners?" and
+"For whom did Jesus die?" It is not necessary that the words should be
+taken up in their order, which may be always left to the discretion of
+the teacher. For the several parts of this principle, as employed upon
+clauses, or whole sentences or subjects, see next Note L.</p>
+
+
+<p>Note L, p. 185.&mdash;The Catechetical Exercise has for convenience been
+divided into three kinds of exercises, called the "Connecting Exercise,"
+the "General Exercise," and the "Verbal Exercise." The "Connecting
+Exercise," includes those comprehensive questions, which require the
+pupil to go over perhaps a whole subject, or several sentences, to
+complete his answer; as if in teaching the Parable of the Sower, the
+pupil were asked, "What were the several kinds of ground on which the
+seed was sown?" or, "What is said of the seed sown by the way side?" In
+answering either of these questions he would have to combine many ideas,
+and the truths contained in several distinct clauses. This exercise is
+used commonly in revising several sections at a time after they have
+been taught.</p>
+
+<p>The "General Exercise," is used in all the advanced classes, sometimes
+in connection with the Verbal Exercise, and includes those questions
+chiefly which are formed upon clauses in the book or section taught. As,
+for example, when the pupil is asked, "What became of the seed sown by
+the way side?" or, "What did the birds of the air do?" he has to give
+one or more clauses, containing several ideas, as his answer.</p>
+
+<p>The "Verbal Exercise" has to do only with the words of the clauses, and
+the single idea which the particular word is intended to convey; as when
+it is said, "the birds of the air devoured it up;" the questions, "What
+devoured the seed?" "What birds?" "What did the birds do?" "What did the
+birds devour?" refer chiefly to the words, and the single ideas which
+they communicate.</p>
+
+<p>It may be here remarked, however, that although these <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</a></span>exercises are
+divided in theory, they ought seldom to be altogether separated in
+practice. In using the Verbal Exercise with the younger classes, many
+questions will be required which properly belong to the "General;" and
+in using the "General Exercise" with the advanced classes, neither the
+"Connecting," nor the "Verbal Exercise," ought to be altogether
+excluded.</p>
+
+
+<p>Note M, p. 192.&mdash;In communicating knowledge to the young by means of the
+Catechetical Exercise, care ought to be taken that the truths or ideas
+be communicated regularly, and not too many at a time. In making use of
+the "Groupings," or "First Steps," the contents of one section ought to
+be well understood, and all the circumstances to be made familiar,
+before the child passes to another. To do otherwise is not to forward,
+but to retard his advance in the attainment of knowledge. There ought
+also to be frequent returns upon the sections formerly mastered, so that
+the truths be more and more firmly fixed upon the memory. This will also
+be accomplished by means of the lessons from the several moral truths
+taught, and by their application to the circumstances of ordinary life.</p>
+
+<p>It is also a matter of great practical importance, in teaching any
+subject, that the teacher confine himself strictly to it, avoiding all
+kinds of "Catechetical Wandering," by which the minds of his pupils will
+be distracted and enfeebled if they <i>cannot</i> follow him, and by which
+their attention will be powerfully drawn away from the lesson, if they
+<i>can</i>.&mdash;For example, if the subject to be taught be the "Good
+Samaritan," nothing can be plainer than that the mind of the pupil ought
+to be concentrated upon the subject, till it be "grouped," and fixed
+upon the mind and memory as one combined and moving scene, so that one
+circumstance in the story will conjure up all the others.&mdash;This is
+Nature's plan.&mdash;But if the teacher, at the very commencement, when the
+child has read that "a certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho,"
+shall call his attention from the story itself, to ask where Jerusalem
+was? What was Judea? Who dwelt there? Who was their progenitor? From
+what bondage were they saved? Who conducted them through the wilderness?
+Who brought them into Judea? requiring the whole history of the Jews,
+their captivity, and restoration; the effect is most pernicious, and is
+fatal to the great design intended by the teacher. It is destructive of
+that habit of concentration of mind upon a particular subject, which is
+always the accompaniment of genius; and which ought to be cultivated in
+the young with the greatest assiduity and care. But this habit of
+"Catechetical Wandering," does not stop here, for the teacher has yet
+another word in this first sentence which admits of a similar treatment;
+and instead of returning to the lesson, he takes up the word "Jericho,"
+by means of which he follows a similar course; "riding off" from the
+original subject, and leaving the child bewildered and confused, to
+commence again, to be again interrupted and distracted by other
+irrelevant questions. Many evils result from this practice; and the
+cause is obvious. For if the child has been taught these irrelevant
+truths before, this is obviously not the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</a></span>time to introduce them, when
+he is in the very act of <i>learning a new subject</i>;&mdash;and if he has not
+been taught them previously, the matter becomes worse; for by this
+attempt to teach a variety of new things at the same time, some
+important principles of Nature are still more violently
+outraged.&mdash;<i>After</i> the subject has been taught, and the child is called
+on to <i>revise</i> his several lessons, then is the time to combine them,
+and to point out their various connections,&mdash;but not before.</p>
+
+
+<p>Note N, p. 195.&mdash;It will always be found advisable to teach the alphabet
+to children long before they begin to read; and while they are being
+verbally exercised on the "Groupings from Scripture," and other books of
+a similar kind. To do so at home by way of games, will be found easiest
+for the parent, and most pleasant for the child. By having the small
+letters on four dice, (six on each,) and allowing the use of only one
+till the six letters on its sides are familiar;&mdash;and not giving the
+third, till those on the two first have been mastered; and the same with
+the fourth,&mdash;will be found useful, provided they be only occasionally
+made use of. A too frequent repetition of the <i>game</i> will destroy its
+effect; and therefore, as there is sufficient time, it ought only to be
+allowed on proper, and perhaps on <i>great</i> occasions. Other contrivances,
+besides those given in the text, such as making the child guess at
+letters, drawing letters from a bag, and naming them, &amp;c. will readily
+occur to ingenious parents or teachers. It should be observed, that as
+this acquirement is needed but <i>once</i> in the child's lifetime, a little
+pains or trouble ought not to be grudged in forwarding it.</p>
+
+
+<p>Note O, p. 208.&mdash;In using the "First Class Book on the Lesson System,"
+the teacher must take care that the letters and their sounds, or powers,
+be perfectly familiar to the child before he begins to read. The first
+lesson, of course, is composed altogether of words new to the child,
+each of which he must be taught to <i>read</i> by combining the powers of the
+letters composing it;&mdash;and he must never be allowed to pass on to the
+following word, till all the previous ones can be correctly and readily
+decyphered. Before beginning to the second, or succeeding lessons, the
+new words occurring in it, (which are prefixed,) must be read and made
+familiar to him one by one, and explained if necessary. By this means he
+will soon be able to <i>pick up the ideas</i> in his lesson by even a first
+reading, which is the great end that the teacher ought to have in
+view.&mdash;The capital letters need not be taught till the child comes to
+them in his reading.&mdash;The lessons being consecutive, none must be
+omitted.</p>
+
+
+<p>Note P, p. 220.&mdash;The nature of successive "Steps" will be better
+understood by using, than by describing them. The following, however,
+will give some idea of their design; keeping in mind, that the contents
+of the several branches must be written out in such a manner as to
+convey the ideas in the common way. The following is a rude sketch of
+what the History of Joseph would be like, if the ideas under each branch
+of the analysis were fairly written out as First, Second, and Third
+Steps.</p>
+<br />
+
+<p class="cen"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</a></span>ANALYTICAL TABLE.</p>
+
+<p class="cen">SHEWING THE NATURE OF SUCCESSIVE STEPS IN EDUCATION.</p>
+
+<p class="cen">THE HISTORY OF JOSEPH.</p>
+
+
+<table border="0" width="100%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Joseph">
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdctb" width="20%">Substance of a First Step.</td>
+  <td class="tdctlb" width="20%">Substance of a Second Step.</td>
+  <td class="tdctlb" width="60%">Substance of a Third Step.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl" rowspan="5">Joseph was beloved by his father, and hated by his brothers;</td>
+  <td class="tdll">Joseph's father was partial to him.</td>
+  <td class="tdll">Jacob loved Joseph best of  his family; who brougoht him the evil reports of
+    them; and got a coat of many colours.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdll">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdll">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdll">And he dreamed that he was to be great.</td>
+  <td class="tdll">Joseph told his dream of the sheaves, and his brothers hated him the more. He
+    told his dream of the sun and stars; and his father observed the saying.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdll">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdll">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdll">These things made the family uneasy.</td>
+  <td class="tdll">His brothers would not speak peaceably to him; and envied and hated him; and
+    his father expostulated with him.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc">&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;</td>
+  <td class="tdcl">&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;</td>
+  <td class="tdcl">&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl" rowspan="5">And although he was long in affliction,</td>
+  <td class="tdll">Joseph was cruelly used by his brothers,</td>
+  <td class="tdll">Joseph sought his brothers at Dothan; was cast into a pit, and afterwards
+    sold for a slave. His brothers concealed the crime, and his father mourned him as dead.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdll">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdll">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdll" style="vertical-align: top;">And was made a slave to Potiphar</td>
+  <td class="tdll">Joseph was carried to Egypt, and was a slave in Potiphar's house; where he
+    was industrious and faithful; and was tempted by his mistress.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdll">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdll">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdll" style="vertical-align: top;">Who unjustly cast him into prison.</td>
+  <td class="tdll">Joseph was unjustly put into confinement. He was useful in prison, where a
+    butler and baker were confined. Joseph interpreted their dreams; but was left in prison by
+    the butler forgetting him.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdc">&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;</td>
+  <td class="tdcl">&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;</td>
+  <td class="tdcl">&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl" rowspan="7">He rose at last to great prosperity.</td>
+  <td class="tdll" style="vertical-align: top;">He was brought out to Pharoah,</td>
+  <td class="tdll">Pharoah was displeased with the magicians. The butler told him of Joseph; and
+    Joseph interpreted his dreams, and was advanced to authority.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdll">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdll">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdll" style="vertical-align: top;">And made ruler over all Egypt;</td>
+  <td class="tdll">Joseph married and was made next to Pharoah. He collected corn for seven
+    years; Distributed it to all nations; and sold it for the cattle and lands of Egypt.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdll">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdll">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdll" style="vertical-align: top;">During which time he behaved with great
+    prudence to his brothers;</td>
+  <td class="tdll">Joseph's brothers came to Egypt for food; and he spake roughly to them. He
+    detained Simeon; Brought and entertained Benjamin; and hid his cup in Benjamin's sack. He
+    then made himself known to his brothers.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdll">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdll">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdll" style="vertical-align: top;">And kindly took care of the whole family.</td>
+  <td class="tdll">Joseph brought his father and family to Egypt. He settled, supported, and
+    honoured them. He buried his father, and left several charges with his brothers.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl" style="border-top: .5pt black solid;">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl" style="border-top: .5pt black solid;">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl" style="border-top: .5pt black solid;">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+
+
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</a></span>Note Q, p. 225.&mdash;In giving a specimen of this mode of illustrating a
+connected subject, we may only premise, that the method, as a branch of
+Education, requires that all the general heads should be perceived
+first, before any of them is sub-divided. For example, Paul's sermon at
+Antioch, (Acts xiii.) must be perceived by the pupil in its great
+outline, or general heads, before he be called on to separate these into
+their several particulars. These heads as given in the Analysis, (Help
+to Acts, vol. I. p. 187,) are to the following purport:</p>
+
+<p>"The design of Paul in this discourse appears to be,</p>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" width="100%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Conciliate">
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr" width="8%" style="padding-right: 0.5em;">I.</td>
+  <td class="tdl" width="92%">To conciliate the Jews.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr" style="padding-right: 0.5em;">II.</td>
+  <td class="tdl">To prove that the Messiah had already come, and that Jesus was that Messiah.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr" style="padding-right: 0.5em;">III.</td>
+  <td class="tdl">To remove certain objections against Jesus being the Messiah.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr" style="padding-right: 0.5em;">IV.</td>
+  <td class="tdl">To establish the claims of Jesus as the Messiah; and,</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr" style="padding-right: 0.5em;">V.</td>
+  <td class="tdl">To press his salvation  upon their notice and acceptance."</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<p>When these general divisions, or heads, are understood, either by
+reading the respective verses which they occupy, or by the oral
+illustration of the teacher, each of them may then be taken separately,
+and sub-divided into its parts. For example, the first head, which in
+the analysis is, "<i>First</i>, Paul endeavours to conciliate the Jews by
+giving a brief outline of their history, till the days of David, to whom
+the Messiah was specially promised," ver. 17-23. This first of the above
+five heads, is separable into the following particulars. "1. The
+condition of the Jews in, and their deliverance from, Egypt;&mdash;2. Their
+history in the wilderness;&mdash;3. The destruction of their enemies, and
+their settlement in Canaan;&mdash;4. Of the Judges till the time of
+Samuel;&mdash;5. The origin of the kingly authority in Israel;&mdash;and 6. The
+history of their two first kings." These again may be sub-divided into
+their several parts, of which the last will form a good example. It
+appears in the Analysis in the following form:</p>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" width="100%" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="History">
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr" width="8%">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl" width="3%">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl" width="5%">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl" width="84%">&nbsp;</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr" style="padding-right: 0.3em;">VI.</td>
+  <td class="tdl" colspan="3">History of their two first kings.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr" style="padding-right: 0.3em;">i.</td>
+  <td class="tdl" colspan="3">Of Saul, and the time of his reign, ver. 21.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr" style="padding-right: 0.3em;">ii.</td>
+  <td class="tdl" colspan="3">Of David, and his character.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl" colspan="3">1. Saul was removed to make room for David, ver. 22.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl" colspan="3">2. David was chosen by God to be their king, ver. 22.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdr">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl" colspan="3">3. An account of David's character, and God's dealing with him.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl" colspan="2">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl" colspan="2">[1.] God's testimony concerning David.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl" colspan="3">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">(1.) What David was, ver. 22.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl" colspan="3">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">(2.) What David was to do, ver. 22.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl" colspan="2">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl" colspan="2">[2.] God's promise to David.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl" colspan="3">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">(1.) A saviour was to be raised up for Israel, ver. 23.</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+  <td class="tdl" colspan="3">&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl">(2.) This Saviour was to be of David's seed, ver. 23.</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>Note R, p. 314.&mdash;There is not perhaps a subject in the whole range of
+human investigation that is so much misunderstood in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</a></span>practice, as a
+person's own happiness. Whatever causes uneasiness, or distress, or
+anxiety of mind, destroys happiness;&mdash;which shews that it is this
+pleasure, or delight itself,&mdash;this exercise of the heart, that we are
+seeking, and not the money, or the applause, or the sensual indulgences,
+which sometimes procure it. The heart of man has been made for something
+higher and more noble than these grovelling objects of sense and time.
+History and experience shew, that it can never be satisfied with any
+finite good; and especially, the possession of all earthly enjoyments
+only leaves the void more conspicuous and more painful. The whole world,
+if it were attained, would but more powerfully illustrate its own
+poverty; for even Alexander weeps because there are no more worlds to
+conquer. Scripture declares, and Nature, so far as we can trace her,
+confirms it, that man&mdash;and man alone&mdash;was <i>made after the image of
+God</i>,&mdash;and therefore nothing short of God himself can ever satisfy
+<i>him</i>. Heaven itself would be inadequate to fill the soul, or to allay
+the cravings of such a being. The fellowship and love of the Almighty,
+and that <i>alone</i>, by the very constitution of our nature, can fill and
+satisfy the boundless desires of the human heart. They who stop short of
+this, can never be satisfied; while they who place their happiness on
+<span class="smcap">Him</span>, will always be full, because he alone is infinite. The
+love of God, and the desire for his glory then, are the only true
+foundation of human happiness. And hence it is, that the perfection of
+enjoyment, and the whole sum of duty, meet in this one point,&mdash;<span class="smcap">the
+love of god</span>.</p>
+
+
+<p>Note S, p. 318.&mdash;The writer is aware that, in doing justice to this
+department of a child's education, it is impossible to avoid the charge
+of "enthusiasm," perhaps "illiberality," or "fanaticism." In what we
+have urged in the preceding pages, we have endeavoured calmly to state
+and illustrate simple facts,&mdash;plain indications of Nature,&mdash;and to draw
+the obvious deductions which they suggest. We intend to follow precisely
+the same course here, although quite aware that we are much more liable
+to be misunderstood, or misrepresented. We shall at least endeavour
+calmly to put what we have to say upon a true philosophical basis.</p>
+
+<p>We all admire what is termed "Roman Greatness,"&mdash;that self-esteem that
+would not allow the possessor to degrade himself, even in his own
+estimation, by indulging in any thing that was mean, or disreputable, or
+contrary to the unchangeable rule of right. Cato's probity, who chose to
+die rather than appear to connive at selfishness; and Brutus's love of
+justice, who could, with a noble heroism, and without faltering, doom
+even his own sons to death in the midst of the entreaties of his friends
+for their pardon, and the concurrence of the people;&mdash;are but two out of
+numberless instances from ancient history. Now we ask, if we admire, and
+approve of men being so jealous of <i>their</i> honour, is it to be imagined
+that the God who made them, and who implanted those high moral
+sentiments in their breasts, should be less jealous of <i>his</i>?&mdash;Every one
+will acknowledge that he is infinitely more so.&mdash;And it is in accordance
+with this true philosophical sentiment, that we come to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</a></span>the conclusion,
+that to teach religion,&mdash;that is, to teach the character of God, and the
+duty we owe him,&mdash;without what is called the "peculiar doctrines" of
+Christianity, is to lower the character of the Almighty, and to impugn
+his holiness, his faithfulness, his justice, and even his
+goodness;&mdash;things under the imputation of which even a high-minded Roman
+would have felt himself degraded and insulted.</p>
+
+<p>In teaching Religion and Morality to the young, therefore, the pupil
+must know, that God is too holy to look upon sin, or to connive at
+it;&mdash;too just to permit the very least transgression to pass with
+impunity;&mdash;too faithful to allow his intimations, either in Nature, or
+in Providence, or in Scripture, ever to fail, or to be called in
+question, without danger;&mdash;and too good to risk the happiness of his
+holy creatures, by allowing them to suppose it even <i>possible</i> that they
+can ever indulge in sin, and yet escape misery. Where a knowledge of
+these attributes of Deity is <i>wanting</i>, his character must appear
+grievously defective; but wherever they are <i>denied</i>, it is most
+blasphemously dishonoured.&mdash;Hence the importance of even a child knowing
+how it is that "God can be just, while he justifies the ungodly."</p>
+
+<p>All these perfections, with the additional revelation of his mercy and
+grace, are exhibited, and greatly magnified and honoured, by the
+Christian scheme; and it is to the simplicity of this, as the foundation
+of the child's education, that we wish at present to direct the
+attention of the parent and teacher.</p>
+
+<p>A child may be taught to know that God hates sin, and that he must, as a
+just God, punish even the least transgression. There is no difficulty in
+understanding this simple truth. And it may be made equally clear, that
+man must have suffered for himself, and that for ever, if God had not
+sent his Son Jesus Christ to endure in their place the punishment which
+the inflexible nature of his justice required. To believe that God will
+pardon sin <i>without</i> such an atonement, is, as we have shewn, to sully
+the character of God; while to believe it, and to act upon the belief,
+is at once the highest honour we can pay to his perfections, and becomes
+the strongest possible stimulant to a grateful heart to avoid sin, and
+to strive to love and to obey Him. This accordingly is the sum of
+Christianity, when divested of its technicalities; and this is the
+foundation,&mdash;and the only proper foundation, upon which to rear either
+morality or religion. But it <i>does</i> form a solid and ample foundation
+for that purpose. And there is perhaps no Christian of any sect who will
+deny, that either child or adult, who simply depends for pardon and
+acceptance with a holy God, on the substitution of the Saviour, and who,
+in evidence of his sincerity, strives to hate and avoid sin, and to love
+and obey God, is not in a safe state.</p>
+
+<p>In teaching these simple fundamental truths to the young, the parent or
+teacher will find the "Shorter Confession of Faith," of great use. Its
+"First Step" ought to be taught first; and the second must on no account
+be proceeded with, till the truths in the first have become familiar.
+The same rule ought also to be adopted with the second, before passing
+to the third. The "First Initiatory <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</a></span>Catechism" has also been found of
+great benefit to the young; and which is very easily and successfully
+taught by means of its Key.</p>
+
+<p>The foundation being thus laid, the great object of the teacher then is
+to train the child to duty;&mdash;teaching, in a familiar way, what <i>conduct</i>
+ought to be avoided, and what pursued,&mdash;what is displeasing to God, and
+what he delights in. This can only be done, or at least is best done, by
+drawing lessons from Scripture. The very commandment, "Thou shalt not
+steal," is dealt with by Nature in this way; for when we examine the
+operation of the mind, when acting even upon the direct precept, we find
+that it assumes the form of a lesson, which in that case is only an echo
+of the command. Scripture example and narrative, however, are always
+preferable with children; and perhaps the best method of initiating them
+into the ability to perceive and draw lessons generally, will be to
+begin and carry them forward by means of the "Progressive Exercises" at
+the end of the First Initiatory Catechism. Very young children are able
+to <i>commence</i> this important exercise; and the information and
+directions given in the Key will enable any monitor to carry them
+forward.</p>
+
+<p>The application of the lessons ought to be the principal concern of the
+teacher. On this much of their utility depends, and of which the
+following will afford a sufficient example.</p>
+
+<p>In the 5th line of the "Progressive Exercises," above referred to, the
+announcement is simply that "Rebekah was obliging,"&mdash;from which the
+child will readily enough draw the lesson, that "we also should be
+obliging." But to <i>apply</i> this lesson, the teacher is to suppose a
+corresponding case, and to ask the child how it ought to behave on that
+occasion. For example, he may ask, "If a companion wanted a sight of
+your book, what should you do?" "Lend it to him."&mdash;"From what do you get
+that lesson?" "From Rebekah being obliging."&mdash;"If you saw your companion
+drop his ball, or his marble, without perceiving it, what should you
+do?" "Pick it up and give it to him."&mdash;"How do you know that you ought
+to do that?" "From God giving Rebekah as our example, who was obliging."</p>
+
+<p>The field which here opens up for the ingenuity of the teacher for the
+moral improvement of the young is almost boundless.</p>
+
+
+<p>Note T, p. 318.&mdash;The method which both Nature and experience have
+pointed out, as the best for giving a practical knowledge of the
+principles of Natural Philosophy to children, is to state and explain
+some general principle, such as, that "Soft and porous bodies are bad
+conductors (of heat;") and then set them to think, by asking what
+special lessons that general truth teaches them. This leads the pupil to
+a train of thought, which will at all events prepare him for the proper
+lessons when suggested by the teacher, and which will enable him at once
+to perceive why his mother has to make use of a cloth when using the
+smoothing iron; why a metal tea-pot must have a wooden handle;&mdash;why soft
+clothing preserves the heat of his body, and keeps him warm;&mdash;and why
+the poker by the fire gets heated throughout, while a piece of wood, the
+same length and in the same spot, remains comparatively cool.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</a></span>To teach the phenomena of Nature, out of their mutual relations to the
+general principle, would be both laborious and evanescent, because of
+the want of the great connecting link, afforded by the analytical method
+here supposed. It was by the above means that the children, in the
+experiment in Aberdeen, and more especially those in that at Newry,
+appeared to the examinators to be inexhaustible; they having, during a
+space of time unprecedentedly short, got hold of principles which
+enabled them, without any great stretch of memory, and by the
+association of ideas, to account for hundreds of familiar objects and
+circumstances, the nature and working of which they had never perhaps
+thought of before.</p>
+
+<p>The application of the lessons in these exercises is equally necessary,
+and equally beneficial. It may be <i>directly</i> from some of the lessons
+drawn, such as, "Why is it inconvenient to handle hot irons?" "Because
+hard bodies readily conduct heat." Or it may be varied by asking the
+reason of a phenomenon not formerly perceived;&mdash;such as, "Why does the
+fire scorch the foot when it is without a stocking, and not when we have
+a stocking on?" "Because soft bodies, such as the stocking, do not
+readily conduct heat." These are sufficient as specimens of the mode of
+conducting classes upon these principles; the "Steps," and their "Keys,"
+constructed for the purpose, will assist both teacher and pupil in their
+proper working.</p>
+
+
+<p>Note U, p. 320.&mdash;In teaching children to read, two things are to be
+specially observed.&mdash;<i>First</i>, that the child shall know that the letters
+in a syllable are used merely as the signs of sound, by the combination
+of which he is to get a <i>hint</i> only of the sound of the whole word. This
+will very soon enable him to teach himself.&mdash;The <i>second</i> is, that the
+child shall know that his reading is only another way of getting at
+truth by words <i>seen</i>, instead of words <i>heard</i>. This will make him
+search for the ideas, even while learning to read; and the habit being
+formed, he will never afterwards be satisfied without understanding all
+that he reads.</p>
+
+<p>The letters of the Alphabet, with their powers, having been made
+familiar, the "First Class Book" may be put into the pupil's hand, and
+the first word taught him by the combination of the three
+letters,&mdash;"Bob." Shew him how the letters pronounced shortly, and
+rapidly one after another, <i>form the word</i>. He will then be able to
+<i>read</i> this word wherever he finds it. The word "has," is to be taught
+in the same way, and then the word "dog." He must then be asked, "Who
+has a dog?" and "What has Bob?" till he understands that these three
+words convey an idea. The second and succeeding lines are to be taught
+the same way;&mdash;the teacher making him read the words in different parts
+<i>out of their order</i>, to take care that he does not repeat by rote.</p>
+
+<p>At every new lesson he must learn to read the words which precede it,
+and to read them <i>well</i> before beginning. The great design of his
+reading being to collect the ideas conveyed by the words, his doing so
+is greatly facilitated by his learning to read the words before
+beginning to the lesson. It is only necessary to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</a></span>remark, that the
+homely nature of the lessons tends greatly to produce the effect here
+designed, and which would not perhaps be so successfully accomplished at
+this stage in any other way.</p>
+
+<p>Children may be taught to <i>write</i> almost as soon as they can read a few
+of their lessons. Care being taken that they hold the pen properly, they
+will soon learn to form the letters as an amusement;&mdash;and when these are
+known, they will soon be able to combine them into words. When they
+begin to write sentences, it ought to be from their own minds, or
+memories, but not from copies. Writing is merely an imitation of Nature
+in her operation of conveying ideas by speech; and the nearer the
+imitation can be made to correspond with the original, the more perfect
+will it be. Speech is intended solely for the communication of our
+ideas;&mdash;and so should writing. We teach children words and the names of
+things, but we never teach them to express their own thoughts, by
+rehearsing after us either long or short speeches of our own. Neither
+can we so readily teach children to express their own thoughts by
+writing, if we attempt to do it by making them copy words which others
+have thought for them, and the ideas of which they themselves perhaps do
+not perceive. Copy-lines are a great hinderance to the young; and even
+for teaching the correct and elegant formation of the letters they do
+not appear to be always necessary.</p>
+
+
+<p>Note V, p. 320.&mdash;Arithmetic, and numerical calculations of every kind,
+are wrought by what have been termed "the four simple Rules," viz.
+Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, and Division. They who are expert
+and accurate in working <i>these</i>, have only to learn the several rules by
+which they are applied to all the varied purposes of life, to be perfect
+arithmeticians.</p>
+
+<p>But when the working of these four rules is analysed, we find that, with
+the exception of the multiplication table, the whole four are merely
+different applications of the rule of addition. Subtraction is wrought by
+<i>adding</i> a supposed sum to the figure to be subtracted;&mdash;multiplication
+(with the exception mentioned above,) it wrought simply by <i>adding</i> the
+carryings and the aggregate of the several lines;&mdash;and division, with the
+same exception, is also in practice wrought by a series of <i>additions</i>. If
+then we shall suppose the multiplication table fully mastered, it follows,
+that the person who has attained greatest expertness <i>in addition</i>, will
+be the most expert in the working of any and every arithmetical exercise to
+which he may be called.</p>
+
+<p>But <i>expertness</i> in arithmetical calculations, is by no means so
+valuable as <i>accuracy</i>;&mdash;and upon the above principle, it also follows,
+that the person who acquires the greatest degree of accuracy and
+confidence in working <i>addition</i>, must, of course, be most accurate in
+all his calculations. The importance of this principle will be much more
+prized by and bye than it can be at present;&mdash;we shall however shew here
+how it may be taken advantage of.</p>
+
+<p>Upon the principle of Individuation, we have seen, that a child will
+learn one thing much better and sooner <i>by itself</i>, than when it is
+mixed up with several others; and therefore we come to the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</a></span>conclusion,
+that a child, when taught the practice of addition by itself, till he is
+fully master of it, both as respects rapidity and accuracy, has
+afterwards little more to do than to get a knowledge of rules. One
+month's systematic exercise in <i>this way</i>, will do more in forming a
+desirable accountant for a desk, than a whole year's exercise otherwise.
+In the one case, the pupil starts to the race without preparation, and
+with all his natural impediments clinging to him, which he has to
+disentangle and throw off one by one during the fatigues and turmoil of
+the contest; while the other, on the contrary, delays his start till he
+has deliberately searched them out and cast them aside, and thus
+prepared himself for the course. He then starts vigorous and light, to
+outstrip his labouring and lumbering competitors, not only in this, but
+in every after trial of strength and skill of a similar kind.</p>
+
+<p>To follow out this plan with success, the "Arithmetic Rod," containing
+three sides, has been provided. On one side there is a single line of
+figures, on the second two, and on the third three. These lines of
+figures for a school, ought to be painted on three boards sufficiently
+large for all to see them distinctly. The first line is to be mastered
+perfectly, before the second or the third is to be taught.</p>
+
+<p>The way to begin with the first line, is to make the pupil mentally add
+a certain sum to each figure on the board, say two, or seven, or
+fourteen, or any other sum, beginning always with a small one. He is
+besides to add the carryings also to each figure, and to write down the
+sum as he goes on. The beginner may be exercised with the sum of two, or
+even one, and have the sum increased, as he acquires a knowledge of the
+method. These sums, as the pupils advance, may be extended to any
+amount. The Key will shew, in every case, whether the exercise has been
+accurately performed; and by marking the time in any particular case,
+the teacher can measure exactly, every week or month, the advance of
+each pupil.</p>
+
+<p>The mental advantages of this exercise are numerous. Among other things
+it trains to a great command of the mind; and brings into exercise an
+important principle formerly illustrated, (Part III. ch. xi. p. 288,) by
+which the pupil acquires the ability to think one thing, and to do
+another.</p>
+
+<p>When the pupil is sufficiently expert at one line of figures, he should
+be exercised upon the B side of the rod, containing the double line. He
+is to practise adding each pair of the figures at a glance,&mdash;till he can
+run them over without difficulty, as if they were single figures. He is
+then to add a sum to <i>them</i>, as he did on the single line, till he can
+add the sum and the double figure as readily as he did one. The C side
+of the rod is to be treated in the same way;&mdash;first by adding all the
+three figures at a glance, and naming the sum of each, till he can do it
+as readily as if there was but one; and then he is to add any special
+sum to them as before.</p>
+
+
+<p>Note W, p. 321.&mdash;Children generally delight in music, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[Pg 345]</a></span>seldom weary
+in its exercise. It forms therefore, when judiciously managed, a most
+useful exercise in a school for the purposes of relaxation and variety,
+and for invigorating their minds after a lengthened engagement in drier
+studies. It thus not only becomes desirable to teach music in the
+seminary as a branch of education for after life, but for the purposes
+of present expediency.</p>
+
+<p>That music may be taught to the young in a manner much more simple than
+it has yet generally been done, is now matter of experience. The notes
+are only <i>seven</i>, and these are each as precise and definite in
+proportion to the key note as any letter in the alphabet. There is
+obviously no difficulty in teaching a child seven figures,&mdash;and there is
+in reality as little difficulty in teaching him seven notes; so that,
+having the key note, he will, in reading a tune, sound each in its order
+when presented to him, as readily and accurately as he would read so
+many figures.</p>
+
+<p>To render this exercise more simple to children, and more convenient in
+a school, the notes have been represented by figures, 1 being the key
+note. The other notes rise in the common gradation from 1 to 8, which is
+the key note in alt. By this means, the teacher by writing on the common
+black board a few figures, gives the children the tune, which a very
+little practice enables them to read as readily as they would the words
+to which they adapt it.</p>
+
+<p>For particulars as to time, &amp;c. see "Shorter Catechism Hymn Book," p. 23
+and 24.</p>
+
+
+<p>Note X, p. 264.&mdash;There is perhaps no department in the family economy
+which ought to be so cautiously filled up as the <i>nursery maid</i>; and yet
+we generally find, that the duties of this office are frequently handed
+over to any thoughtless giddy girl, whose appearance is "shewy,"
+although she be without education, without experience, and often without
+principle. Why there has been as yet no regular seminary for the
+training of young persons of good principles, for the responsible duties
+of the nursery, is not a little remarkable. Not one of the many valuable
+institutions for particular classes is so much wanted, and which, if
+properly conducted, would be a greater blessing to families and to
+society generally. One of the most beautiful features in our infant
+schools is the circumstance, that they have tended greatly to lessen
+this evil, and in some measure to supply the desideratum.</p>
+
+
+<p>Note Y, p. 268.&mdash;The question of rewards and punishments in a public
+school is a difficult one; and although there has of late been an
+obvious improvement in this respect, we are afraid that the principles
+which ought to regulate them are not yet very clearly understood. Hence
+the contrariety of sentiments on the subject, with little more than mere
+<i>opinions</i> offered to support them. The following few crude thoughts on
+the subject, may perhaps lead others better qualified to consider it
+more extensively.</p>
+
+<p>We can all readily enough distinguish the difference between <i>physical</i>
+efforts, <i>intellectual</i> efforts, and <i>moral</i> efforts; but we are very
+ready to confound the rewards which, we think, Nature has <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[Pg 346]</a></span>pointed out
+as most appropriate to each. For physical exertions, such as the race,
+or the wrestling match, physical returns appear natural and appropriate
+enough; and therefore, money, decorations, or other physical honours,
+are the ordinary rewards for excelling in any of them. But to desire
+money as a return for intellectual excellence, appears to every well
+constituted mind as sordid and unseemly. The reward for the exertion of
+intellect must partake of intellectual dignity; and hence it is, that
+esteem, applause, or admiration,&mdash;the incense of the <i>mind</i>,&mdash;appears to
+be the natural return for such exertions. In proof of this, we may
+instance the sensible degradation which is felt, when the reward
+proffered for mental efforts, even in children, takes the form of food,
+or clothing, or money;&mdash;and the kind of estimation in which students
+hold their medals, books, and other prizes, acquired at their several
+seminaries. These are never valued for their intrinsic worth, but only
+as permanent signs of <i>approbation</i>, or <i>admiration</i>,&mdash;feelings which
+are purely intellectual in their character, and perfectly distinct from
+the grossness of physical rewards on the one hand, and the
+affections&mdash;the moral incense of the <i>heart</i>,&mdash;on the other.</p>
+
+<p>All this appears pretty evident; and it obviously leads us to the next
+and concluding step, which is, that the natural and proper reward for
+<i>moral</i> actions, ought to partake of the moral character. It is the love
+and affection of those we serve, or who are called on to estimate, or to
+decide on the character of our actions,&mdash;that is the proper, the
+natural, the desirable return. A little consideration, we think, will
+shew us, that this, as a general principle, is really correct; and that
+applause, admiration, or wonder, when they are afforded without
+<i>affection</i>, do not satisfy the heart, that in the exercise of love,
+seeks love in return.&mdash;It is the friendship, the fellowship, the
+affections of those whom we aim at pleasing, that alone can approve
+itself to our minds as the appropriate returns for moral actions.</p>
+
+
+<p>Note Z, p. 299.&mdash;The following are a few specimens of the paraphrastic
+exercise, as employed upon different subjects:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"But Martha was [<i>cumbered</i>] [<i>about much serving</i>,] and came to
+[<i>him</i>,] and said, Lord, [<i>dost thou not care</i>] that my sister hath left
+me to [<i>serve</i>] alone? [<i>bid</i>] her, therefore, that she [<i>help</i>] me."</p>
+
+<p>This verse is paraphrased in the Help to Luke by substituting the
+explanation of the words printed in Italics, and within brackets, for
+the words themselves, in the following manner:</p>
+
+<p>"<i>But Martha was</i> [much incommoded and harassed] [to get every thing in
+order for the temporal accommodation of Jesus and his disciples,] <i>and
+came to</i> [Jesus,] <i>and said, Lord</i>, [art thou indifferent or careless
+about the circumstance] <i>that my sister hath left me to</i> [prepare the
+victuals, and do all the work of the house] <i>alone</i>? [Command] <i>her,
+therefore, that she</i> [leave her seat at thy feet, and come to assist]
+<i>me</i>."</p>
+
+<p>"Every thing [<i>in nature</i>] [<i>shews forth</i>] God's [<i>wisdom</i>,] [<i>power</i>,]
+and [<i>goodness</i>;] but the Bible, which is the [<i>word of God</i>,] and which
+was [<i>written</i>] by [<i>holy</i>] men at [<i>different times</i>,] under [<i>his
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[Pg 347]</a></span>direction</i>,] has most [<i>clearly</i>] [<i>revealed</i>] what [<i>God is</i>,] what he
+has done and what [<i>we should do</i>."]</p>
+
+<p>This is paraphrased in the Key to the Second Initiatory Catechism thus:</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Every thing</i> [that has been made in the world and sky] [gives clear
+and constant proof of] <i>God's</i> [chusing the best ends, and accomplishing
+these by the best means,] [his being able to do any thing, and every
+thing,] <i>and</i> [never ceasing to care for, and to promote the happiness
+of all his creatures;]&mdash;<i>but the Bible,&mdash;which is the</i> [only declaration
+of God's mind and will to man,] <i>and which was</i> [composed, and put, with
+pen and ink, upon parchment or paper,] <i>by</i> [good and pious] <i>men, at</i>
+[dates long distant from each other,] <i>under</i> [the care of God, who told
+them what they were to write,]&mdash;<i>has most</i> [distinctly and plainly,]
+[brought into view, and let us know,] <i>what</i> [God's character and
+perfections are,] <i>what he has done, and what</i> [is our duty, both to God
+and man."]</p>
+
+<p>"The [<i>word of God</i>,] which is contained in the [<i>Scriptures</i>] of the
+Old and New Testament, is the only [<i>rule</i>] to [<i>direct us</i>] how we may
+glorify and enjoy him."</p>
+
+<p>This is paraphrased in the Key to the Shorter Catechism in the following
+manner:</p>
+
+<p>"<i>The</i> [revelation of God's will,] <i>which is contained in the</i>
+[writings] <i>of the Old and New Testament, is the only</i> [guide] <i>to</i>
+[give us information] <i>how we may glorify and enjoy him</i>."</p>
+
+
+<p>Note A a, p. 321.&mdash;Nature has obviously intended that all men should be
+both physically and mentally employed; and that, for the proper
+maintenance of health, the time occupied by <i>physical</i> exercise, ought
+in general to exceed that which is employed exclusively in study. The
+combination of both in ordinary cases, however, is still more plainly
+indicated. In the circumstances of the young, physical exercise is
+peculiarly necessary. The writer looks forward with confidence to a
+time, when to every seminary of eminence will be attached a sufficient
+plot of ground for gardening and agricultural purposes, that the
+physical energies of the pupils may not be allowed irregularly to run to
+waste, as at present; but when they shall be systematically directed to
+interesting, and at the same time to useful purposes. The hand-swing,
+although an excellent substitute, will never cope in interest, even to a
+child, with the moderate use of the hoe, the rake, or the spade. Such a
+system will produce many and valuable advantages to the young.
+Gardening, by postponing the results of labour, exciting hope, and by
+its daily advances, encouraging to perseverance, will tend to produce a
+most beneficial moral effect; and will greatly assist the teacher in
+establishing and strengthening some of those valuable checks upon the
+volatility of the young mind, which are exceedingly necessary for the
+proper conduct of life, but which there is usually but small opportunity
+of cultivating in youth.</p>
+
+<p>But even then, for the proper conducting of a school, there will, for
+<i>in-door exercise</i>, be something more required than has yet been
+provided, both as to kind and degree. When we examine a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[Pg 348]</a></span>number of
+children at play, we seldom find them sitting, or even standing for any
+length of time, when they have space and opportunity to exercise their
+limbs. The hand-motions of the infant schools, therefore, although
+excellent so far as they go, do not go far enough; and even the marching
+of the children is obviously too monotonous, and not sufficiently
+lively, for throwing off the accumulated mass of animal spirits, which
+is so speedily formed in young persons while engaged at their lessons.
+It was to supply this defect that the writer, a number of years ago,
+made some experiments with a large class of children, and with complete
+success. The exercise was founded on the singing and marching of the
+infant schools, and consisted in what is known in certain seminaries, as
+"Rights and Lefts." The children were taught to meet each other in bands
+of equal number, and by giving the right and left hand alternately to
+those who came in the opposite direction, they undulated, as it were,
+through each others ranks, and passed on to their own music, till they
+met again on the other side of the room, and proceeded as before. The
+exercise thus afforded to the upper and lower extremities of each child,
+the expansion caused to the chest, and the play given to the muscles of
+the back and body, are exceedingly beneficial; and the whole being
+regulated by their own song, gives healthy, and not excessive exercise
+to the lungs and the whole circulation.</p>
+
+<p>It was also found, that this amusing employment for the young, was
+capable of great variety. Instead of two bands meeting each other in
+<i>lines</i> in opposite directions, and parting, to meet again at the other
+side of the room, they were formed into a circle, one-half moving in one
+direction, and one-half moving in the opposite, by which means the
+circle was never broken. It was also found, that one of these circles,
+containing six or eight children only, could move within the other when
+it contained a larger number, without those in the one interfering in
+the least with those of the other; and the effect became still more
+imposing when <i>between</i> these, and <i>without</i> them, two other bands of
+children joined hands, united in the song, and moved round in opposite
+directions.</p>
+
+<p>These details may appear trifling to some; but experience will soon
+convince practical men, that in education, as in Nature, the most simple
+means often produce the most powerful and the most beneficial results.</p>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<h3>THE END.</h3>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+
+<div class="tr">
+<p class="cen"><a name="TN" id="TN"></a>Transcriber's Note</p>
+<br />
+Footnotes listed as a Note followed by a letter are
+gathered together at the end of the book.<br />
+<br />
+Some inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in
+the original document has been preserved.<br />
+<br />
+Typographical errors corrected in the text:<br />
+<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;  20&nbsp;  he changed to be<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;  28&nbsp;  vallies changed to valleys<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;  36&nbsp;  pullies changed to pulleys<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;  38&nbsp;  bye changed to by<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;  45&nbsp;  recal changed to recall<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;  57&nbsp;  inconsistences changed to inconsistencies<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;  59&nbsp;  recal changed to recall<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;  61&nbsp;  he changed to be<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;  67&nbsp;  oppreseive changed to oppressive<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;  68&nbsp;  word "is" added<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;  73&nbsp;  recals changed to recalls<br />
+Page&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;  77&nbsp;  harrassed changed to harassed<br />
+Page&nbsp; 103&nbsp;  missle changed to  missile<br />
+Page&nbsp; 113&nbsp;  decrepid changed to decrepit<br />
+Page&nbsp; 120&nbsp;  pronouned changed to pronounced<br />
+Page&nbsp; 142&nbsp;  slighest changed to slightest<br />
+Page&nbsp; 144&nbsp;  intance changed to instance<br />
+Page&nbsp; 150&nbsp;  educa- changed to education<br />
+Page&nbsp; 152&nbsp;  Jessus changed to Jesus<br />
+Page&nbsp; 166&nbsp;  fourteeen changed to fourteen<br />
+Page&nbsp; 168&nbsp;  Pestalozzie's changed to Pestalozzi's<br />
+Page&nbsp; 169&nbsp;  unnaccountable changed to unaccountable<br />
+Page&nbsp; 183&nbsp;  recal changed to recall<br />
+Page&nbsp; 192&nbsp;  missing word "be" supplied<br />
+Page&nbsp; 195&nbsp;  indispensible changed to indispensable<br />
+Page&nbsp; 197&nbsp;  exceeedingly changed to exceedingly<br />
+Page&nbsp; 197&nbsp;  recal changed to recall<br />
+Page&nbsp; 210&nbsp;  comtemplation changed to contemplation<br />
+Page&nbsp; 211&nbsp;  soffa changed to sofa<br />
+Page&nbsp; 234&nbsp;  than changed to then<br />
+Page&nbsp; 245&nbsp;  Terrestial changed to Terrestrial<br />
+Page&nbsp; 277&nbsp;  forwarned changed to forewarned<br />
+Page&nbsp; 280&nbsp;  aplication changed to application<br />
+Page&nbsp; 283&nbsp;  speciment changed to specimen<br />
+Page&nbsp; 302&nbsp;  faultering changed to faltering<br />
+Page&nbsp; 326&nbsp;  Princiciples changed to Principles<br />
+Page&nbsp; 333&nbsp;  desireable changed to desirable<br />
+Page&nbsp; 339&nbsp;  faultering changed to faltering<br />
+Page&nbsp; 340&nbsp;  ungodily changed to ungodly<br />
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Practical Enquiry into the
+Philosophy of Education, by James Gall
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Practical Enquiry into the Philosophy of
+Education, by James Gall
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: A Practical Enquiry into the Philosophy of Education
+
+Author: James Gall
+
+Release Date: January 13, 2009 [EBook #27790]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Barbara Kosker, Nick Wall and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ A
+
+ PRACTICAL ENQUIRY
+
+ INTO
+
+ THE PHILOSOPHY
+
+ OF
+
+ EDUCATION.
+
+
+ BY JAMES GALL,
+
+ INVENTOR OF THE TRIANGULAR ALPHABET FOR THE BLIND; AND
+ AUTHOR OF THE "END AND ESSENCE OF SABBATH
+ SCHOOL TEACHING," &c.
+
+ "_The Works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have
+ pleasure therein._"--PSAL. cxi. 2.
+
+
+
+
+ EDINBURGH:
+ JAMES GALL & SON,
+ 24, NIDDRY STREET.
+ LONDON: HOULSTON & STONEMAN, 65, PATERNOSTER-ROW.
+ GLASGOW; GEORGE GALLIE. BELFAST: WILLIAM M'COMB.
+
+ MDCCCXL
+
+
+
+
+Printed by J. Gall & Son. 22, Niddry Street.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+The Author of the following pages is a plain man, who has endeavoured to
+write a plain book, for the purpose of being popularly useful. The
+philosophical form which his enquiries have assumed, is the result
+rather of accidental circumstances than of free choice. The strong
+desire which he felt in his earlier years to benefit the Young, induced
+him to push forward in the paths which appeared to him most likely to
+lead to his object; and it was not till he had advanced far into the
+fields of philosophy, that he first began dimly to perceive the
+importance of the ground which he had unwittingly occupied. The truth
+is, that he had laboured many years in the Sabbath Schools with which he
+had connected himself, before he was aware that, in his combat with
+ignorance, he was wielding weapons that were comparatively new; and it
+was still longer, before he very clearly understood the principles of
+those Exercises which he found so successful. One investigation led to
+another; light shone out as he proceeded; and he now submits, with full
+confidence in the truth of his general principles and deductions, the
+results of more than thirty years' experience and reflection in the
+great cause of Education.
+
+He has only further to observe, that the term "NATURE," which
+occurs so frequently, has been adopted as a convenient and popular mode
+of expression. None of his readers needs to be informed, that this is
+but another manner of designating "THE GOD OF NATURE," whose
+laws, as established in the young mind, he has been endeavouring humbly,
+and perseveringly to imitate.
+
+ _Myrtle Bank, Trinity, Edinburgh, 8th May, 1840._
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+ PART I.
+
+ ON THE PRELIMINARY OBJECTS NECESSARY FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT AND
+ IMPROVEMENT OF EDUCATION.
+
+
+ CHAP. I.                                                            Page
+
+ On the Importance of establishing the Science of Education on a
+ solid Foundation,                                                     13
+
+
+ CHAP. II.
+
+ On the Cultivation of Education as a Science,                         16
+
+
+ CHAP. III.
+
+ On the Improvement of Teaching as an Art,                             25
+
+
+ CHAP. IV.
+
+ On the Establishment of Sound Principles in Education,                32
+
+
+ PART II.
+
+ ON THE GREAT DESIGN OF NATURE'S TEACHING, AND THE METHODS SHE
+ EMPLOYS IN CARRYING IT ON.
+
+
+ CHAP. I.
+
+ A Comprehensive View of the several Educational Processes
+ carried on by Nature,                                                 37
+
+
+ CHAP. II.
+
+ On the Method employed by Nature for cultivating the Powers of
+ the Mind,                                                             45
+
+
+ CHAP. III.
+
+ On the Means by which Nature enables her Pupils to acquire
+ Knowledge,                                                            52
+
+
+ CHAP. IV.
+
+ On Nature's Method of communicating Knowledge to the Young by
+ the Principle of Reiteration,                                         56
+
+
+ CHAP. V.
+
+ On the Acquisition of Knowledge by the Principle of
+ Individuation,                                                        65
+
+
+ CHAP. VI.
+
+ On the Acquisition of Knowledge by the Principle of Association,
+ or Grouping,                                                          72
+
+
+ CHAP. VII.
+
+ On the Acquisition of Knowledge by the Principle of Analysis,
+ or Classification,                                                    83
+
+
+ CHAP. VIII.
+
+ On Nature's Methods of Teaching her Pupils to make use of their
+ Knowledge,                                                            95
+
+
+ CHAP. IX.
+
+ On Nature's Methods of Applying Knowledge by the Principle of
+ the Animal, or Common Sense,                                         101
+
+
+ CHAP. X.
+
+ On Nature's Method of applying Knowledge, by means of the
+ Moral Sense, or Conscience,                                          111
+
+
+ CHAP. XI.
+
+ On Nature's Method of Training her Pupils to Communicate
+ their Knowledge,                                                     129
+
+
+ CHAP. XII.
+
+ Recapitulation of the Philosophical Principles developed
+ in the previous Chapters,                                            141
+
+
+ PART III.
+
+ ON THE METHODS BY WHICH THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESSES OF NATURE MAY BE
+ SUCCESSFULLY IMITATED.
+
+
+ CHAP. I.
+
+ On the Exercises by which Nature may be imitated in cultivating
+ the Powers of the Mind,                                              148
+
+
+ CHAP. II.
+
+ On the Methods by which Nature may be imitated in the Pupil's
+ Acquisition of Knowledge; with a Review of the Analogy between
+ the Mental and Physical Appetites of the Young,                      170
+
+
+ CHAP. III.
+
+ How Nature may be imitated in Communicating Knowledge to the
+ Pupil, by the Reiteration of Ideas,                                  177
+
+
+ CHAP. IV.
+
+ On the Means by which Nature may be imitated in Exercising the
+ Principle of Individuation,                                          192
+
+
+ CHAP. V.
+
+ On the Means by which Nature may be imitated in Applying the
+ Principle of Grouping, or Association,                               204
+
+
+ CHAP. VI.
+
+ On the Methods by which Nature may be imitated in Communicating
+ Knowledge by Classification, or Analysis,                            218
+
+
+ CHAP. VII.
+
+ On the Imitation of Nature in Teaching the Practical Use of
+ Knowledge,                                                           233
+
+
+ CHAP. VIII.
+
+ On the Imitation of Nature in Teaching the Use of Knowledge
+ by Means of the Animal, or Common Sense,                             245
+
+
+ CHAP. IX.
+
+ On the Imitation of Nature in Teaching the Practical Use of
+ Knowledge by means of the Moral Sense, or Conscience,                257
+
+
+ CHAP. X.
+
+ On the Application of our Knowledge to the Common Affairs of
+ Life,                                                                274
+
+
+ CHAP. XI.
+
+ On the Imitation of Nature, in training her Pupils fluently to
+ communicate their Knowledge,                                         288
+
+
+ PART IV.
+
+ ON THE SELECTION OF PROPER TRUTHS AND SUBJECTS TO BE TAUGHT IN
+ SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES.
+
+
+ CHAP. I.
+
+ On the General Principles which ought to regulate our choice
+ of Truths and Subjects to be taught to the Young,                    306
+
+
+ CHAP II.
+
+ On the particular Branches of Education required for Elementary
+ Schools,                                                             317
+
+
+ CHAP. III.
+
+ On the Easiest Methods of Introducing these Principles, for
+ the first time, into Schools already established,                    326
+
+
+ Notes,                                                               331
+
+
+
+
+ PRACTICAL ENQUIRY, &c.
+
+
+
+
+ PART I.
+
+ ON THE PRELIMINARY OBJECTS NECESSARY FOR
+ THE ESTABLISHMENT AND IMPROVEMENT
+ OF EDUCATION.
+
+
+
+
+ CHAP. I.
+
+ _On the Importance of establishing the Science of
+ Education on a solid Foundation._
+
+
+Education is at present obviously in a transition state. The public mind
+has of late become alive to the importance of the subject; and all
+persons are beginning to feel awake to the truth, that something is yet
+wanting to insure efficiency and permanence to the labours of the
+teacher. The public will not be satisfied till some decided change has
+taken place; and many are endeavouring to grope their way to something
+better. It is with an earnest desire to help forward this great
+movement, that the writer of the following pages has been induced to
+publish the result of much study, and upwards of thirty years'
+experience, in the hope that it may afford at least some assistance in
+directing the enquiries of those who are prosecuting the same object.
+
+On entering upon this investigation, it will be of use to keep in mind,
+that all the sciences have, at particular periods of their history, been
+in the same uncertain and unsettled position, as that which Education at
+present occupies; and that each of them has in its turn, had to pass
+through an ordeal, similar to that which education is about to undergo.
+They have triumphantly succeeded; and their subsequent rapid
+advancement is the best proof that they are now placed on a solid and
+permanent foundation. It is of importance, therefore, in attempting to
+forward the science of education, that we should profit by the
+experience of those who have gone before us. They succeeded by a strict
+observation of facts, and a stern rejection of every species of mere
+supposition and opinion;--by an uncompromising hostility to prejudice
+and selfishness, and a fearless admission of truth wherever it was
+discovered. Such must be the conduct of the Educationist, if he expects
+to succeed in an equal degree. The history of astronomy as taught by
+astrologers, and of chemistry in the hands of the alchymist, should
+teach both the lovers and the fearers of change an important lesson.
+These pretended sciences being mere conjectures, were of use to nobody;
+and yet the boldness with which they were promulgated, and the
+confidence with which they were received, had the effect of suppressing
+enquiry, and shutting out the truth for several generations. Similar may
+be the effects of errors in education, and similar the danger of too
+easily admitting them. The adoption of plausible theories, or of
+erroneous principles, must lead into innumerable difficulties; and
+should they be hastily patronized, and authoritatively promulgated, the
+improvement of this first and most important of the sciences may be
+retarded for a century to come.
+
+The other sciences, during the last half century, have advanced with
+amazing rapidity. This has been the result of a strict adherence to well
+established facts, and their legitimate inferences.--A docile subjection
+of the mind to the results of experiment, and a candid confession and
+abandonment of fallacies, have characterized every benefactor of the
+sciences;--and the science of education must be advanced by an adherence
+to the same principles. The Educationist must be willing to abandon
+error, as well as to receive truth; and must resolutely shake off all
+conjecture and opinions not founded on fair and appropriate experiment.
+This course may appear tedious;--but it is the shortest and the best. By
+this mode of induction, all the facts which he is able to glean will
+assuredly be found to harmonize with nature, with reason, and with
+Scripture; and with these for his supporters, the Reformer in education
+has nothing to fear. His progress may be slow, but it will be sure; for
+every principle which he thus discovers, will enable him, not only to
+outrun his neighbours, but to confer a permanent and valuable boon upon
+posterity.
+
+That any rational and accountable being should ever have been found to
+oppose the progress of truth, is truly humiliating; yet every page of
+history, which records the developement of new principles, exhibits also
+the outbreakings of prejudice and selfishness. The deductions of
+Galileo, of Newton, of Harvey, and innumerable others, have been opposed
+and denounced, each in its turn; while their promoters have been
+vilified as empyrics or innovators. Nor has this been done by those only
+whose self love or worldly interests prompted them to exclude the truth,
+but by good and honourable men, whose prejudices were strong, and whose
+zeal was not guided by discretion. Such persons have frequently been
+found to shut their eyes against the plainest truths, to wrestle with
+their own convictions, and positively refuse even to listen to evidence.
+The same thing may happen with regard to education;--and this is no
+pleasing prospect to the lover of peace, who sets himself forward as a
+reformer in this noble work.--Change is inevitable. Teaching is an art;
+and it must, like all the other arts, depend for its improvement upon
+the investigations of science. Now, every one knows, that although the
+cultivation of chemistry, and other branches of natural science, has, of
+late years, given an extraordinary stimulus to the arts, yet the science
+of education, from which the art of teaching can alone derive its
+power, is one, beyond the threshold of which modern philosophy has
+scarcely entered. Changes, therefore, both in the theory and practice of
+teaching, may be anticipated;--and that these changes will be
+inconvenient and annoying to many, there can be no doubt. That
+individuals, in these circumstances, should be inclined to deprecate and
+oppose these innovations and improvements, is nothing more than might be
+expected; but that the improvements themselves should on that account be
+either postponed or abandoned, would be highly injurious. An enlightened
+system of education is peculiarly the property of the public, on which
+both personal, family, and national happiness in a great measure
+depends. These interests therefore must not be sacrificed to the wishes
+or the convenience of private individuals. The prosperity and happiness
+of mankind are at stake; and the welfare of succeeding generations will,
+in no small degree, be influenced by the establishment of sound
+principles in education at the present time. Nothing, therefore, should
+be allowed to mystify or cripple that science, upon which the spread and
+the permanence of all useful knowledge mainly rest.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. II.
+
+_On the Cultivation of Education as a Science._
+
+
+From numerous considerations, it must be evident, that education claims
+the first rank among the sciences; and, in that case, the art of
+Teaching ought to take precedence among the arts;--not perhaps in
+respect of its difficulties, but most certainly in respect of its
+importance.
+
+The success of the teacher in his labours, will depend almost entirely
+on the extent and the accuracy of the investigations of the philosopher.
+The science must guide the art. Experience shews, that where an artist
+in ordinary life is not directed by science,--by acknowledged
+principles,--he can never make any steady improvement. In like manner,
+when the principles of education are unknown, no advancement in the art
+can be expected from the teacher. Every attempt at change in such
+circumstances must be unsatisfactory; and even when improvements are by
+chance accomplished, they are but partial, and must be stationary.--When,
+on the contrary, the teacher is directed by ascertained principles, he
+never can deviate far from the path of success; and even if he should,
+he has the means in his own power of ascertaining the cause of his
+failure, and of retracing his steps. He can, therefore, at his pleasure,
+add to or abridge, vary or transpose his exercises with his pupils,
+provided only that the great principles of the science be kept steadily
+in view, and be neither outraged, nor greatly infringed. No teacher,
+therefore, should profess the art, without making himself familiar with
+the philosophical principles upon which it is founded. In the mechanical
+arts, this practice is now generally followed, and with the happiest
+effects. The men of the present generation have profited by the painful
+experience of thousands in former times; who, trusting to mere
+conjectures, tried, failed, and ruined themselves. The mechanics of our
+day, instead of indulging in blind theories of their own, and hazarding
+their money and their time upon speculation and chance, are willing to
+borrow light for their guidance from those who have provided it. They
+slowly, but surely, follow in the path opened up to them by the
+discoveries of science,--and they are never disappointed.
+
+The unexampled success of the mechanical arts, would, upon the above
+principles, naturally lead us to conclude, that the sciences, from which
+they have derived all that they possess, must have been cultivated with
+corresponding energy. And such is the fact. Since the adoption of the
+inductive method of philosophizing, nearly all the sciences have been
+advancing rapidly and steadily; and the cause of this is to be found in
+adhering to the rules of induction. No science has been allowed to rest
+its claims upon mere theory, or authority of any kind, but upon evidence
+derived from facts. Mere opinions and suppositions have been rigidly
+excluded; and that alone which was acquired by accurate investigation,
+has been acknowledged in science as having the stamp of truth. The
+inductive philosophy takes nothing for granted. Every conclusion must be
+legitimately drawn from ascertained facts, or from principles
+established by experiment; and the consequence has been, not only that
+what has been attained is permanent, and will benefit all future
+generations, but the amount of that attainment, in the short time that
+has already elapsed, is actually greater than all that had been
+previously gained during centuries. In this general improvement,
+however, the science of Education has till lately formed an exception.
+The principles of true philosophy do not appear to have been brought to
+bear upon it, as they have upon the other sciences; and the consequences
+of this neglect have been lamentable. In every branch of natural
+philosophy, there are great leading principles already established. But
+where were there any such principles established by the philosopher for
+the guidance of the teacher? By what, except their own experience, and
+conjectures, were teachers directed in the training of the
+young?--Thirty or forty years ago, what was called "education" in our
+ordinary week-day schools, was little more than a mechanical round of
+barren exercises. The excitement of religious persecution, which had
+been the means of disciplining the intellectual and moral powers of
+Scotsmen for several previous generations, had by that time gradually
+subsided, and had left education to do its own work, by the use of its
+own resources. But these were perfectly inadequate to the task. The
+exercises almost universally employed in the education of the young,
+had neither been derived from science, nor from experience of their own
+inherent power; and they would, from the beginning, have been found
+perfectly inefficient, had they not been aided, as before noticed, by
+the stimulant of religious persecution.--The state of education, at the
+time we speak of, is still fresh on the memory of living witnesses who
+were its victims; and some of the absurdities which were then universal,
+are not even yet altogether extinct.
+
+Soon after the period above stated, an important change began to take
+place in the art of teaching,--but still unaided and undirected by
+science. Some of the more thinking and judicious of its professors,
+roused by the flagrant failures of their own practice, made several
+noble and exemplary efforts to place it on a better footing. Had these
+efforts been guided by scientific research, much more good would have
+been done than has been accomplished, and an immense amount of
+misdirected labour would have been saved. But although many of the
+attempts at a change failed, yet some of them succeeded, and have
+gradually produced ameliorations and improvements in the art of
+teaching. Still it must be observed, that philosophy has had little or
+no share in the merit. Her labours in this important field have yet to
+be begun. Valuable exercises have no doubt been introduced; but the
+principles upon which the success of these exercises depends, remain in
+a great measure concealed from the public generally:--And the reason of
+this is, that the public have been indebted for them to the _art_ of the
+teacher, and not to the _science_ of the philosopher.
+
+That this is not the position in which matters of so much public
+importance should continue, we think no one will deny. Education must be
+cultivated as a science, before teaching can ever flourish as an art.
+The philosopher must first ascertain and light up the way, before the
+teacher can, with security, walk in it. Experiment must be employed to
+ascertain facts, investigate causes, and trace these causes to their
+effects. By fair and legitimate deductions drawn from the facts thus
+ascertained, he will be enabled to establish certain principles, which,
+when acted upon by the teacher, will invariably succeed. But without
+this, the history of all the other arts and sciences teaches us, that
+success is not to be expected;--for although chance may sometimes lead
+the teacher to a happy device, there can be no steady progress. Even
+those beneficial exercises upon which he may have stumbled, become of
+little practical value; because, when the principles upon which they are
+based are unknown, they can neither be followed up with certainty, nor
+be varied without danger.
+
+There will no doubt be a difficulty in the investigation of a science
+which is in itself so complicated, and which has hitherto been so little
+understood; but this is only an additional reason why it should be begun
+in a proper manner, and pursued with energy. The mode of procedure is
+the chief object of difficulty; but the experience and success of
+investigators in the other sciences, will be of great advantage in
+directing us in this. In the sciences of anatomy and physiology, for
+example, the investigations of the philosopher are designed to direct
+the several operations of the physician, the surgeon, and the dentist;
+in the same way as the investigations of the Educationist are intended
+to direct the operations of the Teacher. Now the mode of procedure in
+those sciences for such purposes is well known, and forms an excellent
+example for us in the present case. The duty of the anatomist, or
+physiologist, is simply to examine the operations of Nature in the
+animal economy, and the plans which she adopts for accomplishing her
+objects during health, and for throwing off impediments during disease.
+In conducting his investigations, the enquirer begins by taking a
+general view of the whole subject, and then separating and defining its
+leading parts. Pulsation, respiration, digestion, and the various
+secretions and excretions of the body, are defined, and their general
+connection with each other correctly ascertained. These form his
+starting points; and then, taking each in its turn, he sets himself to
+discover the principles, or laws, which regulate its working in a
+healthy state;--what it is that promotes the circulation or stagnation
+of the blood, the bracing or relaxing of the nerves, the several
+processes in digestion, and the various functions of the skin and
+viscera. These are all first ascertained by observation and experience,
+and then, if necessary, established by experiment.
+
+These principles, having thus been established by science, are available
+for direction in the arts. The physician acts under their guidance; and
+his object is simply to regulate his treatment and advice in accordance
+with them. In other words, _he endeavours to imitate Nature_, to remove
+the obstructions which he finds interfering with her operations, or to
+lend that aid which a knowledge of these principles points out as
+necessary. The surgeon and the dentist follow the same course, but more
+directly. In healing a wound, for example, the surgeon has to ascertain
+from science how Nature in similar cases proceeds when left to herself;
+and all his cuttings, and lancings, and dressings, are nothing more than
+_attempts to imitate her_ in her healing operations. So well is this now
+understood, that every operation which does not at least recognise the
+principle is denounced--and justly denounced--as quackery; and the
+reason is, that uniform experience has convinced professional men, that
+they can only expect success when they follow with docility in the path
+which Nature has pointed out to them.
+
+Precisely similar should be the plan of operation pursued by the
+Educationist. He should, in the first place, take a comprehensive view
+of the whole subject, and endeavour to map out to himself its great
+natural divisions;--in other words, he should endeavour to ascertain
+what are the things which Nature teaches, that he may, by means of this
+great outline, form a general programme for the direction of the
+teacher. His next object ought to be, to ascertain the mode, and the
+means, adopted by Nature in forwarding these several departments of her
+educational process; the powers of mind engrossed in each; the order in
+which they are brought into exercise; and the combinations which she
+employs in perfecting them. In ascertaining these principles which
+regulate the operations of Nature in her educational processes, the same
+adherence to the rules prescribed by the inductive philosophy, which has
+crowned the other sciences with success, must be rigidly observed. There
+must be the same disregard of mere antiquity; there must be the same
+scrupulous sifting of evidence, and strict adherence to facts; there
+must be a discarding of all hypotheses, and a simple dependence upon
+ascertained truths alone. Adherence to these rules is as necessary in
+cultivating the science of education, as it has been in the other
+sciences; and the neglect of any one of them, may introduce an element
+of error, which may injure the labours of a whole lifetime.
+
+We have some reason to fear, that although all this will be readily
+admitted in theory, it will be found somewhat difficult to adopt it in
+practice. The reason of this will be obvious when we reflect on the deep
+interest which the best and most philanthropic individuals in society
+take in this science. The other sciences are in some measure removed
+from the busy pursuits of life; they are the concern of certain persons,
+who are allowed to investigate and to experiment, to judge and to decide
+as they please, without the public in general caring much about the
+matter.--But education is a science of a different kind. Its value is
+acknowledged by every one, and its interests are dear to every
+benevolent heart. The individual who undertakes to examine, and more
+especially to promulgate, any new principle upon which education rests,
+will have a harder task to perform, and a severer battle to fight, than
+the philosopher who attempts to overturn a false conclusion in
+chemistry, or an erroneous principle in mechanics. Among the learned
+community, not more than one in a thousand perhaps is personally
+interested either in mechanics or in chemistry; and few others will
+enter the lists to oppose that which appears legitimate and fair. The
+enemies and opponents of the chemical reformer in that case may be
+zealous and even fierce; but they are few, and he enjoys the sympathy
+and the countenance of the great majority of those whose countenance is
+worthy of his regard. But when we calculate the number of those who take
+an interest in the subject of education, and those who do not, the above
+numbers will be reversed. Nine hundred and ninety-nine among the
+educated public will be found who take a real interest in the progress
+of education, for one who cares nothing about it.
+
+This is a fearful odds where there is a likelihood of opposition;--and
+opposition may be expected. For there will be influences in many of the
+true friends of education, derived from old prejudices within, combined
+with the pressure of conflicting sentiments in their friends from
+without, which will render the task of establishing new and sound
+principles in this first of the sciences an irksome, and even a
+hazardous employment. Coldness or opposition from those whom we honour
+and love is always painful; and yet it should be endured, rather than
+that the best interests both of the present and future generations
+should be sacrificed. The opinions of all good men deserve
+consideration;--but when they are merely opinions, and are not founded
+on reason, they are at best but specious; and when they are opposed to
+truth, and are contrary to experience, a zealous adherence to them
+becomes sinful and dangerous. Such persons ought to commend, rather than
+blame, the reformer in education, when he declines to adopt ancient
+dogmas which he finds to be useless and hurtful: And at all events, if
+all have agreed to disregard the authority of an Aristotle or a Newton,
+when opposed to new facts and additional evidence, the Educationist must
+not allow himself to be driven from the path of fact and experience by
+either friends or enemies. No authority can make darkness light;--and
+although he may be opposed for a time, and the public mind may be abused
+for a moment, it will at last correct itself, and truth will prevail.
+
+But the friends of education ought in no case to put the perseverance of
+those who labour for its improvement to so severe a trial. They ought in
+justice, as well as charity, to cultivate a forbearing and a candid
+spirit; and they will have many opportunities of exercising these
+virtues during the progress of this science. Education is confessedly
+but in its infancy; and therefore it must grow much, and change much,
+before it can arrive at maturity. But if there be an increasing
+opposition to all advance, and if a stumbling-block be continually
+thrown in the way of those who labour to perfect it, the labourers may
+be discouraged, and the work be indefinitely postponed. Let all such
+then guard against a blind opposition, or an attempt to explain away
+palpable facts, merely because they lead to principles which are new, or
+to conclusions which are at variance with their pre-conceived opinions.
+If they persevere in a blind opposition, they may find at last that they
+have been resisting truth, and defrauding their neighbour. Truth can
+never be the enemy of man, although many inadvertently rank themselves
+among its opponents. The resistance which has invariably been offered to
+every important discovery hitherto, should be a beacon to warn the
+inconsiderate and the prejudiced against being over-hasty in rejecting
+discoveries in education; and the obloquy that now rests on the memory
+of such persons, should be a warning to them, not to plant thorns in
+their own pillows, or now to sow "the wind, lest they at last should
+reap the whirlwind."
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. III.
+
+_On the Improvement of Teaching as an Art._
+
+
+As Education on account of its importance takes precedence in the
+sciences, so Teaching should rank first among the arts. The reasons for
+this arrangement are numerous; but the consideration of two will be
+sufficient.--The first is, that all the other arts refer chiefly to
+time, and the conveniences and comforts of this world; while the art of
+teaching not only includes all these, but involves also many of the
+interests of man through eternity.--And the second is, that without this
+art all the other arts would produce scarcely any advantage. Without
+education of some kind, men are, and must continue to be savages,--it
+being the only effectual instrument of civilization. It is the chief, if
+not the only means for improving the condition of the human family, and
+for restoring man to the dignity of an intelligent and virtuous being.
+
+As "Science" is the investigation and knowledge of principles, so an
+"art" may be defined as a system of means, in accordance with these
+principles, for attaining some special end. Teaching is one of the arts;
+and it depends as entirely for its success upon a right application of
+the principles of the science of education, as the art of dying does
+upon the principles of chemistry. As an art, therefore, teaching must be
+subjected to all those laws which regulate the improvement of the other
+arts, and without which it can never be successfully carried on, far
+less perfected. These laws are now very generally understood; and we
+shall briefly advert to a few of them, which are necessary for our
+present purpose, and endeavour to point out their relation to the art of
+teaching.
+
+1. One of the first rules connected with the improvement of the arts is,
+that the artist have _a specific object in view, for the attainment of
+which all his successive operations are to be combined_.--The
+manufacturer has his _cloth_ in prospect, before he has even purchased
+the wool of which it is to be composed; and it is the desire of
+procuring cloth of the most suitable quality, and by the easiest means,
+that compels him to draw liberally and constantly from the facts
+ascertained, and the principles developed, by the several sciences. From
+the science of mechanics he derives the various kinds of machinery used
+in the progressive stages of its production; and from the science of
+chemistry he obtains the processes of dying, and printing, and dressing.
+But he never troubles himself about the science of mechanics or of
+chemistry in the abstract; he thinks only of his cloth, and of these
+sciences as means to assist him in procuring it. He is careful of his
+machinery, and is constantly alive to the mode of its working, and is
+thus prompted to adopt such improvements as observation or experience
+may suggest; but it is not the machinery of itself that he either cares
+for, or thinks about. No; it is still the cloth that he keeps in view;
+and his machinery is esteemed or slighted, adopted or abandoned, exactly
+in proportion as it forwards his object. The processes necessary in the
+different departments of his establishment, are complicated and various,
+and to a stranger they are both curious and instructive; but it is
+neither the labour nor the variety that he is seeking. His is a very
+different object; and of this object he never loses sight; for the
+varied operations of stapling and carding, of spinning and weaving, are
+nothing more than means which he employs for accomplishing his end. He
+knows the uses of the whole complicated operations; and he sees at a
+glance, and can tell in a moment, how each in its turn contributes to
+the great object of all,--the production of a good and marketable cloth.
+
+Now this law ought to be applied with the utmost strictness to the art
+of teaching. For if teaching be really an art,--that is, a successive
+combination of means,--it should undoubtedly be a combination of means
+to some specific end. Nothing can be more obvious, than that a man who
+sits down to work, should know what he intends to do, and how he is to
+do it. Such a line of conduct should be imperatively demanded of the
+teacher, both on account of the importance of his work, and of the
+immense value of the material upon which he is to operate. The end he
+has in view, whatever that end may be, ought to be correctly defined
+before he begins; and no exercise should upon any account be prescribed
+or demanded from his pupils, which does not directly, or indirectly at
+least, conduce to its attainment. To do otherwise is both injudicious
+and unjust. For if the operations of the husbandman during spring have
+to be selected and curtailed with the strictest attention to time and
+the seasons, how carefully ought the energies and the time of youth to
+be economized, when they have but one short spring time afforded them,
+during which they are to sow the seed which shall produce good or evil
+fruit for eternity? As to what this great end which the teacher ought
+steadily to contemplate should be, we shall afterwards enquire; at
+present we are desirous only of establishing this general law in the art
+of teaching, that there should be an end accurately defined, and
+constantly kept in view; and for the attainment of which every exercise
+prescribed in the school should assist. The teacher who does otherwise
+is travelling in the dark, and compelling labour for labour's
+sake;--like the manufacturer who would keep all his machinery in motion,
+not to make cloth, but to appear to be busy.
+
+2. Another law adopted in the successful prosecution of the arts is, _to
+use the best known means for attaining any particular end_.--This law
+is well known in all the other arts, and success invariably depends upon
+its adoption. The fields are not now tilled by the hoe, nor is cotton
+spun by the hand. These modes of operating have no doubt the
+recommendation of antiquity; but here antiquity is always at a discount,
+and no one doubts the propriety of its being so. The arts are advancing;
+and they who would impede their progress on the plea of not departing
+from the usages of antiquity, would be pitied or laughed at.
+
+The art of teaching, like the other arts, depends for its success on a
+strict adherence to this law; and the fear of departing in this case
+from the particular usages of our ancestors is equally unreasonable.
+Soft ground in the valleys compelled them to travel their pack horses
+right over the hills, and the want of the "Jenny" made them spin their
+yarn by the hand; but still, the same principle which guided them in the
+adoption of those methods, was strictly the one which we are here
+recommending, that of "using the best _known_ means for accomplishing
+the particular end." Those who adopt the principle do most honour to
+their sagacity; while their shallow admirers, by abandoning the
+principle, and clinging to their necessarily imperfect mode of applying
+it, at once libel their good sense, and dishonour those whom they
+profess to revere. As society is rapidly advancing, paternal affection
+would undoubtedly have prompted them to advise their descendants to take
+the benefits of every advance;--and it would be as reasonable for us to
+suppose, that if they were now alive, they would advise us to travel
+over the hills on their old roads, or make our cloth in the old way, as
+to think they would be gratified by our continuing to use exercises in
+education, which sound philosophy and experience have shewn to be
+fallacious and hurtful, or that they would be displeased by the use of
+those which extensive experiment has now proved to be natural, easy, and
+efficient.
+
+These ancestral trammels have all been shaken off, wherever the
+acquisition of money is concerned. The mechanical processes of his
+forefathers have no charm for the modern manufacturer, when he can
+attain his object more economically by a recent improvement. Neither
+does he go blindfold upon a mere chance,--seldom even upon a sagacious
+conjecture,--unless there be some good grounds for its formation. In
+every successive stage of his operations, he is awake to the slightest
+appearance of defect; and he hesitates not a moment in abandoning a
+lesser good for a greater, whenever he perceives it. He husbands
+time;--he husbands expense;--he husbands supervision and risk. Every
+step with him is a step in advance;--every operation has a
+design;--every movement has a meaning;--and he makes all unite for the
+attainment of one common object. Can we doubt that, in like manner, the
+most rigid economy of time and labour ought to be adopted in the art of
+teaching? When the end has once been distinctly defined, it ought
+steadily to be kept in view; and no exercise should be prescribed which
+does not contribute to its attainment. There should be no bustling about
+nothing; no busy idleness; no fighting against time; no unnecessary
+labour, nor useless exhaustion of the pupil's energies. The time of
+youth is so precious, and there is so much to be done during it, that
+economy here is perhaps of more importance than in any thing else. Every
+book or exercise, therefore, which has not a palpable tendency to
+forward the great object designed by education, should by the teacher be
+at once given up.
+
+3. Another law which experience has established as necessary for the
+perfecting of any of the arts is, _a fair and honest application of the
+successive discoveries of science to its improvement_.--This has been
+the uniform practice in those arts which have of late been making such
+rapid progress. The artist and mechanic are never indifferent to the
+various improvements which are taking place around them; nor do they
+ever stand apart, till they are forced upon their notice by third
+parties, or public notoriety. There is, in the case of the manufacturer,
+no nervous timidity about innovation; nor does he ever attempt to
+deceive himself by ignorantly supposing that the change can be no
+improvement.--Nor will he suffer himself to be deceived by others. His
+workmen are not allowed, to save themselves future trouble, to be
+careless or sinister in their trials of the improvement; for he knows,
+that however it may be with them, yet if his neighbour succeeds, and he
+fails, it may prove his ruin.
+
+Such also should be the conduct of the teacher. The time has now gone by
+when parents were ignorant, either of what was communicated at school,
+or the manner in which it was taught. The improvement of their children
+by education, has become a primary object with all sensible parents; and
+they will never again be satisfied with a school or a teacher, where
+solid instruction, and the most useful kind of knowledge are not
+imparted. Ameliorations in his art, therefore, is now as necessary to
+the teacher, as improvements in machinery are to the mechanic and the
+manufacturer. It will no longer do for him to say, "I can see no
+improvement in the change," if the parents of his pupils have been able
+to discover it; and the teacher who stands still in the present forward
+march of society, will soon find himself left alone. The practical
+Educationist, like the mechanician, ought no doubt to be cautious in
+adopting changes upon chance; but wherever an improvement in his art has
+been sufficiently proved by fair experiment or long experience, and
+particularly, when the principle upon which its success depends has been
+fully ascertained, his rejecting the change on the plea of
+inconvenience, or from the fear of trouble, is not only an act of
+injustice to the parents of his pupils, but is a wrong which will very
+soon begin to re-act upon his own interests. The effect of indifference
+to improvement in this, as in other arts, may not be felt for a time;
+but as soon as _others_ have made themselves masters of the improvements
+which he has rejected, the successive departure of his pupils, and the
+melting away of his classes, will at last awaken him to a sense of his
+folly, when it may be too late. Such has usually been the effect of
+remissness in the other arts; and the present state of the public mind
+in regard to education, indicates a similar result in similar
+circumstances.
+
+In connection with this part of our subject, it may here be necessary to
+remark, that as the experience of all teachers may not be alike in the
+_first working_ of a newly applied principle,--the principle itself,
+when fully ascertained, is not on that account to be either belied or
+abandoned. There are many concurring circumstances, which may make an
+exercise that succeeds well in the hands of one person, fail in the
+hands of another; but to refuse credence to the principle itself,
+because he cannot as yet successfully apply it, is neither prudent nor
+wise. There are chemical experiments so exceedingly nice, and depending
+on so many varying circumstances, that they frequently fail in the hands
+of even good operators. But the chemical principles upon which they rest
+remain unchanged, although individual students may have not been able
+successfully to apply them. If their professor has but _once_ fairly and
+undoubtedly succeeded in ascertaining the facts on which the principle
+is based, their failure for a thousand times is no proof that the
+ascertained principle is really a fallacy. In like manner, any important
+principle in education, if once satisfactorily ascertained, is a truth
+in the science, and will remain a truth, whoever may believe or deny it.
+If it has been proved to produce certain effects in certain given
+circumstances, it will in all future times do the same, when the
+circumstances are similar. The inability, therefore, of a parent or
+teacher, to produce equal effects by its means, may be good enough
+proof of his want of skill, but it is no proof of the want of inherent
+power in the principle itself. The rings of Saturn which my neighbour's
+telescope has clearly brought to view, are not blotted from the heavens
+because my pocket glass has failed to detect them.
+
+It has been by attention to these, and similar rules, that all the
+secular arts have advanced to their present state; and the art of
+teaching must be perfected by similar means. There ought therefore to be
+a distinct object in view on the part of the teacher,--a specific end
+which he is to endeavour to arrive at in his intercourse with his pupil.
+For the attainment of this end, he must employ the best and the surest
+means that are in his power; for the same purpose, he ought honestly and
+fairly to apply the successive discoveries of science as they occur; and
+should never allow himself to abandon an exercise founded upon
+ascertained principles, merely because he at first finds difficulty in
+putting it in operation.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. IV.
+
+_On the Establishment of Sound Principles in Education._
+
+
+The application of the foregoing remarks to our present purpose, is a
+matter of great practical importance. It has indeed been owing chiefly
+to their having been hitherto overlooked, that education has been left
+in the backward state in which we at present find it.
+
+But if, as we have seen, education must bend to the same rigid
+discipline to which the other sciences have had to submit,--and if
+teaching can be improved only by following the laws which have
+determined the success of the other arts--the question naturally
+arises, "What is to be done now for education?"--"Where are we to
+begin?"--"How are we to proceed?"--"In what manner are the principles of
+the science to be investigated, so that they shall most extensively
+promote the success of the art? and how is the art to be cultivated, so
+that it may, to the fullest extent, be benefited by the science?" To
+these enquiries we shall in the present chapter direct our attention.
+
+The method of investigating the operations of Nature in the several
+sciences is very nearly alike in all. For example, in the science of
+chemistry, as we have formerly noticed, the first object of the
+philosopher would be to take a comprehensive view of his whole subject,
+and endeavour to separate the substances in Nature according to their
+great leading characteristics. He would at once distinguish mineral
+substances as differing from vegetables;--and vegetable substances as
+differing from animals;--thus forming three distinct classes of objects,
+blending with each other, no doubt, but still sufficiently distinct to
+form what have been called the three kingdoms of Nature. The various
+objects included under each of these he would again subdivide according
+to their several properties;--and as he went forward, he would
+endeavour, by careful examination and experiment, to ascertain, not only
+their combinations, but also the characteristic properties of their
+several elements. The chemist, in this method of investigating Nature,
+almost always proceeds upwards, analytically, advancing from the general
+to the special, from the aggregate to its parts, endeavouring to
+ascertain as he proceeds the laws which regulate their composition and
+decomposition, for the purpose simply of endeavouring to imitate them.
+By this means alone he expects to perfect the science, and to benefit
+the arts.
+
+In the science of Botany, Zoology, Anatomy, Physiology, and almost all
+the others, the same plan has been adopted with invariable success. The
+subject, whatever it be, is looked upon as a whole, and then separated
+into its great divisions;--these again, are subdivided into classes; and
+these again, into orders, genera, species, and varieties, by which means
+each minute part can be examined by itself in connection with the whole;
+the memory and the judgment are assisted in their references and
+application; and order reigns through the whole subject, which otherwise
+would have been involved in inextricable confusion.
+
+In education, as in the other sciences, Nature is our only sure teacher;
+and the Educationist, therefore, who desires success, must proceed in
+the investigation in a similar way. He must first take a comprehensive
+view of Nature's educational processes; divide them into their several
+kinds; and subdivide these again when necessary, that each may be viewed
+alone. He must then ascertain the nature and the object of these
+processes, and observe the means and the methods employed for
+accomplishing them, that he may, if possible, be enabled to _imitate_
+them. In this way, and in this way alone, he is to perfect the science
+of education, and benefit the art of teaching.
+
+That this is the best way yet known of proceeding in investigating and
+improving the science of education, experience has already proved; and
+that it must theoretically be so, we think can admit of little doubt.
+The operations of Nature exhibit the soundest philosophy, and the most
+perfect examples of art. The materials she selects are the most suitable
+for the purpose; the means she employs are always the most simple and
+efficient; and her ends are invariably gained at the least expense of
+material, labour, and time. In the pursuit, therefore, of any object or
+end similar to that in which we find Nature engaged, man's truest wisdom
+is to distrust his own speculations, and to learn from her teaching. He
+should, with a child-like docility, follow her leadings and imitate her
+operations, both as it respects the materials he is to employ, and the
+mode and order in which he is to use them. Were an artist to find
+himself at a loss for the want of an instrument to accomplish some
+particular purpose, or some new material upon which to operate, or some
+special, but as yet unknown means for attaining some new and important
+object,--we are warranted by facts to say, that the natural philosopher
+would be his best instructor. For if he can be directed to some similar
+operation of Nature, or have pointed out to him some one or more of
+Nature's pupils,--some animal or insect, perhaps,--whose labour or
+object is similar to his own, he will most probably find there, or have
+suggested to him by their mode of procedure, the very thing he is in
+search of. By studying their methods of operating, and the means
+employed by them for accomplishing their end, some principle or device
+will be exhibited, by the imitation of which his own special object will
+most readily and most successfully be attained. Every day's experience
+gives us additional proof of the importance and soundness of this
+suggestion. For it is a remarkable fact, that there is scarcely a useful
+mechanical invention to which genius has laid claim,--and deservedly
+laid claim,--that has not its prototype somewhere in nature. The same
+principles, working perhaps in the same manner, have been silently in
+operation, thousands of years before the inventor was born; but which,
+from want of observation, or the neglect of its practical application to
+useful purposes, lay concealed and useless. This culpable neglect in
+practically applying the works and ways of God as he intended, has
+carried with it its own punishment; for thousands of the conveniences
+and arts, which at present smooth and adorn the paths of civilized life,
+have all along been placed within the reach of intelligent man. If he
+had but employed his intelligence, as he ought to have done, in
+searching them out, and had asked himself when he perceived them, "What
+does this teach me?" the very question would have suggested a use. This
+accordingly will be found to be the true way of studying nature, and one
+especial design for which a beneficent Creator has spread out his works
+for our inspection. In proof, and in illustration of this fact, we may
+refer to the telescope, which has from the beginning had its type in the
+human eye;--to the formation of paper, which has been manufactured for
+thousands of years by the wasp;--to the levers, joints, and pulleys of
+the human body, of which the mechanist has as yet only made imperfect
+imitations;--and to the saw of an insignificant insect, (the saw-fly)
+which has never yet been successfully imitated by man.
+
+In prosecuting our investigations into the science of education,
+therefore, our business is to study Nature in all the educational
+processes in which we find her occupied, and of which we shall find
+there are many;--to observe and collect facts;--to detect principles,
+and to discover the means employed in carrying them out, and the modes
+of their working;--to trace effects back to their causes, and then again
+to follow the effects through their various ramifications, to some
+ultimate end. These are the things which it is the business of the
+Educationist to investigate, and to record for the benefit of the
+teacher and his art.
+
+The duty of the teacher, on the other hand, is to apply to his own
+purposes, and to turn to use in the prosecution of his objects, those
+facts discovered by the philosopher in the study of Nature. He should by
+all means understand the principles upon which Nature works, and the
+means which she employs for attaining her ends. He ought, as far as
+circumstances will allow, to arrive at his object by similar means;
+chusing similar materials, and endeavouring invariably to work upon the
+same model. By honestly following out such a mode of procedure, he must
+be successful; for although he can never attain to the perfection of
+Nature, yet this is obviously the best, if not the only method by which
+he can ever approximate towards it.
+
+
+
+
+PART II.
+
+ON THE GREAT DESIGN OF NATURE'S TEACHING, AND THE METHODS SHE EMPLOYS IN
+CARRYING IT ON.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. I.
+
+_A Comprehensive View of the several Educational Processes carried on by
+Nature._
+
+
+We have seen in the former chapters, that the most probable method of
+succeeding in any difficult undertaking is to learn from Nature, and to
+endeavour to imitate her. The first great question with the Educationist
+then should be, "Does Nature ever teach?" If he can find her so
+employed, and if he be really willing to learn, he may rest assured,
+that by carefully studying her operations, he will be able to detect
+something in the ends which she aims at, and the methods which she
+adopts for attaining these ends, that will lead him to the selection of
+similar means, and crown him ultimately with similar success.
+
+Now we find that Nature does teach; and in so far as rational beings are
+concerned, whether angelic or human, it appears to be her chief and her
+noblest employment. In regard to the human family, she no doubt, at a
+certain period, intends that the task should be taken up and carried on
+by parents and teachers, under her controul; but when we compare the
+nature and success of their operations with hers, we perceive the
+immense inferiority of their best endeavours, and are obliged to
+confess, that in many instances, instead of forwarding her work, they
+either mar or destroy it. For in regard to the _matter_ of their
+teaching, it may be observed, that they can teach their pupils nothing,
+except what they or their predecessors have learned of Nature
+before;--and as to the _manner_ in which it is taught, it is generally
+so very imperfect, that for their success, teachers are often indebted
+in no small degree to the constant interference of Nature, in what is
+ordinarily termed the "common sense" of their pupils, for rectifying
+many of their errors, and supplying innumerable deficiencies. Of this we
+shall by and by have to advert more particularly.
+
+The educational operations of Nature are universal; and she attaches
+large rewards to diligence in attending to them. She evidently intends,
+as we have said, that the parent and teacher should take up, and follow
+out her suggestions in this great work; but even when this is delayed,
+or altogether neglected, her part of the proceedings is not abandoned.
+Nature is so strong within the pupil, and her educational promptings are
+so powerful, that even without a teacher, he is able for a time to teach
+himself. In man, and even among many of the more perfect specimens of
+the lower creation, Nature has suspended the larger portion of their
+comforts and their security, upon attention to her lessons, and the
+practical application of that which she teaches. The dog which shuns the
+person who had previously beaten him; the infant that clings to its
+nurse, and refuses to leave her; the boy who refuses to cross the ditch
+he never tried before; the savage who traces the foot-prints of his
+game; the man who shrinks from a ruffian countenance; and Newton, when
+the fall of an apple prompted him to pursue successively the lessons
+which that simple event suggested to him, are all examples of the
+teachings of Nature,--specimens of the manner in which she enables her
+pupils to collect and retain knowledge, and stimulates them to apply it.
+Wherever these suggestions of Nature are individually neglected, there
+must be discomfort and danger, and wretchedness to the _person_ doing
+so; and wherever they are not taken up by communities, and socially
+taught by education of some kind or another, _society_ must necessarily
+remain little better than savage.--The opposite of this is equally true;
+for wherever they are personally attended to, the individual promotes
+his own safety and comfort; and when they are socially taken up and
+followed out by education, however imperfectly, then civilization, and
+national security, prosperity, and happiness, are the invariable
+consequences.
+
+The information which we are to derive from the Academy of Nature, is to
+be found chiefly in those instances where she is least interfered with
+by the operations of others. In these we shall endeavour to follow her;
+and, by classifying her several processes, and investigating each of
+them in its order, we shall assuredly be able to arrive at some first
+principles, to guide us in imitating the modes of her working, and which
+will enable us, in some measure, to share in her success.
+
+When we take a comprehensive view of the educational processes of
+Nature, we find them arranging themselves under four great divisions,
+blending into each other, no doubt, like the kingdoms of Nature and the
+colours of the rainbow, but still perfectly distinct in their great
+characteristics.
+
+The _first_ educational process which is observable in Nature's Academy,
+is the stimulating of her pupil to such an exercise of mind upon
+external objects, as tends powerfully and rapidly to expand and
+strengthen the powers of his mind. This operation begins with the first
+dawning of consciousness, and continues under different forms during the
+whole period of the individual's life.
+
+The _second_ educational process, which in its commencement is perhaps
+coeval with the first, is Nature's stimulating her pupil to the
+acquisition of knowledge, for the purpose of retaining and using it.
+
+The _third_ consists in the disciplining of her pupil in the practical
+use, and proper application of the knowledge received; by which means
+the knowledge itself becomes better understood, better remembered, and
+much more at the command of the will than it was before:--
+
+And her _fourth_ educational process consists, in training her pupil to
+acquire facility in communicating by language, his knowledge and
+experience to others.
+
+The _first_ of these four general departments in Nature's educational
+process, _is the developement and cultivation of the powers of her
+pupil's mind_.--This part of Nature's work begins at the first dawn of
+intelligence; and it continues through every other department of her
+educational process. For several months during infancy, sensation itself
+is but languid. The first indistinct perceptions of existence gradually
+give place to a dreamy and uncertain consciousness of personal
+identity.--Pain is felt; light is perceived; objects begin to be
+defined, and distinguished; ideas are formed; and then, but not till
+then, reflection, imagination, and memory, are gradually brought into
+exercise, and cultivated. It is the extent and strength of these
+faculties, as we shall afterwards see, that is to measure the
+educational progress of the child; and therefore it is, that the first
+object of Nature seems to be, to secure their proper developement. The
+child feels and thinks; and it is these first feelings and thoughts,
+frequently repeated, that enable it gradually to extend its mental
+operations. It is in this way only that the powers, of the mind in
+infants are expanded and strengthened, as there can be no mental culture
+without mental exercise. While a child is awake, therefore, Nature
+prompts him to constant and unwearied mental exertion; by which means he
+becomes more and more familiar with external objects; acquires a better
+command over his own mind in perceiving and remembering them; and
+becomes more and more fitted, not only for receiving constant accessions
+of knowledge, but also for putting that knowledge to use.
+
+The _second_ part of Nature's educational process, we have said,
+consists in her powerfully stimulating her pupil to _the acquisition of
+knowledge_.--This, which we call the second part of Nature's operations,
+has been going on from an early period of the child's history, and it
+acts usually in conjunction with the first. As soon as an infant can
+distinguish objects, it begins to form ideas regarding them. It
+remembers their shape; it gradually acquires a knowledge of their
+qualities; and these it remembers, and, as we shall immediately see, is
+prompted to put to use upon proper occasions.--It is in the acquisition
+of this kind of knowledge that the principle of curiosity begins to be
+developed. The child's desire for information is increased with every
+new accession; and for this reason, its mental activity and
+restlessness, while awake, have no cessation. Every glance of the eye,
+every motion of the hands or limbs made to gratify its curiosity, as it
+is called, is only an indication of its desire for information:--Every
+sight or sound calls its attention; every portable object is seized,
+mouthed, and examined, for the purpose of learning its qualities. These
+operations at the instigation of Nature are so common, that they are
+scarcely observed; but when we examine more minutely into their effects,
+they become truly wonderful. For example, were we to hear of an infant
+of two or three years of age, having learned in the course of a few
+months to distinguish each soldier in a regiment of Negroes, whose
+features their very parents perhaps would have some difficulty in
+discriminating; if he could call each individual by his name; knew also
+the names and the uses of their several accoutrements; and, besides all
+this, had learned to understand and to speak their language;--we would
+be surprised and incredulous. And yet this would be an accumulation of
+knowledge, not much greater than is attained in the same space of time
+by many of the feeble unsophisticated pupils of Nature.--Infants, having
+no temptation to depart from her mode of discipline, become in a short
+period acquainted with the forms, and the uses, and even the names, of
+thousands of persons and objects, not only without labour, but with vast
+satisfaction and delight.
+
+The training of her pupils to _the practical use of their knowledge_,
+forms the _third_ department in Nature's educational process.--This is
+the great end which the two previous departments were designed to
+accomplish. This is Nature's _chief_ object;--all the others are
+obviously subordinate. The cultivation of the mind, and the acquisition
+of knowledge were necessary;--but that necessity arose from the
+circumstance of their being preparatory to this. Nature, in fact,
+appears to have stamped this department of her operations almost
+exclusively with her own seal;--repudiating all knowledge that remains
+useless, and in a short time blotting it entirely from the memory of her
+pupils; while that portion of their acquired knowledge, on the contrary,
+which is useful and is put to use, becomes in proportion more familiar,
+and more permanent. It is also worthy of remark, that the knowledge
+which is most useful, is always most easily and pleasantly acquired.
+
+The superior importance of this department of education is very
+observable. In the previous departments of Nature's educational process,
+the child was induced to _acquire_ new ideas;--in this he is prompted to
+_make use of them_. In the former he was taught to _know_;--in this he
+is trained to _act_. For example, if he has learned that his nurse is
+kind, Nature now prompts him to act upon that knowledge, and he
+accordingly strains every nerve to get to his nurse;--if he has learned
+that comfits are sweet, he acts upon that knowledge, and endeavours to
+procure them;--and if he has once experimentally learned that the fire
+will burn, he will ever afterwards keep from the fire.
+
+Last of all comes the _fourth_, or supplementary step in this beautiful
+educational process of Nature. It consists in gradually training her
+pupil to _communicate the knowledge and experience which he has
+attained_.--It is probable that Nature begins this part of her process
+before the child has acquired the use of language;--but as it is by
+language chiefly that man holds fellowship with man, it is not till he
+has learned to speak that the mental exercise on which its success
+depends, becomes sufficiently marked and obvious. It consists, not in
+the acquisition of language so much, as in the use of language after it
+has been gained. The pupil is for this purpose prompted by Nature to
+think and to speak at the same moment;--mentally to prepare one
+sentence, while he is giving utterance to its predecessor. That this is
+not the result of instinct, but is altogether an acquisition made under
+the tuition of Nature by the mental exertions of the infant himself, is
+obvious from the fact, that he is at first incapable of it, and never
+pronounces three, and very seldom two words consecutively without a
+pause between each. This the child continues to do after he is perfectly
+familiar with the meaning of many words, and after he can also pronounce
+each of them individually. In giving utterance to the first words which
+he uses, there is an evident suspension of the mind in regard to every
+thing else. His whole attention appears to be concentrated upon the word
+and its pronunciation. He cannot think of any thing else and pronounce
+the word at the same time; and it is not till after long practice that
+he can utter two, three, or more words in a sentence, without hesitation
+and a decided pause between them. It is only by degrees that he acquires
+the ability to utter a phrase, and at last a short sentence, without
+interruption. Nature prompts the child to this exercise, which from the
+first attempt, to the full flow of eloquence in the extemporaneous
+debater, consists simply in commanding and managing one set of ideas in
+the mind, at the moment the person is giving utterance to others. This
+cannot be done by _the child_, but it is gradually acquired by _the
+man_; and we shall see in its proper place, that this acquisition is
+entirely the result of a mental exercise, such as we have here
+described, and to which various circumstances in childhood and youth are
+made directly subservient.
+
+Here then we have the highway of education, marked off, and walled in by
+Nature herself. That these four great departments in her educational
+process will be much better defined, and their parts better understood,
+when experience has given more ample opportunities for their
+observation, cannot be doubted; and it is not improbable, that future
+investigations will suggest a different arrangement of heads, and a
+different modification of their parts also; but still, the great outline
+of the whole, we think, is so distinctly marked, that, so far as they
+go, there can be little mistake; and by following them, we are most
+likely to obtain a large amount of those benefits which education is
+intended to secure.--To excel Nature is impossible; but by endeavouring
+to imitate her, we may at least approach nearer to her perfections.
+
+It is not enough, however, for us to perceive the great outlines of
+Nature's operations in education; we must endeavour to follow her into
+the details, and investigate the means which she employs for carrying
+them into practical effect. We shall therefore take up the several
+departments above enumerated in their order, and endeavour to trace the
+laws which regulate her operations in each, for the purpose of assisting
+the teacher in his attempts to imitate them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. II.
+
+_On the Method employed by Nature for cultivating the Powers of the
+Mind._
+
+
+The _first_ step in Nature's educational process, is the cultivation of
+the powers of the mind; and, without entering into the recesses of
+metaphysics, we would here only recall to the recollection of the
+reader, that the mind, so far as we yet know, can be cultivated in no
+other way than by voluntary exercise:--not by mere sensation, or
+perception, nor by the involuntary flow of thought which is ever passing
+through the mind; but by the active mental operation called
+"thinking,"--the voluntary exertion of the powers of the mind upon the
+idea presented to it, and which we have denominated "reiteration,"[1] as
+perhaps best descriptive of that thinking of the presented idea "over
+again," by which alone, as we shall see, the mind is cultivated, and
+knowledge increased.
+
+It is also here worthy of remark, that the cultivation of the powers of
+her pupil's mind, as a preliminary to their acquiring and applying of
+knowledge, appears to be a settled arrangement of Nature, and one which
+must be rigidly followed by the teacher, wherever success is to be hoped
+for. Analogy, in other departments of Nature's operations, proves its
+necessity, and points out its wisdom; for she is never premature, and
+never stimulates her pupils to any work, till they have been properly
+prepared for accomplishing it. Hence the consistency and importance of
+commencing the process of education, by expanding and cultivating the
+powers of the mind, preparatory to the future exertions of the pupil;
+and hence also the wisdom of requiring no more from the child, than the
+state of his mental powers at the time are capable of performing. Our
+object, at present, is to discover the means employed by Nature for
+accomplishing this preliminary object, that we may, by imitating her
+plans, obtain the greatest amount of benefit.
+
+In infancy, and during the early part of a child's life, each of the
+thousands of objects and actions which are presented to its observation,
+falls equally on the organs of sense, and each of them _might_, if the
+child had pleased, have become objects of perception, as well as objects
+of sensation. But it is evident, that till the mind occupy itself upon
+one or more of these objects, there can be no mental exercise, and, of
+course, no mental culture. On the contrary, if the mind shall single out
+any one object from the mass that surrounds it,--shall entertain the
+idea suggested by its impression on the organs of sense, and think of
+it--that is, review it on the mind--there is then mental exercise, and,
+in consequence, mental cultivation. From this obvious truth it
+necessarily follows, that the cultivation of the mind does not depend
+upon the multitude of objects presented to the observation of a child,
+but only on those which it really does observe,--which it looks at, and
+thinks upon, by an active voluntary exercise of its own powers. The
+child, no doubt, _might_ have smelt every odour; it _might_ have
+listened to every sound that entered the ear; and it _might_ have looked
+upon every image that entered the eye; but we know that it did not. A
+few of them only were thought of,--the ideas which they suggested were
+alone "reiterated" by the mind,--and therefore they, and they alone,
+tended to its cultivation.
+
+As this act of the mind lies at the root of all mental improvement,
+during every stage of the pupil's education, it becomes a matter of
+considerable importance, that its nature, and mode of operation, should
+be thoroughly understood.
+
+Let us for this purpose suppose that a lighted candle is suddenly
+presented before a young infant. He looks at it; he thinks of it; his
+mind is employed with the flame of the candle in a manner quite
+different from what it is upon any thing else in the room. All the other
+images which enter the eye fail to make an impression upon the mind; but
+this object which the child looks at,--observes,--does this; and
+accordingly, while it is passive as to every thing else, the mind is
+found to be actively engaged with the candle. He not only sees it, but
+he looks at it. This, and similar "reiterations" of ideas by the mind,
+frequently repeated by the infant, gradually communicate to it a
+consciousness of mental power, and enable him more and more easily to
+wield it. Every such instance of the reiteration of an idea,--of the
+voluntarily exercise of active thought,--strengthens the powers of the
+mind, so that he is soon able to look at and follow with his eyes other
+objects, although they are much less conspicuous than the glare of a
+candle.
+
+When we examine the matter a little farther in regard to infants, we
+perceive, that all the little arts used by the mother or the nurse, to
+"amuse the child," as it is called, are nothing more than means employed
+to excite this reiteration of ideas by the mind. A toy, for example, is
+presented to the infant, and his attention is fixed upon it. He is not
+satisfied with passively seeing the toy, as he sees all the other
+objects in the room, but he actively looks at it. Nor is this enough;
+the toy is usually seized, handled, mouthed, and turned; and each
+movement prompts the mind to active thought,--to reiterate the idea
+which each of the sensations suggests. These impressions are no doubt
+rapid, but they are real; and each of them has been reiterated,--actively
+thought of,--before they could either be received, or remembered; and it
+is only by these impressions frequently repeated, in which the mind is
+vigorously and delightfully engaged, that it acquires that activity and
+strength which we so frequently witness in the young.
+
+At a more advanced period during childhood and youth, we find the
+cultivation of the mind still depending upon the same principle. It is
+not enough that numerous objects be presented to the senses of the
+pupil; or that numerous words or sounds be made to vibrate in his ears;
+or even that he himself be made mechanically to utter them. This may be
+done, and yet the mind may remain perfectly inactive with respect to
+them all:--Nay, experience shews, that during such mechanical exercises,
+his mind may all the time be actively employed upon something else.
+There must therefore, not only be a hearing, or a reading of the words
+which convey an idea, but he must make the idea his own, by thinking it
+over again for himself. Hence it is that mental vigour is not acquired
+in proportion to the number of pages that the pupil is compelled to
+read; nor to the length of the discourses which are delivered in his
+hearing; nor to the multiplicity of objects placed before him. It is
+found entirely to depend upon his diligence in thinking for himself;--in
+reiterating in his own mind the ideas which he hears, or reads, or which
+are suggested to his mind by outward objects. This is still the same act
+of the mind which we have described in the infant, with this very
+important difference, however, that a large portion of his ideas is now
+suggested by _words_, instead of _things_; but it is the ideas, and not
+the words, that the mind lays hold of, and by which its powers are
+cultivated. When this act therefore is successfully forced upon a child
+in any of his school operations, the mind will be disciplined and
+improved;--but wherever it is not produced, however plausible or
+powerful the exercise may _appear_ to be, it will on scrutiny be found
+to be totally worthless in education,--a mere mechanical operation, in
+which, there being no mental exertion, there can be no mental culture.
+
+In the adult, as well as in the young and the infant, the culture of the
+mind is carried on in every case by the operation of the same
+principle.--However various the means employed for this purpose may be,
+they all depend for their success upon this kind of active
+thought,--this reiteration of the _ideas_ suggested in the course of
+reading, hearing, observation, or reasoning. A man may turn a wheel, or
+point pins, or repeat words from infancy to old age, without his mind's
+being in the least perceptible degree benefited by such operations;
+while the mill-wright, the engineer, or the artist, whose employments
+require varied and active thought, cannot pursue his employment for a
+single day, without mental culture, and an acquisition of mental
+strength.--The reason is, that in mere mechanical operations there is
+nothing to induce this act of reiteration,--this active mental exercise
+of which we are speaking. In the former case, the individual is left to
+the train of thought in the mind, which appears to afford no mental
+cultivation;--whereas, in the latter, the mind is, by the acts of
+comparing, judging, trying, and deciding, which the nature of his
+occupation renders necessary, constantly excited to active
+thought,--that is, to the reiteration of the several ideas presented to
+it.
+
+These remarks may be thought by some to be exceedingly commonplace and
+self-evident.--It may be so. If they be admitted, we ask no more.--Our
+purpose at present is answered, if we have detected a principle in
+education, by the operation of which the powers of the mind are
+invariably expanded and strengthened;--an effect which, so far as we yet
+know, in its absence never takes place. It is by means of this principle
+alone that Nature accomplishes this important object, both in young and
+old; but its effects are especially observable in the young, where, her
+operations not being so much interfered with, we find her producing by
+its means the most extraordinary effects, and that even during the most
+imbecile period of her pupil's existence.
+
+In concluding this part of our investigation, we would very briefly
+remark, that the existence of this principle in connection with the
+cultivation of the mind, accounts in a very satisfactory manner for the
+beneficial results which usually accompany the study of languages,
+mathematics, and some other branches of education similar in their
+nature.--These objects of study, when once acquired, may never
+afterwards be used, and will consequently be lost; but in learning them
+the pupil was compelled to think,--to exercise his own mind on the
+subjects taught,--to reflect, and to reiterate the ideas communicated to
+him, till they had been fully mastered. The mental vigour which was at
+first forced upon the pupil, by these beneficial exercises, remains with
+him, and is exercised upon other objects, as they are presented to his
+observation in ordinary life.--The mind in commencing these studies
+gradually emancipates itself from the mechanical tendencies which an
+improper system of teaching had previously formed, and now gathers
+strength daily by this natural mode of exercising its powers. It is the
+effects of this kind of discipline that constitute the chief element of
+a cultivated mind. In this principally consists the difference between a
+man of "liberal education," and others who have been less highly
+favoured.--His superiority does not lie in his ability to read Latin and
+Greek,--for these attainments may long ago have been forgotten and
+lost;--but in the state of his mind, and the superior cultivation of the
+mental powers.--He possesses a clearness, a vigour, and a grasp of mind
+above others, which enable him at a glance to comprehend a
+statement;--to judge of its accuracy;--and, without effort, to arrange
+and communicate his ideas concerning it. This ability, as we have seen,
+can be acquired only by active mental exercise, and is not necessarily
+the result of extensive reading, nor is it always accompanied by
+extensive knowledge. It is the natural and the necessary product of
+mental discipline, through which the above described act of
+"reiteration," like a golden thread, runs from beginning to end. It is
+the fire of intellect, kindled at first perhaps by classical, and
+mathematical studies; but which now, collecting force and fuel from
+every circumstance of life, glows and shines, long after the materials
+which first excited the flame have disappeared.
+
+If then, as we formerly explained, the arts are to derive benefit from
+the investigations of science, we are led to the conclusion, that the
+wisdom of the Teacher will consist in taking advantage of the principle
+which has been here exhibited. He should not speculate nor theorize, nor
+go forward inconsiderately in using exercises, the benefits of which are
+at least questionable; but he ought implicitly to follow Nature in the
+path which she has thus pointed out to him. One chief object with him
+should be, the cultivation of the minds of his pupils; and the only
+method by which he can attain success in doing so has now been stated.
+He must invent, or procure some exercise, or series of exercises, by
+which the act of "reiteration" in the minds of his pupils shall be
+regularly and systematically carried on.--He must induce them to think
+for themselves, and to exercise the powers of their own minds
+deliberately and frequently,--in the same manner as we see Nature
+operating in the mind of a lively and active child. When he can
+accomplish this, he will, and he must succeed; whereas, if he allow an
+exercise to be prepared where this act of the mind is absent, he may
+rest assured that he is deceiving both himself and the child.--The laws
+of Nature are inflexible; and while she will undoubtedly countenance and
+reward these who act upon the principles which she has established, she
+will as certainly leave those who neglect them to eat the "fruit of
+their own doings."--But the pupil, more than the Teacher is the
+sufferer. Under the pure discipline of Nature in the infant and the
+child, learning is not only their business, but their delight; and it is
+only when her principles are unknown, or violently outraged, that
+education becomes a burden, and the school-house a prison.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[1] Note A.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. III.
+
+_On the Means by which Nature enables her Pupils to acquire Knowledge._
+
+
+The _second_ stage of the pupil's advance under the teaching of Nature
+is that in which she prompts and assists him in the acquisition of
+knowledge.--The importance of this department of a child's education has
+uniformly been acknowledged;--so much so, indeed, that it has too
+frequently absorbed the whole attention of the Teacher, as if the
+possession of knowledge were the whole of education.--That this is a
+mistake we shall afterwards see; because the value of knowledge must
+always be in proportion to the use we can make of it; but it is equally
+true, that as we cannot use knowledge till we have acquired it, its
+acquisition as a preliminary step is of the greatest importance. Our
+intention is at present, to enquire into the means employed by Nature,
+for enabling her pupils to acquire, to retain, and to classify their
+knowledge; so that, by ascertaining and imitating her methods, we may in
+some degree share in her success.
+
+For some time during the early years of childhood Nature is the chief,
+or the only Teacher; and the contrast between her success at that time,
+and the success of the parent or teacher who succeeds her, is very
+remarkable, and deserves consideration.
+
+When we examine this process in the case of infants, we see Nature
+acting without interference, and therefore with undeviating success.
+Within a few months after the child has attained some degree of
+consciousness, we find that Nature, under every disadvantage of body and
+mind, has succeeded in communicating to the infant an amount of
+knowledge, which, when examined in detail appears very wonderful.--The
+child has been taught to know his relations and friends; he has acquired
+the ability to use his limbs, and muscles, and organs, and the knowledge
+how to do so in a hundred different ways. He has become familiar with
+the form, the colour, the texture, and the names of hundreds of articles
+of dress, of furniture, of food, and of amusement, not only without
+fatigue, but in the exercise of the purest delight, and with increasing
+energy. He has begun to contrast objects, and to compare them; and this
+capacity he evinces by an undeviating accuracy in choosing those things
+which please him, and in rejecting those things which he dislikes. But
+above all, the infant, along with all this substantial knowledge, has
+been taught to understand a language, and even to speak it. The fact of
+all this having been accomplished by a child of only two or three years
+of age, is so common, that the mysterious principles which it involves,
+are too generally overlooked. We thoughtlessly allow them to escape
+observation, as if they were mere matters of instinct, and were to be
+ranked with the spider's catching its prey, or the sparrow's building
+its nest. But the principles which regulate these different operations
+are perfectly dissimilar. In the case of the spider and the sparrow
+there is no teaching, and, of course, no learning. Their first web, and
+their first nest, are as perfect as the last; but in the case of the
+infant, with only two or three exceptions, there is nothing that he
+does, and nothing that he knows, which he has not really
+learned,--acquired by experience under the tuition of Nature, by the
+actual use of his own mental and physical powers.
+
+The benefits accruing to education, from successfully imitating Nature
+in this department of her process, will be incalculable; not only in
+adding to the amount of knowledge communicated, but in the ease and
+delight which the young will experience in acquiring it. All must admit
+that the pleasure, as well as the rapidity, of the educational process
+in the young, continues only during the time that Nature is their
+teacher;--and that her operations are generally checked, or neutralized
+by the mismanagement of those who supersede her work, and begin to
+theorize for themselves. The proof of this is to be found in the fact,
+that although a child is much less capable of acquiring knowledge
+between one and three years of age, than he is between eight and ten;
+yet, generally, the amount of his intellectual attainments by his school
+exercises, during the two latter years, bears no proportion to those of
+the former, when Nature _alone_ was his teacher. In the one case, too,
+his knowledge was acquired without effort or fatigue, and in the
+exercise of the most delightful feelings;--in the other, quite the
+reverse.
+
+That we shall ever be able to equal Nature in this part of her
+educational process, is not to be expected; but that, by following up
+the principles which she has developed, and imitating the methods by
+which she accomplishes her ends, we shall become more and more
+successful, there can be no doubt. The method, therefore, to be adopted
+by us is, to examine carefully the principles which she employs with the
+young, through the several stages of her process, and then, by adopting
+exercises which embody these principles, to proceed in a course similar
+to that which she has pointed out.
+
+In prosecuting this plan, then, our object must be, first, to examine
+generally the various means employed by Nature, in the acquisition of
+knowledge by the young,--and then to attend more in detail to the mode
+by which she applies the principles involved in each.
+
+These general means appear to consist of four distinct principles,
+which, for want of better definitions, we shall denominate
+"Reiteration," "Individuation, or Abstraction," "Grouping, or
+Association," and "Classification, or Analysing."[2]
+
+The _first_ is the act of "Reiteration," of which we have already
+spoken, as the chief instrument in cultivating the powers of the mind,
+and without which, we shall also find, there can be no acquisition of
+knowledge. The _second_ is the principle of "Individuation," by which
+Nature communicates the knowledge of single ideas, or single objects, by
+constraining the child to concentrate the powers of its mind upon one
+object, or idea, till that object or idea is familiar, or, at least,
+known. The _third_ is the common principle of "Grouping, or
+Association," and appears to depend, in some degree, on the imaginative
+powers, by which a child begins to associate objects or truths together,
+after they have become individually familiar; so that any one of them,
+when afterwards presented to the mind, enables the pupil at a glance, to
+command all the others which were originally associated with it. The
+_fourth_ is the principle of "Classification, or Analysing," by which
+the mind distributes objects or truths according to their nature,--puts
+every truth or idea, as it is received, into its proper place, and among
+objects or ideas of a similar kind. This classification of objects is
+not, as in the principle of grouping, regulated according to their
+accidental relation to each other, by which the canary and the cage in
+which it is confined would be classed together; but according to their
+nature and character, by which the canary would be classified with
+birds, and the cage among other articles of household furniture. All
+knowledge, so far as we are aware, appears to be communicated and
+retained for use, by means of these four principles; and we shall now
+proceed to examine the mode in which each of them is employed by Nature
+for that purpose.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[2] Note A.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. IV.
+
+_On Nature's Method of communicating Knowledge to the Young by the
+Principle of Reiteration._
+
+
+We have, in a former chapter, endeavoured to describe that particular
+act of the mind which generally follows simple perception, and by which
+an idea, when presented to it, is made the subject of _active thought_,
+or is "_reiterated_" again to itself. We have found upon good evidence,
+that it is by this process, whether simple or complex, that the powers
+of the mind are cultivated; and we now proceed to shew, that it is by
+the same act, and by it alone, that any portion of knowledge is ever
+communicated.[3] No truth, or idea of any kind, can make an effective
+entrance into the mind, or can find a permanent lodgement in the memory,
+so as to become "knowledge," until it has successfully undergone this
+process.
+
+There are two ways by which we usually acquire knowledge:--The one is by
+_observation_, without the use of language, and which is common to us
+with those who are born deaf and dumb; and the other is _through the
+medium of words_, either heard or read. In both cases, however, the
+knowledge retained consists entirely of the several _ideas_ which the
+objects or the words convey; and what we are now to shew, is, that these
+ideas thus conveyed, can neither be received by the mind, nor retained
+by the memory, till they have undergone this process of "reiteration."
+While, on the contrary, it will be seen that, whenever this process
+really takes place, the idea thus reiterated does become part of our
+knowledge, and is, according to circumstances, more or less permanently
+fixed upon the memory. We shall for this purpose endeavour to trace the
+operation of the principle, both in the case of ideas communicated by
+objects without language, and in those conveyed to the mind by means of
+words.
+
+That this act of reiteration of an idea by the mind, must take place,
+before objects of perception can become part of our knowledge, will, we
+think, be obvious, from a consideration of the following facts.--When,
+for example, we are in a crowded room, or in the fields, numerous sounds
+enter the ear,--thousands of images enter into and impress the eye, yet
+not one of these becomes part of our knowledge till it is _thought
+of_;--that is, till the idea suggested by the sensation, has not only
+been perceived, but reiterated by the mind. This will appear to many so
+plain, that any farther illustration of the fact may be deemed useless.
+But experience, has shewn, that the illustration of this important
+process in education, is not only expedient, but is really necessary; as
+the overlooking of this simple principle has often been the cause of
+great inconsistencies on the part of teachers. We shall therefore
+endeavour to exhibit the working of the principle in various forms, that
+it may be fully appreciated when we come to apply it.
+
+Let us then suppose two children taken silently through a museum of
+curiosities, the one active and lively, the other dull and listless. It
+would be found on retiring, that the former would be able to give an
+account of many things which he saw, and that the other would remember
+little or nothing. In this case, all the objects in the exhibition were
+seen by both; and the question arises, "Why does the knowledge of the
+one, so much exceed that of the other?" The reason is, that the mind of
+the one was active, while the mind of the other was in a great measure
+inactive. Both _saw_ the objects; but only one _looked at_ them. The one
+actively employed his mind--fixed his eye on an object, and thought of
+it; that is, he reiterated the ideas it suggested to him, whether as to
+form, or colour, or movement, and by doing so, the ideas thus
+reiterated, were effectively received, and given over to the keeping of
+the memory. The other child saw the whole; they were perhaps objects of
+perception; but he allowed his sensations to die away as they were
+received; and his mind was left to wander, or to remain under the dreamy
+influence of a mere passive and evanescent train of thought. His
+"attention" was not arrested;--his mind was not actively engaged on any
+of the articles he saw; in other words, the ideas which they suggested
+were not "reiterated."[4]
+
+Now, that it was the want of this mental reiteration which was the
+cause, and the only cause, why this very usual means of acquiring
+knowledge failed to communicate it, may be proved we think by a very
+simple experiment. For if we shall suppose that the child who was
+obtaining no knowledge by means of the various curiosities around him,
+had been asked at the time a question respecting any of them,--a stuffed
+dog, for example,--his attention would have been arrested, and his mind
+would have been roused to active thought. The words, "What is that?"
+from his teacher, or companion, would have made him look at it, and
+reiterate the ideas of its form and colour, so far as to enable him to
+give an answer. And if he does so, it will be found afterwards, on
+leaving the place, that although he might have remained unconscious of
+the presence of all the other objects in the museum, he will remember
+the stuffed dog, merely because, by the question, the idea it suggested
+was taken up, and reiterated by the mind; while the sensations caused
+by all the rest, were allowed to pass away.
+
+There is another circumstance of daily occurrence, which adds to the
+evidence that it is this principle which we have called "reiteration,"
+which forms the chief, if not the only avenue, by which ideas find
+access to the mind; and it is this:--That when at any time we bring to
+recollection some former circumstance of life, however remote, or when
+we recall any part of our former knowledge or experience, it comes up to
+the mind, accompanied with the perfect consciousness, that, at the time
+we are thinking of, this act of reiteration had taken place upon it;
+that we most assuredly have thought of it before. We are not more
+certain that it occupies our thoughts now, than we are that it did so
+when it occurred;--that the operation of which we are at present
+speaking, did actually then take place; and that it was by our doing so
+then, that it is remembered now. This circumstance, when duly
+considered, is of itself, we think, a sufficient proof, that no part of
+our knowledge,--not a single idea,--can be acquired, or retained on the
+memory by any other process, than by this act of reiteration.
+
+Hence then it is plain, that all the knowledge which we receive by
+observation, without the use of language, is received and retained on
+the memory by the operation of this principle; and we will now proceed
+to shew, that the same process must also take place, when our ideas are
+received by means of _words_, whether these be spoken or read.
+
+It is of great importance for us to remember, that the only legitimate
+use of words is to convey ideas; and that Nature rigidly refuses to
+acknowledge any other use to which they may be put. Hence it is, that in
+conversation, we are quite unconscious of the words which our friend
+uses in communicating his ideas. Nature impels us to lay hold of the
+ideas alone; and in proof of this we find, that we have only to attempt
+to concentrate our attention upon the _words_ he uses, and then we are
+sure to lose sight of the _ideas_ which the words were intended to
+convey. Hence it is, that our opinion of the style, and the language,
+and the manner of a speaker, when the subject itself is not familiar,
+are formed more by indirect impressions, than by direct attention to
+these things while he speaks; and oftener by reflection afterwards, than
+by any critical observation during the time. The reason of this, we may
+remark once for all, is, that what the mind reiterates it
+remembers,--but nothing more. If during the hearing, it reiterates the
+ideas, it will then remember the ideas; but if it reiterates the words
+without the ideas, it will remember nothing but words. Those therefore
+who sow words in the minds of the young, hoping afterwards to reap
+ideas, are as inconsistent as those who seek to "gather grapes of
+thorns, or figs of thistles."[5]
+
+Knowledge is received by the use of words in two ways,--either by oral
+speech, or by written language; but in both cases, the reception of the
+ideas is still governed by reiteration. We shall endeavour to examine
+the operation in both cases.
+
+Let us suppose that a teacher announces to a class of young children,
+that "Cain killed his brother Abel,"--and then examines the state of
+each child's mind in regard to it. All of them heard the words, but some
+only perhaps are now in possession of the truth communicated. Those who
+are so, followed the teacher in his announcement, not so much in
+reiterating the words, as in reiterating the idea,--the truth itself;
+and therefore it is, that they are now acquainted with the fact. Of
+those who heard, but have failed to add this truth to their stock of
+knowledge, there may be two classes;--those who attended to what was
+said, but failed to interpret the words; and those whose attention was
+not excited at all. Those who failed to interpret the words, or to
+extract the idea from them, reiterated the _words_ to themselves, and
+would perhaps be able to repeat the words again, but they do so in the
+same manner that a person reads or repeats words in an unknown tongue.
+The idea,--the truth,--is not yet perceived, and therefore cannot be
+remembered. The others who remember nothing, have reiterated nothing;
+their minds remained inactive. They also heard the words, but they
+failed to listen to them; in the same way as they often see objects, but
+do not look at them. Here it is evident that every child who reiterated
+the idea in his own mind, is in possession of the fact communicated; and
+all who did not do so, even although they reiterated the words, have no
+addition made to their knowledge; which shews that it is only by this
+act of the reiteration of the ideas, that any portion of our knowledge
+is ever acquired.
+
+That this is a correct exhibition of the principle, and a legitimate
+inference from the phenomena, may be still farther proved by an
+experiment similar to one formerly recommended. Let the teacher, in the
+middle of a story, ask some of the inattentive pupils a question
+respecting some of the persons or things he is speaking about, and force
+the reiteration of that part of the narrative in the child's mind by
+getting an answer, and it will be found at the close, that although he
+may remember nothing else of all that he heard, yet he will most
+perfectly remember that part about which he was questioned, and
+respecting which he returned an answer.
+
+The same thing may be ascertained by our own experience, in hearing a
+lecture or sermon, or even in conversation with a friend. In these
+cases, as long as our attention is kept up,--that is, as long as we
+continue to reiterate the ideas that we hear,--we may remember them; but
+when our minds flag, or wander; in other words, when we cease to
+reiterate the ideas of the speaker, the sounds enter our ear, but the
+matter is gone. All that has been said during that period of inattention
+has been lost; it never has formed, and never can form, part of our
+knowledge.
+
+Thus we see, that in the act of hearing oral communications, the
+principle of reiteration of the ideas is obviously necessary for the
+acquiring of knowledge; and we shall now shew, that it is equally
+necessary in the act of reading.
+
+Many persons must have witnessed children reading distinctly, and
+fluently perhaps, who yet were not made one whit wiser by what they
+read. The act of reading was correctly performed, and yet there was no
+accession to their knowledge. The cause of this is easily explained. The
+_ideas_ conveyed by the words have not been reiterated by the
+mind,--perhaps they were never perceived. For as long as the act of
+reading is difficult, the words undergo this process first, and the
+ideas must be gleaned afterwards. Hence it is, that children, when
+hurried from lesson to lesson before they can read them so easily as to
+perceive and reiterate the ideas while reading, acquire the habit of
+decyphering the words alone, and the eye from practice reads
+mechanically, while the mind at the moment is usually wandering, or is
+engaged in attending to something else. Nature, as we have before shewed
+in the act of hearing, does not intend that the mind should pay
+attention both to the words and the ideas at the same time; and reading
+being only an artificial substitute for hearing, is made subject to the
+same law. It is the _ideas_ that Nature induces us to grapple with; and
+the reading of words like the hearing of language, is merely the means
+employed to get at them. Hence the necessity of children being taught to
+read fluently, and with perfect ease, before they leave the school; and
+the neglect of this is the reason why so many after leaving school,
+derive so little instruction from the use of books. Of these
+individuals, experience shews, that many, who on leaving school could
+not collect ideas by their mode of mechanical reading, yet persevere,
+and at last teach themselves by long practice to understand what they
+read; while there are not a few who, in similar circumstances, become
+discouraged, abandon the practice of reading, and soon forget the art
+altogether.
+
+Of the correctness of these facts, every one may be convinced, by
+recollecting what must often have taken place with himself. When at any
+time the mind is exhausted while reading, we continue to read on, page
+after page, and when we have finished, we find, that not a single truth
+has made its way to the memory. Now this did not arise from any
+difficulty in comprehending the ideas in the book, because it does not
+make much difference whether the subject has been simple or otherwise;
+neither did it arise from the want of all mental activity, for the mind
+was so much engaged as to read every word and every letter in the pages
+upon which we were occupied. But it arose entirely from the want of that
+principle of which we are here speaking. The words were read
+mechanically, and the ideas were either not thought of, or at least they
+were not reiterated by the mind, and therefore it is that they are
+lost,--and no effort can ever again recall them. The proof of the
+accuracy of these views will still be found in the circumstance, that
+if, while the person is reading, this act of the reiteration of some one
+or more of the ideas be in any way forced upon him, _these_ ideas thus
+reiterated will afterwards be remembered, although all the others are
+lost.
+
+Here then we have arrived at a principle connected with the acquisition
+of knowledge, by attending to which education may be made most efficient
+for that purpose; but without which, education must remain a mere
+mechanical routine of barren exercises. No idea, no truth, we have seen,
+can ever form part of our knowledge, till it has undergone this
+particular mental process, which we have called "reiteration." If the
+idea, or truth, intended to be communicated, be reiterated by the
+mind,--thought over again,--it will then be remembered:--but if it be
+not reiterated by the mind, it never can. It is also worthy of remark,
+that the tenacity with which the memory keeps hold of any idea or truth,
+depends greatly upon the vigour of the mind at the time, and still more
+perhaps upon the frequency of its reiteration. If a child, however
+languid, is forced to this act of reiteration of an idea but once, it
+will be remembered for a longer or a shorter time; but if his mind be
+vigorous and lively, and more especially if he can be made _repeatedly_
+to reiterate the same idea in his mind at intervals, he will on that
+account, retain it much more tenaciously, and will have it at the
+command of the will more readily. Hence the vividness with which the
+scenes and the circumstances of youth arise upon the mind, and the
+tenacity with which the memory holds them. These scenes were of daily
+occurrence; and the small number of remarkable circumstances connected
+with childhood and youth having few rivals to compete with them in
+attracting the attention, were witnessed frequently with all the vigour
+and liveliness of the youthful mind, as yet unburdened with care. They
+were of course frequently subjected to observation, and as frequently
+reiterated by the mind, and have on these accounts ever since been
+vividly pictured by the imagination, and continue familiar to the
+memory. It also accounts for another circumstance of common occurrence.
+For when, even in early infancy, any event happened which made a deeper
+impression upon the mind than usual, that simple circumstance will
+generally outlive all its neighbours, and will take precedence in point
+of distinct recollection to the close of life. The reason of this is,
+not only the deep impression it made upon the mind at the moment, but
+principally because it had so strongly excited the feelings, that it was
+oftener thought of then and afterwards;--in other words, this act of
+reiteration occurred more frequently with respect to it than the
+others, and therefore it is now better remembered.
+
+This is a principle then of which the Educationist should take
+advantage. For if Nature invariably communicates knowledge by inducing
+her pupils to exercise their own minds on the subject taught, it is
+plain that the teacher should follow the same plan. His pupils cannot
+remain mentally inactive, and yet learn; neither can the mere routine of
+verbal exercises either cultivate the mind or increase knowledge. These
+are but the husks of education, which may tantalize and weaken, but
+which can never satisfy the cravings of the young mind for information.
+Their mental food must be of a perfectly different kind, consisting of
+_ideas_, and not of _words_; and these ideas they must receive and
+concoct by the active use of their own powers. The teacher must no doubt
+select the food for his pupils, and prepare it for their reception, by
+breaking it down into morsels, suited to their capacities. But this is
+all. They must eat and digest it for themselves. The pupil must think
+over in his own mind, and for himself, all that he is either to know or
+remember. The ideas read or heard must be reiterated by
+himself,--thought over again,--if he is ever to profit by them. Without
+this, no care or pains on the part of the teacher, no exertion on the
+part of the pupil, will be of any avail. All the knowledge that he seems
+to acquire in any other way is repudiated by Nature; and however
+plausible the exercise may appear, it will ultimately be found fruitless
+and vain.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[3] Note B.
+
+[4] Note C.
+
+[5] Note D.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. V.
+
+_On the Acquisition of Knowledge by the Principle of Individuation._
+
+
+Nature, as we have seen, has rendered it imperative that the act of
+reiteration should be performed upon every idea before it can have an
+entrance into the mind, or be retained by the memory; but as the
+individual cannot reiterate, or think over, all the ideas suggested to
+him by the innumerable objects of sensation with which he is surrounded,
+it next becomes a matter of importance to ascertain the means employed
+by Nature for enabling her pupils to receive and retain the greatest
+number of ideas, so that they shall ever afterwards remain at the
+command of the will. This she accomplishes by the operation of the three
+other principles to which we have adverted; namely, "Individuation," or
+"Abstraction," "Grouping," or "Association," and "Classification," or
+"Analysis."--We shall in this chapter attend to the principle of
+"Individuation," and endeavour to trace its nature and uses in the
+acquisition of knowledge by the young.
+
+The first thing in an infant that will be remarked by a close observer
+of Nature is, that while adding to its knowledge by observation, it
+always confines its attention to one thing at a time, till it has
+examined it. Before the period when this principle becomes conspicuous
+in an infant, the eye, and the other senses are in a great measure
+inactive, so far as the mind is concerned; and the first indication of
+the senses really ministering to the mind is the eye chusing an object,
+and the infant examining that object by itself, without allowing its
+attention to be distracted by any thing else.
+
+This operation takes place as soon as an infant is capable of
+observation. It fixes its eye upon an object, generally one that is new
+to it, and it continues to look upon it till it has collected all the
+information that this object can give, or which the limited capacity of
+the infant will enable it to receive. Hence with stationary objects this
+information is soon acquired; but with moveable objects, or toys, or
+things which are capable of varying, or multiplying the ideas received
+by the child, the look is more intense, and the attention is sustained
+without fatigue for a longer time. Till this information has been
+received, the child continues to look on; and if the object be removed,
+the eye still follows it with interest, and gives it up at last with
+reluctance. That by this concentration of its mind upon one object, the
+infant is adding to its knowledge, appears evident from the fact, that
+objects which have already communicated their stock of information, and
+have become familiar, are less heeded than those that are new or
+uncommon. Every new thing excites the curiosity of the child, who is not
+content till that curiosity be gratified. This has been called "the love
+of novelty;"--but it is not the love of novelty in the very questionable
+sense in which many understand that term. On the contrary, it is
+obviously a wise provision of Nature, suited to the capacity and
+circumstances of children, which is to be taken advantage of, for
+conveying such crumbs and morsels of knowledge as their limited powers
+are able to receive; and which should never be abused, by presenting to
+them an unceasing whirl of names and objects,--a process which fatigues
+the mind, and leaves them without any specific information. It is the
+same principle, and is to be considered in the same light, as that which
+induces the philosopher to confine himself to the investigation of one
+phenomenon till he understands it. The information which the child is
+capable of receiving from each of the impressions then made is no doubt
+small; but it is still information--knowledge.--This is what he is
+seeking; and, at this stage of his progress, it is only acquired by the
+concentration of the powers of the mind upon one thing at a time.
+
+The effect of this principle in the infant is worthy of remark.--While
+the pupil remains under the teaching of Nature, there is no
+confusion,--no hurry,--no failure. The tasks which she prescribes for
+him are never oppressive, and are constantly performed with ease and
+with pleasure.--Although there be no selection made by the parent or
+teacher for the child to exercise his faculties upon, yet he
+instinctively selects for himself, without hesitation, and without
+mistake. All the objects in a room or in a landscape are before him: yet
+he is never oppressed by their number, nor bewildered by their
+variety.--His mind is always at ease.--He chooses for himself; but he
+never selects more for his special observation at one time than he can
+conveniently attend to. When the objects are new, his attention is
+restricted to one till it be known; and then, but not till then, as we
+shall immediately see, he is able, and delights to employ himself in
+grouping it with others.
+
+In early infancy this attention to one object is protracted and slow,
+till he gradually acquires sufficient energy of mind by practice.--Every
+one must have observed how slowly the eye of an infant of two or three
+months old moves after an object, in comparison with one of ten.--But
+even in the latter case, when the glance is lively and rapid, the same
+principle of individuation continues to operate. The information from an
+unknown object must still be received alone, and without distraction,
+although by that time the child is capable of receiving it more quickly.
+He is not now satisfied with viewing an object on one side, but he must
+view it on all sides. He endeavours by various means to acquire every
+one of the ideas which it is capable of communicating. His new toy is
+viewed with delight and wonder; and his eye by exercise can now scan in
+a moment its different parts.--But this is not enough; he has now
+learned to make use of his other senses, and he employs them also, for
+the purpose of becoming better acquainted with the object which he is
+contemplating. His toy is seized, mouthed, handled, turned, looked at on
+all sides, till all the information it can communicate has been
+received;--and then only is it cast aside for something else, which is
+in its turn to add to his stock of knowledge.
+
+The circumstance to which we would especially call attention at present
+is, the singleness of thought exercised upon the object, during the time
+that the child is amused by it.--He attends to nothing else, and he will
+look at nothing else; and were his attention forced from it for a
+moment, this is evidently done unwillingly; and, when allowed, it
+immediately returns to the object. It is also worthy of notice, that if,
+while he is so engaged, we attempt to teach him something else, or in
+other words, to induce him to divide his attention upon some other new
+object, the distraction of his mind is at once apparent; we perceive
+that it is unnatural; and we find by experience that he does not profit
+by either. Now, from these indications it must be evident, that any
+interference with this principle of individuation in teaching any thing
+for the first time, must always be hurtful:--on the contrary, by
+attending to the principle, and acting upon it in the training of the
+young, it must be productive of the happiest effects.--While acted upon,
+under the guidance of Nature, its efficiency and power are astonishing.
+It is by means of this principle, that the infant mind, with all its
+imbecility and want of developement, acquires and retains more real
+knowledge in the course of a few months, than is sometimes received at
+school afterwards during as many years.--Few things are more cheering in
+prospect than the knowledge of this fact; for what may we not expect
+from the _man_, when his education while a _child_ shall have been
+improved, and approximated to that of Nature!
+
+The operation of the principle of individuation, is not confined to the
+infant, but continues to maintain its place during all the after stages
+of life, whenever any thing new and uncommon is presented as an object
+of knowledge. Every thing is new to the infant, and therefore this
+principle is more conspicuous during the early stages of education.--But
+it is still equally necessary for the child or the youth in similar
+circumstances; and Nature compels him, as it were, still to concentrate
+the powers of his mind upon every new object, till he has received and
+become familiar with the information it is calculated to furnish.--Every
+one must have observed the intensity with which a child examines an
+object which he has never seen before, and the anxiety which he evinces
+to know all about it.--It requires a considerable effort on his own
+part, and still greater on the part of others, to detach his mind from
+the object, till it has surrendered the full amount of information which
+the young enquirer is seeking. The boy with his new drum will attend to
+nothing else if he can help it, as long as he has any thing to learn
+concerning it, and the noises it is capable of producing.--And even when
+he has tired himself with beating it, he is not satisfied till he has
+explored its contents, to find out the cause which has created the
+sounds. The girl with her doll, in the same way, will voluntarily think
+of nothing else, as long as it can provide her with mental exercise;
+that is, as long as it can add something new to her present stock of
+knowledge. And it is here worthy of remark, that the apparent exception
+in this case, arising from the greater length of time that a doll and a
+few other similar toys will amuse a child, is in reality a striking
+confirmation, and illustration of the principle of which we are
+speaking.--Such toys amuse longer, because it is longer before the
+variety of which they are capable is exhausted.--The doll is fondled,
+and scolded, and cradled, and dressed, and undressed in so many
+different ways, that the craving for new ideas continues for a long
+period to be amply gratified;--but the effect would be quite different,
+were the very same doll placed where it could only be looked at. Every
+new movement with the toy is employed by Nature, for the cultivation of
+the mental powers, by reiterating the ideas thus imparted, and on which
+the imagination delights to dwell; and also in receiving a knowledge of
+individual objects and ideas, which, when once known, are to form the
+elements of future groupings, and of an endless variety of information.
+
+It is here of importance to recollect, that almost all the information
+received by children, is of a sensible kind. They can form little or no
+idea of abstract truths. The mind and the memory must be stored with
+sensible objects,--first individually, and then by grouping,--before the
+child can arrive at a capacity for abstraction. Nature's first object,
+therefore, is to store the memory and imagination of the young with the
+names and images of things, which, as we have seen, are acquired
+individually, and, when once known, are remembered for future use. But
+those things which they have not yet seen, or felt, or heard, or tasted,
+are totally beyond their conception, and cannot be of any service,
+either in grouping, or classification.--Hence the great importance of
+allowing the young mind to act freely in acquiring new ideas by this
+principle of individuation; as without this, all the lessons into which
+such ideas shall afterward be introduced, must be in a great measure
+lost. Even adults can form no idea of an unknown object, except by
+compounding it of something that they already know. And this is at least
+equally the case with children; who, till they can group and compare
+objects which they have seen, can realize no idea of any thing, however
+simple, that has not previously been subjected to the senses.--Hence,
+therefore, the importance at this period of a child's education, of
+confining the attention chiefly to sensible objects, and of not
+confounding his faculties, by too early an introduction of abstract
+ideas.
+
+Here then we have been able to detect the method by which Nature
+selects, and enables her pupils to prepare the materials of which their
+future knowledge is to be compounded. These materials are the ideas of
+sensible objects, and their properties and uses; which must be gathered
+and stored one by one. By inducing them to attempt to seize even two at
+a time, they will most probably lose both, and their powers of
+collecting and storing will, by the same attempt, be injured and
+weakened. It is by means of this principle of individuation, that, with
+the most intense craving for information, and while placed among
+innumerable objects calculated to gratify it, the infant and the child
+remain perfectly collected, without the slightest appearance of
+distraction of mind, or confusion of ideas. With his thirst of knowledge
+ardent and constant, it enables him with the greatest delight to add
+hourly to his stores of knowledge, without difficulty, without
+irritation, and without fatigue.
+
+The application of these truths to the business of education, we shall
+attend to in its proper place; in the meantime we may remark, of how
+much importance it is, that all knowledge communicated to the young be
+simple, and that for some time it consist chiefly of sensible objects,
+and their qualities;--objects which they either know, or can have access
+to. Abstract subjects are not suited for children, till they can group,
+and classify, and compare the sensible objects with which they are
+already acquainted. The aim of the teacher, therefore, ought to be,
+strictly to follow Nature in this early stage of her operations, and to
+furnish food for his pupils, of the proper kind, and in proper
+proportions;--keeping the thinking powers constantly in healthful
+exercise, by giving as many ideas as the mind can reiterate without
+fatigue; but carefully avoiding all hurry or force, seeing that the
+powers of the mind are greatly weakened and injured by a multiplicity of
+objects, particularly when they are presented so rapidly, that the
+thoughts have not time to settle upon them, nor the mind to reiterate
+the ideas which they suggest.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. VI.
+
+_On the Application of Knowledge by the Principle of Association, or
+Grouping._
+
+
+Another principle which exhibits itself in the acquisition of knowledge
+by Nature's pupils, is that of "grouping," or associating objects
+together, after they are individually known. A child, or even an infant,
+who is frightened, or alarmed, or who suffers any severe injury,
+remembers the several circumstances, and has the place, the persons, and
+the things connected with the event, all associated together, and
+grouped into one scene or picture on the memory. These objects may have
+been numerous; but by the operation of this principle, they have all
+been apprehended, and united so powerfully with each other, that no
+future effort of the child can either separate or obliterate any portion
+of them; and so comprehensive, that the recollection of any one of the
+circumstances instantly recalls all the others.
+
+These groupings in the mind of a child, formed chiefly by means of the
+imagination, are almost wholly compounded of sensible objects; and the
+only necessary prerequisite for their formation appears to be a
+knowledge of the individual elements of which they are to be composed.
+If an unknown object be presented to the mind in connection with the
+others that are known, it is generally excluded, and the things
+previously known retained. For example, in the case supposed above, of
+an accident occurring to a child, there would be thousands of objects
+present, and all cognisable by the senses; but not one of all these that
+were unknown, that is, that had not previously undergone the process of
+individuation, is found to form part of the remembered group.
+
+There is another circumstance connected with the operation of this
+principle in the young, which is of importance. Almost the whole of a
+child's knowledge is composed of these groupings. Before the
+developement of the reasoning powers, by which the individual is enabled
+to _classify_ the elements of his knowledge, there is no way of
+remembering these elements in connection with each other, except by this
+principle. If, therefore, we change the order or relative position of
+the elements or objects which compose the scene, or group, we draw the
+attention of the pupil altogether from the former, and create another
+which is entirely new;--in the same way as the transposition of the
+figures in any sum, forms another of an entirely different amount. The
+drawing-room, for example, is seen by the children of the family with
+the fire-place, the cabinet, the sofas, the tables, and other stationary
+ornaments, in certain relative positions, and this grouping of those
+objects is to them in reality all that they know of the room. Any
+material change in shifting these objects to other places in the
+apartment, would, to the _parent_, whose judgment is ripened, produce
+feelings comparatively slight; but, to the younger branches of the
+family who group, but cannot as yet classify, it would appear like the
+complete annihilation of the former apartment. The different arrangement
+of a few of the articles only, would to them create another, and an
+entirely different room.
+
+This leads us to observe another circumstance connected with the
+operation of this principle, in the instruction of the young, which is
+the remarkable fact, that, by making the child familiar with a very few
+primitive elements, a parent or teacher may communicate an almost
+infinite variety of groupings, or stories, for cultivating the mind, and
+increasing the knowledge of his pupil. Hence it is, that hundreds of
+agreeable and useful little histories have been composed for children,
+with no other machinery than a mamma and her child, and the occasional
+introduction of a doll or a dog, a cat or a canary bird. To the child,
+there is in these numerous groupings no appearance of sameness, nor want
+of variety; and although so much circumscribed in their original
+elements, they never fail to amuse and delight.
+
+The most important circumstance, however, connected with the working of
+this principle in the education of the young, appears to be the
+necessity of a previous familiarity with the individual objects, before
+the child is called upon to group them. If this has been attended to,
+the grouping of these into any combination will be easy and
+pleasant;--but if his attention be called from the group, to examine
+exclusively even but one of its elements, the operation is checked, the
+mind becomes confused, its powers are weakened, and the grouping has
+again to commence under serious disadvantages.
+
+To illustrate this point, let us suppose a child introduced to the
+bustle and sports of a common fair. Here he sees thousands both of
+familiar and strange objects, all of which are calculated to excite his
+mind to increased attention; and yet the child, while greatly amused, is
+still perfectly at his ease. There is not the slightest indication of
+his being incommoded by the numerous objects about him; no confusion of
+ideas, no distraction of mind, no mental distress of any kind; but, on
+the contrary, in the midst of so much to see and to learn, the young
+looker-on is not only at his ease, but appears to be delighted. The
+reason of this is, that he is not by any external force compelled to
+attend to _all_ that he sees; and Nature within directs him to attend to
+no more than he is able to group, or reiterate in his thoughts. We shall
+endeavour to examine this condition of the child's mind in such
+circumstances a little more particularly.
+
+The child in the circumstances supposed, must either be a spectator in
+general, or an examiner in particular; in other words, he must either
+employ himself with the principle of combination or grouping, or with
+the principle of individuation,--but he never attempts to employ himself
+with both at the same time. If he amuses himself as an observer in
+general, he is engaged in grouping objects which are already familiar to
+him; but while he is so engaged, he never directs his attention to any
+one unknown object for the purpose of examining it for the first time by
+itself. He passes over all the minute and unknown objects with a glance,
+and attends only to the grouping or associating of those which are
+already familiar. Nature induces him, while thus employed, to pass by
+all these minute and unknown objects; because, if he were to do
+otherwise, his observation in general would instantly be recalled, and
+his whole attention would be monopolized by the object which he had
+resolved to examine, to the exclusion of every other for the time. This,
+however, is not what he seeks; and he employs himself entirely in the
+grouping of things which are already known. His mind is left at ease,
+and in the possession of all its powers; he looks only at those things
+which please him; and he passes over all the others without effort or
+difficulty.
+
+But if the boy shall come to something strange and new, which he is
+desirous of studying more closely, he immediately becomes an examiner in
+particular; but, at the same moment, he ceases to be an observer in
+general. The extended business of the fair, and the several groupings of
+which it is composed, are lost sight of for the moment;--the principle
+of individuation begins to act, and the operation of the principle of
+association, or grouping, is at the same moment brought to a stand. The
+two are incompatible, and cannot act together; and therefore Nature
+never allows the one to interfere with the other.
+
+To shew the evil effects of overlooking this important law of Nature in
+the education of a child, we have only to attend to the painful results
+which would be the consequence of acting contrary to it, even in the
+vigorous mind of an adult. Let us for this purpose suppose a person of a
+powerful understanding, and a capacious mind, ushered for the first
+time, and for only five minutes into a crowded apartment in some eastern
+caravansary, or eastern bazaar, in which every thing to him was new and
+strange; and let us also suppose that it was imperatively demanded of
+him, that he should, in that short space of time, make himself
+acquainted with all that was going on, and be able, on his retiring,
+minutely to describe all that he saw. The first moment he entered, and
+the first strange object that caught his eye, would convince him that
+_the thing was impossible_. If, without such a demand, he had been
+introduced into such a place, and had seen various groups of strange
+persons differently employed, each engaged in a manner altogether new to
+him, and the nature of which was wholly unknown, he might look on with
+perfect composure, and considerable amusement, because he could attend,
+like the boy in the fair, either to the general mass, to isolated
+groups, or to individual things. He would in that case attend to no more
+than he was able to understand; and would placidly allow the other parts
+of the scene to pass without any particular attention. But the
+imperative injunction here supposed,--this pressure from without,--this
+artificial and unnatural demand upon him,--entirely alters the case. If
+he even attempted to make himself master of all the particulars of the
+scene in a circumscribed portion of time, he would find himself
+bewildered and confounded. The very attempt to individualize and to
+group so many various objects at the same moment, within such a limited
+period, would be enough to prostrate all the powers of his mind. He
+might perhaps be able to observe the persons and their costume, because
+varieties of persons and dresses are daily and constantly objects of
+observation, and are grouped without difficulty; but of their several
+employments, of which he was previously ignorant, he could know nothing,
+and on retiring, he would neither be able to remember nor to describe
+them. In such an experiment, it would be found, that the more anxious he
+was to perfect his task and to answer the demand, in the same proportion
+would he find himself harassed and distressed, and the powers of his
+mind overstretched and weakened. And if this would be the result of
+confounding the principles of individuation and grouping in an
+adult,--a person of good understanding, and of vigorous mind,--how much
+more hurtful must such a task be, when demanded from children or youths
+of ordinary capacity, during their attendance at school!
+
+Few we believe will doubt the general accuracy of the above results in
+the cases supposed;--but some may perhaps question, whether they really
+do arise from the interference of these two antagonist principles during
+the experiment. To shew that this is the real cause of the distress
+felt, and the weakness and prostration of mind produced during it, we
+have only to institute another experiment which is exactly parallel. Let
+us suppose the same person, and for the same limited period, ushered
+into the traveller's room in a well frequented hotel, and let us also
+suppose, that the very same demand is made imperative, that he shall
+observe, and again detail when he retires, all that he sees. Let us also
+suppose, that the number of persons here is equally great, and that
+their employments are all equally diversified, but that each is familiar
+to him; and we will at once see that the difficulty of the task is
+really as nothing. A child could accomplish it. His eye would be able to
+group the whole in an instant, without effort, and without fatigue. If
+he saw one party at supper, another at tea, another group at cards, and
+others amusing themselves at draughts and backgammon; one minute instead
+of five, would be quite enough to make him master of the whole. On
+retiring, he would be able to tell the employment of every group in the
+room; and if any of his acquaintances had made part of the number, he
+would be able to tell who they were, where they were sitting, and how
+they were occupied. In doing all this he would find no difficulty; and
+yet the knowledge he has received is entirely new, and so extensive,
+that it would take at least ten fold more time to rehearse it, than it
+took to acquire it. The entire scene also would be permanently imprinted
+by the imagination upon the memory; and the whole, or any part of it,
+could be recalled, and reviewed, and rehearsed, at any future period.
+Here then are two cases, precisely similar in their nature, and
+undertaken by the very same person, where the results are widely
+different; and we now see, that the difference arises entirely from the
+principle of individuation having prepared the way in the one case,
+while it was not allowed to operate in the other.
+
+From these circumstances taken together, we perceive, that the grouping
+of objects, when once they are individually familiar, is never a
+difficult task, but is rather one of gratification and pleasure;--and we
+also are taught, that the amount of knowledge thus pleasantly
+communicated to a child may be most extensive and valuable, while the
+materials necessary for the purpose, being comparatively few, may be
+previously rendered familiar with very little exertion. It is the
+confounding of these two principles in the communication of knowledge,
+that makes learning appear so forbidding to the young, and prevents that
+cultivation of the mental powers by their exercises which these would
+otherwise infallibly produce. By keeping each in its proper place, a
+child will soon acquire a thorough knowledge of the few elements
+necessary for the purpose; and these, when acquired, may be grouped by
+the teacher into thousands of forms, for extending the knowledge, and
+for invigorating the mind of his delighted pupil.
+
+The benevolence and wisdom of this beautiful arrangement in the
+educational process of Nature, are truly wonderful; and in proportion as
+it is so, every deviation from it on our parts will be attended with
+disappointment and evil. If all our ideas were to be acquired and
+retained by the principle of individuation alone, the memory being
+without help or resting place, would soon become so overpowered by their
+number, that our knowledge would be greatly circumscribed, and its use
+impeded. Of the benefits arising from attention to the principle we
+have many apt illustrations in ordinary life, among which the various
+groupings of the ten numeral figures into sums of any amount, and the
+forming of so many thousands of words by a different arrangement of the
+letters of the alphabet, are familiar examples. When a child knows the
+ten numerals, he requires no more teaching to ascertain the precise
+amount of any one number among all the millions which these figures can
+represent. The value of such an acquirement can only be appreciated by
+considering the labour it would cost a child to gain a knowledge of all
+these sums individually, and the overwhelming burden laid upon his
+memory if each of the millions of sums had to be remembered by a
+separate character. By the knowledge and various groupings of only ten
+such characters, the whole of this mighty burden is removed.
+
+In the art of writing, the same principle is brought into operation with
+complete success, by the combination, or various groupings of the
+twenty-six letters of the common Roman alphabet in the formation of
+words. The value of this adaptation of the principle will be obvious, if
+we shall suppose, that a person who is acquainted with all the modern
+European languages, had been compelled to discriminate, and continue to
+remember, a distinct arbitrary mark or character for the many thousands
+of words contained in each. We may not be warranted, perhaps, to say
+that such a task would be impossible; but that it would be inconceivably
+burdensome can admit of no doubt. We have, indeed, in the writings of
+the Chinese, although it is but one language, a living monument of the
+evil effects of the neglect of this principle in literature, and the
+unceasing inconveniences which daily arise from that empire continuing
+to persevere in it. There is comparatively but little combination of
+characters in their words, and the consequences are remarkable. In that
+extensive empire, the highest rewards, and the chief posts of honour
+and emolument, are held out to those who are most learned, whatever be
+their rank or their station; and yet, amidst a population immersed in
+poverty and wretchedness, not one person in a thousand can master even
+one of their books; and not one in ten thousand of those who profess to
+read, is able to peruse them all. The reason of this simply is, the
+neglect of this natural principle of grouping letters, or the signs of
+sounds, in their written language. With us, the elements of all the
+words in all the European languages are only twenty-six; and the child
+who has once mastered the combination of these, in any one of our books,
+has the whole of our literature at his command.
+
+The application of this principle to the elements of general knowledge
+is equally necessary, as its application to written language. The
+difficulty of remembering the many thousands of unconnected characters
+in Chinese literature, is an exact emblem of what will always be the
+case with children in respect to their general knowledge, when this
+principle of association, or grouping, is neglected. Adults acquire and
+retain a large portion of _their_ knowledge, as we shall afterwards see,
+by the principle of classification and analysis; but _children_ are not
+as yet capable of this; and they must receive their knowledge by the
+grouping of a few simple elements previously known, or they will not be
+able to receive and retain knowledge at all. The amount of this
+knowledge also, it should be kept in mind, is not at all in proportion
+to the number or the variety of the elements of which that knowledge is
+composed. We have formerly alluded to this, and it may be farther
+illustrated by a circumstance of daily occurrence. A seaman when he
+observes a vessel at a distance knows her class and character in an
+instant, whether she be a sloop or a brig, a schooner or a ship, and he
+forms an instantaneous idea of all her parts grouped into a whole. His
+memory, instead of being harassed in remembering the shape, and place,
+and position of each of its several parts, is relieved of the whole by
+the operation of this principle of association. The whole rigging, about
+which his mind is occupied, is composed of only _three_ elements,--ropes,
+and spars, and sails,--with each of which he has long ago made himself
+familiar. All the remaining parts of this kind of knowledge are a mere
+matter of grouping. By previously observing the varied arrangement of the
+spars, and ropes, and sails, on the several masts of the different kinds
+of vessels, he has already grouped them into one whole, and each is
+remembered by itself without effort, and without mistake. They are
+retained, as it were, painted by the imagination upon the memory, and may
+at any after period be recalled and reviewed at pleasure. Hence the sight
+of a vessel in the distance calls up the former pictures to the mind, and
+enables the practised eye of the mariner to decide at once as to the kind
+and character of what he so imperfectly sees.--This helps also to explain
+the reason why children are so gratified with pictures when presented to
+the eye; and why they are best pleased when the figures are most simple
+and distinct, and particularly, when the objects grouped in the picture
+have previously been familiar. Pictures are indeed a pretty close
+imitation of Nature in this part of her work; and they are defective
+chiefly on account of their want of _motion_ and _continuity_.
+These last are two great and inimitable characteristics in all the
+groupings painted upon the memory by the imagination.
+
+From all this it is obvious, that there is an essential difference
+between a child's acquiring the knowledge of things individually, and
+acquiring a knowledge of their several associations. The two must never,
+if possible, be confounded with each other. When they are kept distinct
+in the education of a child, he has an evident pleasure in attending to
+either; but as soon as they are allowed to interfere, and more
+especially when they are systematically blended together in the same
+exercise, he experiences confusion, irritation, and fatigue. There is no
+necessity, however, for this ever being the case. All that is required
+is, that the few individual elements that are to be grouped or
+associated in a lesson, whether they be objects or ideas, shall
+previously be made familiar to the pupil. These, when once known, may be
+brought before the mind of the child in any variety of order or form,
+and will be received readily and pleasantly, and will be retained by the
+memory without confusion, and without effort. By attention to these two
+principles, keeping each in its proper place, and bringing each to aid
+and uphold the other in its proper order, it will be found, that a child
+may be taught more real knowledge in one week, than is often
+communicated in other circumstances in the course of a year.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. VII.
+
+_On the Acquisition of Knowledge by the Principle of Analysis, or
+Classification._
+
+
+There is yet another principle brought into operation by Nature to
+enable her pupils to receive, to retain, and to make use of their
+knowledge. This is the principle of Classification, or Analysis.[6] The
+difference between this and the former principle described we think is
+sufficiently marked. The principle of Association, or Grouping, is
+carried on chiefly by means of the imagination, and begins to operate as
+soon as the mind is capable of imagining any thing; but the principle of
+Classification, or Analysis, is more intimately connected with the
+judgment. The consequence of this is, that it is but very partially
+called into action during the early stages of a child's education, and
+is never able to operate with vigour, till the reasoning powers of the
+pupil begin to develope themselves.
+
+The characteristic differences between the two principles, and their
+respective uses in education, may be illustrated by a circumstance of
+every-day occurrence. For example, a child who from infancy has been
+brought up in a house of several apartments, gets acquainted with each
+of the rooms by means of its contents. He has been in the habit of
+seeing the heavy pieces of furniture in each apartment in a certain
+place and order, and the room and its furniture, therefore, are
+identified together, and remain painted upon his imagination exactly as
+he has been in the habit of seeing them. In this case, the articles of
+furniture in the room are grouped, and not classified; and are
+remembered together, not on account of their nature and uses, but purely
+on account of their position, and their relative arrangement in the
+room. Most of our readers perhaps, will remember the strange feelings
+produced in their minds during some period of their childhood, when in
+the house of their infancy, some material alteration of this kind was
+effected in one or more of the rooms. A change in the position of a bed,
+or the abstraction or introduction of a chest of drawers, a wardrobe, or
+other bulky piece of furniture, causes in the mind of the child an
+effect much deeper, and more extensive, than in the adult. The former
+picture of the place never having been observed or contemplated in any
+other aspect, is painted by the imagination, and fixed upon his memory,
+by long continued familiarity. But by this change it is suddenly
+defaced; and the new group, partaking as it will do of some of the
+elements of the old, produces feelings which are strange and
+unaccountable, and entirely different from those of his parents, who
+have been in the habit of contemplating the room and its furniture more
+by the exercise of the judgment, than of the imagination; that is, more
+by their uses, than by their appearance.
+
+The cause of this strangeness of feeling in a child, arises from the
+predominance of the principle of grouping, over that of classification.
+He has as yet no knowledge of any of the apartments in the house, except
+what he has received by grouping their contents. When, therefore, their
+arrangement is materially altered, the reasoning powers not being as yet
+able to soften down the effect, the former apartment appears to the
+child as if it had ceased to exist. He can scarcely believe it to be the
+same. He never thinks of the _uses_ of the articles in the apartment,
+but only of their _appearance_;--the first being an act of the
+judgment,--the latter of the imagination. In a similar manner he thinks
+of the kitchen and its furniture, not as a part of the household
+economy, but only in connection with the articles it contains. The
+dresser, the jack, and the tin covers, are never thought of in
+connection with their uses; but are identified with the kitchen, merely
+because they have always been seen there, and seen together. In like
+manner, the seats, the tables, and the ornaments of the drawing-room,
+are not connected in the child's mind because they are what are commonly
+called "drawing-room furniture," for that would imply a degree of
+reasoning of which he is as yet unacquainted; but they are remembered
+together, as they have always been observed in that particular place,
+and are now pictured on the mind, in the position in which they are
+usually beheld. Their particular locality in the room, and their
+relative position with respect to each other, are of far more importance
+in assisting the memory of the child, than any knowledge which he has as
+yet acquired of their respective uses.
+
+Though a child had in this way gained an exact knowledge of every
+apartment in a house, it is obvious that there may not have been, during
+the whole process, a single act of the understanding. Many of the lower
+animals are capable of collecting all the knowledge he has received; and
+even infants are, to a certain extent, in the daily habit of acquiring
+it. But the classification of objects, according to their nature and
+uses, is an operation of a perfectly different kind. Hence it is, that a
+change in the arrangement of the furniture of a room acts so slightly on
+the feelings of the adult, and so powerfully on the young. In the
+former, the reasoning powers neutralize the effect produced; to the
+latter, the change appears a complete revolution.
+
+This principle of classification, though peculiar to the mature mind, is
+not restricted to any particular class of men. It is found to be
+universal, wherever the reasoning powers are capable of acting. It is no
+doubt conspicuous in civilized societies, because there it is more
+cultivated; but it is not confined to them. The savage is prompted to
+its exercise under the tuition of Nature. For example, the various
+articles and arts which he employs in hunting, are all regularly
+classified in his mind, and retained upon his memory, as perfectly
+distinct from those which he employs in fishing; and neither of these
+classes of articles are ever confounded with his implements and weapons
+of war. His hooks and lines, are as naturally classified in his mind
+with his nets and his canoe, as his club or his tomahawk is with his
+other weapons used in battle. It is by this means that Nature aids the
+memory in the retention of knowledge, and keeps all the successive
+accumulations of the individual at the command of the will. When
+cultivated, as Nature designs that it should be, it forms an extensive
+cabinet in the mind, where every department of knowledge has its
+appropriate place; and which, when once systematically formed, can be
+furnished at leisure. When a new idea is acquired, it is immediately put
+in its place, and associated with others of the same kind; and when any
+portion of the knowledge which we have accumulated is required, we know
+at once the particular place where it is to be found.
+
+The benefits of this principle in the above form are extensively felt
+and acted upon in society, even where the principle itself is neither
+observed nor known; for in the family, in the work shop, and in the
+manufactory, it is of the last importance. It is upon this principle
+that a clergyman, for the help of his own memory, as well as for
+assisting the memory of his hearers, arranges the subject of his sermons
+in a classified form;--his text is the root of the classification. This
+he divides into heads, which form the first branch in this table; and
+these again he sometimes sub-divides into particulars, which form a
+second branch depending on the first, and all proceeding from the
+root,--the original text. Similar, but more extensive, is the plan
+adopted in the divisions and subdivisions of objects in the Sciences,
+such as Botany, Zoology, Chemistry, &c. in all of which the existence of
+this principle in Nature's educational process is acknowledged and
+exemplified. In these sciences, the efficiency of the principle in
+facilitating the reception of knowledge, and in assisting the memory in
+retaining it, and in putting it to use, is universally acknowledged.
+
+But there is another form in which the same principle appears, not so
+obvious indeed, but it is one which is at least equally important in the
+education of the young. Nature always brings it into operation when a
+teacher, while communicating any series of _connected truths_, such as a
+portion of history or of science, gives more of the details than the
+mind of his pupil can receive, or his memory retain at one time. It may
+be desirable that the pupil should be made thoroughly acquainted with
+all the minute, as well as with the general circumstances of a history
+or a science; but if so, it must be done, not at once, but by degrees,
+or steps. It is usually done by repeating the course,--"revising," as it
+is called,--and that perhaps more than once;--going over all the
+exercises again and again, till the several parts are perceived and
+remembered in their connection. In these "revisings," the mind forms an
+analytical table of the subject for itself, consisting of successive
+steps, formed by the successive courses. By the first course, or
+hearing, it is chiefly the great outlines of the subject that are
+perceived; and these form the first branch of a regular analytical
+table, which every succeeding course of reading or hearing tends to fill
+up. This will perhaps be best understood by an example.
+
+Let us suppose that a young person sits down to read a history for the
+first time, and that he reads it with attention and care. When we
+examine the state of his mind after he has finished it, we find that,
+independently of what, by the principle of grouping, he has got in the
+form of episode, he has been able to retain only the great outlines of
+the history, and no more. He remembers perhaps of whose reign he has
+been reading, and the principal events that took place during it; but
+the intermediate and minor events, as connected with the history, he has
+not been able to remember. Nothing has been imparted by this first
+reading, but the great landmarks of the narrative. These are destined to
+form the first branch of a regular analytical table, of which the reign
+of the particular monarch is the root. This is the frame-work of the
+whole history of that period, however numerous the minor circumstances
+may be; and a second reading will only enlarge his knowledge of the
+circumstances under each of the heads. In other words, it will enable
+him to sub-divide them into more minute details or periods, and thus
+form a series of second branches from each. Now it is quite obvious,
+that when this analysis of the circumstances of that period is once
+formed in the mind, no new event connected with it can ever come to his
+knowledge without being classed with some of the others. It will be
+disposed of according to the relation which it bears to the parts
+already existing; and thus the whole texture will be regularly framed,
+and every event will have its proper place, and be readily available for
+future use. One part may be filled up and finished before another; but
+the regular proportions of the whole remain undisturbed. The pupil has,
+by the original outline and its several branches, got a date and a place
+for every new fact which he may afterwards glean, either in his reading
+or his conversation; and he has a place in which to put it, where it can
+easily be found. When placed there, it is safe in the keeping of the
+memory, and will always afterwards be at the command of the will.
+
+The connection of these circumstances, with the principle in education
+which we are at present endeavouring to illustrate, may not to some be
+very apparent. We shall therefore take another example from a
+circumstance similar to what occurs every day in ordinary life, and in
+which the principle, in the hands of Nature, is abundantly conspicuous.
+In the example we are here to give, she forms the several steps of the
+classification in a number of hearers by _once_ reading a subject, very
+similar to what she does successively in the mind of one individual by
+_repeated_ readings.
+
+Let us then suppose a teacher with two or three hundred pupils,
+including every degree of mental capacity, from the youngest child who
+is able to understand, up to his own classical assistant; and that he
+reads to them the history of Joseph as given in the Book of Genesis. Let
+us also suppose, that they all give him their best attention, and that
+they all hear the narrative for the first time. Such an experiment, let
+it be observed, has its parallel every day, in the church, in the class
+room, and in the seminary; and similar effects to those we are about to
+describe invariably take place in each of them.
+
+When the teacher has read and concluded this lengthened exercise, it
+will be found, that no two individuals among his hearers have acquired
+the same amount of knowledge. Some will have received and retained more
+of the circumstances, and some less, but no two, strictly speaking, will
+be alike. Those whose minds were incapable of connecting the several
+parts of the narrative into a whole, will retain what they have received
+in disjointed groups and patches,--episodes, as it were, in the
+narrative,--without being able very clearly to perceive its general
+design. This class, upon whom the principle of association chiefly has
+been at work, we leave out, and confine ourselves to the state of
+knowledge possessed by those who are in a greater or less degree capable
+of classification, and of taking some cognisance of the narrative as a
+connected whole.
+
+Among this latter class, some will have retained no more than the bare
+outline of the history, interspersed with groupings, as in the younger
+children. They will remember little more than that Joseph was at first a
+boy in his father's house;--that he was afterwards a slave, and in
+prison;--and at last, a great man and a governor. Here the _whole
+history_ is divided into three distinct heads, or eras,--the first
+branch of an analytical table of the whole story, from one or other of
+which all the other particulars, of whatever kind, must of necessity
+take their rise, and branch off in their natural order. An advanced
+class of the auditors will have retained some of the more obvious
+circumstances connected with _each of these three great divisions_, as
+well as the divisions themselves. They will not only remember that
+Joseph was a boy in his father's house, but they will also be able to
+remember the more prominent subdivisions of the narrative regarding him
+while there; such as his father's partiality, his dreams, and his
+brothers' hatred. The second great division will be recollected as
+including the particulars of his being sold, his serving in Potiphar's
+house, and his conduct in prison; and the third division will be
+remembered as containing his appearance before Pharoah, his laying up
+corn, his conduct to his brothers, and his reception of his father and
+family. These subdivisions, it will at once be perceived, form the
+_second branch_ of a regular analytical table, each of which has sprung
+from, and is intimately connected with, some one or other of the three
+great divisions forming the first branch, of which the "History of
+Joseph" is the comprehensive root.
+
+In like manner, a third class of the pupils, whose minds have been
+better cultivated, and whose memories are more retentive, will not only
+remember all this, but they will also remember, in connection with each
+of these subdivisions, many of the more specific events included in, or
+springing from them, and which carry forward this regular analytical
+table one step farther. As for example, under the subdivision entitled
+"Joseph's conduct to his brethren," they will remember the "detention of
+Simeon,"--"the feast in the palace,"--"the scene of the cup in the
+sack," and "Joseph's making himself known." Even these again might be
+subdivided into their more minute circumstances, as a fourth, or even a
+fifth branch, if necessary, all of which might be exactly delineated
+upon paper, as a regular analytical table of the history of Joseph.
+
+Here, then, we have an example of Nature herself dividing an audience
+into different classes, and that by one and the same operation,--by one
+reading,--forming in each class part of a regular analytical table of
+the whole history, each class being one step in advance of the other.
+The first has the foundation of the whole fabric broadly and solidly
+laid; and it is worthy of remark, that there is not one of the ideas
+acquired by the most talented of the hearers, that is not strictly and
+regularly derived from some one or other of the three general divisions
+possessed by the first and the least advanced; and any one of the ideas
+may be regularly traced back through the several divisions to the root
+itself. The additional facts possessed by the second class, are nothing
+more than a more full developement of the circumstances remembered by
+the first; and those obtained by the third, are but a more extensive
+developement of the facts remembered by the second.
+
+This being the state of the several classes into which Nature divides
+every audience, it is of importance to trace the means which she employs
+for the purpose of _advancing_ each, and of ultimately completing the
+analysis; or, in other words, perfecting the knowledge of the narrative,
+in each individual mind. This is equally beautiful, and equally simple.
+It is, if we may be allowed the expression, by a regular system of
+building. The foundation being laid, and the frame-work of the whole
+being erected, in the knowledge of the great general outline, confusion
+is ever after completely prevented. Every piece of information connected
+with the history, which may be afterwards received, has a specific place
+provided for it. It must belong to some one or other of the three great
+divisions; and it is there inserted as a part of the general building.
+It is now remembered in its connection, till all the circumstances,--the
+whole of the information,--gradually, and perhaps distantly received,
+complete the narrative.
+
+To follow out this plan of Nature regularly, as in a school education,
+the method must be exceedingly obvious; for if the first class, by once
+hearing the chapters read, have received merely the outline,--the
+frame-work of the narrative,--it must be obvious, that when this has by
+reflection become familiar, a second reading would enable them to fill
+up much of this outline, by which they would be on a par with the
+second. Another reading would, in like manner, add to the second, and
+form a third; and so forth of all the others. Each reading would add
+more and more to the knowledge of the pupil; and yet, every idea
+communicated would be nothing more than a fuller developement of the
+original outline,--the frame-work,--the skeleton of the story which he
+had acquired by the first reading. By successive readings, therefore,
+the first class will take the place of the second, the second of the
+third, and so on to the end. This is Nature's uniform method of
+perfecting her pupils in any branch of _connected_ knowledge;--a method
+which, therefore, it should be the object of the Educationist to
+understand, and closely to imitate.
+
+From the cases which we have in this chapter supposed as examples, there
+are several important practical inferences to be derived, to which we
+shall here very briefly advert.
+
+In the first place, we are led to infer, from all the cases brought into
+notice, that every kind of external force, or precipitation in
+education, is abhorrent to Nature. In each of the cases supposed, we
+have a remarkable exhibition of the calm serenity of Nature's operations
+in the education of the young. For instance, in the last case supposed,
+the children all listened,--they all heard the same words,--the mental
+food was the same to each, however diversified their abilities might be;
+and it was indiscriminately offered in the same form to all, although
+all were not equally prepared to receive and digest it. The results
+accordingly were, in fact, as various as the number of the persons
+present. And yet, notwithstanding of all this, there was no hurry, no
+confusion, no attempt to stretch the mind beyond its strength. Each
+individual, according to his capacity, laid hold of as much as his mind
+could receive, and silently abandoned the remainder.--But if there had
+been any external urgency or force employed, to compel the child to
+accomplish more than his mind was capable of, this serenity and
+composure would have been destroyed; irritation, and confusion, and
+mental weakness, would have been the consequence; and altogether,
+matters would not have been made better, but worse, by the attempt.
+
+Another inference, which we think may legitimately be drawn from the
+above examples, is this, that although Nature prompts the child silently
+to throw off or reject that which the mind at the time cannot receive,
+yet it would be better for the child if no more had been pressed upon
+him than he was capable of receiving. The very rejection of any portion
+of the mental food presented for acceptance, must in some measure tend
+to dissipate the mind, and exhaust its strength. This we think is
+demonstrated by the fact, that the child had to listen for _an hour_,
+and yet retained on his memory no more than experience shews us could
+have been much more successfully communicated in _five minutes_.
+
+This leads us to another remark, almost equally important; which is,
+that the want of classification among the children, will not only hurt
+them, but tend to waste the time, and unnecessarily to exhaust the
+strength of the teacher. The teacher's success with any one child, is
+not to be estimated by the pains he takes, or the extent of his labour,
+but by the amount of knowledge actually retained by the child. To employ
+an hour's labour, therefore, to communicate that knowledge which could
+with much better effect be given in five minutes, is both unreasonable
+and improper; and every one who will for a moment think on the subject
+must see, that a lesson, which in that short space of time conveyed the
+whole of the knowledge that the pupils had been able to pick up during
+the hour's exercise, would leave the teacher eleven-twelfths of his time
+to benefit the other classes. The nurseryman follows this plan with his
+trees, and with evident success, both in saving time, and room, and
+labour. When he sows his acorns, one square yard will contain more
+plants than will ultimately occupy an acre. It is only as they increase
+in growth, that they are thinned out and transplanted; and such should
+be the case in communicating knowledge to children. To attempt to teach
+the whole history at once, is like sowing the whole acre with acorns,
+and thinning them out during a quarter of a century. The loss of seed in
+this case is the least of the evils; for the ground would be robbed of
+its strength, nine-tenths of it would be rendered unnecessarily useless
+during a large portion of the time; and much of the anxiety, and care,
+and labour of the nurseryman would be thrown away. Ultimately he would
+find, that of the many thousands of oaks he had sowed, he had been able
+to rear no more _than the acre could carry_. By following out this
+principle in education, and giving the child as much as he can receive,
+and no more, of the whole series of truths to be communicated, his mind,
+at the close of the exercise, will be much more vigorous, the ideas
+received will be much better understood, more firmly rivetted upon the
+memory, and much more at the command of the will, while the quantity of
+knowledge really communicated, is at least equal in amount.--The only
+thing indeed that renders a contrary plan of procedure even tolerable to
+a child, is the wise provision of Nature, by which she induces him to
+throw off, with some degree of ease, the superfluous matter; but had the
+reception and retention of the whole by each child been demanded by the
+teacher, the very attempt to do so on the part of the pupil, would not
+only have been irritating and burdensome, but it would have been
+extremely hurtful to the mind, by stretching its powers beyond its
+strength.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[6] Note E.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. VIII.
+
+_On Nature's Methods of Teaching her Pupils to make use of their
+Knowledge._
+
+
+We come now to another operation of Nature with the young, to which she
+appears to attach more importance than she does to any of her previous
+educational processes, and to which she obviously intends that a more
+than ordinary attention should be paid on our parts. This is the
+training of her pupils to make use of their knowledge, and to apply the
+information they possess to guide them in the common affairs of life.
+This is obviously the great end which she has all along had in view; and
+to which the cultivation of the mind, and the acquisition of knowledge
+are merely preparatives. We shall first direct attention to a few of the
+indications of this principle as they actually appear in ordinary life;
+and then we shall endeavour to point out some of the laws by which she
+appears to regulate them.
+
+In the early periods of infancy we can plainly distinguish between
+certain actions which depend upon _instinct_, and which are performed by
+the infant perfectly and at once, without experience, and without
+teaching;--and others of which the infant at first appears to be
+incapable, but which it gradually _acquires_ by experience, or more
+correctly, which it _learns_ by an application of the knowledge which it
+is daily realizing. Among the former, or instinctive class, we may rank
+the acts of sucking, swallowing, and crying, which are purely acts of
+instinct; while among the numerous class belonging to the latter, we
+include all those actions which are progressively improved, and which
+are really the result of experience, derived from the application of
+their acquired knowledge. As an example of these, we may instance the
+acts of winking with the eyelids on the approach of an object to the
+eye; the avoiding of a blow; the rejection of what is bitter or
+unpalatable; the efforts made to possess that which has been found
+pleasant; and the shunning of those acts for which it has been reproved
+or punished. All these, and thousands of similar acts, are really the
+result of a _direct application of previous knowledge_, and which,
+without the possession of that knowledge, never are, nor could be
+performed.
+
+Mankind in infancy being, in the intention of Nature, placed under the
+care of tender and intelligent parents are not provided with many
+instinctive faculties. Their physical welfare is at first left
+altogether to the care of the nurse; but, from a very early period of
+consciousness, they intellectually become the pupils of Nature. Almost
+all their actions are the results of experience;--of knowledge acquired,
+and knowledge applied. Their attainments at the beginning are no doubt
+few;--but, from the first, they are well marked, and go on with
+increasing rapidity. The acquisition of knowledge by them, and
+especially the application of it, are evident to the most cursory
+observer. For example, we see a child cling to its keeper, and refuse to
+go to a stranger;--we see it when hungry stretch out its arms, and cry
+to get to its nurse;--and when it has fallen in its efforts to walk, it
+will not for some time attempt it again. These, and many more which will
+occur to the reader, are the results of Nature's teaching;--her
+suggestions to her pupil for the right application of its knowledge. The
+child has been taught from experience that it is safe and comfortable
+with its keeper, and it applies this knowledge by refusing to leave her.
+It has learned how, and by whom, its hunger is to be satisfied; and it
+applies this knowledge by seeking to be with its nurse. It has learned
+by experience, that the attempt to walk is dangerous; and it applies
+that knowledge by avoiding the danger. Here the child is wholly as yet
+in the hands of Nature; and it is quite evident, that her design in
+first enabling the pupil to acquire those portions of knowledge, was,
+that she might induce him to apply them for his safety and comfort. No
+doubt the mental powers of the child were cultivated and disciplined by
+the acquisition of the knowledge, and still more by its application; but
+this disciplining of the mind, and accumulation of knowledge, were
+evidently a secondary object, and not the primary one. Health and
+cheerfulness are gained by tilling the ground; yet the ground is not
+tilled for the purpose of securing health and cheerfulness. It is for
+the produce of the harvest. So, in like manner, the cultivation of the
+child's mind, and the reception of the seeds of knowledge, are merely
+means employed for a further end,--the harvest of comfort and usefulness
+to be afterwards reaped. From all this we are directly led to the
+conclusion, that it is the intention of Nature, that all the knowledge
+acquired should be put to use; and therefore, that nothing should be
+taught the young, in the first place at least, except that which is
+really useful; while the proper use of all that they learn should be
+diligently pointed out.
+
+It may appear to some, that this truth is so plain and obvious, as to
+require no further illustration or enforcement.--We sincerely wish that
+it were so. But long experience justifies us in being sceptical on the
+point. And as the establishment of this principle, and a thorough
+knowledge of its working, are perhaps of more value than any other truth
+in the whole range of educational science, we shall offer a few remarks
+on its validity and importance, before proceeding to examine the means
+by which Nature carries it into operation.
+
+That knowledge, when once acquired, is intended by Nature to be put to
+use, is proved negatively by the well known fact, that almost all our
+_mental_ acquirements, when not used, are soon lost. They gradually fade
+from the mind, and are at last blotted from the memory. Hence the
+disappearance in after life of all the academical and collegiate
+acquirements of those youths who move in a sphere where their use is not
+required; and of those portions of the early attainments of even
+professional men, which are not necessary for their particular pursuits.
+By the universal operation of this principle, Nature gives fair warning
+of the folly of useless learning; and plainly indicates, that whenever
+the benefits which she confers are not put to use as she designed, they
+will gradually, but most certainly, be withdrawn.
+
+The same fact is also proved positively:--For we find, that the proper
+use of any portion of our knowledge, is invariably rewarded by its
+becoming still more familiar. The student who puts a principle in
+chemistry to the test of experiment, will understand it better, remember
+it longer, and be able to apply it to useful purposes, much more readily
+than his companion who merely reflects upon it. And of two individuals,
+who by a lecture have been taught the duty and the delights of mercy,
+that one will learn it best, and remember it longest, who, immediately
+on hearing it, is prompted to relieve a fellow creature from distress,
+or to save a family from ruin.
+
+This principle of making every thing conduce to the promotion of
+practical good, seems to pervade all the works of God; and there is no
+department in Nature, mineral, vegetable, or animal, that does not
+afford proofs of its existence. Every thing that the Almighty has formed
+is practically useful; and is arranged in such a manner as to give the
+clearest indications, that it was designed to be turned to some useful
+purpose by man. The annual and diurnal motions of the earth in its
+orbit; the obliquity of its axis; the inequality of its surface, and the
+disposition and disruption of its strata, all shew the most consummate
+wisdom, and are severally a call to intelligent man to turn them to use.
+On these, and on every other department of Nature's works, there is
+written in legible characters, that it is the _use_ of knowledge, and
+not the _possession_ of it merely, that is recommended. This she teaches
+by every operation of her hand, both directly, and by analogy. For could
+we suppose that the vegetable creation were capable of receiving
+knowledge, we might conclude from various facts, that this principle was
+not confined to the animal kingdom alone, but that it regulated the
+operations of all organic existences. The living vegetable has at least
+the appearance of acting under its influence; for, as if it knew that
+light was necessary for its health and growth, it invariably turns
+towards the light;--as if it knew that certain kinds of decayed matter
+were better fitted for its nourishment than others, it pushes out new
+fibrous roots in the direction of the spot where they are to be
+found;--and even when isolated on a rock, or a wall, at a distance from
+sufficient soil and moisture, it husbands its scanty means, and sends
+down from its elevation an extra root to the ground, to collect
+additional nourishment where it is to be had.
+
+In every department of animal life, also, the principle appears to
+exist, and exhibits itself in the conduct of all free agents, from the
+insect to the elephant. The dog that has been kindly treated in a
+particular house, seldom fails to visit it again; and when he is
+violently driven from another, the same principle indisposes him to
+return. It is upon record, that a surgeon who had bandaged the broken
+leg of a dog, was afterwards visited by his patient, who brought
+another, requiring a similar operation. The horse, in like manner, is
+proverbially sagacious in the application of his knowledge.
+Mismanagement in a groom in one instance, may create a "vice," which may
+lessen his value during life. This "vice," which is confirmed by
+practice, is nothing more than the repeated application of his
+knowledge. Such a "vice," accordingly, is best cured by avoiding the
+circumstances which originally gave rise to it, till it dies from his
+memory. Many other instances of a similar kind in the lower animals will
+readily occur to the reader, all of which lead directly to the
+conclusion, that, even in the brute creation, Nature not only prompts
+them to collect information from what happens around them, and to act in
+correspondence to its indications; but that, in fact, all the knowledge
+they receive, or are capable of acquiring above instinct, is retained or
+lost, exactly in proportion as it is, or is not, put to use.
+
+In the case of rational creatures, this great design of Nature is still
+more distinctly marked,--is intended for more important purposes,--and
+is carried on by a separate system of internal machinery, part of which
+at least is peculiar to man. This system of mental machinery consists of
+two kinds, one of which may, we think, with propriety get the popular
+name of the "Animal, or Common Sense," and the other has already
+received the appropriate name of "The Moral Sense," or conscience. To
+Nature's method of using these principles, for prompting and directing
+us in the use of our knowledge, we shall now shortly advert.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. IX.
+
+_On Nature's Methods of Applying Knowledge by the Principle of the
+Animal, or Common Sense._
+
+
+When an infant, by laying hold of a hot tea-pot burns its hand, it
+refuses to touch it again;--when a child has been frightened from a park
+or field, he will not willingly enter it a second time;--and when any
+thing is thrown in the direction of the head, we instantly stoop, or
+bend to one side, to evade it. These are instances of the application of
+knowledge, by the principle of "common sense," which do not belong to
+instinct; and, in many cases at least, anticipate the exercise of
+reason. Our object at present, however, is with the principle, and not
+with its name.
+
+When we analyze these operations, together with their causes, we find,
+that there are certain portions of knowledge daily and hourly acquired
+by the senses, which become so interwoven with our sentiments and
+feelings, that they usually remain unobserved, till some special
+occasion calls for their application. Now the principle we speak of, if
+it indeed be a separate principle, is employed by Nature to apply this
+latent knowledge, and to induce her pupil instantly, and without
+waiting for the decisions of reason, to perform certain actions, or to
+pursue a certain line of conduct, which we almost instinctively feel to
+be useful and safe. No sane child, for example, will deliberately stand
+in the way of a horse or a carriage at full speed,--or walk over a
+precipice,--or take burning coals from the fire with his fingers; were
+he to do so, we would not dignify the act so far as to say that it was
+"unreasonable," for that would be too mild an epithet,--but we would
+pronounce it at once to be "contrary to common sense."
+
+In like manner, were an adult to bemire himself in crossing a ditch,
+instead of making use of the stepping-stones placed there for the
+purpose; or if he were to stand till he were drenched with a
+thunder-shower, instead of taking shelter for the time in the
+neighbouring shed, we would not say that it was "unreasonable," but that
+it was "contrary to common sense." In short, whenever any thing is done
+which universal experience shews to be hurtful _to ourselves_, (not to
+others) it is invariably denominated an act "contrary to common sense;"
+but whenever it involves hurt _to others_, it takes another character,
+and becomes a breach of the "moral sense."
+
+It is not our design, however, to come out of our way at present, to
+adapt the name to the principle in Nature of which we are here speaking,
+and far less shall we attempt to mould the principle into a form
+suitable to the name. Our business is with the principle itself, as it
+appears in ourselves and others; and we use the term "common sense,"
+merely because at present we cannot find one more appropriate, or which
+would suit our purpose so well. If this name shall be found proper for
+it, it is well;--but if not, we leave it to others to provide a better.
+
+We have said, that Nature prompts to the use of knowledge by means of
+two distinct principles; the one, which may be denominated the "Animal,"
+or "Common Sense," refers to actions of which _we ourselves_ are the
+subjects; and the other, known by the term of the "Moral Sense," or
+conscience, refers to actions of which _others_ are the subjects. It is
+the former of these that we are at present to investigate.
+
+We must all have observed the promptness with which we avoid any sudden
+danger, or inconvenience, before we have time to reason about the
+matter. As, for example, when we stumble, we instantly put forth the
+proper foot to prevent our fall. This cannot be said to be an act of the
+reasoning powers, because they have not had time to operate; and it is
+equally clear that it is not an act of instinct, because infants, who
+have only begun to walk have not the capacity of doing it. It is
+evidently another principle which, availing itself of the knowledge
+which the person has previously acquired by experience, now uses it
+specially for the occasion.
+
+That this application of our knowledge arises neither from instinct nor
+from reason, will be obvious from many circumstances of ordinary
+occurrence.--For example, when any object approaches the eye we
+instantly shut it;--when any missile is thrown at us, we instantly turn
+the head aside to evade it;--or when in walking something destroys our
+equilibrium and we stumble, we instantly bend the body in the proper
+direction, and to the precise point, necessary to restore our balance,
+and to prevent our fall.--Now it is obvious, that all these
+contingencies are provided for by one and the same principle, whatever
+that principle may be; and that they are acts which do not depend upon
+instinct, properly so called, is proved from the circumstance, that
+infants, before they are taught by experience that the eye is so tender,
+and even adults who have but newly acquired the use of their sight,
+neither shut their eyes at the approach of objects, nor turn away their
+heads when a missile is thrown at them.--And we think it is equally
+clear, that it cannot be the result of reasoning, in the sense in which
+we generally understand that term, because the mind has no time for
+consideration, far less for reasoning, during the short moment that
+occurs between the cause and the effect.
+
+The object which we have chiefly in view at present is, to point out the
+great end designed by Nature in all these actions, which is simply _the
+application of knowledge_. There is the knowledge that objects entering
+the eye will give pain, and that the shutting of the eye will defend it.
+This we have shown is not an instinctive operation, but must have been
+acquired by experience;--and it is this principle, into the nature of
+which we are now enquiring, that prompted the child in the special case
+to apply its knowledge by shutting the eye. In like manner, in the case
+of the missile thrown at the head, there is a previous knowledge of the
+effect which it will produce, and a knowledge also of the means by which
+it is to be avoided,--and it is avoided;--and in the case of losing the
+equilibrium, there is nothing more than the application of a latent
+knowledge, now suddenly brought into use on the spur of the moment, that
+by the movement of the foot the body will be supported. The principle,
+whatever it be, which instigates children and adults to do all this, is
+the subject of our present enquiry, and which for the present we have
+denominated the "Animal," or "Common sense." We shall therefore a little
+more particularly attend to its various indications.
+
+The operation of this principle in the infant has already been pointed
+out. When it has learned by experience that its nurse is kind, it
+stretches forth its little hands, and desires to be with the
+nurse;--when in its first attempt at walking it experiences a fall, it
+applies this knowledge, by refusing again for some time to walk;--and
+when it burns its finger at the flame of the candle, the application of
+that knowledge induces it ever after to avoid both fire and flame.
+
+In after life the same principle continues to operate both
+independently of reason, and in conjunction with it. In encountering the
+air of a cold night, we, without reasoning on the matter, wrap ourselves
+closer in our cloak. When we turn a corner, and meet a sharp frosty
+wind, we lower the head to protect the uncovered face. When we emerge
+from the house, and perceive that the dulness of the day indicates rain,
+we almost instinctively return for a cloak or an umbrella. And the
+mariner at sunset, when he sees an opening in the sky indicating a
+storm, immediately takes in sail, and makes all snug for the night. In
+all these cases we perceive a principle within us, frequently operating
+along with reason, but sometimes also without it, which prompts us to
+apply our previous knowledge for our present comfort and advantage.[7]
+The constant operation of such a principle in our nature, no matter by
+what name it is called, leads us, as plainly as analogy and natural
+phenomena can do, to conclude, that it ought to be carefully studied,
+and assiduously cultivated in the young, during the period usually
+assigned for their education.
+
+When we carefully trace the operation of this principle in common life,
+it appears that, in fact, the greater portion of our physical comforts
+depends upon it. "Experience" is but another name for it. We find some
+substances warmer, softer, harder, or more workable than others, and we
+apply this knowledge by substituting one for another. The savage finds
+the wigwam more convenient, or more easily come at, than a cave or a
+crevice in a rock, and he builds a wigwam;--he finds a hut more durable
+than a wigwam, and he substitutes a hut;--he at last finds a cottage
+still more convenient, and he advances in his desires and his abilities
+by his former experience, and he builds one.--In every advance, however,
+it is the application of his previous knowledge that increases his
+comforts, and tends to perpetuate them; and accordingly, as a proper
+and a general application of the "moral sense," leads directly to
+national _virtue_; so the proper and general application of this
+principle of "common sense" goes to promote every kind of personal and
+family _comfort_, as well as national _prosperity_. Its ramifications
+pierce through every design and action of industry and genius. It is the
+exercise of this principle alone which, in the worldly sense,
+distinguishes the wise man from the fool; and which gives all the
+superiority which is possessed by a civilized, over a savage community.
+It is the chief guardian of our safety, and the parent of every personal
+and domestic comfort. It is, in short, familiarity with its exercise
+that imparts confidence to the philosopher, decision to the legislator,
+dexterity to the artificer, and perfection to the artist. In each case
+it is the accumulation of knowledge _put to use_, which makes the
+distinction between one man and another; and it is by the aggregation of
+such men that a nation becomes prosperous. It must never therefore be
+forgotten, that it is not the possession of knowledge, but the use which
+we make of it, that confers distinction. For no truism is more
+incontrovertible than this, that knowledge which we cannot or do not
+use, is really useless.
+
+There is no wonder then that Nature should be at some pains in training
+her pupils to an exercise on which so much of their happiness and safety
+depends; and it is of corresponding importance, that we should
+investigate the means, and the mode by which she usually accomplishes
+her end. If we can successfully attain this knowledge, we may be enabled
+to pursue a similar course in the training of the young, and with
+decided advantage.
+
+When we take any one of the numerous examples of the working of this
+principle in the adult, and carefully analyze it, we can detect three
+distinct stages in the operation, before the effect is produced. The
+_first_ is the knowledge of some useful truth, present to the mind, and
+at the command of the will;--there is, _secondly_, an inference drawn
+from that truth, or portion of our knowledge, or the impression of an
+inference which was formerly drawn from it, and which, as we have seen
+in the infant, may remain long after the circumstance from which the
+lesson was derived has been forgotten;--and there is, _thirdly_, a
+special application of that inference or impression to our present
+circumstances. For example, in the case of the person leaving the house,
+and suddenly returning to provide himself with an umbrella, there is
+first the knowledge of a fact, that "the sky is lowering;" then there is
+an inference drawn from this fact, that "there will most probably be
+rain;" but the comfort--the whole benefit arising from this knowledge,
+and from this reasoning upon it,--depends on the third stage of the
+operation, which is therefore the most important of all, namely, the
+application of the inference, or lesson, to his present circumstances. A
+mere knowledge of the fact that the sky lowered, would have remained a
+barren and a useless truth in the mind, unless he had proceeded to draw
+the proper inference from it; and the inference itself, after it was
+drawn, would have done him no good, but must rather have added to his
+uneasiness, had he not proceeded to the third step of the operation, and
+applied the whole to the regulation of his conduct, in providing himself
+with an umbrella or a cloak.
+
+In like manner, in the supposed case of the mariner expecting a storm,
+there was first the knowledge of the fact, that the "sky was in a
+certain state." Now of this knowledge every person on board might have
+been in possession as well as the master himself, without the slightest
+benefit accruing to themselves or the ship, unless they had been
+trained, or enabled to draw the proper inference or lesson from it. The
+mere possession of the knowledge, therefore, would have been of no
+advantage. But the practised eye, and the previous experience of the
+master, enabled him to draw the inference, that "there will be a
+storm." Even this, however, would not have saved the ship and crew,
+without the third, and the most important step of all,--the application
+of that inference or lesson to their present condition. It was that
+which induced him to give the necessary orders to prepare for the storm,
+and thus to secure the safety both of the ship and of all on board.
+
+Again, in the case of the infant burning its finger, there appears to be
+something like a similar process, which we can trace much better than
+the child itself. The child puts its finger to the flame of the candle,
+and it feels pain; from which it learns, for the first time, that flame
+burns. This is the knowledge which it has acquired. But there is also an
+inference drawn from that knowledge, not by reasoning, but by the
+operation of the principle under consideration, an inference of which it
+is probable the child itself at the time is unconscious, but the
+existence of which is sufficiently proved by its uniform conduct
+afterwards. By the operation of this principle in the child's mind,
+before he can reason, he has inferred, that if he shall again touch
+flame, he will again feel pain. He will very probably forget the
+particular circumstance in which his finger was burned, but the
+inference then drawn,--the impression made upon the mind, and which
+corresponds to an inference,--still remains, and is made the chief
+instrument which Nature employs in this most important part of all her
+valuable educational processes. The child accordingly is found ever
+after, not only preserving the particular finger that was burned, but
+all its fingers and members, from a burning candle; and not from a
+candle only, but from fire and flame of every kind.
+
+This appears to be the natural order of that process of which we are
+here speaking; and before leaving it, there are two or three
+circumstances connected with it, that we ought not to omit noticing,
+more particularly, because the whole of them appear to hold out
+additional evidence of the little value which Nature attaches to
+knowledge for its own sake, and of her decided approval of its
+acquisition, only, or at least chiefly, when it is reduced to practice.
+
+The first of these circumstances is, that Nature, in all cases, teaches
+popularly--not philosophically; that is, she does not refuse to teach
+one part of a connected series of phenomena, because the whole is not
+yet perceived; nor does she neglect the use of the legitimate
+application of an ascertained truth, because the principle or law by
+which it acts remains as yet undiscovered. Her object evidently is, the
+attainment of the most _useful_ part of the knowledge presented to her
+pupil, and the _practical use_ of that part; leaving the investigation
+of the other parts to the will or convenience of the person afterwards.
+The infant accordingly made use of its knowledge, although it knew
+nothing about the nature of flame; and the man and the mariner would
+have done as they did, although they had known nothing at all about the
+science of meteorology.
+
+The second remark which we would here make is, that Nature, in most
+cases, appears to put much more value on the inferences, or lessons,
+drawn from the knowledge we have acquired, than she does upon the
+knowledge itself. For example, in the case of the infant burning its
+finger, the circumstance itself will soon be forgotten; but the
+inference, or the impression acquired by its means, will remain. And
+when at any subsequent period it avoids fire or flame, its mind is not
+so much occupied by the abstract truth that flame will burn, as by the
+lesson learned from that truth, that it should not meddle with it. This
+inference it now practically applies to its present situation. That the
+abstract truth,--the knowledge originally derived from the fact,--is
+included in the lesson, may be quite true; but what we wish at present
+more particularly to point out is, that _it is seldom adverted to by the
+infant_. The inference,--the lesson which the truth suggested,--is all
+that the child thought of. That alone is the fabric which Nature has
+been employed in rearing; and the original truth has been used merely as
+scaffolding for the purpose. The edifice itself, accordingly, having
+been completed, the scaffolding is allowed to fall, as having answered
+its design.
+
+The same conclusion may be come to, by attending to the circumstances
+connected with the operation of the principle in adults.--The person who
+returned for his great-coat or umbrella after having drawn the inference
+from the appearance of the sky, thought only of the coming shower; and
+we could easily suppose a case, where the original indication of the sky
+might be totally forgotten, while the full impression that it would rain
+might still continue. In like manner, the mariner, in the bustle of
+preparation, thinks only of the dreaded storm, while the original
+circumstance,--the knowledge from which the inference was drawn,--is now
+unheeded, or entirely forgotten.
+
+The other circumstance to which we would here solicit attention, as
+proving the same thing, is one to which we formerly alluded. It is the
+remarkable fact, that knowledge, of whatever kind, when it is practised,
+becomes more and more familiar and useful; while that which is not acted
+upon, is soon blotted from the memory and lost. Writing, arithmetic, and
+spelling, not to speak of grammar, geography, and history, when not
+exercised in after life, are frequently found of no avail, even at times
+when they are specially required.--Why is this? They were once known.
+The knowledge was communicated at a time when the mind and memory were
+best fitted for receiving and retaining them. But Nature in this, as in
+every other instance, has been true to herself; and the knowledge which
+is not used has been blighted, and at last removed from the memory and
+lost.
+
+From all these circumstances taken together, we are led to conclude,
+that Nature never conveys knowledge without intending it to be
+used;--that by a principle in our constitution, which we have
+denominated "common sense," Nature prompts even infants to employ their
+knowledge for their own special benefit;--that this principle continues
+invariably to act, till it is assisted or superseded by reason;--and
+that the process consists in drawing inferences, or lessons, from known
+facts, and in practically applying them to present circumstances. All
+which points the Educationist directly to the conclusion, that the
+communication of knowledge is one of the _means_, but not the _end_, of
+education;--that the lessons derived from the knowledge communicated,
+are infinitely more valuable than the knowledge itself;--and that the
+great design of education is, and ought to be, to train the young to
+know how to use, and to put to use, not only the knowledge communicated
+at school, but all the knowledge which they may acquire in their future
+journey through life.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[7] Note F.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. X.
+
+_On Nature's Method of applying Knowledge by means of the Moral Sense,
+or Conscience._
+
+
+Nature enables her pupils to apply knowledge by means of the moral
+sense, or conscience, as well as by the animal, or common sense. There
+is however this great difference in the manner in which they
+operate,--that whereas every infringement of the natural or physical
+laws which regulate the application of knowledge by what we have called
+the common sense, is invariably followed by its proper punishment,--the
+consequences of infringing the laws which regulate the moral sense, are
+neither so immediate, nor at the time so apparent. The child knows, that
+by putting his finger to the candle, burning and pain will instantly
+follow;--but the evil consequences of purloining sweet-meats, or telling
+a lie to avoid punishment, are not so obvious. Does Nature then put less
+value on moral integrity, than on worldly prudence? Certainly not. But
+in the latter case she deals with man more as a physical and
+intellectual being; and in the former, as a moral, a responsible, and an
+immortal being. The lower animals to a great extent participate with us
+in the benefits arising from attention to the laws which govern physical
+enjoyments; but they know nothing of a moral sense, which is peculiar to
+intelligent and accountable creatures. From this we may safely conclude,
+that the application of knowledge by means of the moral sense, or
+conscience, is of infinitely more importance to man than the application
+of his knowledge by the animal, or common sense.
+
+For the purpose of arriving at accurate conclusions on this subject, in
+reference to education and the application of knowledge, we shall
+endeavour to investigate a few of the phenomena connected with the moral
+sense, as these are exhibited in the young and in adults; and shall, in
+doing so, attempt to trace the laws by which these phenomena are
+severally guided.
+
+1. The first thing we would here remark, is, that the operations of the
+moral sense appear to be resolvable into two classes, which may be
+termed its _legislative_ and its _executive_ powers. When conscience
+leads us merely to judge and to decide upon the character of a feeling
+or an action, whether good or evil, it acts in its _legislative_
+capacity; but when it reproves and punishes, or approves and rewards,
+for actions done, it acts in its _executive_ capacity. These two
+departments of the moral sense seem quite distinct in their nature and
+operations; and, as we shall immediately see, they not only exist
+separately, but they sometimes act independently of each other.
+
+2. Another circumstance connected with conscience is, that her
+_legislative_ powers do not develope themselves, nor appear to act, till
+the reasoning powers of the person begin to expand. Then, and then only
+does the pupil of Nature, who has not had the benefit of previous moral
+instruction, begin to decide on the merit or demerit of actions.
+Infants, and children who are left without instruction, appear to have
+no distinct perception that certain actions are right, and others wrong.
+In infancy, we frequently perceive the most rebellious outbreakings of
+ungoverned passion, with tearing, and scratching, and beating the
+parent, without any indication of compunction, either at the time, or
+after it has taken place. Even in children of more advanced years, while
+they remain without moral instruction, and before the reasoning powers
+are developed, the injuries which they occasion to each other, or which
+they inflict upon the old, the decrepit, or the helpless, are matters of
+unmingled glee and gratification, without the slightest sign of
+conscience interfering to prevent them, or of giving them any uneasiness
+after the mischief is done. Instead of sorrow, such children are found
+invariably delighted with the recollection of their tricks; and never
+fail to recapitulate them to their companions afterwards, with triumph
+and satisfaction.--But it is not so with the adult. As soon as the
+reasoning powers are developed, the legislative functions of conscience
+begin to act, enabling and impelling the person to decide at once on
+actions, whether they are right or wrong, good or evil. Such a person,
+therefore, could not strike nor abuse his parents, without knowing that
+he was doing wrong; nor could he tantalize or injure the aged or the
+helpless, without conscience putting him upon his guard, as well as
+reproving and punishing the crime by compunctious feelings after it was
+committed.
+
+From this we perceive, that the legislative powers of conscience are
+usually dormant in the child, and do not, when left to Nature, act till
+the reasoning powers have exhibited themselves; from which we are led to
+conclude, that it is by an _early education_,--by _moral instruction_
+alone,--that the young are to be guarded against crime, and prepared and
+furnished to good works.
+
+3. This leads us to observe another remarkable circumstance,
+corroborative also of the above remark, which is, that although the
+legislative powers of conscience are but very imperfectly, if at all
+developed in children, yet the _executive_ powers are never absent,
+where moral instruction has previously been communicated.--A child of
+very tender years, and even an infant, may be taught, that certain
+actions are good and should be performed, while others are evil and must
+be avoided. This is matter of daily experience; and a little attention
+to the subject will shew, that moral instruction in the case of the
+young, acts the same part that the legislative powers of conscience do
+in the adult. But what we wish at present more particularly to remark
+is, that whenever such moral instruction has been communicated, Nature
+at once sanctions it, and is ever ready to use the executive powers of
+the conscience for the purpose of rendering it effective. When therefore
+good actions have been pointed out as praiseworthy and deserving of
+approbation, there is a strong inducement to practise them, and a
+delightful feeling of satisfaction and self-approval after they have
+been performed. And when, on the contrary, certain other actions have
+been denounced as wicked, and which, if indulged in, will be punished
+either by their parents or by God, the child feels all the hesitation
+and fear to commit them, that is observable in similar cases among older
+persons; and, when committed he experiences the same remorse, and
+terror, and self-reproach, which in the adult follow the perpetration of
+an aggravated crime. This is a circumstance which must be obvious to
+every reader; and it distinctly intimates, that the God of Nature
+intends that the legislative powers of conscience should in all cases
+be _anticipated_ by the parent and teacher. The moral instruction or the
+young is to be the rule; the neglect of it, although in some measure
+provided for, is to be the exception. The lesson is as plain as analogy
+can teach us, that, while there is written on the heart of man such an
+outline of the moral law as will leave him without excuse when called to
+judgment, yet it is not the design of the Creator that, in a matter of
+such vast importance as the moral perfection of a rational creature, we
+should trust to that, and, like savages, leave our children to gather
+information respecting moral good and evil solely from the slowly
+developed and imperfect dictates of their own nature. The whole
+phenomena of the natural conscience shew, that although God secures the
+operation of the legislative powers of conscience to direct the actions
+of the man when they are really required, yet he intends that they
+should be anticipated by moral instruction given by the parent. And this
+is proved by the remarkable fact, that when this instruction is
+communicated, the executive powers of conscience immediately come into
+operation, and homologate this instruction, by approving of it, adopting
+it, and acting upon it.
+
+4. This is still farther obvious from a fourth consideration, which is,
+that wherever moral instruction has been communicated to the young, the
+legislative powers of conscience are either altogether superseded, or
+left dormant.--Every person who in youth has received a regular moral
+and religious education, and who retains upon his mind the knowledge
+then communicated, is found through life to act upon _that_ knowledge
+chiefly, if not entirely. He seldom thinks of the dictates of his
+natural conscience, and but rarely perceives them. In every decision to
+which he comes as to what is right or wrong, reference is generally made
+in his mind, either to the declarations of Scripture, or to the moral
+instructions which he has formerly received; and upon these he
+invariably falls back, when any action of a doubtful character is
+presented for his approval or rejection. From this very remarkable
+circumstance, we at once ascertain what are the intentions of Nature.
+She very plainly requires the early moral instruction of the young, by
+those into whose hands she has placed them; because she is here found to
+encourage and acknowledge this instruction at the expense of her own
+legislative powers, which not being now required, are allowed to lie
+idle.
+
+5. Another circumstance connected with this subject, is the well known
+fact, that children are found capable of moral instruction long before
+the time that Nature usually begins to develope the legislative powers
+of the conscience.--A child, almost as soon as he can be made to know
+that he has an earthly father, may be taught that he has another Father
+in heaven; and when he can be induced to feel that a certain line of
+conduct is necessary to secure the favour of the one, he may also be led
+to comprehend that certain dispositions and actions will please the
+other. Now, that a child can be taught and trained to do all this with
+respect to his parents, is matter of daily experience. As soon as he can
+understand any thing, and long before he can speak, he may be enabled to
+distinguish between right and wrong, as well as to do that which is
+good, and to avoid that which is evil; and in every case of this kind,
+Nature sanctions the moral instruction communicated, by invariably
+following it up with the practical operation of the executive powers of
+conscience, which always approve that which the child thinks is good,
+and reprove that which he supposes to be wrong. The triumphant gleam of
+satisfaction which brightens the countenance of a child, and the
+laughing look and pause for approval when he has done something that he
+knows to be right, are abundant proofs of the truth of this observation;
+while his cowering scowl, and fear of reproof or punishment, when he
+has done that which is wrong, are equal indications of the same thing.
+Nature, therefore, that has given the capacity of distinguishing between
+good and evil when thus communicated, and that invariably approves of
+the operation, and assists in it, has most certainly intended that it
+should be exercised. This consideration, taken in connection with its
+advantages to the family, to the child, to the future man, and to
+society, plainly points out the value and the importance of early
+religious instruction and moral training.
+
+6. Another circumstance, in connection with the application of knowledge
+by means of the conscience, should not be overlooked. It is the
+remarkable fact, that Nature has implanted in the mind of the young a
+principle, by which they unhesitatingly believe whatever they are
+told.--A child who has not been abused by frequent deceptions, is a
+perfect picture of docility. He never for a moment doubts either his
+parent or his teacher when he tells him what is right and what is wrong.
+If he be taught that it is a sin to eat flesh on Fridays, he never
+questions the truth of it; and if told that he may kill spiders, but
+should not hurl flies, he may wonder at the difference, but he never
+doubts the correctness of the statement. This disposition in children is
+applicable to every kind of instruction offered to them;--but the
+superior importance of moral, to every other kind of truth, and the
+beneficial effects of the principle when applied to moral and religious
+training, shew that it is chiefly designed by Nature for aiding the
+parent and teacher in this most important part of their labours.
+
+7. Another circumstance connected with this subject is, that the
+executive powers of conscience always act according to the belief of the
+person, and not according to what would have been the dictates of
+conscience in the exercise of her legislative functions.--This of itself
+is a sufficient proof of the separate and independent agency of these
+two principles. The legislative powers, as at first implanted in the
+heart of man, there is reason to believe, would, if allowed to act
+freely, never have been in error; and even still, they are generally a
+witness for the purity of truth;--but the executive powers invariably
+act, not according to what is really the truth, but according to what
+the person himself believes to be right or wrong. The child who was told
+that it was a sin to eat flesh on a Friday, would be reproved by his
+conscience were he to indulge his appetite by doing so;--and the
+conscience of the zealous Musselman, which would smite him for indulging
+in a sip of wine, would commend and reward him by its approval, for
+indulging in cruelty and injustice to the unbeliever in his faith. The
+executive functions of conscience then act independently of the
+legislative, and frequently in opposition to them. There must be a
+feeling of wrong, before the executive powers will reprove; and there
+must be a sense of merit, before they will commend;--but a mistake in
+either case makes no apparent difference. This is another, and a
+powerful argument for the early moral instruction of the young; and it
+shews us also, the greater value which Nature puts upon the
+_application_ and _use_ of knowledge, than upon its possession. She not
+only encourages this application in all ordinary cases; but here we find
+her, for the purpose of maintaining the general principle, lending her
+assistance in the application and use of the knowledge received, even
+when the knowledge itself is erroneous, and the application mischievous.
+
+8. Another important circumstance which is worthy of especial notice,
+is, that conscience is much more readily acted upon by _examples_, than
+by _precepts_.--In communicating a knowledge of duty, this principle in
+Nature has become proverbial; but it is not less true with respect to
+the executive powers, in approving or reproving that which is right or
+wrong. It is the prerogative of conscience to excite us to approve or
+condemn the conduct of others, as well as our own; and this is
+regulated, not by strict truth, but by our belief at the time, whether
+that belief be correct or the contrary. Now the precept, "Thou shalt not
+kill," would be sufficient to make the executive powers of conscience
+watchful, in deterring the individual from the crime, or in reproving
+and punishing him if he committed it. But the mere precept would have
+but little effect in exhibiting to him the full atrocity of the sin, in
+comparison with an anecdote or a story which detailed its commission.
+But even this would not be so powerful as the effect produced by a
+murder committed in a neighbouring street, and still more were it
+perpetrated in his own presence. The necessary inference to be drawn
+from this remarkable fact is, that moral truth is much more effectively
+taught by example than by precept; and accordingly we find, that at
+least four-fifths of scripture, which is altogether a moral instrument,
+consist of narrative, and are given specially, "that the man of God may
+be perfect, thoroughly furnished to every good work."
+
+9. Another circumstance worthy of observation is, that the executive
+powers of conscience appear to be exceedingly partial when exercised
+upon actions done by _ourselves_, in comparison of its decisions upon
+the same actions when they are committed by _others_.--When we ourselves
+perform a good action, the approval of our conscience is more lively and
+more extensive, than it would have been had the good action been that of
+another. On the contrary, it would be more ready to perform its
+functions, and more powerful in impressing upon our minds the demerit or
+wickedness of an action committed by another, than if we ourselves had
+committed it. The reason of this is obviously self-love, which partly
+overbears the natural operations of this principle. Violence of passion
+and strong desire, when we are tempted to commit a crime, are hostile
+movements against the dictates of conscience; and they too frequently,
+by their excess, stifle and drown the still small voice which does
+speak out, but which, for the moment, is not heard within us.--But
+nothing of this kind takes place when the crime is committed by others.
+We are then much more impartial; and conscience is permitted to utter
+her voice, and to make her impressions without opposition. This
+impartial decision on the conduct of others, is found to be a great
+means of preventing us from the future commission of a similar crime;
+and this affords us another powerful argument in favour of early
+instruction and moral training. By attending early to this duty, the
+mind of the child is made up, and sentence has been pronounced on
+certain acts, before selfishness or the passions have had an opportunity
+of blinding the mind, or silencing the conscience. By proper moral
+training the pupil is fortified and prepared for combating his evil
+inclinations when temptations occur; but without this, he will have to
+encounter sudden temptations at a great disadvantage.
+
+10. Another circumstance connected with this subject is, that the moral
+sentiments and feelings above all others, are improved and strengthened
+by exercise; and are weakened, and often destroyed by disregard or
+opposition.--Every instance of moral exercise or moral discipline,
+invigorates the executive powers of conscience, and renders the moral
+perceptions of the person more acute and tender. Every successful
+struggle against a temptation, implants in the mind of a child a noble
+consciousness of dignity, and confers a large amount of moral strength,
+and a firmer determination to resist others. In this respect, the good
+derived from the mere knowledge of a duty and its actual performance is
+immense. A child who is merely told that a certain action is
+praiseworthy, is by no means so sensible of the fact, or of its value,
+as he is after he has actually performed it; and when, on the contrary,
+he is told that a certain action is wrong, he is no doubt prepared to
+avoid it; but it is not till he has been tempted to its commission, and
+has successfully overcome the temptation, that he is fully aware of its
+enormity. When he has successfully resisted the first temptation, he is
+much better prepared than any exhortation or warning could make him for
+resisting and repelling a second;--while every successive victory will
+give strength to the executive powers of the conscience, and will render
+future conflicts less hazardous, and resistance more easy. For the same
+reason, an amiable action frequently performed does not pall by
+repetition, but appears more and more amiable, till the doing of it
+grows into a habit; and the approval of conscience becoming every day
+more satisfactory, the person will be stimulated to its frequent and
+regular observance.
+
+But the opposite of this is equally true.--The continued habit of
+suppressing the voice of conscience will greatly weaken, and will at
+last destroy its executive powers. When a person knows that a certain
+action is wrong, and is tempted to commit it,--conscience will speak
+out, and for the first time at least it will be listened to. But if this
+warning be neglected, and the sin be committed, the conscience will be
+proportionally weakened, and the self-will of the individual will
+acquire additional strength. When the temptation again presents itself,
+it is with redoubled power, and it meets with less resistance. It will
+invariably be found in such cases, that the person felt much more
+difficulty in resisting the admonitions of conscience in the case of the
+first temptation, than in that of the second; and he will also feel more
+during the second than he will during the third. Frequent resistance
+offered to the executive powers of conscience will at last lay them
+asleep. The beginning of this downward career is always the most
+difficult; but when once fairly begun, it grows every day more easy,
+till the habit of sin becomes like a second nature.
+
+11. There is yet another feature in the exhibition of the moral sense in
+adults, which ought not to be overlooked by the Educationist in his
+treatment of the young. We here allude to the remarkable fact, that the
+conscience scarcely ever refers to consequences connected merely with
+this world and time, but compels the man, in spite of himself, to fear,
+that his actions will, in some way or other, have an influence upon his
+happiness or his misery in another world, and through eternity.--The
+mere uneasiness arising from the fear of detection and punishment by
+men, is a perfectly different kind of feeling, and never is, and never
+ought to be, dignified with the name of conscience. It is the
+consequence of a mere animal calculation of chances;--similar to the
+feelings which give rise to the cautious prowling of the hungry lion, or
+the stealthy advances of the timorous fox. But the forebodings, as well
+as the gnawings of conscience, extend much farther, and strike much
+deeper, than these superficial and animal sensations. Conscience in man,
+as long as it is permitted to act freely, has always a reference to God,
+to a future judgment, and to eternity, and is but rarely affected by
+worldly considerations. The valuable lesson to be drawn from this
+circumstance obviously is, that the parent and teacher ought, in their
+moral training of the young, to make use of the same principle. The
+anticipated approbation or displeasure of their earthly parents or
+teachers, or even the fear of the rod and correction, is not enough.
+Children are capable of being restrained by much higher motives, and
+stimulated to duty by nobler and more generous feelings. The greatness,
+the holiness, the unwearied goodness, and the omnipresence of their
+heavenly Father, present to the rational and tender affections of the
+young, a constantly increasing stimulus to obedience and
+self-controul;--while the fear of mere physical suffering will be found
+daily to decrease, and may perhaps in some powerful minds at last
+altogether disappear. The horse and the dog were intended to be trained
+in the one way;--but rational and intelligent minds were obviously
+intended to be trained in the other.
+
+Of these facts, connected as they are with the application of knowledge
+by means of the moral sense, the Educationist must make use for the
+perfecting of his science. They are the most valuable, and therefore
+they ought to form the most important branch of his investigations. All
+the other parts of Nature's teaching were but means;--this is obviously
+the great end she designed by using them, and therefore it ought to be
+his also.
+
+In regard to the practical working of this important part of Nature's
+educational process, we need only remark here, that the application of
+the pupil's knowledge connected with the moral sense, is precisely the
+same in form, as in that connected with the common sense. There is
+always here first, as in the former case, some fundamental truth,
+generally derived from Scripture, or founded on some moral maxim, and
+presented in the form of a precept, a promise, a threatening, or an
+example;--there is next a lesson or inference drawn from this
+truth;--and there is, lastly, a practical application of that lesson or
+inference to present circumstances.
+
+For the purpose of illustrating this, let us suppose that a boy who has
+been trained in imitation of Nature, is tempted by some ungodly
+acquaintances to join with them in absenting himself from public
+worship, and in breaking the Sabbath. The moment that such a temptation
+is suggested to him, a feeling arises in his mind, which will take
+something like the following form:--"I ought not to absent myself from
+public worship;"--"I ought not to break the Sabbath;"--"I ought not to
+keep bad company." Here are three distinct lessons suited to the
+occasion, obviously derived from his previous knowledge, and which he
+has been trained either directly or indirectly to draw from "the only
+rule of duty," the Bible. When, accordingly, the temptation is farther
+pressed upon him, and the reasons of his refusal are regularly put into
+form, they appear in something like the following shape and order:--"I
+must not absent myself from public worship; for thus it is written,
+'Forget not the assembling of yourselves together;' and, 'Jesus, _as his
+custom was_, went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day.'"--"I must not
+profane this holy day; for thus it is written, 'Remember the Sabbath day
+to keep it holy,'"--And, "I must not go with these boys; for thus it is
+written, 'Go not in the way of the ungodly;' and 'Evil communications
+corrupt good manners.'"
+
+Whoever will investigate the subject closely, will find, that the above
+is a pretty correct picture of the mental process, wherever temptation
+is opposed and overcome by means of religious principle;--but it is also
+worthy of remark, that the form is still nearly the same by whomsoever a
+temptation is resisted, and whether they do or do not take the
+Scriptures for their text-book and directory. The only difference in
+such a case is, that their lessons have been drawn from some _other_
+source. For example, another boy exposed to the above temptation might
+successfully resist it upon the following grounds. He might say, "I must
+not absent myself from public worship; because I shall then lose the
+promised reward for taking home the text;"--"I dare not profane the
+Sabbath; because, if I did, my father would punish me;"--"I will not go
+with these boys; because I would be ashamed to be seen in their
+company." In this latter example, we have the same lessons, and the same
+application, although these lessons have been derived from a more
+questionable, and a much more variable source. In both cases, however,
+it is the same operation of Nature, and which we ought always to imitate
+therefore upon scriptural and solid grounds.
+
+These examples might be multiplied in various forms, and yet they would
+in every case be found substantially alike. The application of
+knowledge, whether by the common or the moral sense, is carried forward
+only in one way, in which the truth, the lesson, and the application,
+follow each other in natural order, whether they be perceived or not. To
+this process, therefore, every branch and portion of our knowledge ought
+to be adapted, as it is obviously the great end designed by Nature in
+all her previous endeavours. The parent, therefore, or the teacher, who
+wilfully passes over, or but slightly attends to these plain
+indications, is really betraying his trust, and deeply injuring the
+future prospects of his immortal charge.
+
+The several circumstances enumerated in the previous part of this
+chapter, as connected with the moral sense, are capable of suggesting
+many important hints for the establishment of education; but there are
+one or two connected with the subject as a whole, to which we must very
+shortly allude.
+
+In the first place, from the foregoing facts we are powerfully led to
+the conclusion, that all kinds of physical good, such as health,
+strength, beauty, riches, and honours, and even the higher attainments
+of intellectual sagacity and knowledge, are, in the estimation of
+Nature, not once to be compared with the very lowest of the moral
+acquirements. With respect to the former, man shares them, though in a
+higher degree, with the brute creation;--but _morals_ are altogether
+peculiar to higher intelligences. To man, in particular, the value of
+moral discipline is beyond calculation:--For, however much the present
+ignorance and grossness of men's minds may deceive them in weighing
+their respective worth, yet it would be easy to shew, that the knowledge
+and practice of but one additional truth in morals, are of more real
+value to a child, than a whole lifetime of physical enjoyment. Nature
+has accordingly implanted in his constitution, a complete system of
+moral machinery, to assist the parent in this first and most important
+part of his duty,--that of guiding his children in the paths of
+religion and virtue. The executive powers of conscience are always alive
+and active, stimulating or restraining both young and old, wherever the
+action proposed partakes of the character of right or wrong. And, even
+where the parental duties in this respect have been neglected, Nature
+has, in part, graciously provided a remedy. In all such cases, during
+the years of advancing manhood, the law is gradually and vividly written
+upon the heart. Its dictates are generally, no doubt, dimmed and defaced
+by the natural depravity and recklessness of the sinner; but even then,
+they are sufficiently legible to leave him without excuse for his
+neglect of their demands.
+
+The preference which Nature gives to moral acquirements, is demonstrated
+also by another feature in her different modes of applying knowledge by
+the common and the moral senses. In the attainment of physical good,
+Nature leaves men, as she does the lower animals, in a great measure to
+themselves, under the guardianship of the common sense; but, in respect
+to actions that are morally good or evil, she deals with them in a much
+more solemn and dignified manner. A transgression of the laws of the
+natural or common sense, is, without discrimination and without mercy,
+visited with present and corresponding punishment; plainly indicating,
+that with respect to these there is to be no future reckoning;--while
+the trial and final judgment of moral acts are usually reserved for a
+future, a more solemn, and a more comprehensive investigation.
+
+Another inference which legitimately arises out of the above
+considerations, as well as from the facts themselves, is, that religion
+and morals are really intended to be the chief object of attention in
+the education of the young. This is a circumstance so clearly and so
+frequently pointed out to us, in our observation of Nature's educational
+processes, that no person, we think, of a philosophic turn of mind, can
+consistently refuse his assent to it. The facts are so numerous, and
+the legitimate inferences to be drawn from them are so plain, that
+pre-conceived opinions should never induce us either to blink them from
+fear, or deny them from prejudice. These facts and inferences too, it
+should be observed, present themselves to our notice in all their own
+native power and simplicity, invulnerable in their own strength, and, in
+one sense, altogether independent of revelation. They are, no doubt,
+efficiently supported in every page of the Christian Record; but,
+without revelation, they force themselves upon our conviction, and
+cannot be consistently refuted. We state this fearlessly, from a
+consideration of numerous facts, to a few of which, selected from among
+many, we shall, before concluding, very shortly advert.
+
+In the first place, it is obvious to the most cursory observer, that
+moral attainments and moral greatness are more honoured by Nature, and
+are, of course, more valuable to man, than the possession of either
+intellectual or physical good.--Nature has, to the possessor, made
+virtue its own reward, in that calm consciousness of dignity,
+self-approval, and peace, which are its natural results; while, even
+from the mere looker-on, she compels an approval. On the contrary, we
+find, that the highest intellectual or physical attainments, when
+coupled with vice, lead directly and invariably to corresponding depths
+of degradation and misery. No one, we think, can deny this as a general
+principle; and if it be admitted, the question is settled; for no person
+acting rationally would seek the _lesser_ good for his child, at the
+expense of the _greater_.
+
+Another proof of the same fact is, that Nature has provided for the
+physical and intellectual education of the young, by means of the animal
+or "common sense;" while morals are, in a great measure, left to the
+education of the parents. The principle of common sense, as we have
+seen, begins its operations and discipline in early infancy, and
+continues to act through life; but the culture of the moral sense,--by
+far the most important of the two,--is left during infancy and childhood
+very much to the affections of the natural guardians of the child, and
+to the results of their education. Hence it is, that while Nature amply
+provides for the _neglect_ of this duty, by the developement of the
+legislative powers of conscience towards manhood, they are comparatively
+feeble, and in ordinary cases are but little thought of or observed,
+wherever this duty has timeously been attended to. From all these
+circumstances we infer, that it is the intention of Nature, that the
+establishment and culture of religion and morals should in every case
+form the chief objects of education,--the main business of the family
+and the school;--an intention which she has pointed out and guarded by
+valuable rewards on the one hand, and severe penalties on the other.
+When the duty is faithfully attended to, Nature lends her powerful
+assistance, by the early developement of the executive powers of
+conscience, and the virtue of the pupil is the appropriate reward to
+both parties; but, when this is omitted, the growing depravity of the
+child becomes at once the reproof and the punishment of the parents, for
+this wilful violation of Nature's designs.
+
+In conclusion, it may be necessary to remark, that from these latter
+circumstances, another and a directly opposite inference may be drawn,
+which we must not allow to pass without observation.--It may be said,
+that the very postponement of the legislative powers of conscience till
+the years of manhood, shews, that religion and morals are not designed
+to be taught till that period arrive. Now, to this there are two
+answers.--_First_, if it were correct, it would set aside, and render
+useless almost all the other indications of Nature on this subject. In
+accordance with the view taken of the circumstances as above, these
+indications are perfectly harmonious and effective; but, in the view of
+the case which this argument supposes, they are all inconsistent and
+useless.--But, _secondly_, if this argument proves any thing, it proves
+too much, and would infer the absurd proposition, that physical and
+intellectual qualities are superior in value to moral attainments;--a
+proposition that is contradicted, as we have shewn, by every operation
+and circumstance in Nature and providence. It is in direct opposition
+also to all the unsophisticated feelings of human Nature. No thinking
+person will venture to affirm, that the beauty of the courtezan, the
+strength of the robber, or the intelligence and sagacity of the
+swindler, are more to be honoured than the generous qualities of a
+Wilberforce or a Howard. And therefore it is, that from a calm and
+dispassionate consideration of these facts, and independently altogether
+of revelation, we cannot see how any impartial philosophic mind can
+evade the conclusion, that the chief object to be attended to in the
+education of the young, and to which every thing else should be strictly
+subservient, is _their regular and early training in religion and
+morals_.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. XI.
+
+_On Nature's Method of Training her Pupils to Communicate their
+Knowledge._
+
+
+There is yet a _Fourth_ process in the educational system of Nature,
+which may be termed supplementary, as it is not intended solely, nor
+even chiefly, for the good of the pupil himself, but for the
+community.--This process of Nature consists in the training of her pupil
+to communicate, by language, not only his own wishes and wants, but
+also, and perhaps chiefly, the knowledge and experience which he himself
+has attained. The three previous processes of Nature were in a great
+measure selfish,--referring to the pupil as an individual, and are of
+use although he should be alone, and isolated from all others of his
+species; but this is characteristically social, and to the monk and the
+hermit is altogether useless.
+
+That this ability to communicate our sentiments is intended by Nature,
+not for the sole benefit of the individual, but chiefly as an instrument
+of doing good to others, appears obvious from various circumstances. Its
+importance in education, and in the training of the young, would of
+itself, we think, be a sufficient proof of this; but it is rendered
+unquestionable by the invariable decision of every unbiassed mind, in
+judging of a person who is constantly speaking of and for himself; and
+of another whose sole object in conversation, is to exalt and promote
+the happiness of those around him. The one person, however meritorious
+otherwise, is pitied or laughed at;--the other is admired and applauded
+in spite of ourselves.
+
+The benevolence of this arrangement in the educational process of Nature
+is worthy of especial notice, as it leads us directly to the conclusion,
+that learning, of whatever kind, is not intended to be a monkish and
+personal thing, but is really designed by Nature for the benefit of the
+community at large. Those connected with education, therefore, are here
+taught, that the training of the young should be so conducted, that
+while the attainments of the pupil shall in every instance benefit
+himself, they shall at the same time be of such a kind, and shall be
+communicated in such a way, as shall advantage the persons with whom he
+is to mingle, and the community of which he is to form a part. Unless
+this lesson, taught us by Nature, be attended to, her plan is obviously
+left incomplete.
+
+In entering upon the consideration of this part of our subject, we
+cannot but remark the value and the importance which Nature has attached
+to the higher acquisitions of this anti-selfish portion of her teaching.
+Language is perverted and abused, when it is generally and chiefly
+employed for the benefit of the individual himself; and the decision of
+every candid and well-disposed mind confirms the truth of this
+assertion. When, on the contrary, it is employed for the benefit of
+others, or for the good of the public in general, it commands attention,
+and compels approval. Eloquence, therefore, is obviously intended by
+Nature for the benefit of communities; and accordingly, she has so
+disposed matters in the constitution of men's minds, and of society,
+that communities shall in every instance do it homage. In proof of this,
+we find, in every age and nation, wherever Nature is not totally debased
+by art or crime, that the most powerful orator, has almost always been
+found to be the most influential man. Every other qualification in
+society has been made to bend to this, and even reason itself is often
+for the moment obscured, by means of its fascinations. Learning and
+intellect, riches, popularity, and power, have frequently been made to
+quail before it; and even virtue itself has for a time been deprived of
+its influence, when assailed by eloquence. Nay, even in more artificial
+communities, where Nature has been constrained and moulded anew to suit
+the tastes and caprices of selfish men, eloquence has still maintained
+its reputation, and has generally guided the possessor to honour and to
+power. Amongst the lower and unsophisticated classes of society its
+influence is almost universal; and in most polished communities, it is
+still acknowledged as a high attainment, and one of the best indications
+that has yet been afforded of superior mental culture.
+
+That this is not an erroneous estimate of the mental powers of a
+finished debater, will be evident from a slight analysis of what he has
+to achieve in the exercise of his art. He has, while his adversary is
+speaking, to receive and retain upon his mind, the whole of his
+argument,--separate its weak and strong points,--and call forth and
+arrange those views and illustrations which are calculated to overthrow
+and demolish it. This itself, even when performed in silence, is a
+prodigious effort of mental strength; but when he commences to speak,
+and to manage these, with other equally important operations of his own
+mind at the same moment, the difficulty of succeeding is greatly
+increased. When he begins to pour forth his refutation in an
+uninterrupted flow of luminous eloquence;--meeting, combating, and
+setting aside his opponent's statements and reasonings;--carefully
+marking, as he goes along, the effect produced upon his hearers, and
+adapting his arguments to the varying emotions and circumstances of the
+audience;--withholding, transposing, or abridging the materials he had
+previously prepared, or seizing new illustrations suggested by passing
+incidents;--and all this not only without hesitation, and without
+confusion, but with the most perfect composure and self-controul;--such
+a man gives evidence of an energy, a grasp, a quickness of thought,
+which, as an exhibition of godlike power in a creature, has scarcely a
+parallel in the whole range of Nature's efforts. All kinds and degrees
+of physical glory, in comparison with this, sink into insignificance.
+
+It is but rare indeed that any country or age produces a Demosthenes, a
+Pitt, a Thomson, or a Brougham; and such persons have hitherto been
+considered as gifts of Nature, rather than the legitimate production of
+educational exercises. But this we conceive to be a mistake. They may
+perhaps have been self-taught, and self-exercised, as Demosthenes
+confessedly was; but that teaching, and especially mental and oral
+exercise, are necessary for the production of one of Nature's chief
+ornaments, both analogy and experience abundantly shew.[8] Fluency in
+the use of words is not enough,--copiousness of thought, such as may be
+of use in the study, is not enough;--for Nature's work, of which we are
+at present speaking, consists chiefly in the faculty of forming one
+train of thoughts in the mind, at the same time that the individual is
+giving expression to another. Every child, accordingly, who holds
+conversation with his companion, is practising on a limited scale the
+very exercise which, if carried out by regular gradations, would
+ultimately lead to that excellence which we have above described. In
+every case of free unconstrained conversation, the operation of this
+principle of Nature is apparent; for the idea is present to the mind
+some time before the tongue gives it utterance, and the person is
+preparing a second idea, at the moment he is communicating the first.
+Upon this simple principle the whole art of eloquence, when analyzed,
+appears to depend. We shall therefore endeavour to trace its operation,
+and the methods which Nature adopts for the purpose of perfecting it.
+
+That this ability is altogether acquired, and depends wholly upon
+exercise for its cultivation, is obvious in every stage of its progress,
+but especially towards its commencement. When Nature first begins to
+suggest to an infant the use of language, we perceive that it cannot
+think and speak at the same moment. Long after it has acquired the
+knowledge of words and names, and even the power of articulating them,
+it utters but one syllable, or one word at a time. Its language, for a
+while after it has acquired a pretty extensive acquaintance with nouns
+and adjectives, is made up of single, or at most double words, with an
+observable pause between each, as if, after uttering one, it had to
+collect its thoughts and again prepare for a new effort, before it was
+able to pronounce the next. This is the child's first step, or rather
+the child's first attempt, in this important exercise; and it is
+conspicuous chiefly by the want, even in the least degree, of that power
+of which we have spoken. By and bye, however, the child is able to put
+two syllables, or two words together, without the pause;--but not three.
+That is a work of time, and that again has to become familiar, before
+four, or more words be attempted. These, however, are at last mastered;
+and he slowly acquires by practice the ability to utter a short
+sentence, composed chiefly of nouns, adjectives, and verbs, without
+interruption, and at last without difficulty.
+
+In the process here described, we perceive the commencement of Nature's
+exercises in training her pupil to the acquisition of this valuable
+faculty. It consists chiefly, as we have said, in enabling the child by
+regular practice to arrive at such a command of the mental faculties,
+and the powers of articulation, as qualifies him to exercise both
+apparently at the same moment. His mind is employed in preparing one set
+of ideas, while the organs of speech are engaged in giving utterance to
+another. He thinks that which he is about to speak, at the moment he is
+speaking that which he previously thought; and if, as is generally
+admitted, the mind cannot be engaged upon two things at the same moment,
+there is here an instance of such a rapid and successive transition from
+one to another, as obviously to elude perception.
+
+The various means which Nature employs in working out this great end in
+the young are very remarkable. We have seen that a child at first does
+not possess the power of uttering even a word, while his thoughts are
+engaged on any thing else. The powers of the mind must as it were be
+concentrated upon that one word, till by long practice he can at last
+think on one and utter another. The same difficulty of speaking and
+thinking on different things is observable in his amusements; and Nature
+appears to employ the powerful auxiliary of his play to assist him in
+overcoming it. When a young child is engaged in any amusement which
+requires thought, the inability of the mind to do double duty is very
+evident. He cannot hear a question, nor speak a single sentence, and go
+on with his play at the same time. If a question be asked, he stops,
+looks up, hears, answers, and then perhaps collects his thoughts, and
+again proceeds with his game as before; but for a long time he cannot
+even hear, far less speak, and play at the same moment. When a child is
+able to do this, it is a good sign of his having acquired considerable
+mental powers.
+
+The excitement of play, we have said, is one chief means which Nature
+employs for the cultivation of this faculty, and it is peculiarly worthy
+of attention by the Educationist. Every one must have observed the
+strong desire which children have, during their more exhilarating games,
+to exercise their lungs by shouting, and calling out, and giving
+direction, encouragement, or reproof, to their companions. In all these
+instances, the impetus of their play is not apparently stopt while they
+speak, and every time that this takes place, they are promoting their
+mental, as well as their physical health and well-being. The accuracy of
+this remark is perhaps more conspicuous, although not more real, in the
+less boisterous and more placid employment of the young. The lively
+prattle of the girl, while constructing her baby-house; her playful
+arrogation of authority and command over her playmates, and her
+serio-comic administering of commendation or reproof in the assumed
+character of "mistress" or "mother," are all instances of a similar
+kind. A little attention to the matter will convince any one, that every
+sentence uttered by a child while dressing a doll, or rigging a ship, or
+cutting a stick, is really intended and employed by Nature in advancing
+this great object. And we cannot help remarking, that the irksome
+silence so frequently enjoined upon children during their play, or
+during any species of active employment, is not only harsh and
+unnecessary, but is positively hurtful. It is in direct opposition both
+to the design and the practice of Nature. It is obstructing, or at least
+neglecting the cultivation and the developement of powers, which are
+destined to be a chief ornament of life; a source of honour and
+enjoyment to the pupil himself, and ultimately a great benefit to
+society.
+
+The cultivation of this faculty in adults, after they have emancipated
+themselves from the discipline of Nature, is advanced or retarded by the
+use or neglect of similar means. Accordingly we find, that in every
+instance where the powers of the mind are actively, (not mechanically)
+employed, while the individual is at the same time called on to exercise
+his powers of speech and hearing on something else, this faculty of
+extemporaneous speaking is cultivated, and rendered more easy and
+fluent. Whereas, on the contrary, the most extensive acquaintance with
+words, even when combined with much knowledge, has but little influence
+in making a ready speaker. Many of the most voluble of our species
+have but a very scanty vocabulary, and still less knowledge; while men
+of extensive and profound learning, whose habits have been formed in the
+study, are often defective even in common conversation, and utterly
+unable to undertake with success the task of public extemporaneous
+speaking. From this cause it is, that some of our ablest men, and our
+greatest scholars, are necessitated to read that which they dare not
+trust themselves to speak; while others, by a different practice, and
+perhaps with fewer real attainments, feel no difficulty in arranging
+their ideas, and delivering them at the same time with ease and fluency.
+Hence it is also, that travelling, frequent intercourse with strangers,
+debating societies, and above all, forensic pleadings, sharpen the
+faculties, and give an ease and accuracy in thinking and speaking, which
+are but rarely acquired in the same degree in any other way.
+
+There is one particular feature in this department of Nature's teaching,
+which is of so much importance both to the young and to adults, that it
+ought not to be passed over without notice. It is the important fact,
+that the highest attainments in this valuable accomplishment are within
+the reach of almost every individual pupil, by a very moderate diligence
+in the use of the proper means. The counterpart of this is equally true;
+for without culture, either regular or accidental, no portion of it can
+ever be acquired. This is abundantly proved both by experience and
+analogy. Experience has shewn, that in every case, perseverance alone,
+often without system, has made great and powerful speakers; and the
+analogy between the expression of our feelings by _words_ and by
+_music_, shews what proper training may do in both cases. Every one will
+admit that it is easier to give expression to our feelings by the
+natural organs of speech, than by the mechanical use of a musical
+instrument; and if by making use of the proper means, and with a
+moderate degree of diligence and perseverance, every man can be trained
+to play dexterously on the violin, or the organ, and at the same moment
+maintain a perfect command over the operations of his mind,--we may
+reasonably conclude, from analogy, that with an equal, or even a smaller
+degree of diligence, when the means have been equally systematized, the
+most humble individual may be trained to manage the operations of his
+mind, while he is otherwise making use of his _tongue_, as the other is
+of his _fingers_.
+
+But the opposite of this, as we have stated above, is equally true. For,
+although a man may, by diligence and perseverance, attain a high degree
+of perfection in the exercise of this faculty; yet, even the lowest must
+be procured by the use of means. The art of thinking and speaking
+different ideas at the same time, as we have proved, is not an
+instinctive, but is wholly an acquired faculty, and must be attained by
+exercise wherever it is possessed. We have instanced as examples the
+case of the girl having at first to stop while dressing her doll, and
+the boy while rigging his ship; but what we wish to notice here is, that
+the principle is not peculiar to children, whose ideas are few, and
+whose language is imperfect, but applies equally to adults, even of
+superior attainments, and well cultivated minds. We have in part proved
+this by the frequent defects of even learned men in conversation; but
+there is good reason to conclude, that even these defects would have
+been greater, if the few opportunities they have improved had been less
+numerous. In short, it appears, that the successful uttering of but two
+consecutive words, while the mind is otherwise engaged, must be acquired
+even in the adult, by education or by discipline. This important fact in
+education, might be demonstrated by numerous proofs, deduced from acts
+which are commonly understood to depend altogether on habit, and where
+the mind is obviously but little engaged. We shall take the case already
+supposed, that of the fingering of musical instruments. The rapidity
+with which the fingers in this exercise perform their office, would lead
+us to pronounce it to be purely mechanical, and to suppose that the mind
+was at perfect liberty to attend to any of the other functions of the
+body, during the performance. But this is not the case; for although by
+long practice, the operator has acquired the art of _thinking_ upon
+various other subjects while playing, he finds upon a first trial, that
+he is then totally unable to articulate two words in succession. Here
+then is a case exactly parallel with that of the children who had to
+stop to speak during their play; proving that it does not arise from the
+lack of ideas, or a deficiency in words, but purely from want of
+discipline and practice; because many musicians by practice, and by
+practice alone, overcome the difficulty, and become able both to speak
+and to play at the same time.
+
+There is another circumstance connected with this part of our subject,
+which is worthy of remark. A person who is playing on an instrument, and
+who is desirous to speak, finds himself, without long practice, totally
+unable to do so; but he may, if he pleases, sing what he has to say,
+provided only that he modulate his voice to the tune he is playing. The
+reason of this appears to be two-fold; first, that the mind, by
+following the tune in the articulation of the words, is relieved in a
+great measure from doing double duty; and secondly, and chiefly, because
+the person has already acquired, by more or less practice, the faculty
+of singing and playing at the same time. From this illustration, we
+perceive the necessity that exists in education, of cultivating in the
+young, by direct means and special exercises, this important faculty of
+managing the thoughts and giving expression to them at the same moment.
+It must be acquired by a course of mental discipline, which brings all
+the elements of the principle into operation; the collecting and
+managing of ideas, the chusing and arranging of words, and the giving of
+them utterance, at the same time. That direct exercises of this kind are
+necessary for the purpose, is obvious from the illustrations here given;
+where we find, that although a person, while playing on an instrument,
+may sing his words, he is yet unable to make the slightest deviation
+from singing to speaking, without a long and laborious practice.
+
+Here then we have been enabled to trace this supplementary process of
+Nature in the education of her pupils, and to detect the great leading
+principle or law, by which it is governed. The attainment itself is the
+ready and fluent communication of our ideas to others; and the mode
+employed by nature for arriving at it, appears to be the training of her
+pupils to exercise their minds upon one set of ideas, while they are
+giving expression to another. That the mind is actually engaged in two
+different ways, at the same moment of time, it is not necessary for us
+to suppose. It is sufficient for our purpose, that the operations so
+rapidly succeed each other, as to appear to do so. The ability to
+accomplish this, we have proved to be in every case an acquired habit,
+and is never possessed, even in the smallest degree, without effort. It
+is, in fact, the invariable result of exercise and education. The most
+gifted of our species are frequently destitute of it; while very feeble
+minds have been found to possess it, when by chance or design they have
+employed the proper means for its attainment. What is wanted by the
+Educationist therefore, is an exercise, or series of exercises, which
+will enable him to imitate Nature, by causing his pupil to employ his
+mind in preparing one set of ideas, while he is giving expression to
+another. Such an exercise, upon whatever subject, will always produce,
+in a greater or less degree, the effect which Nature by this
+supplementary process intends to accomplish; that of giving the pupil
+ease and fluency in conversation, and a ready faculty of delivering his
+sentiments; while we have seen, by numerous illustrations, that it is at
+least highly improbable that it ever can be acquired in any other way.
+We have also demonstrated the impropriety of all unnecessary artificial
+restrictions upon children while at their play, and of preventing their
+speaking, calling out, and giving orders, encouragement, or commendation
+to their companions during it. These illustrations and examples have
+also pointed out to us the importance of encouraging the young to speak
+or converse with their teachers or one another, while they are actively
+employed at work, in their amusements, or in any other way in which the
+mind is but partially engaged. Exercises of this kind in the domestic
+circle, where they could be more frequently resorted to, would be of
+great value in forwarding the mental capacities of the young, and might
+be at least equally and extensively useful, as similar exercises
+employed in the school. The consideration of suitable exercises for
+advancing these ends, by which Nature may be successfully imitated in
+this important part of her process, belongs to another department of
+this Treatise, to which accordingly we must refer.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[8] Note G.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. XII.
+
+_Recapitulation of the Philosophical Principles developed in the
+previous Chapters._
+
+
+Before proceeding to the third and more practical part of this Treatise,
+it will be of advantage here, shortly to review the progress we have
+made in establishing the several educational principles, exhibited in
+the operations of Nature, as it is upon these that the following
+practical recommendations are to be entirely founded. In doing this, we
+would wish to press upon the attention of the reader the important
+consideration, that however much we may fail in what is to _follow_, the
+principles which we have _already ascertained_, must still remain as
+stationary landmarks in education, at which all future advances, by
+whomsoever made, must infallibly set out. The previous chapters,
+therefore, in so far as they have given a correct exposition of Nature's
+modes of teaching, must constitute something like the model upon which
+all her future imitators in education will have to work. There may be a
+change of _order_, and a change of _names_, but the principles
+themselves, in so far as they have been discovered, will for ever remain
+unchanged and unchangeable.--It is very different, however, with what is
+to _follow_, in which we are to make some attempts at imitation. The
+principles which regulate the rapid movements of fish through water is
+one thing; and the attempt to imitate these principles by the
+ship-builder is quite another thing. The first, when correctly
+ascertained, remain the unalterable standard for every future naval
+architect; but the attempts at imitation will change and improve, as
+long as the minds of men are directed to the perfecting of
+ship-building. In like manner, the various facts in the educational
+processes of Nature, in so far as they have been correctly ascertained
+in the previous part of this Treatise, must form the unalterable basis
+for every future improvement in education. These facts, or principles,
+will very probably be found to form only a part of her operations;--but
+as they do really form _a part_, they will become a nucleus, round which
+all the remaining principles when discovered will necessarily
+congregate. We shall here therefore endeavour very shortly to
+recapitulate the several principles or laws employed by Nature in her
+academy, so far as we have been able to detect them; as it must be upon
+these that not only we, but all our successors in the improvement of
+education, must hereafter proceed.
+
+We have seen in a former chapter, that the educational processes of
+Nature divide themselves distinctly into four different kinds. _First_,
+the cultivation of the powers of the mind:--_Second_, the acquisition of
+knowledge:--_Third_, the uses or application of that knowledge to the
+daily varying circumstances of the pupil:--and _Fourth_, the ability to
+communicate this knowledge and experience to others.
+
+The _first_ department of Nature's teaching, that of cultivating the
+powers of her pupil's mind, we found to depend chiefly, if not entirely,
+upon one simple mental operation, that of "reiterating ideas;" and from
+numerous examples and experiments it has been shewn, that wherever this
+act of the mind takes place, there is, and there must be, mental
+culture; while, on the contrary, wherever it does not take place, there
+is not, so far as we can yet perceive, the slightest indication that the
+mind has either been exercised or benefited.
+
+The _second_ department of Nature's teaching, we have seen, consists in
+inducing and assisting her pupils to acquire knowledge.--This object we
+found her accomplishing by means of four distinct principles, which she
+brings into operation in regular order, according to the age and mental
+capacity of the pupil. These we have named the principle of "Perception
+and Reiteration," which is the same as that employed in her first
+process;--the principle which we have named "Individuation," which
+always precedes and prepares for the two following;--there is then the
+principle of "Association," or "Grouping," by which the imagination is
+cultivated, and the memory is assisted;--and there is, lastly, the
+principle of "Classification," or "Analysis," by which all knowledge
+when received is regularly classified according to its nature; by which
+means the memory is relieved, the whole is kept in due order, and
+remains constantly at the command of the will.--These four principles,
+so far as we have yet been able to investigate the processes of Nature,
+are the chief, if not the only, means which she employs in assisting and
+inducing the pupil to acquire knowledge; and which of course ought to be
+employed in a similar way, and in the same order, by the teacher in the
+management of his classes.
+
+The _third_, and by far the most important series of exercises in
+Nature's academy, we have ascertained, by extensive evidence, to be the
+training of her pupils to a constant practical application of their
+knowledge to the ordinary affairs of life.--These exercises she has
+separated into two distinct classes; the one connected with the physical
+and intellectual phenomena of our nature, and which is regulated by what
+we have termed the "animal, or common sense;" and the other connected
+with our moral nature, and regulated by our "moral sense," or
+conscience. In both of these departments, however, the methods which
+Nature employs in guiding to the practical application of the pupil's
+knowledge are precisely the same, consisting of a regular gradation of
+three distinct steps, or stages. These steps we have found to follow
+each other in the following order. There is always first, some
+fundamental truth, or idea--some definite part of our knowledge of which
+use is to be made;--there is next an inference, or lesson, drawn from
+that idea, or truth;--and there is, lastly, a practical application of
+that lesson, or inference, to the present circumstances of the
+individual. This part of Nature's educational process,--this
+application, or use of knowledge, we have ascertained and proved to be
+the great object which Nature designs by _all her previous efforts_.
+This part of her work, when completed, forms in fact the great Temple of
+Education,--all the others were but the scaffolding by which it was to
+be reared.--This is the end; those were but means employed for attaining
+it. In proof of this important fact we have seen, that when this object
+is successfully gained, all the previous steps have been homologated and
+confirmed; whereas, whenever this crowning operation is awanting, all
+the preceding labour of the pupil becomes useless and vain, his
+knowledge gradually melts from the memory, and is ultimately lost.
+
+The _fourth_, or supplementary process in this educational course as
+conducted by Nature, we found to consist in the training of her pupils
+to an ability to communicate with ease and fluency to others the
+knowledge and experience which they themselves had acquired.--This
+ability, as we have shewn, is not instinctive, but is in every instance
+the result of education. It is not always the accompaniment of great
+mental capacity; nor is it always at the command of those who have
+acquired extensive knowledge. Persons highly gifted in both respects,
+are often greatly deficient in readiness of utterance, and freedom of
+speech. On careful investigation we have seen, that it is attained only
+by practice, and by one simple exercise of the mental powers, in which
+the thoughts are engaged with one set of ideas, at the same moment that
+the voice is giving expression to others. This faculty has been found to
+be eminently social and benevolent, and intended, not so much for the
+benefit of the individual himself as for the benefit of society. Nature,
+accordingly, constrains mankind to do homage to eloquence when it is
+employed for others, or for the public;--but strongly induces them to
+look with pity or contempt on the person who is always speaking of or
+for himself. These facts accordingly have led us to the important
+conclusion, that learning and the possession of knowledge are not
+intended merely for the person himself, but for the good of society; and
+therefore, that education in every community ought to be conducted in
+such a manner, that the attainments of each individual in it, shall
+either directly or indirectly benefit the whole.
+
+In these several departments of our mental constitution, and in the
+principles or laws by which they are carried on, we have the great
+thoroughfare,--the highway of education,--marked out, inclosed, and
+levelled by Nature herself. Hitherto, in our examination of the several
+processes in which we find her engaged, we have endeavoured strictly to
+confine ourselves to the great general principles which she exhibits in
+forwarding and perfecting them. We have not touched as yet on the
+methods by which, in our schools, they may be successfully imitated; nor
+have we made any enquiry into the particular truths or subjects which
+ought there to be taught. These matters belong to another part of this
+Treatise, and will be considered by themselves. And it is only necessary
+here to observe, that as it is the _use_ of knowledge chiefly which
+Nature labours to attain, it is therefore _useful knowledge_ which she
+requires to be taught. This is a principle so prominently held forth by
+Nature, and so repeatedly indicated and enforced, that in the school it
+ought never for an hour to be lost sight of. The whole business of the
+seminary must be practical; and the knowledge communicated must be
+useful, and such as can be put to use. If this rule be attended to, the
+knowledge communicated will be valuable and permanent;--but if it be
+neglected, the pretended communications will soon melt from the memory,
+and the previous labours of both teacher and pupil will be in a great
+measure lost.
+
+The existence of these several principles in education has been
+ascertained by long experience and slow degrees;--and the accuracy of
+the views which we have taken of them, has been rigorously and
+repeatedly tested. No pains has been spared in projecting and conducting
+such experiments as appeared necessary for the purpose; and it has been
+by experience and experiment alone that their efficiency has been
+established. Many of these experiments were conducted in public,--some
+of them have for years been in circulation,--and the decisiveness of
+their results has never been questioned. The several principles in
+education which it was the object of these experiments to ascertain, are
+here for the first time, collected and exhibited in their natural order;
+and they are now presented to the friends of education with some degree
+of confidence. Judging historically, however, from the experience of
+others in breaking up new ground in the sciences, there is good reason
+to believe, that the present Treatise goes but a short way in
+establishing the science of education. There is yet much to be done; and
+others, no doubt, will follow to complete it. But if confidence is to be
+placed in history, it appears evident, that they must follow in the same
+course, if ever they are to succeed. Nature is our only instructress;
+and however much she may have hitherto been neglected, it is only by
+following her leadings with a child-like docility, that improvement is
+ever to be expected. By so following, however, success is certain. The
+prospects of the science at the present moment, both as to its spread
+and its improvement, are exceedingly cheering. The field, which is now
+being opened up for the labours of the Educationist, is extensive and
+inviting; and the anticipations of the philanthropist become the more
+delightful, on account of the improvements likely to ensue for carrying
+on the work. The errors and failings of former attempts will warn, while
+every new discovery will direct in the labour. The virgin soil has even
+yet in a great measure to be broken up; and if we shall be wise enough
+to employ the implements provided for us by Nature herself, the present
+generation may yet witness a rapid and abundant ingathering of blessings
+for the world. This is neither a hasty nor a groundless speculation.
+There are already abundant proofs to warrant us in cherishing it.
+Numerous patches of ground have again and again, under serious
+disadvantages, been partially cultivated; and each and all have
+invariably succeeded, and produced the first fruits of a ripe, a rich,
+and an increasing harvest.
+
+
+
+
+PART III.
+
+ON THE METHODS BY WHICH THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESSES OF NATURE MAY BE
+SUCCESSFULLY IMITATED.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. I.
+
+_On the Exercises by which Nature may be imitated in cultivating the
+Powers of the Mind._
+
+
+In the educational processes of Nature, her first object appears to be
+the cultivation of her pupil's mind; and this, therefore, ought also to
+be the first concern of the parent and teacher.--The wisdom of this
+arrangement is obvious. For as success in a great measure depends upon
+the vigour and extent of those powers, their early cultivation will
+render the succeeding exercises easy and pleasant, and will greatly
+abridge the anxiety and labour of both teacher and scholar.
+
+There is no doubt a great diversity in the natural capacities of
+children; and phrenology, as well as daily experience shews, that
+children who are apt in learning one thing, may be exceedingly dull and
+backward in acquiring others. But after making every allowance for this
+variety in the intellectual powers of children, it is well established
+by experience, and repeated experiments have confirmed the fact,[9] that
+the very dullest and most obtuse of the children found in any of our
+schools, are really capable of rapid cultivation, and may, by the use of
+proper means, be very soon brought to bear their part in the usual
+exercises fitted for the ordinary children. A large proportion of the
+dulness so frequently complained of by teachers arises, not so much from
+any natural defect, or inherent mental weakness in the child, as from
+the want of that early mental exercise,--real mental culture,--of which
+we are here speaking. Whenever this dulness in a sane scholar continues
+for any length of time, there is good reason to fear that it is owing to
+some palpable mismanagement on the part of the parent or teacher. On
+examination it will most likely be found, either that the pupil has had
+exercises prescribed to him which the powers of his mind were as yet
+incapable of accomplishing; or, if the exercises themselves have been
+suitable, there has been more prescribed than he was able to overtake.
+In either case the effect will be the same. The mind has been
+unnaturally burdened, or overstretched; confusion of ideas and mental
+weakness have been the consequence; and if so, the very attempt to keep
+up with his companions in the class only tends to aggravate the evil.
+Hence arises the propriety of following Nature in making the expansion
+and cultivation of the powers of the mind our first object; and our
+design in the present chapter is to examine into the means by which, in
+the exercises of the school, she may be successfully imitated in the
+operations which she employs for this purpose.
+
+We have in our previous investigations seen, that the cultivation of the
+mental powers is a work of extraordinary simplicity, depending entirely
+upon one act of the mind,--the reiteration of ideas. We have proved, by
+a variety of familiar instances, that wherever this act takes place, the
+mind is, and must be exercised, and so far strengthened; while, on the
+contrary, wherever it does not take place, there is neither mental
+exercise, nor any perceptible accession of mental strength. It does not
+depend upon the particular form of the exercise, whether it consists of
+reading, hearing, writing, or speaking; but simply and entirely upon
+the reality and the frequency of the reiteration of the included ideas
+during it. This makes the cultivation and strengthening of the powers of
+the mind a very simple and a very certain operation. For if the teacher
+can succeed by any means in producing frequent and successive
+repetitions of _this act_ of the mind in any of his pupils, Nature will
+be true to her own law, and mental culture, and mental strength will
+assuredly follow;--but, on the contrary, whenever in a school exercise
+this act is awanting, there can be no permanent progression in the
+education of the pupil, and no amelioration in the state of his mind.
+The mechanical reading or repeating of words, for example, like the
+fingering of musical instruments, may be performed for months or years
+successively, without the powers of the mind being actively engaged in
+the process at all; leaving the child without mental exercise, and
+consequently without improvement.
+
+In following out the only legitimate plan for the accomplishment of this
+fundamental object, that of imitating Nature, the first thing required
+by the teacher is an exercise, or series of exercises, by which he shall
+be able _at his own will_ to enforce upon his pupils this important act
+of the mind. If this object can be successfully attained, then the
+proper means for the intellectual improvement of the child are secured;
+but as long as it is awanting, his mental cultivation is either left to
+chance, or to the capricious decision of his own will;--for experience
+shews, that although a child may be compelled to read, or to repeat the
+_words_ of his exercises, they contain no power by which the teacher can
+ensure the reiteration of the _ideas_ they contain. The words may
+correctly and fluently pass from the tongue, while the mind is actively
+engaged upon something else, and as much beyond the reach of the teacher
+as ever. But if the desiderated exercise could be procured, the power of
+enforcing mental activity upon a prescribed subject would then remain,
+not in the possession of the child, but would be transferred to the
+teacher, at whose pleasure the mental cultivation of the pupil would
+proceed, whether he himself willed it or no.
+
+In the "catechetical exercise," as it has been called, and which has of
+late years been extensively used by our best teachers, the desideratum
+above described has been most happily and effectively supplied to the
+Educationist. This valuable exercise may not perhaps be new;--but
+certainly its nature, and its importance in education, till of late
+years, has been altogether overlooked, or unknown. It differs from the
+former mode of catechising, (or rather of using catechisms) in this,
+that whereas a catechism provides an answer for the child in a set form
+of words,--the catechetical exercise, having first _provided him with
+the means_, compels him to search for, to select, and to construct an
+answer for himself. For example, an announcement is given by his
+teacher, or it is read from his book. This is the raw material upon
+which both the teacher and the child are to work, and within the
+boundaries of which the teacher especially must strictly confine
+himself. Upon this announcement a question is founded,[10] which obliges
+the child, before he can even prepare an answer, to reiterate in his own
+mind, not the _words_,--for that would not answer his purpose,--but the
+several _ideas_ contained in the sentence or truth announced. All these
+ideas must be perceived,--they must pass in review before the mind,--and
+from among them he must select the one required, arrange it in his own
+way, and give it to the teacher entirely as his own idea, and clothed
+altogether in his own words.
+
+In the common method of making use of catechisms, the words of the
+answer may be read, or they may be committed to memory, and may be
+repeated with ease and fluency; while the ideas,--the truths they
+contain,--may neither be perceived nor reiterated. In this there is
+neither mental exercise, nor mental improvement;--and, what is worse,
+without the catechetical exercise, the teacher has no means of knowing
+whether it be so or not. By means of the catechetical exercise, on the
+contrary, there can be no evasion,--no doubt as to the mental activity
+of the pupil, and his consequent mental improvement. Its benefits are
+very extensive; and in employing it the teacher is not only sure that
+the ideas in the announcement have been perceived and reiterated, but
+that a numerous train of useful mental operations must have taken place,
+before his pupil could by any possibility return him an answer to his
+questions. We shall, before proceeding, point out a few of these.
+
+Let us then suppose that a child either reads, or repeats as the answer
+to a question, the words, "Jesus died for sinners."--At this point in
+the former mode of using a catechism, the exercise of the pupil stopped;
+and the parent or teacher understanding the meaning of the sentence, and
+clearly perceiving the ideas himself, usually took it for granted that
+the child also did so, or at least at some future time would do so. This
+was mere conjecture; and he had no means of ascertaining its certainty,
+however important. It is at this point that the catechetical exercise
+commences its operations. When the child has repeated the words, or when
+the teacher for the first time announces them, the mind of the child may
+be in a state very unfavourable to its improvement; but as soon as the
+teacher asks him a question founded upon one or more of the ideas which
+the announcement contains, and which he must answer without farther
+help, the state of his mind is instantly and materially changed.
+Hitherto he may have been altogether passive on the subject;--nay, his
+mind while reading or repeating the words, may have been busily engaged
+on something else, or altogether occupied with his companions or his
+play;--but as soon as the teacher asks him "Who died?" there is an
+instant withdrawal of the mind from every thing else, and an exclusive
+concentration of its powers upon the ideas in the announcement. He must
+think,--and he must think in a certain way, and upon the specific ideas
+presented to him by the teacher,--before it is possible for him to
+return an answer. It is on this account that this exercise is so
+effective an instrument in cultivating the powers of the mind;--and it
+is to the long series of exercises which take place in this operation,
+that we are now calling the attention of the reader, that he may
+perceive how closely this exercise follows in the line prescribed by
+Nature, in creating occasions for the successive reiteration of
+different ideas suggested by one question.
+
+When, in pursuing the catechetical exercise, a question is asked from an
+announcement, there is first a call upon the attention, and an exercise
+of mind upon the _question_ asked, the words of which must be translated
+by the pupil into their proper ideas, which accordingly he must both
+perceive and understand. He has then to revert to the _ideas_ (not the
+words) contained in the original announcement, the words of which are
+perhaps still ringing in his ears; and these he must also perceive and
+reiterate in his mind, before he can either understand them or prepare
+to give an answer. At this point the child is necessarily in possession
+of the ideas--the truths--conveyed by the announcement; and therefore at
+this point one great end of the teacher has in so far been gained. But
+the full benefit of the exercise, in so far as it is capable of fixing
+these truths still more permanently on the memory, and of disciplining
+the mind, has not yet been exhausted. After the pupil has reiterated in
+his mind the ideas contained in the original sentence, or passage
+announced, he has again to revert to the question of the teacher, and
+compare it with the several ideas which the announcement contains. He
+has then to chuse from among them,--all of them being still held in
+review by the mind,--the particular idea to which his attention has been
+called by the question;--and last of all, and which is by no means the
+least as a mental exercise, he has to clothe this particular idea in
+words, and construct his sentence in such a way as to make it both sense
+and grammar. In this last effort, it is worthy of remark, children,
+after having been but a short while subjected to this exercise, almost
+invariably succeed, although they know nothing about grammar, and may
+perhaps never have heard of the name.
+
+But even this is not all. There has as yet been only one question asked,
+and the answer to this question refers to only one idea contained in the
+announcement. But it embraces at least three several ideas; and each of
+these ideas, by the catechetical exercise, is capable of originating
+other questions, perfectly distinct from each other, and each of which
+gives rise to a similar mental process, and with equally beneficial
+results, in exercising and strengthening the powers of the mind.
+
+It is also here of importance to take notice of the additional benefits
+that arise from the multiplying of questions upon one announcement. The
+first question proposed from the announcement, brought the mind of the
+child into immediate contact with all the ideas which it contained. They
+are now therefore familiar to him; and he is perfectly prepared for the
+second, and for every succeeding question formed upon it; and he
+fashions the answers with readiness and zest. Every such answer is a
+kind of triumph to the child, which he gives with ease and pleasure, and
+yet every one of them, as an exercise of the mind, is equally beneficial
+as the first. When the teacher therefore asks, "What did Jesus do?" and
+afterwards, "For whom did Jesus die?" a little reflection will at once
+shew, that a similar mental exercise must take place at each question,
+in which the child has not only to reiterate the several original
+ideas, but must again and again compare the questions asked, with each
+one of them, choose out the one required, clothe it in his own language,
+and in this form repeat it audibly to his teacher.
+
+Before leaving this enquiry into the nature and effects of the
+catechetical exercise, there are two circumstances connected with it as
+a school-engine, which deserve particular attention. The first is, that
+Nature has made this same reiteration of ideas, for the securing of
+which this exercise is used, the chief means of conveying knowledge to
+the mind; and the second is, the undissembled delight which children
+exhibit while under its influence, wherever it is naturally and
+judiciously conducted. With respect to the former of these
+circumstances, it falls more particularly to be considered in another
+chapter, and under a following head; but with respect to the
+latter,--the delight felt in the exercise by the children
+themselves,--it deserves here a more close examination.
+
+Every one who has paid any attention to the subject must have observed
+the life, the energy, the enjoyment, which are observable in a class of
+children, while they are under the influence, and subjected to the
+discipline of the catechetical exercise. This will perhaps be still more
+remarkable, if ever they have had an opportunity of contrasting this
+lively scene with the death-like monotony of a school where the exercise
+is as yet unknown. Many can yet remember instances when it was first
+introduced into some of the Sabbath schools in Scotland, and the
+astonishment of the teachers at its instantaneous effects upon the mind
+and conduct of their children. The whole aspect of the school was
+changed; and the children, who had but a few minutes before been
+conspicuous only for their apathy, restlessness, or inattention, were
+instantly aroused to life, and energy, and delight. Similar effects in
+some children are still witnessed; but, happily for education, the
+first exhibition of it to a whole school is not so common. One striking
+proof of the novelty and extent of its effects upon the pupils, and of
+the vivid contrast it produced with that to which the teachers had at
+that time been accustomed, is afforded by the fact, that serious
+objections were sometimes made to its introduction, by well-meaning
+individuals, on account of its breaking in, as they said, upon the
+proper devotional solemnity of the children;--as if the apathy of
+languor and weariness was identical with reverence, and mental energy
+and joyous feelings were incompatible with the liveliest devotion. These
+opinions have now happily disappeared; and the catechetical exercise is
+not now, on that account, so frequently opposed. Christians now
+perceive, that by making these rough places smooth, and the crooked ways
+straight for the tottering feet of the lambs of the flock, they are
+following the best, as it is the appointed means, of "making ready a
+people prepared for the Lord."
+
+To the teacher, especially, it must be a matter of great practical
+importance, to perceive clearly the cause why this exercise is so
+fascinating to the young, as well as so beneficial in education. The
+cause, when we analyze all the circumstances, is simply this, that it
+resembles, in all its leading characteristics, those amusements and
+pastimes of which children are so fond. In other words, the prosecution
+of the catechetical exercise with the young, produces in reality the
+same effects as a game would do if played with their teacher. It brings
+into action, and it keeps in lively operation, all those mental
+elements, which, in ordinary cases, constitute their play; and the
+effects of course are nearly similar. We shall direct the reader's
+attention to this curious fact for a moment.
+
+It is easy to perceive, that the pleasure and happiness experienced by a
+child during his play, arise altogether from the _state of his mind_, to
+which the physical exercises and amusements only conduce. When this
+mental satisfaction is examined, we find it to consist chiefly of two
+elements,--that of active thought, and that of self-approbation. The
+first,--that of active thought, or the reiteration of ideas, we have
+before pointed out and explained, as it is illustrated in their play,
+and in the pleasure they take in hearing stories, reading riddles,
+dressing dolls, and similar acts; and it is only here necessary to add,
+that their desire of congregating together for amusement has its origin
+in a similar cause. New ideas stimulate more powerfully to active
+thought; and children soon find, and insensibly draw the lesson, that
+the aggregate of new ideas is always enlarged by an increase of the
+number of persons who supply them. Two children will play with the same
+number of toys for a longer time, without tiring, than if they were
+alone;--and three or four would, in the same proportion, increase the
+interest and prolong the season of activity. But as soon as the
+reiteration of the ideas suggested by their game becomes languid or
+difficult, their play for the time loses its charms, and the fascination
+is gone. That it is the cessation of active thought, which is the chief
+cause of their play ceasing to please, is proved from the circumstance,
+that if another interesting companion shall be added to their number, or
+if any thing shall occur to renew this operation,--the reiteration of
+ideas,--upon the mind, the same degree of interest, and to a
+corresponding extent, is immediately felt, and the play is resumed. Now,
+the catechetical exercise is in reality the same operation in another
+form. The questions of the teacher excite the pupil to the same kind of
+active thought as that which gives relish to his play; and, while the
+teacher confines himself within the limits of the announcement, the
+mental excitement is active, but moderate, and always successful.
+
+This leads us to observe the influence which the catechetical exercise
+exerts in affording means for that self-approbation, or sense of merit,
+which constitutes another element of delight to a child during his play.
+All must have observed the beneficial effects of this principle in
+children, as an incitement to emulation and good conduct. It is not only
+perceptible in the love of approbation from their superiors, but in
+their desire to excel at all times. We see it in the pleasure felt by
+the child when he outstrips his fellows in the race,--when he catches
+his companion at "hide and seek,"--when he finds the hidden article at
+"seek and find,"--in winning a game, expounding a riddle, or gaining a
+place in his class. In all these instances there is a feeling of pure
+satisfaction and delight;--a feeling of self-estimation, which is at
+once the guardian and the reward of virtue. Now, when the catechetical
+exercise is conducted in its purity,--that is, when the teacher keeps
+strictly to the announcement, without wandering where the child cannot
+follow him,--the answers are invariably within the limits of the child's
+capacity;--they are answered successfully; and every answer is a subject
+of triumph. He has a delightful consciousness of having overcome a
+difficulty, deserved approbation, and made an advance in the pathway of
+merit. When properly conducted, therefore, the catechetical exercise
+becomes to the pupils a succession of victories; and it imparts all that
+delight, softened and purified, which he experiences in excelling his
+companion, or in winning a game.--These are the reasons why the
+catechetical exercise is so much relished by the young, and why it has
+succeeded so powerfully, not only in smoothing the pathway of education,
+but also in shortening it.
+
+From a careful consideration of all these circumstances, we are led to
+conclude, that the catechetical exercise does, in a superior degree,
+fulfil all the stipulations required for imitating Nature, in exciting
+to the reiteration of ideas by children, and thus disciplining and
+cultivating the powers of their minds. We might also have remarked,
+that another advantage arising from persevering in this exercise, is the
+arresting of the attention of the children, and successfully training
+them to hear and understand through life the oral communications of
+others;--but we hasten to consider the time and the order in which this
+exercise should be made use of in schools.
+
+Nature intends, that the cultivation and strengthening of the powers of
+the mind shall in every case precede those exercises in which their
+strength is to be tried. In infants and young children we perceive this
+cultivation and invigorating of the mind going on, long before these
+powers are to be taxed even for their own preservation. The child is no
+doubt putting them to use; but in every such case it is voluntary, and
+not compulsory,--a matter of choice on the part of the child, and not of
+necessity. The infant, or even the child, is never required to take care
+of itself, to clothe itself, to wash itself, or even to feed itself. To
+require it to do so before the mind could comprehend the nature and the
+design of the particular duty, would be both unreasonable and cruel.
+This being the case, the exercises of the nursery and the school must be
+regulated in a similar manner, and follow the same law. The due
+cultivation of the mind, like the due preparation of the soil, must
+always precede the sowing of the seed. If this principle in Nature be
+duly attended to, the seeds of knowledge afterwards cast into the soil
+thus broken up and prepared, will be readily received and nourished to
+perfection; but if the soil be neglected, both the seed and the labour
+will be lost, the anticipations of the spring and summer will end in
+delusion, and the folly of the whole proceeding will be shewn by a
+succession of noxious weeds, and at last by an unproductive harvest.
+
+The evils which must necessarily result from thus running counter to
+Nature in this first part of her educational proceedings, may be aptly
+illustrated by the very common custom of beginning a child's education
+by teaching it to read. It would perhaps be difficult to convince many
+that this custom is either unnatural or improper. We shall not attempt
+here to _argue_ the matter, but shall merely state a fact which they
+cannot deny, and which will answer the purpose we think much better than
+an argument.--To teach the art of reading was wont to require the labour
+of several months, sometimes years, before the perusal of a book could
+be managed by the child with any degree of ease,--and even then, without
+any thing approaching to satisfaction or pleasure. And even yet,
+although the error has in some measure been perceived of late years, yet
+the art of reading by the young, still requires several months'
+attendance at school, with corresponding labour to the teacher, and
+great irritation and unhappiness to the child. But experience has
+established the fact, that, by acting on the principle of previous
+preparation which we are here enforcing, and by calling into operation
+the principle of individuation formerly explained, the whole drudgery of
+teaching a child to read is got over in a week,--sometimes in a day; and
+this with much more ease and satisfaction, than could have been done by
+a thousand lessons while his mind was unprepared.[11]
+
+The accumulation of labour, and the loss of precious time by this
+non-observance of the dictates of Nature, are in themselves serious
+evils; but they are not by any means so great as some others which
+almost invariably accompany this unnatural mode of proceeding with the
+young. Many who have nominally been _taught to read_, are still quite
+unable to _understand by reading_. Those who have heard chapters read by
+families in the country, "verse about," will at once understand what we
+here mean; and even in towns and cities where newspapers and low-priced
+books are more numerous and more tempting, it often requires long
+practice before the emancipated child can read these publications so
+readily and intelligently as they are intended to be. It is another, and
+an entirely different course of learning to which he subjects himself,
+when he labours to acquire the capacity of understanding the words that
+he _reads_, as readily as the words that he _hears_. Where the
+inducements to this are sufficiently powerful, the ability is no doubt
+_at last_ acquired;--but where these stimulants are awanting, the
+difficulty of understanding by reading has by the previous habit become
+so great, that reading is gradually disused, and at last forgotten.
+
+Many are at a loss to account for this; but it is easily explained on
+the above principles. To teach a child to read, before his mind is
+capable of understanding, or of reiterating the ideas conveyed by the
+words he is reading, is to train him to this habit of reading
+mechanically;--that is, of reading without understanding. He gradually
+acquires the habit of pronouncing the words which he traces with the
+eye, while the mind is busily engaged upon something else; in the same
+manner that a person acquires the habit of thinking, and even of
+speaking, while knitting a stocking, or sewing a seam. This habit is
+confirmed by constant practice; and then, the difficulty of getting off
+the habit is all but insurmountable. This difficulty will be best
+understood by the experience of those who have been during some time of
+their life compelled to abandon a habit after it was thoroughly
+confirmed;--or by those who will but try the difficulty of persevering
+to do something with the left hand, which has hitherto been done with
+the right. A very little consideration will shew, that when this habit
+of reading mechanically has once been established, it will require, like
+an improper mode of holding the pen in writing, ten-fold more labour and
+self-denial to _remedy_ the evil, than it would have taken at first to
+_prevent_ it, by learning to do the thing properly and perfectly.
+
+Much therefore depends upon the early and persevering use of the
+catechetical exercise for cultivating a child's mind, before beginning
+to teach it the art of reading, or requiring it to make use of the
+powers of the mind on subjects which these powers are as yet incapable
+of comprehending. By proper _preliminary_ exercises, the powers of the
+mind will be gradually expanded; ideas of every different kind, both
+individually and in connection with each other, will become familiar;
+the design of language in receiving and communicating truth will by
+degrees be practically understood; and, by means of the catechetical
+exercise, it will be gradually and successfully practised. These are
+obviously the means by which the present crooked ways in the child's
+early progress in education are to be made straight, and the rough and
+difficult paths which he has had so long to tread, may now be made both
+easy and smooth.[12]
+
+The effects of the catechetical exercise, and its uniform beneficial
+results, have given sufficient evidence of its being a close imitation
+of Nature in this part of her educational process. Its success indeed
+has been invariable, even when employed by those who remained
+unconscious of the great principles by which that success was to be
+regulated. The observations and experiments employed to ascertain in
+some measure the extent of its efficiency, have uniformly been
+satisfactory, and to a few of these we shall here very shortly advert.
+
+The first case of importance, which came under our notice, and to which
+we think it advisable to allude, is that of Mary L. who, about the year
+1820, resided in Lady Yester's parish in Edinburgh. This girl, when her
+name was taken up for the Local Sabbath Schools in that parish, was
+about seven or eight years of age, and in respect to mental capacity,
+appeared to be little better than an idiot. She could not comprehend the
+most simple idea, if it related to any thing beyond the household
+objects which were daily forced upon her observation, and which had
+individually become familiar to the senses; and was unable to receive
+any instruction with the other children, however young. The catechetical
+exercise was adopted with her, as with the other scholars; and although,
+for a long period, she was unable to _collect knowledge_, yet the
+constant discipline to which the powers of the mind were thus subjected,
+had the happiest effect in bringing them into tone, and at last giving
+her the command of them. The comprehending of a simple truth when
+announced, became more and more distinct, and the answering of the
+corresponding questions, became gradually more correct and easy. At a
+very early period she began to relish the exercises of the school; and
+although these occurred only on the Sundays, she continued rapidly to
+improve; till, in the course of a few years, she was able to join the
+higher classes of the children, and made a respectable appearance among
+her companions, at those times when they were submitted to
+examination.--When these schools were broken up, no stranger could have
+remarked any difference between Mary L. and an ordinary child of the
+same age.
+
+A similar instance occurred more recently in the case of two sisters,
+(Margaret and Mary J.) the condition of whose minds originally was
+better, although not much, than that of Mary L. At the respective ages
+of six and eight years, these sisters could scarcely receive or
+comprehend the simplest idea not connected with their daily ordinary
+affairs. For some years they had no more teaching, or regular mental
+exercise, than two hours weekly on the Sundays, and during that period
+they were, in regard to mental capacity, advancing, but still nearly
+alike. The eldest (Margaret,) was then removed to another class, the
+teacher of which dedicated another evening during the week for the
+benefit of her scholars. The consequence of this apparently slight
+addition to the mental exercise of this girl soon became apparent; and
+in the course of a short time, the powers of Margaret's mind not only
+advanced beyond those of her sister's, but equalled at least those of
+children of the same age, who had not enjoyed similar opportunities of
+improvement. Her sister Mary, who continued to enjoy only the two hours
+on Sunday, advanced proportionally in mental strength;--and before she
+left the district in which the school was situated, her original
+incapacity could scarcely have been credited by a stranger. In proof of
+this, it may be added, that long after she had left the parish, the
+writer found her by accident in the school which she attended after
+removing, examined her with the other children, and made some strict and
+searching enquiries concerning her. The report of her teacher was
+exceedingly satisfactory; and, without knowing the reason of these
+enquiries, declared, that Mary J. was one of her best scholars. Before
+leaving this notice of these two children, there is a circumstance which
+may perhaps be worthy of recording. In Margaret's countenance there had
+gradually appeared, latterly, that which to a stranger gave all the
+ordinary indications of intellect, and rather superior intelligence;
+while in Mary's case, at the same period, there continued to be much of
+that vacancy of look, and stupid stare, indicative rather of what she
+was, than of what she had become. That also, however, was gradually
+disappearing.
+
+We shall advert only to one other instance, less remarkable perhaps, and
+certainly not so decisive, on account of the shortness of the time
+during which the experiment was continued. In the opinion of the
+honourable and venerable examinators, however, it was considered as
+sufficiently decisive, and of much public importance. Its application to
+prison discipline may ultimately be of value, where prisoners are
+confined but for short periods, and where the cultivation of the mind,
+and the growing capacity to receive and retain religious truth are
+objects of importance.
+
+In the experiment in 1828, made before the Lord Provost, Principal,
+Professors, and Clergymen of Edinburgh, in the County Jail, a class of
+criminals which had been formed three weeks before, and exercised one
+hour daily, were thoroughly and individually examined without
+intermission during nearly three hours. Our present extract from the
+Report of that Experiment refers, not to the amount of knowledge
+acquired by these persons during these three weeks, but to the capacity
+which, at the end of that time, they were found to possess of acquiring
+every sort of knowledge. This experiment was so far imperfect, as the
+Examinators had no means of ascertaining the true state of their minds,
+previous to the commencement of their exercises. But having, upon
+enquiry found from the governor of the prison, that there had been no
+selection, that all the individuals in the ward had been taken, and that
+at the commencement of the experiment, they formed a fair sample of the
+prisoners commonly under his charge,--the progress of this mental
+cultivation during that short period, became a special object of
+examination by the Reverend and learned individuals who conducted it.
+Their Report of the Experiment bears, that "these individuals had been
+taken without any regard to their abilities, and former acquirements,
+and formed a fair average of the usual prisoners." In endeavouring to
+ascertain the grasp of mind which these individuals possessed, and the
+readiness with which they received and retained whatever was, even for
+the first time, communicated to them, "it was mentioned, that a
+gentlemen on the previous day, in order to try the capacity of mind
+which they had attained, desired Mr Gall to catechise them upon a
+section, consisting of fourteen verses, which they had not seen before,
+and that, after just ten minutes' examination, one woman, who could not
+read, repeated the whole distinctly in her own words. Dr Brunton
+proposed, for a similar experiment, the parable of the 'talents,' with
+which none was acquainted except one woman, who was consequently not
+permitted to answer. With its being only read to them, and with a few
+minutes' catechising, they perceived its various circumstances, and were
+able to enumerate them in detail. This exercise demonstrated the
+capacity of attention, and the power of analyzing and laying hold of
+circumstances, which they had reached, as well as the indisputable
+superiority of this System, in unfolding and strengthening the mental
+faculties, even in adults."
+
+"The writer of the Report," it is added, "was not acquainted with the
+extent of their acquirements when Mr Gall commenced his operations; but
+judging from the examination, and from his knowledge of the contents of
+the books taught, he has no hesitation in averring, that the answers
+which they gave, arose entirely from information communicated by them.
+And when he reflects that their answers, being clothed in their own
+words, guaranteed the fact, that it was _the ideas_ upon which they had
+seized, and that their knowledge participated in no degree of rote, the
+conviction to his mind is irresistible, that the universal application
+of the Lesson System to Prison Discipline, and to adults everywhere,
+would be followed by effects, incalculably precious to the individuals
+themselves, and to the improving of society in general."
+
+Numerous other instances might be adduced in proof of the efficiency of
+this method of attempting to imitate Nature in this first part of her
+educational process, who will always be faithful in adhering to her own
+laws, and countenancing her own work. These however may suffice;--and it
+ought not to escape observation, that in two of the cases first alluded
+to, the young persons enjoyed only two hours' instruction in the week,
+and these not divided, but continuously given at one time. For this
+reason, it might have been feared, that the benefits then received would
+have been lost, or neutralized, by the variety of objects or amusements
+which must have intervened during the week between the lessons. But it
+was not so. And we may here remark, that if with all these
+disadvantages, so much good was really done in cultivating the powers of
+the mind by this exercise, what may we not expect by the enlightened,
+regular, and daily application of the same powerful principles in our
+ordinary schools, when the teacher shall know where the virtue of the
+weapon which he wields really lies, and when the nature of the material
+he is called to work upon is also better understood. Every exercise and
+every operation in the school will then be made to "tell;" and every
+moment of the pupils' attendance will be improved. In these
+circumstances, we are far within the limits of the truth when we say,
+that more real substantial education will then be communicated in one
+month, than it has been usual to receive by the labours of a whole year.
+
+From what has been already ascertained, we are fully warranted in making
+the following remarks.
+
+1. From the above facts we can readily ascertain the cause, why some
+exercises employed in education are so much relished by the young, and
+so efficient in giving strength and elasticity to the mind; while
+others, on the contrary are so inefficient, so irksome, and sometimes so
+intolerable. Every exercise that tends to produce active thought,--the
+"reiteration of ideas,"--is natural, and therefore, not only promotes
+healthful mental vigour, but is also exciting and delightful; while, on
+the contrary, whenever the mind is fettered by the mere decyphering of
+words, or the repeating of sounds, without reiterating ideas, the
+exercise is altogether unnatural, and must of course be irritating to
+the child, and barren of good.
+
+2. By a due consideration of the above principles, we see the reason why
+mental arithmetic, though it may not communicate any knowledge, is yet
+productive of considerable mental vigour. These exercises compel the
+young to a species of voluntary thought, the reiteration in the mind of
+the powers of numbers; and although the result of the particular
+calculations which are then made, may never again be of any service to
+the pupil, yet the consequent exercise of mind is beneficial. It should
+never be forgotten, however, that this exercise of mind upon _numbers_
+is altogether an artificial operation, and is on this account, neither
+so efficient nor so pleasant as the reiteration of moral or physical
+truths. The same degree of mental exercise, brought into operation upon
+some useful fact, where the imagination as well as the understanding,
+can take a part, would at once be more natural, more efficient, more
+pleasant, and more useful.
+
+3. From the nature and operation of the above principle, also, we can
+perceive in what the efficiency of Pestalozzi's "Exercises on Objects,"
+consists.--When a child is required to tell you the colour and the
+consistence of milk, qualities which have all along been familiar to
+him, it conveys to him no knowledge; but it excites to observation and
+active thought,--to the "reiteration of ideas;"--and for this reason it
+is salutary. But it is still equally true, as in the former case, that
+the same degree of mental exercise, brought into operation upon some
+useful practical truth, would be at least equally useful as a mental
+stimulant, and much more beneficial as an educational exercise.
+
+4. From the nature of this great fundamental principle in mental
+cultivation, as consisting in the reiteration of ideas, and not of
+words, we have a key by which we can satisfactorily explain the
+remarkable, and hitherto unaccountable fact, that many persons who, in
+youth and at school, have been ranked among the dullest scholars, have
+afterwards become the greatest men. An active mind, in exact proportion
+to its vigour, will powerfully struggle against the unnatural thraldom
+of mere mechanical verbal exercises. The mind in a healthful state will
+not be satisfied with words, which are but the medium of ideas, because
+ideas alone are the natural food of the mind. Till the powers of the
+mind, therefore, are sufficiently enfeebled by time and perseverance, it
+will struggle with its fetters, and it will be repressed only by
+coercion. Minds naturally weak, or gradually subdued, may and do submit
+to this artificial bondage,--this unnatural drudgery; but the vigorous
+and powerful mind, under favourable circumstances, spurns the trammels,
+and continues to struggle on. It may be a protracted warfare,--but it
+must at last come to a close; and it is not till the pupil has emerged
+from this mental dungeon, and has had these galling fetters fairly
+knocked off, that the natural elasticity and strength of his mind find
+themselves at freedom, with sufficient room and liberty to act. The
+impetus then received, and the delight in the mental independence then
+felt, have frequently led to the brightest results. Hence it is, that
+the reputed dunce of the school, has not unfrequently become the
+ornament of the senate.
+
+Lastly, we would remark, that from the facts here enumerated, we derive
+a good test by which to try every new exercise proposed for training the
+young, and for cultivating the powers of the mind. If the exercise
+recommended compels the child to active thought,--to the voluntary
+exercise of his own mind upon useful ideas,--that exercise, whatever be
+its form, will, to that extent at least, be beneficial. And if, at the
+same time, it can be associated with the acquisition of knowledge, with
+the application of knowledge, or with the ready communication of
+knowledge,--all of which, as we have seen, are concomitants in Nature's
+process,--it will, in an equal degree, be valuable and worthy of
+adoption. But if, on the contrary, the exercise may be performed without
+the necessity of voluntary thought, or the reiteration of ideas by the
+mind, however plausible or imposing it may appear, it is next to
+certain, that although such an exercise may be sufficiently burdensome
+to the child, and cause much labour and anxiety to the teacher, it will
+most assuredly be at least useless, if not injurious.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[9] See the Fifth Public Experiment in Education, conducted before Sir
+Thomas Kirkpatrick, and the clergy and teachers of Dumfries, in the
+month of October 1833.
+
+[10] Note K.
+
+[11] Note H.
+
+[12] For the methods of employing this exercise and the books best
+adapted for it, see Note I.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. II.
+
+_On the Methods by which Nature may be imitated in the Pupil's
+Acquisition of Knowledge; with a Review of the Analogy between the
+Mental and Physical Appetites of the Young._
+
+
+The second step in the progress of Nature's pupil is the acquisition of
+knowledge.--This has always been considered a chief object in every
+system of education; and the discovery of the most efficient means by
+which it may be accomplished, must be a matter of great importance.
+
+In our remarks upon this subject in a previous chapter, we have shewn,
+that Nature in her operations employs four distinct principles for
+accumulating knowledge, for retaining it upon the memory, and for
+keeping it in readiness for use at the command of the will. There are,
+_First_, the "reiteration of ideas" by the mind, without which there can
+be no knowledge; _Secondly_, the principle of "Individuation," by which
+the knowledge of objects and truths is acquired one by one; _Thirdly_,
+the principle of "Grouping," or Association, in which the mind views as
+one object, what is really composed of many; and, _Fourthly_, the
+principle of "Analysis," or Classification, in which the judgment is
+brought into exercise, the different portions of our knowledge are
+arranged and classified under different heads and branches, and the
+whole retained in order at the command of the will, when any portion of
+it is required.--Our object now is to consider, what means are within
+the reach of the parent and the teacher, by which Nature in these
+several processes may be successfully imitated, while they endeavour to
+communicate the elements of knowledge to the young.
+
+Ideas being the only proper food of the mind, Nature has created in the
+young an extraordinary appetite and desire for their possession. There
+is a striking analogy in this respect, between the strengthening of the
+body by food, and the invigorating of the mind by knowledge; and before
+proceeding to detail the methods by which the parent or the teacher may
+successfully break down and prepare the bread of knowledge for their
+pupils in imitation of Nature, it will be of advantage here to consider
+more particularly some of the circumstances connected with this
+instructive analogy. By tracing the likeness so conspicuously held out
+to us in this analogy by Nature herself, we shall be greatly assisted in
+evading the bewildering and mystifying influence of prejudice, and the
+reader will be much better prepared to judge of the value of those means
+recommended for nourishing and strengthening the mind by knowledge, when
+he finds them to correspond so exactly with similar principles employed
+by Nature for the nourishing and strengthening of the body by food. We
+shall by this means, we hope, be able to detect some of those fallacies
+which have long tended to trammel the exertions, and to prevent the
+success of the teacher in his interesting labours.
+
+The first point of analogy to which we would advert, is the vigour and
+activity of the mental appetite in the young, which corresponds so
+strikingly with the frequent and urgent craving of their bodily appetite
+for food.--The desire of food for the body, and the desire of knowledge
+for the mind, are alike restless and insatiable in childhood; and a
+similar amount of satisfaction and pleasure is the consequence, whenever
+these desires are prudently gratified. That the desire for knowledge in
+the young is often weakened, and sometimes destroyed, is but too true;
+but this is the work of man, not of Nature. It will accordingly be found
+on investigation, with but few exceptions, that wherever the general
+appetite of the child, either for mental or bodily food, becomes languid
+or weak, it is either the effect for disease or of some grievous abuse.
+
+Another point of analogy consists, in the necessity of the personal
+active co-operation of the child himself in receiving and digesting his
+food.--There is no such thing in Nature as a child being fed and
+nourished by proxy. His food must be received, digested, and assimilated
+by his own powers, and by the use of his own organs, else he will never
+be fed. In the same way, the food for his mind can benefit him only in
+so far as he himself is the active agent. He must himself receive,
+reiterate in his own mind, and commit to the keeping of his memory,
+every idea presented to him by his teacher. No one can do this for
+him;--he must do it himself. In a family, the parent may provide, dress,
+and communicate the food to the child,--but he can do no more; and
+similar is the case with respect to the mental food provided by the
+teacher. He may no doubt select the most appropriate kinds,--he may
+simplify it,--he may break it down into morsels;--but his pupils, if
+they are to learn, must learn for themselves. When a pupil, to save
+himself trouble, tries to evade the learning of a preliminary lesson, or
+when the teacher winks at the evasion by performing the exercise for
+him, it is as absurd as for a parent to eat the child's food, and expect
+at the same time that his boy is to be nourished by it. If the mental
+food be too strong for the child, something more simple must be provided
+for him; but to continue to administer knowledge which the pupil does
+not comprehend, and force the strong mental food of an adult upon the
+tender capacities of a child, is an error of the most mischievous kind.
+It prevents the mind from acting at all, without which there can be no
+improvement. The mind must wield its own weapons if ignorance is to be
+dislodged; and if the child is to advance at all, he must overcome the
+difficulties that lie in his way by the exertion of his own powers. His
+teacher may no doubt direct him as to the best and the easiest way of
+accomplishing his object; but that is all. The pupil must in every case
+perform the exercise for himself.
+
+This leads us to notice another point of analogy in this case, which is,
+the necessity of adapting the food to the age and capacities of those
+who are to receive it.--There is in the mental, as well as in the
+physical nourishment provided for our race, milk for the weak, as well
+as meat for the strong; and it is necessary in both cases that the kind
+and the quantity be carefully attended to. In the case of the strong,
+there is less danger; because, with regard both to the mental and bodily
+food, Nature has so ordered matters, that the food which is best adapted
+for the weak, will also nourish the strong; but the food adapted for the
+strong is never suitable, and is often poisonous to the weak. There must
+therefore be, in all cases where the young are concerned, as careful a
+selection of the mental food, as there is of the food for the body; and
+the parent or teacher should, in all cases, present only such subjects,
+and such ideas to his pupils, as the state of their faculties, or the
+progress of their knowledge, enables them to understand and apply.
+
+Another striking point of analogy between mental and bodily nourishment,
+is to be found in the effects of repletion, when too great a quantity of
+food is communicated at one time.--As the increase of a child's bodily
+strength does not depend upon the mere quantity of food forced into his
+stomach, but upon that portion only which is healthfully digested and
+assimilated; so in like manner, the amount of a child's knowledge will
+not correspond to the number of ideas forced upon his attention by the
+teacher, but to those only which have been reiterated by the mind, and
+committed by that process to the keeping of the memory. In both cases,
+the evil of repletion is two-fold; there is the waste of food and of
+labour, while the strength and the growth of the child, instead of being
+promoted, are retarded and diminished. The physical appetite gains
+strength, by moderate exercise; but it is palled and weakened by every
+instance of repletion. The desire for food is never for any length of
+time at rest, so long as the stomach is kept in proper tone by moderate
+and frequent feeding; and the quantity of food which a healthy child
+will in these circumstances consume, is often surprising. But whenever
+the stomach is gorged, then restlessness, uneasiness, and not
+unfrequently disease, are the consequences. The digestive powers are
+weakened, the tone of the stomach is relaxed, and, instead of the
+healthful craving for food which should occur at the proper interval,
+the appetite is destroyed, and food of every kind is nauseated.--Exactly
+similar is the case with the mental appetite. The natural curiosity of
+children, or, in other words, their desire of information, before it is
+checked or overloaded by mismanagement, is almost insatiable; and the
+astonishing amount of knowledge which they usually acquire between the
+ages of one and three years, while under the guidance of Nature, has
+been formerly alluded to. But this desire of information, and this
+capacity for receiving it, are by no means confined to that early
+period of their lives. The same appetite for knowledge would increase
+and acquire additional strength, were it but properly directed, or
+furnished with moderate and suitable means of gratification. But when a
+parent or teacher impatiently attempts to force it upon the child more
+rapidly than he can receive it,--that is, than he can reiterate it in
+his mind for himself,--he not only irritates and harasses the child, but
+his attempt neutralizes the effect of the ideas which the child would
+otherwise pleasantly and efficiently have received. Every such attempt
+to do more than enough greatly weakens the powers of the pupil's mind,
+and discourages him from any after attempt to increase his knowledge.
+
+As a general maxim in the education of the young, it may here be
+observed, that as long as the understanding of a child remains clear,
+and he can distinctly perceive the truths which are communicated to him,
+he will find himself pleasantly and profitably employed, and will soon
+acquire a habit of distinct mental vision;--the powers of his mind will
+be rapidly expanded and strengthened, and he will receive and retain the
+knowledge communicated to him with ease and with pleasure. But when, on
+the contrary, he is overtasked, and more ideas are forced upon his
+attention than his capacity can receive, the mind becomes disturbed and
+confused, the mental perception becomes cloudy and indistinct, and all
+that is communicated in these circumstances is absolutely lost. If the
+parent or teacher insists on the pupil persevering in his mental meal,
+in the hope that things will get better, we can easily, from the present
+analogy, perceive the fallacy of such a hope. Perseverance will only
+create additional perplexity; the whole powers of the child's mind will
+become more and more enfeebled, or totally prostrated; the labour of the
+teacher will be lost; and he will find his pupil now, and for some time
+afterwards, much less able to take a clear and distinct view of any
+subject than he was before.
+
+There is yet one other point of analogy between the supply of food for
+the body and the mind, to which we must also allude. It is to be found
+in the baneful, and often destructive, effects of unnatural stimulants
+applied to the mental appetite, which strikingly correspond in their
+effects to the pernicious habit of supplying stimulants to the young in
+their ordinary food.--Stimulants will no doubt, in both cases, produce
+for the time additional excitement;--but they are neither natural nor
+necessary. In all ordinary cases, Nature has made ample provision for
+the supposed want, of which the craving--the natural and healthy
+craving--of children for knowledge and for food, gives ample testimony.
+To counteract or to weaken this natural desire would be improper;--but
+artificially to _increase_ it is always dangerous. The reason is
+obvious; for the excitement thus caused being unnatural, it is always
+temporary; but its pernicious effects very soon become extensive and
+permanent. Every physician knows, that the habitual use of stimulants in
+the food of the young, weakens the tone of the stomach, palls the
+appetite, creates a disrelish for plain and wholesome food, and
+frequently destroys the powers of digestion for ever after. Very similar
+are the effects of unnatural stimulants to the mental appetite in
+training and teaching the young, when these stimulants are habitually,
+or even frequently administered. Their curiosity,--their appetite for
+knowledge,--is naturally so vigorous, that the repetition, or the
+reading of any story, however commonplace or uninteresting to us, gives
+them the sincerest pleasure, provided only that they understand and can
+follow it. This is a most wise and beneficent provision of Nature, of
+which parents and teachers should be careful to take advantage. It is
+because of this disposition in children, that in all ordinary cases, the
+simplest narrative or anecdote in ordinary life, may be successfully
+employed in giving them mental strength, and in communicating permanent
+moral instruction. But whenever unnatural and injudicious excitements
+are used in their instruction, and the child's imagination has been
+stimulated and defiled by the ideas of giants and ogres, fairies and
+ghosts, the whole natural tone of the mind is destroyed, plain and even
+interesting stories and narratives lose their proper attraction, and a
+diseased and insatiable appetite for the marvellous and the horrible is
+generally created. Even to adults, and much more to children, whose
+minds have been thus abused, the plain paths of probability and truth
+have lost every charm; and the study of abstract but useful subjects
+becomes to them a nauseous task--an intolerable burden.
+
+The accuracy of this analogy, we think, will readily be admitted by all.
+And if so, it will at least help to illustrate, if it does not prove,
+some of the important conclusions to which we shall find ourselves led
+upon other, and philosophical grounds. But as the prejudices which,
+during several centuries, have been gradually congregating around the
+science of education are so many and so powerful, every legitimate
+means, and this among others, should be combined for the purpose of
+removing them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. III.
+
+_How Nature may be imitated in Communicating Knowledge to the Pupil, by
+the Reiteration of Ideas._
+
+
+The phenomenon in mechanics and natural philosophy, which is popularly
+termed "Suction," may be exhibited in a thousand different ways, and yet
+all are the result of but one cause. When we witness the various
+phenomena of the air and common pump,--the barometer and the cupping
+glass,--the sipping of our tea, and the traversing of an insect on the
+mirror or the roof,--the operations appear so very dissimilar, that we
+are ready to attribute them to the action of a variety of agents. But it
+is not so;--for when we trace each of them back to its primitive cause,
+we find that each and all of these wonders are produced by the weight of
+the atmosphere, and _that alone_. In precisely the same manner,
+knowledge may apparently be communicated to the human mind in a thousand
+different ways; and yet, when we examine each, and trace it to its
+primitive cause, we find the phenomenon to be one--and _one alone_. The
+truth has been received and lodged with the memory,--made part of our
+knowledge--by _the reiteration of its idea_ by the mind itself;--by an
+exercise of active, voluntary thought upon the knowledge thus
+communicated. The cause and the effect invariably follow each other both
+in old and young; for whenever a new idea is perceived and reiterated by
+the pupil,--if it should be but once,--the knowledge of the child is to
+that extent increased; but whenever this act of the mind is awanting,
+there can be no additional information received;--the increase of
+knowledge is found to be impossible. This appears to be a law of our
+Nature, to which we know of no exception.
+
+It is also worthy of remark here, that the retention or permanence of
+the ideas thus committed to the keeping of the memory depends upon two
+circumstances. The first is, the vigour of the mental powers, or the
+intensity of the impression made upon them at the time of
+reiteration;--and the second, and certainly the principal circumstance,
+is the frequency of their reiteration by the mind. In evidence of the
+first we see, that a fall, a fright, or a narrow escape from imminent
+danger, although it occurred but once, and perhaps in early infancy,
+will be remembered through life; and in proof of the second, we find,
+that the scenes and circumstances of childhood being frequently and
+daily reiterated by the mind, at a time when it has little else to
+reiterate, remain permanently on the memory. The object therefore most
+to be desired by the teacher, is an exercise, or a series of exercises,
+by which, in his attempts to communicate knowledge to his pupil, this
+act of reiteration may be secured, and if possible repeated at pleasure,
+for more permanently fixing on the memory the knowledge communicated.
+
+In a former chapter we shewed, that this act of reiteration is the
+instrument employed by Nature for cultivating the powers of the mind as
+well as for communicating and impressing knowledge;--and we have also
+shewn that Nature in that process was successfully imitated by means of
+the catechetical exercise. This exercise has accordingly been found as
+powerful and efficient in promoting this, her second object, as it is in
+the first. The success of the catechetical exercise in communicating
+knowledge clearly to the young, even when it is but imperfectly managed,
+has been extensive and uniform; but wherever its nature has been
+properly understood, and it has been scientifically conducted, the
+amount of knowledge communicated in a given time, and with a given
+amount of mental and physical labour, stands confessedly without a
+parallel in the previous history of education. Minds the most obtuse,
+habits of listlessness the most inveterate, and mental imbecility,
+bordering on idiotcy, have been powerfully assailed and overcome; and
+knowledge, by means of this exercise, has forced its way, and firmly
+secured a place for itself, in minds which previously were little more
+than a blank.
+
+The causes of its success in cultivating the powers of the mind were
+formerly explained; but its adaptation to the communicating of knowledge
+is still more peculiarly striking. We shall endeavour to point out a few
+of these peculiarities.
+
+Let us for that purpose suppose a teacher desirous of communicating to a
+child the important fact, that "God at first made all things of nothing
+to shew his greatness;" it must be done, either by the child reading or
+hearing the sentence. If it be read, there is at least a chance, that
+the words may be all decyphered, and audibly pronounced, while the ideas
+contained in them have not yet reached the mind. The child may have
+carefully examined each word as it occurred, and may have reiterated
+each of them on his mind as he read them, and yet there may not be the
+slightest addition to his knowledge. The reiteration of _words_, as we
+have before explained, is not that which Nature requires, but the
+reiteration of _ideas_; and although we may, by substituting the one for
+the other, deceive ourselves, Nature will not be deceived; for unless
+the ideas contained in the sentence be reiterated by the mind, there can
+be no additional information conveyed.--The same thing may happen, if
+the words, instead of being read by the child, are announced by the
+teacher. The pupil may in that case hear the sounds; nay, he may repeat
+the words, and thus reiterate _them_ in his mind after the teacher; but
+if he has not translated the words into their proper ideas as he
+proceeded, experience proves, that his knowledge remains as limited as
+before;--there has been no additional information. These cases are so
+common, and so uniform, that no farther illustration we think needs be
+given of them.
+
+The desideratum in both these cases is, some exercise by which the child
+shall be compelled to translate the words into their several ideas; and
+by reiterating the ideas themselves, not the words which convey them, he
+shall be enabled at once to commit them to the keeping of the memory,
+and thus make them part of his knowledge. The catechetical exercise
+supplies this want. For if, in either case, after the words have been
+read or repeated, the child is asked, "What did God make?" the
+translation of the words into the ideas, if previously neglected, is now
+forced upon him, because without this it is impossible for him to
+prepare the answer. The ideas must be drawn from the words, and
+reiterated by the mind, independently of the words, before the exercise
+can be completed. And not only must the particular idea which answers
+the question be extracted, but _the whole_ of the ideas contained in the
+sentence must be reiterated by the mind, before the selection can be
+begun, and the choice made. It is also specially worthy of remark, that
+even in such a case as this, where, on the sentence being read or heard,
+the words alone were at first perceived, yet no sooner does the mind
+proceed to its legitimate object, the reiteration of the ideas which the
+words convey, than the words themselves are instantly lost sight of, and
+in one sense are never again thought of. As soon as the kernel is
+extracted, the shell has lost its value. The pupil having once got sight
+of the ideas, tenaciously keeps hold of _them_, and never once thinks
+again of the words, which were merely the instrument employed by Nature
+to convey them. When the question is asked, and he answers it, the
+process consists in his translating the words of the whole sentence into
+their several ideas, chusing out the idea which answers the question
+from all the others, and then in clothing that idea in words which are
+now entirely his own.
+
+In all this there is a long and intricate series of mental exercises, in
+every one of which the mind is actively employed, and it is in this, as
+before explained, that the value of this exercise, in cultivating the
+powers of the mind, really consists. But our present business is with
+the acquisition of knowledge by its means; and we have to observe, that
+in each of the mental operations required for the answer of a single
+question, the ideas contained in the original sentence have repeatedly
+to undergo the process of reiteration; by which they are more clearly
+perceived, and more permanently fixed on the memory, than they otherwise
+could have been. Hence the value of this exercise, even in those cases
+where the original sentence has been at the first fully understood. This
+will appear obvious by tracing the mental operation of the pupil from
+the beginning, when he has to answer the question.
+
+There is first the understanding of the question asked at him. This must
+be heard and reiterated by the mind before its purport can be perceived,
+and all this before he can commence the proper mental operation upon the
+original sentence from which his answer is to be selected. He has then
+to review the words of the original sentence, still sounding in his
+ears, and to translate them into their several ideas, before he can
+begin to select the one required. Then comes the act of selection,
+having to chuse out from among all the others the special idea required
+as his answer; and lastly, there is the clothing of that idea in words
+suitable for the occasion, and the audibly pronouncing of these words as
+the answer required. The rapidity with which the mind passes from one
+part of this exercise to another, may prevent these several operations
+from being perceived, but it is not the less true that they must have
+taken place. And hence arises the value of the catechetical exercise,
+not only in cultivating in an extraordinary degree the mental faculties
+of the pupil, but in powerfully forcing information upon the mind, and
+permanently fixing it upon the memory for after use.
+
+But even this does not exhaust the catalogue of benefits to be derived
+from the use of the catechetical exercise in communicating knowledge to
+the young. We have supposed only one question to have been asked by the
+teacher upon the original sentence, and yet we have seen that this one
+question has in fact in a great measure secured the understanding of the
+whole of the ideas contained in it. But instead of one question, the
+catechetical exercise has the power of originating many, each producing
+successively similar results, but with greater ease to the child, and
+with much more effect in rivetting the several ideas upon the memory.
+The first question, when properly put, gives the pupil the command of
+the whole proposition; but it requires considerable mental effort in the
+child to recall the words, and internally to translate the ideas _for
+the first time_. But when this has once been done, and a second question
+is asked from the same sentence, the ideas being now more familiar,
+there is less mental labour required in preparing the answer, and there
+being equal success, there is of course more satisfaction. The ideas
+become much more clear and distinct before the mind by a second review;
+and the effect, in fixing the whole upon the memory, is much more
+powerful than it could be by means of the first. When therefore the
+teacher confines himself to the original sentence, and does not indulge
+in catechetical wanderings, the questions, "When did God make all
+things?" "How many things did God make?" "Of what did God make all
+things?" and, "Why did God make all things?" produce extensive and
+powerful effects. The pupil finds himself able to master each question
+in succession without difficulty, and the answering of each appears to
+him a triumph. Whoever has been in the habit of making use of this
+exercise in the manner explained above, must have witnessed with
+pleasure the life, and energy, and delight, which it invariably infuses
+into the scholar, giving education a perfectly different aspect from
+what it usually assumes in the eyes of the young, and making it even in
+the estimation of the pupil a formidable rival to his play. In this
+manner has Nature set her seal upon this exercise, as a near
+approximation to her own process for attaining the two preparatory
+objects she has in view in the education of the young; that of
+cultivating the powers of the mind, and that of communicating to her
+pupils the elements of knowledge.
+
+This exercise has been reduced to a regular system, which has placed it
+more directly at the command of all who undertake the instruction of the
+young. By a little attention on the part of parents and teachers, to a
+few simple rules, they may catechise upon any book, and apply the
+exercise to any species of knowledge whatever. We shall endeavour to
+explain the nature and uses of these rules.
+
+For the purposes of this exercise, the school books of the pupil are
+supposed to consist of sentences, each of the principal _words_ in which
+conveys some specific idea;--these again are combined into _clauses_,
+which also convey an idea;--and the combination of these clauses in a
+_sentence_, or _paragraph_, usually forms a complete truth. For example,
+the sentence, "God at first [made all things] of nothing [to shew his
+greatness,"] contains one great truth; but the sentence which conveys
+it, embodies at least two _clauses_, inclosed in brackets, while the
+whole is made up of _words_, each of which is the sign of an idea which
+may readily be separated from all the others. Now it is evident, that
+questions may be formed by the teacher relative to each of these three
+parts. He may ask a question, which shall require the _whole_ truth for
+the answer; or one which will be answered by a _clause_; or another
+which is answered by a _word_.
+
+In "revising," accordingly, where time is an object, the teacher
+confines himself to those general questions which bring out the _whole
+truth_ at once, as is exemplified in the Larger and Shorter Catechisms.
+This is called the "Connecting Exercise," because it is employed in
+uniting sections together, which have previously been taught to the
+pupils separately, but which are necessary to be perceived also in
+connection. This, however, would be too limited an exercise for the
+purpose of directing the mind to the several parts of a truth for the
+first time; and therefore the teacher in those cases forms his questions
+chiefly upon the _clauses_ in the sentence, and the other words which
+have some material relation to them, and this is called the "General
+Exercise." But even this is not enough, where the child is dull, or
+where healthful mental exercise is required; and accordingly in that
+case, the teacher not only questions upon the clauses in connection with
+the other principal words, but he takes the _words_, of which the
+clauses are composed, and catechises the child upon them also. This is
+called the "Verbal Exercise," which has been found of great value in the
+teacher's intercourse with his younger classes. Upon these principles
+the Initiatory Catechisms and their Keys have been formed, together with
+the several Helps for communicating Scriptural knowledge. The success of
+these school books, although labouring under all the disadvantages of
+new instruments, imperfectly formed to work out new principles, is
+mainly to be attributed to the close imitation of Nature aimed at in all
+their exercises.
+
+The _rule_ for the parent or teacher in mastering these exercises is the
+same in all; it consists simply in forming the question in such a
+manner, as that the word, the clause, or the whole proposition, shall be
+required to make the answer. Sufficient explanation and examples of all
+this will be found in the Note.[13]
+
+The uniform results of many experiments, have established the importance
+of this exercise as an instrument in communicating knowledge to the
+ignorant, whether young or old. We shall shortly advert to a few of the
+circumstances connected with these experiments, for the purpose of
+satisfactorily establishing this.
+
+In an experiment made in May 1828, under the direction of the Very Rev.
+Dr Baird, Principal of the University of Edinburgh, before the Lord
+Provost, and several of the Professors and Clergymen of that city, nine
+adult criminals, "taken without regard to their abilities," and who, in
+the opinion of Governor Rose, "formed a fair average of the usual
+prisoners," were, in the space of three successive weeks, exercised in
+whole for eighteen or twenty hours. They were at the end of that time
+minutely examined in the Chapel of the County Jail, in the presence of
+the Right Honourable and Reverend Professors and Gentlemen, who formed
+Principal Baird's committee; and their Report of the experiment and its
+effects bears, that "the result of this important experiment was, in
+every point, satisfactory. Not only had much religious knowledge been
+acquired by the pupils, and that of the most substantial, and certainly
+the least evanescent kind; but it appeared to have been acquired with
+ease, and even with satisfaction--a circumstance of material importance
+in every case, but especially in that of adult prisoners." "The
+examination evidently brought out only a specimen of their knowledge,
+and did by no means comprise all that had been acquired by them; but,
+even though it had constituted the whole amount of their information,
+the fact that such a treasure had been amassed in three weeks is in
+itself astonishing. The writer of this Minute was not acquainted with
+the extent of their acquirements when Mr Gall commenced his operations;
+but judging from the examination, and from his knowledge of the contents
+of the books taught, he has no hesitation in averring, that the answers
+which they gave, arose entirely from information communicated by them.
+And when he reflects that their answers, being clothed in their own
+words, guaranteed the fact, that it was _the ideas_ upon which they had
+seized, and that their knowledge participated in no degree of rote, the
+conviction to his mind is irresistible, that the universal application
+of the Lesson System to Prison Discipline, and to adults every where,
+would be followed by effects incalculably precious to the individuals
+themselves, and to the improving of society in general."
+
+The efficiency of this exercise in communicating knowledge, was equally
+conspicuous in another experiment, conducted under the eye of the
+Principal, Professors, and Clergymen of Aberdeen, in July 1828. The
+persons on whom this experiment was made, were children taken from the
+lower classes of society, carefully selected on two several days, by a
+committee of clergymen appointed for the purpose, from the various
+schools in the city. These children were all carefully and individually
+examined in private by the committee, and were chosen from among their
+companions, not on account of their natural abilities, or educational
+acquirements, but specially and simply on account of their ignorance.
+The precautions taken by the Rev. and learned examinators, to secure
+accuracy in their ultimate decision, were at once judicious and
+complete; and were intended to enable them to say with confidence at the
+close of the experiment, that the results, whatever they might be, were
+really the effects of the exercise and discipline to which the children
+during it had been subjected, and were in no respect due to the previous
+capacity or the attainments of the children.
+
+To secure this important preliminary object, therefore, the
+sub-committee of clergymen above alluded to was appointed, as soon as
+the experiment was determined upon, with instructions to collect a class
+of the most ignorant children they could find, attending the several
+schools, and who it was thought would be, of course, most incapacitated
+for receiving instruction. This sub-committee, consisting of the Rev.
+John Murray, the Rev. Abercromby L. Gordon, and the Rev. David Simpson,
+in their previous Report, say, "We, on two several days, met with the
+children which were collected from the various schools, and examined
+them individually, and apart from each other; avoiding every appearance
+of formality, and endeavouring to draw them into familiar conversation,
+that we might correctly ascertain the state of their religious knowledge
+on the three following points, which we considered to be the best
+criterion by which to judge of their understanding of the other less
+important points in the gospel scheme of salvation.--These points were,
+1. Our connection, as sinners, with Adam; 2. Our connection with Christ
+as the Saviour; 3. The means by which we become interested in the
+salvation of Christ. On minutely examining each child on these points,
+one by one, and endeavouring, by varied and familiar language and
+cross-questioning, without confusing their ideas, to ascertain the
+knowledge which they possessed on these first principles, we accurately,
+and at the time, minuted the result, distinguishing those points which
+they understood, and those which they did not. From this list we
+afterwards selected twenty-two names, of children who appeared from the
+list, to be the most ignorant, by _not having any marks of approval on
+any one of these points_ on which they were examined;--although delicacy
+to the children, as well as to their parents and teachers, prevented us
+from stating to them, that this was the principle by which we had been
+regulated in our selection. From these twenty-two children, Mr Gall has
+made up his class of ten, for this experiment, which he proposes shall
+continue for eight days, occupying two hours each day; and having thus
+chosen that class of pupils which appeared to us the most ignorant, we
+have, in justice to Mr Gall and this system of teaching, stated the
+fact, leaving the examinators to make what allowance they may on this
+account think proper, in determining on the failure or success of this
+very important and interesting experiment."
+
+This was the state of the children's knowledge and capacity when the
+experiment began; and the following was found to be the state of these
+same children's knowledge when examined publicly in the East Church,
+before the Very Rev. Principal, Professors, and Clergymen of the city,
+and a large congregation of the citizens, eight days afterwards.
+
+The children were first interrogated minutely on the doctrines of the
+gospel, which had been previously arranged in a list under sixteen
+different heads, embodying all the leading doctrinal points in the
+Confession of Faith and Shorter Catechism, a copy of which was handed to
+the Very Rev. Principal Jack, who presided. The Report of the
+Experiment, prepared by their Committee, goes on to say, that "After
+being examined generally and satisfactorily on each of these heads, the
+chairman, by means of a list of the names with which he was furnished,
+called up some of them individually, who were carefully examined, and
+shewed, by their answers, that they severally understood the nature of
+the above doctrines, and their mutual relation to each other.
+
+"They were then examined on the Old Testament History, from the account
+of the death of Moses, downwards, to that of the revolt of the Ten
+Tribes in the reign of Rehoboam. Here they distinctly stated and
+described all the leading circumstances of the narrative comprised in
+the 'First Step,' whose brief but comprehensive outline they appeared,
+in various instances, to have filled up at home, by reading in their
+Bibles the corresponding chapters. They were next examined in the same
+way, on several sections of the New Testament," with which they had also
+acquired an extensive practical knowledge, besides some useful
+information in Civil History, Biography, and Natural Philosophy, on all
+which they were closely and extensively examined.
+
+In another experiment, undertaken at the request, and under the
+sanction, of the Sunday School Union of London, the efficiency of this
+exercise, as a successful imitation of Nature in communicating
+knowledge, was also satisfactorily ascertained. We shall at present
+advert only to one feature of it, as being more immediately connected
+with the present branch of our subject, that of communicating knowledge
+to the most ignorant and depraved.
+
+The Report of this Experiment, drawn up by the Secretaries of that
+Institution, records, that "it had been requested, that, if possible,
+children should be procured, somewhat resembling the heathen, (or
+persons in a savage state,) whose intellectual and moral attainments
+were bounded only by their knowledge of natural objects, and whose
+feelings and obligations were of course regulated principally by
+coercion and fear of punishment."
+
+Two gentlemen of the Committee, accordingly, undertook the search, and
+at last procured from the streets three children, a boy and two girls of
+the ages, so far as could be ascertained, (for they themselves could not
+tell,) of seven, nine, and eleven years, whom we shall designate G, H,
+and I. These children had no knowledge of letters; knew no more than the
+name of God, and that he was in the skies, but could not tell any thing
+about him, or what he had done. They knew not who made the sun, nor the
+world, nor themselves. They had no idea of a soul, or that they should
+live after death. One had a confused idea of the name of Jesus, as
+connected with prayers; which, however, she did not understand, but had
+never heard of Adam, Noah, or Abraham. When asked if they knew any thing
+of Moses, one on them (viz. I,) instantly recollected the name; but when
+examined, it was found that she only referred to a cant term usually
+bestowed upon the old-clothesmen of London. They had no idea of a
+Saviour; knew nothing of heaven or hell; had never heard of Christ, and
+knew not whether the name belonged to a man or a woman. The boy, (H,)
+when strictly interrogated on this point, and asked, whether he indeed
+knew nothing at all of Jesus Christ, thinking his veracity called in
+question, replied with much earnestness, and in a manner that showed the
+rude state of his mind, "No; upon my soul, I do not!"
+
+This class, after eleven days' teaching, conducted in public, and in the
+presence of numbers of teachers, during one hour daily, were publicly
+examined in the Poultry Chapel, by a number of clergymen, before the
+Committee of the Sunday School Union, and a numerous congregation. The
+Report goes on to say, that the children of this class "were examined,
+minutely and individually, on the great leading doctrines of
+Christianity. The enumeration and illustrations of the several doctrines
+were given with a simplicity, and in a language, peculiarly their own;
+which clearly proved the value of that part of the Lesson System which
+enjoins the dealing with the ideas, rather than with the words; and
+which shewed, that they had acquired a clear knowledge of the several
+truths. They were also examined on some parts of the Old Testament
+History," with which, during that short period, they had been made
+thoroughly acquainted.
+
+These facts of themselves, and they could be enlarged to almost any
+extent, clearly prove the power and the value of this exercise in
+communicating knowledge to the young. And, as we have seen that its
+efficiency consists entirely in its close imitation of the process of
+Nature in accomplishing the same object, we are the better warranted to
+press upon the minds of all who are interested in education and the art
+of teaching, the importance of keeping strictly to Nature, so far as we
+can trace her operations; as it is by doing so alone that we are sure of
+success. It may no doubt be said, that there are other ways of
+communicating knowledge to the young, besides the catechetical exercise;
+and therefore the necessity of adopting it is neither so necessary nor
+so urgent. To this it may be answered, that there have been other plans
+adopted, in urgent cases, for the nourishment of the body, besides the
+common mode of eating and digesting food; but all such plans are
+unnatural, and are of course but momentary and inadequate;--this,
+therefore, would form no argument for depriving children of their food.
+But even this argument is not parallel; for, although it has been found
+that partial nourishment may be conveyed to the blood otherwise than by
+the stomach, it has not yet been ascertained that any idea can enter the
+mind, except by this act of "reiteration." Unless, therefore, something
+definite can be brought forward, which will secure the performance of
+this act, different from the catechetical exercise, or the several
+modifications of it, that exercise ought to be considered as a necessary
+agent in every attempt of the teacher to communicate knowledge.
+
+But this admission in a philosophical question is much more than is at
+all necessary for our present purpose. It is in every view of the case
+sufficient to shew, that knowledge cannot be imparted without voluntary
+active thought upon the ideas communicated, or what we have termed,
+"reiteration;"--and if this be once admitted, and if it can be shewn
+that the catechetical exercise produces this result _more certainly_,
+and _more powerfully_, than any other mode of instruction yet known,
+then nothing but prejudice will lead to the neglect of this, or will
+give the preference to another. And it is a remarkable fact, that on
+investigation it will be found, that almost every useful exercise
+introduced into schools within the last thirty years, owes its
+efficiency to the presence, more or less, of the principles which we
+have been explaining, as embodied in the catechetical exercise.[14]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[13] Note L.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. IV.
+
+
+_On the Means by which Nature may be imitated in Exercising the
+Principle of Individuation._
+
+
+While it appears to be a law of Nature, that there can be no
+accumulation of knowledge without the act of reiteration, yet there are
+other principles which she brings into operation in connection with it,
+by which the amount of the various branches of knowledge received is
+greatly increased, and the knowledge itself more easily comprehended,
+and more permanently retained upon the memory.
+
+The first of these principles, which we have before alluded to and
+described, is that of "individuation;" that principle by which an infant
+or child is induced to concentrate the powers of its mind upon a new
+object, and that to the exclusion for the time of every other, till it
+has become acquainted with it.
+
+In a former chapter we found, that as long as a child remains solely
+under the guidance of Nature, it will not allow its attention to be
+distracted by different _unknown_ objects at the same time; but whenever
+it selects one for examination, it invariably for the time abandons the
+consideration of every other. The consequence of this is, that infants,
+with all their physical and mental imbecility, acquire more real
+knowledge under the tuition of Nature in one year, than children who are
+double their age usually gain by the imperfect and unnatural exercises
+of unreformed schools in three or four. The cause of this is easily
+detected, and may be illustrated by the analogy of any one of the
+senses. The eye, for example, like the mind, must not only see the
+object, but it must look upon it--examine it--before the child can
+either become acquainted with it at the time, or remember it afterwards.
+But if unknown objects are made rapidly to flit past the eye of the
+child, so that this cannot be done before there is time to fix the
+attention upon any of them, the labour of the exhibitor is not only
+lost, but the sight of the child is impaired;--the eye itself is
+injured, and is less able, for some time afterwards, to look steadily
+upon any other object, even when that object is stationary. Such is the
+injury and the confusion created in the mind of a child when it is
+hurried forward from object to object, or from truth to truth, before
+the mind has had leisure to lay hold of them, or to concentrate its
+powers upon the ideas they suggest. The labour of the teacher in that
+case is not only lost, and the child harassed and irritated, but the
+powers of the mind, instead of being brightened and strengthened, are
+bewildered and mystified, and must therefore be weakened in a
+corresponding degree.
+
+The method to be adopted therefore for the imitation of Nature in the
+working of this principle, will consist in bringing forward, for the
+consideration of the child, every new letter, or word, or truth, or
+object, _by itself_. When presented separately and alone, there is no
+distraction of mind--no confusion of ideas; the child is allowed to
+consider it well before learning it, so that he will know something of
+its form or its nature, and will remember it again when it is either
+presented to his notice alone, or when it is grouped with others. His
+idea of the object or truth may be indistinct and faint at first, but it
+is correct so far as it goes; and the ideas which he retains concerning
+it, are obviously much more extensive, than if the mind at its first
+presentation had been disturbed or bewildered by the addition of
+something else.
+
+His idea of the object or the truth, after being repeatedly considered,
+may still be very inadequate, but it will now be distinct; and it is the
+want of this precision in the pupil's mind that so frequently deceives
+teachers, and confuses and obstructs the future advance of the scholars.
+When a child hears, or reads a passage, the teacher, who understands it
+himself, too often takes it for granted that the child as he proceeds is
+reiterating the ideas as well as himself, and is of course master of the
+subject. But this is not always the case; and wherever the child has not
+succeeded in doing so, all that follows in that lesson is usually to the
+child the cause of confusion and difficulty. He finds himself at a
+stand; and however far he may in these circumstances be dragged
+forward, he has not advanced a step, and he must at some future
+period,--and the sooner the better,--return again to the same point, and
+proceed anew under serious disadvantages.
+
+In almost every stage of a child's education, the neglect of this
+principle is seriously and painfully felt. It is the cause of acute
+mental suffering to well affected and zealous pupils; and it is the
+chief origin of all the heartlessness, and idleness, and apathy, which
+are found to pervade and regulate the conduct of those that are less
+active. A careful appliance of this principle of individuation,
+therefore, is always of importance in education; but it ought never to
+be forgotten, that it is more peculiarly valuable and necessary at the
+commencement, than at any other period of a child's progress in
+learning. We shall advert to a few of the methods by which it may be
+applied in ordinary school education, in contrast with some instances in
+which it is neglected.
+
+In teaching the alphabet to children, the principle of individuation is
+indispensable; and its neglect has been productive of serious and
+permanent mischief. A child of good capacity, by a proper attention to
+this principle, will, with pleasure and ease, learn the names and forms
+of the letters, with the labour of only a few hours;[15] while, by
+neglecting the principle, the same child would, after years of
+irritation and weariness, be still found ignorant of its alphabet. The
+overlooking of the principle at this period has done an immense deal of
+injury to the cause of education. It has, at the very starting post in
+the race of improvement, quenched and destroyed all the real, as well as
+the imaginary delights of learning and knowledge. It has given the tyro
+such an erroneous but overwhelming impression of the difficulties and
+miseries which he must endure in his future advance, that the disgust
+then created has often so interwoven itself with his every feeling, that
+education has during life appeared to him the natural and necessary
+enemy to every kind of enjoyment.
+
+It used to be common, and the practice may still we believe be found
+lingering among some of the lovers of antiquity, to make a child
+commence at the letter A, and proceed along the alphabet without
+stopping till he arrived at Z; and this lesson not unfrequently included
+both the alphabets of capitals and small letters. Now the cruelty of
+such an exercise with a child will at once be apparent, if we shall only
+change its form. If a teacher were to read over to an infant twice a-day
+a whole page or paragraph _without stopping_ of Caesar or Cicero in
+Latin, and demand that on hearing it he shall learn it, we could at once
+judge of the difficulty, and the feelings of a volatile mind chained to
+the constant and daily repetition of such a task; and if this exercise
+were termed its "education," we can easily conceive the amount of
+affection that the child would learn to cherish towards it. Now this is
+really no exaggerated illustration of the matter in hand, for in both
+cases the principle of individuation, so carefully guarded and enforced
+by Nature, is equally outraged; and it is only where, by some means or
+other, a remedy for the evil accidentally occurs, that the result in the
+case of the alphabet, is not exactly the same as it would have been in
+the case of the classics above supposed. The writer once saw in a Sunday
+school, where the children were taught twice each Sabbath, a class in
+which some of the children had attended for upwards of two years, and
+were still in their alphabet; and if the same mode had been pursued,
+there is little doubt that they would have been in it yet.
+
+The remedy for this evil is obvious. Instead of confounding the eye and
+the mind of the child, by rapidly parading twenty-six, or fifty-four
+forms, continuously and without intermission before the pupil, the
+letters ought to be presented to the child singly, or at most by two at
+a time; and these two should be rendered familiar, both in name and in
+form, before another character is introduced. When a few of the more
+conspicuous letters have become familiar, another is to be brought
+forward, and the child may be made to amuse himself, by picking out from
+a page of a book, all the letters he has learned, naming them, and if
+necessary describing them to a companion or a sub-monitor as they occur.
+Or he may be set down by himself, with a waste leaf from an old book, or
+pamphlet, or newspaper, to prick with a pin the new letter or letters
+last taught him; or, as an introduction to his writing, he may be made
+to score them gently with ink from a fine tipped pen. In these
+exercises, and all others which are in their nature similar, the
+principle of individuation is acknowledged and acted upon; and therefore
+it is, that a child will, by their means, acquire an acquaintance with
+the letters in an exceedingly short time, and, which is of still greater
+importance, without irritation or trouble. These methods may sometimes
+be rendered yet more effective, by the teacher applying the catechetical
+exercise to this comparatively dry and rather forbidding part of a
+child's education. It proceeds upon the principle of describing each
+letter, and attaching its name to the description, such as "round o,"
+"spectacle g," "top dotted i," &c. as in the "Classified Alphabet." The
+teacher has thus an opportunity of exercising the child's imagination,
+as well as its memory, and making a monotonous, and comparatively
+unintellectual exercise, one of considerable variety and amusement.
+
+In teaching the alphabet to adults, whose minds are capable of
+appreciating and applying the principle of analysis, the "Classified
+Alphabet" should invariably be used. By this means their memory, in
+endeavouring to recall the form and name of any particular letter,
+instead of having to search through the whole _twenty-six_, has never to
+think of more than the four or five which compose its class,--a
+circumstance which makes the alphabet much more easily acquired by the
+adult than by a child. But even here, the principle of individuation
+must not be lost sight of; each letter in the class must be separately
+learned, and each class must be familiar, before another is taught.
+
+The principle of individuation continues to be equally necessary in
+teaching children to combine the letters in the formation of words; and
+when it is attended to, and when the only real use of letters, as the
+mere symbols of sound, is understood by the pupil, a smart child may be
+taught to read in a few minutes. This is not a theory, but a
+fact,--evidenced in the experience of many, and in the presence of
+thousands. Nor is it necessary that the words which are taught, should
+consist only of two or three letters; if the word be familiar to the
+child in speech, it becomes instantly known, when divided and taught in
+parts or syllables; and when once it is learned by the sounds of the
+letters, though these sounds merely approximate to the pronunciation of
+the word, it is sufficient to give a _hint_ of what the word is, and
+when once it is known, it will not likely be again forgotten. By this
+means, the child is never puzzled except by entirely new words; and by
+knowing the use of the letters in their sounds, he receives a key by
+which at least to _guess_ at them, which the sense of the subject
+greatly assists; so that one day, or even one hour, is sometimes, and we
+have no doubt will soon be generally, sufficient to overcome the
+hitherto forbidding and harassing drudgery of learning to read.
+
+In teaching children their first lessons, it is of great importance that
+the main design of reading should be clearly understood, and attended
+to. As writing, philosophically considered, is nothing more than an
+artificial substitute for speaking, so reading is nothing more than an
+artificial substitute for hearing, and is subject to all the laws which
+regulate that act. Now one of the chief laws impressed by Nature on the
+act of _hearing_ the speech of others, is the very remarkable one
+formerly alluded to, namely, the exclusive occupation of the mind with
+the _ideas_ communicated, to the entire exclusion of the _words_, which
+are merely the means by which the ideas are conveyed. The words are no
+doubt heard, but they are never thought of;--for if they were, the mind
+would instantly become distracted, and the ideas would be lost. This law
+equally applies to the act of _reading_; and every one feels, that
+perfection in this art is never attained, till the mind is exclusively
+occupied with the ideas in the book, and never in any case with the
+words which convey them. But in learning to read, the difficulty of
+decyphering the words, tends to interfere with this law, and this must
+be guarded against. The remedy simply is, to allow the child time to
+overcome this first difficulty, by repeatedly, if necessary, reading the
+sentence till he can read it perfectly; and then, before leaving it, to
+discipline the mind to the perception of the ideas it contains, now that
+the child can read it well.
+
+The catechetical exercise, as in the "First Class Book on the Lesson
+System," will almost always accomplish the object here pointed out; and
+the value of the exercise it recommends will be best understood and
+appreciated, by observing the evils which invariably follow its neglect.
+For if the child be allowed to read on and on, while the difficulty of
+decyphering the words in the book remains, the ideas will be left
+behind, the attention will be fatigued, and at last exhausted. The child
+will continue to read without understanding; and the habit thus acquired
+of reading the words, without perceiving the ideas at all, will soon be
+established and confirmed. Custom has robbed this relict of a former age
+of much of its repulsiveness; but it is not the less hurtful on that
+account. Were we to run a parallel with it in any other matter, its true
+nature and deformity would at once appear. For example, were we to
+suppose ourselves listening to an imperative message from a superior, by
+a messenger with whose language we were but partially acquainted, we
+would not allow him to proceed with his communication from beginning to
+end, while the very first sentence he uttered, had not been understood,
+and the mind was unprepared for that which was to follow. We would stop
+him at the close of the very first sentence, and would master the
+meaning of that, before we would advance with him another step; and then
+we would make him proceed at such a pace as we could keep up with him.
+If he left us again behind, there would be but one remedy. He must
+return and repeat the sentence where he left us, till we had
+comprehended his master's meaning; and if he refused to do this, he
+could not conscientiously say to him on his return, that he had
+delivered his message. By following this plan, and adopting this branch
+of the natural principle of individuation in such a case, two benefits
+would arise. We would first become perfectly acquainted with the will
+and message of our superior; and next, we would, at the close of the
+exercise, be so much more familiar with the language in which it was
+delivered, as that it would require less effort on a future occasion, to
+comprehend the meaning of the same speaker. If this method had not been
+adopted, and the message had been given entire and without a pause, it
+might have been rehearsed in our hearing a hundred times, but the
+meaning would neither have been mastered, nor would our knowledge of the
+language have been in the least improved.
+
+The application of this principle of individuation in the early stages
+of a child's learning to read, suggests the propriety also of making
+some preparation for his reading every new lesson in succession. We have
+seen that it is chiefly the new words in a lesson that create
+difficulty, and prevent the operation of that important law in Nature
+which induces the mind at once to lay hold of the ideas. To obviate this
+distraction of mind therefore beforehand, the new words which _are to
+occur_ in the lesson should be selected, and made familiar to the child
+previously, and by themselves;--he should be taught to read them easily
+by the combination of their letters, and clearly to understand their
+meaning, in precisely the same shade in which they are used in the
+lesson he is to read. When this is done, the lesson will be read with
+ease and with profit;--while, without this, the difficulty will be much
+greater, if not beyond his powers. In accordance with this plan, the
+"First Class Book," before referred to, has been constructed, and its
+efficiency on that account is greatly increased.
+
+The neglect of this special application of the principle has been long
+and painfully felt in society, and most of all where the young have been
+sent earliest to school. The habit of reading the words without
+understanding the meaning of what they read, having once been acquired,
+the weak powers of children are not sufficient to overcome the
+difficulties with which this habit has surrounded them. They feel
+themselves burdened and harassed with unnatural and unmeaning exercises
+for years, before they can acquire the art of reading the words of the
+simplest school book; and, what is still worse, after they have left the
+school, and have entered upon the busy scenes of life, they find, that
+they have now to teach themselves an entirely new art,--the art of
+_understanding by reading_. Instead of all this waste of energy, and
+patience, and time, experience has fully proved, that by following the
+plain and easy dictates of Nature, as above explained, all the drudgery
+of learning to read may be got over in a week,--it has been times
+without number accomplished in a single day,[16]--and this without any
+harassing exertion, and generally with delight. Of the truth of this, a
+few out of many instances may here be enumerated.
+
+In the summer of 1831, the writer one morning found himself, by mere
+accident, and a perfect stranger, in a Sunday school in the borough of
+Southwark, London. He attached himself first to a class of children,
+some of whom he found on enquiry had been two years at the school, and
+were yet only learning the alphabet. In the same school, and on the same
+morning, a young man who only knew his letters, but had never yet
+attempted to put them together, was classified with the infants, whom he
+had willingly joined in his anxiety to learn. He had a lesson by
+himself. By a rigid adherence to the above principle of individuation,
+this young man, to his own great astonishment, was able in a few minutes
+to read a verse. The lesson went on, and in somewhat less than half an
+hour he had mastered several verses, and now knew perfectly how to make
+use of the letters in decyphering the several words. By that one lesson
+he found himself quite able to teach himself. In proof of this, as was
+afterwards ascertained, he read that same day on going home, without
+help, nineteen verses of the same chapter; and these verses, on
+returning to school on the same afternoon, he read correctly and without
+hesitation, to his usual and astonished teacher. There can be no doubt,
+from this circumstance, that if it had been at all necessary, he could,
+without further aid, and with still greater ease, have read a second
+nineteen verses, and perfected himself by practice in this important,
+and supposed difficult art of reading, by this one lesson of less than
+half an hour.
+
+In a later experiment, made in Dumfries, in the presence and under the
+sanction of Sir Thomas Kirkpatrick, and the clergymen and teachers of
+that town, the power of this principle was put to a severe trial, in a
+very unexpected and extraordinary manner. The week-day teachers of that
+town having heard of some of the above circumstances, and of the powers
+of the Lesson System generally, in enabling children to read with but
+little trouble, were desirous of having its powers tested in that town,
+where the writer happened to be for a few days. He agreed; and Sir
+Thomas Kirkpatrick, the Sheriff of the county, with the clergymen and
+teachers, at his request, formed themselves into a committee for the
+purposes of the investigation. A sub-committee of the week-day teachers
+were appointed to procure a boy to be taught, which they did, and who,
+on being closely examined at a preliminary public meeting of the whole
+examinators, was found totally ignorant of words, and knew not one
+letter from another, with the exception, of "the round o."
+
+With this boy the writer retired, having agreed to call them again
+together at a public meeting, as soon as he was ready. This at the time
+he did not doubt would have been on the very next day;--but he was
+disappointed. He had not been five minutes with his pupil, till he
+found, to his great mortification, that he had little or no intellect to
+work upon. The boy was twelve years of age, and yet he was perfectly
+ignorant of all the days of the week, except one, the market day, on
+which he was in the practice of making a few pence by holding the
+farmers' horses. He could in no case tell what day of the week went
+before or followed another. He could count numbers forward mechanically
+till among the teens; but by no effort of mind could he tell what number
+came before nine, till he had again counted forward from one. The most
+obvious deduction from the simplest idea appeared to be quite beyond the
+grasp of his mind. For example, though repeatedly told that John was
+Zebedee's son, yet, after frequent trials, he could never make out, nor
+comprehend who was John's father. Yet this boy,--one certainly among the
+lowest in the grade of intellect of our species,--by a rigid application
+of the principle of individuation, was enabled to overcome a great part
+of the drudgery of learning to read, by exactly eight hours' teaching.
+This boy, who at the preliminary meeting on Wednesday, knew only "the
+round o," read correctly in the Court-House on the following Monday, a
+section of the New Testament, to the Rev. Dr Duncan, minister of
+Ruthwell, before the Sheriff, clergymen, teachers, and a large assembly
+of the inhabitants of Dumfries. To ascertain that he had in that time
+really _learned to read_, and that he did not repeat the words of the
+section by rote, he was made to read before the audience, in a chapter
+of the Old Testament, and then from a newspaper, the same words that he
+had read in his lesson. This he did readily, and without a mistake.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[14] For some practical information and directions connected with the
+subjects in this chapter, see Note M.
+
+[15] Note N.
+
+[16] Note H.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. V.
+
+_On the Means by which Nature may be imitated in Applying the Principle
+of Grouping, or Association._
+
+
+The principle of Grouping, or Association, as employed by Nature in her
+educational process, is obviously intended to enable the pupil easily to
+receive knowledge, and to assist the memory in retaining and keeping it
+ever after at the command of the will. It is employed to unite many
+objects or truths into one aggregate mass, which is received as
+one,--having the component parts so linked, or associated together, that
+when any one part is afterwards brought before the mind, it has the
+power of immediately conjuring up, and holding in review, all the
+others. For example, when a child enters a room in which its parents and
+relations are severally employed, the whole scene is at a single glance
+comprehended and understood, and will afterwards be distinctly
+remembered in all its parts. The elements of the scene are no doubt all
+familiar, but the particular grouping of these elements are _entirely
+new_, and form an addition to his knowledge, as we formerly explained,
+as substantial, and as distinct, as the grouping of any other kind of
+objects or circumstances could possibly do. Here then is a certain
+amount of knowledge acquired by the child, which could be recorded in
+writing, or which might be communicated by words; but which, by the
+operation of this principle of grouping, has been acquired with greater
+ease, and in much less time, than he could either have read it, or
+described it. It has been done in this instance by Nature bringing the
+_ideas_ suggested by the group directly before the mind of the child,
+without even the intervention of words; and we see by this example, how
+much more laborious it would have been to communicate the very same
+amount of knowledge to the pupil, by making him _read_ the description
+of it, and how utterly preposterous and unnatural it would be to compel
+him, for the same purpose, to commit the words of that description to
+memory. The words are merely an artificial contrivance for the conveying
+of ideas;--and the more they can be kept out of view, it will be better
+for the teacher, and more natural and easy for the child.
+
+In communicating knowledge, therefore, to the young, the more directly
+and simply the ideas to be communicated are presented to the mind the
+better. They must usually be communicated by words; but these, as the
+mere instruments of conveyance, should be kept as much as possible out
+of view. To bring them at all under the notice of the child is a defect;
+but to make them the chief object of learning, or to make the pupil
+commit them to memory, is not only laborious and unnecessary, but is
+unnatural and hurtful.
+
+In all this we ought simply to take our lessons from Nature, if we wish
+to succeed in conveying knowledge by the combination of simple objects.
+In the above example, we have seen that a single glance was sufficient
+to give the infant a distinct idea of the whole scene; and the reason
+is, that the principle of individuation had previously done its work.
+Each of the elements of which the scene was composed, had undergone an
+individual and separate examination, and therefore each was familiar.
+This is Nature's method of communicating knowledge to the young; and it
+is obvious, that a different arrangement of the objects or actions would
+have made no difference in the effects produced by the operation of the
+principle. Whatever the circumstances might have been, the new scene,
+with all its variety of incidents, persons, and things, which it would
+take ten-fold more time to enumerate than to learn, would at once be
+impressed on the mind, and delivered over to the keeping of the memory,
+without labour, or any perceptible effort. The whole grouping forms a
+chain of circumstances, any one link in which, when afterwards laid hold
+of by the mind, brings up all the others in connection with it. The
+memory by this means is relieved from the burden of remembering all the
+individualities, and the innumerable details of the scene, by
+maintaining a comprehensive hold of the whole united group, as one
+undivided object for remembrance.
+
+From this it appears evident, that this principle is intended to succeed
+that of individuation, and never to precede it. Objects and truths which
+form the elements of knowledge must be individually familiar, before
+they can be successfully grouped, or associated together in masses, in
+the way in which the several parts of the knowledge of the young are
+usually presented; but after these objects or truths have once become
+known, they may be permanently associated together in any variety of
+form without fatigue, and be retained on the memory for use without
+confusion or distraction of any kind.
+
+In our investigations into the nature and working of this principle, as
+detailed in a former chapter, we found several causes which gave rise
+to certain uniform effects, which, for the purpose of imitation or
+avoidance, may be classed under the following heads:--We found,
+
+1. That wherever the principle of grouping acted with effect, it had
+always been preceded by the principle of individuation.
+
+2. That wherever the principle of individuation was made to interfere,
+the effect intended by the principle of association was in the same
+degree obstructed or destroyed.
+
+3. That whenever ideas or objects, whether known or unknown, were
+presented to a child in greater number than the mind could receive or
+reiterate them, it silently dropped the surplus;--but if these were
+_forced_ upon the mind, all the mischiefs arising from the interference
+of the two hostile principles immediately took place.
+
+4. That children, in grouping under the tuition of Nature, received and
+retained the impressions of objects presented to their notice, in a
+natural and regular order;--forming in their minds a continuous moving
+scene, where motion formed a part of it; and that this movement of the
+objects, actually was a portion of the grouping.
+
+These being the facts connected with this portion of Nature's
+educational process, the object of the teacher should be to endeavour to
+imitate her in all these circumstances; carefully avoiding what she has
+shewn to be inoperative and hurtful, and copying as closely as possible
+all those that tend to forward the objects of instruction.
+
+The first thing then to be attended to by the teacher, is, that in every
+attempt to communicate knowledge to a child by the grouping of objects,
+he takes care that the principle of individuation has preceded it;--that
+is, that the various ideas or objects to be grouped, be individually
+familiar to the pupil. In communicating a story, therefore, or an
+anecdote, or in teaching a child to read, care must be taken that the
+objects or individual truths, the words, or the letters, be previously
+taught by themselves, before he be called upon to group them in masses,
+whether greater or smaller. If this be neglected, an important law of
+Nature is violated, and the lesson to this extent will be ineffective,
+or worse. But if, on the contrary, this rule be attended to, the pupil,
+when he comes to these objects in the act of grouping, is prepared for
+the process; he meets with nothing that he is not familiar with; he has
+nothing to learn, and has only to allow the objects to take their proper
+places, as when he looked into the room, and grouped its contents as
+before supposed. All this being perfectly natural, is accomplished
+without effort, and with ease and pleasure.--This precaution on the part
+of the teacher, will at once remove many of the difficulties and
+embarrassments which have hitherto pressed so heavily upon the pupil in
+almost every stage of his advance, but more especially in the early
+stages of his learning to read.[17]
+
+As an illustration of our meaning, we may notice here, that a child who
+knows what is meant by "sheep," and "the keeping of sheep," of "tilling
+the ground," and "making an offering to God," &c. is prepared to hear or
+to read an abridgement of the story of Cain and Abel. We say _an
+abridgement_ or _first step_, for reasons which shall afterwards be
+explained. Without a previous knowledge of these several elements of
+which this story is compounded, he could neither have listened to it
+with pleasure, nor read it with any degree of profit; but as soon as
+these are individually familiar, the grouping,--the knowledge of the
+whole story,--is a matter of ease, and generally of delight. As the
+story advances, it causes a constant and regular series of groupings on
+the mind by the imagination, which are at once exquisitely pleasing and
+permanent. The child, as in a living and moving picture, imagines a man
+laboriously digging the ground, and another man in a distant field
+placidly engaged in attending to the wants and the safety of a flock of
+sheep. He imagines the former heaping an altar with fruits and without
+fire; and the latter killing a lamb, laying its parts on an altar, while
+a stream of fire descends from the skies and consumes it. His
+imagination goes on with increasing interest to picture the
+quarrel-scene in the field; and he in effect sees the blow given by the
+club of Cain, that destroyed the life of his brother. All this living
+and moving scene will be remembered in groups; and these groups will be
+more or less closely linked together, and will be imagined more or less
+distinctly as a whole, in proportion to the mental advancement of the
+particular child.
+
+The next thing to be attended to in communicating knowledge to a child
+by grouping, is, that no strange for unknown object or idea be
+introduced among those which he is called upon to group; because in that
+case, the operation will be materially interfered with, and either
+marred or destroyed. The completeness of this operation in the hands of
+Nature, depends in a great measure, as we have seen, upon the perfect
+composure and self-possession of the mind during the process. If there
+be no interruption,--no element of distraction introduced into the
+exercise,--all the circumstances, as they arise in the gradual
+developement of the story, are comprehended and grouped. The living and
+moving picture is permanently fixed upon the memory, so that it may be
+recalled and reviewed at any future time. But if, on the contrary, the
+placidity of the mind be interrupted,--if some strange and unknown
+object be introduced, whose agency is really necessary for connecting
+the several parts of the story,--the very attempt of the child to
+become individually acquainted with it, throws the whole process into
+confusion; and he has either to drop the contemplation of this necessary
+part of the machinery, or to lose the benefit of all that is detailed
+during the time he is engaged with it. In either case the end is not
+gained; and the great design aimed at by the teacher,--the communication
+of the knowledge connected with the narrative,--is more or less
+frustrated. Like the landscape pictured on the placid bosom of the lake,
+the formation and contemplation of his own undisturbed imaginings are
+delightful to the child; but the introduction of an unknown object, like
+the dropping of a stone in the former case, produces confusion and
+distortion, which are always unpleasant and painful.
+
+One general reason why the introduction of unknown objects into these
+groupings of the child is so pernicious, may also be here adverted to.
+It arises from the circumstance, that no person, whether young or old,
+can form, even in his imagination, the idea of an entirely new thing.
+This is commonly illustrated by the well known fact, that it is
+impossible to conceive of a new sense;--but it is equally applicable to
+the conception of a new object. Adults can no doubt conceive and picture
+on their imaginations, objects and scenes which they never saw;--but
+this mental act is not the imagining of an entirely new thing. All such
+scenes or things are compounded of objects, or parts of objects, which
+they have seen, and with which they are familiar. They can readily
+picture to themselves a centaur or a cerberus, a mermaid or a
+dragon,--creatures which have no existence, and which never did exist;
+but a little reflection will shew, that nothing which the mind conceives
+of these supposed animals is really new, but is merely a new combination
+of elements, or parts of other animals, already familiar. Children
+accordingly can easily conceive the idea of a giant or a dwarf, a woman
+without a head, or a man with two, because the elements of which these
+anomalies are compounded are individually familiar to them;--but were
+they told of a person sitting in a howdah, or being conveyed in a
+palanquin, without having these objects previously explained or
+described to them, the mind would either be drawn from the story to find
+out what these meant, and thus they would lose it; or they would, on the
+spur of the moment, substitute in their minds something else which
+perhaps had no likeness to them, and which would lead them into serious
+error. For example, they might suppose that the one was a house, and the
+other a ship;--a supposition which would distort the whole narrative,
+and would render many of its parts inconsistent and incomprehensible.
+
+As adults then, in every similar case, are under the necessity of
+drawing materials from their general knowledge, for the purpose of
+compounding all such unknown objects, it must be much more difficult for
+a child to do this, not only because of his want of ability, but his
+want of materials. The remedy therefore in this case is, to explain and
+describe the objects that are to be grouped, before the pupil be called
+upon to do so. And when the object has not been seen by the child, and
+cannot be exhibited by a picture, or otherwise, the teacher must exert
+his ingenuity in enabling him to form an idea of the thing that is
+unknown, by a combination of parts of objects which are. Thus a tiger
+may be described as resembling a large cat; a wolf, a fox, or even a
+lion, as resembling certain kinds of dogs; a howdah as a smaller sofa,
+and a palanquin, as a light crib. In all these cases, it is worthy of
+notice, that a mere difference of size never creates confusion;--simply
+because, by a natural law in optics, such differences are of constant
+occurrence in the experience both of children and adults. A water neut
+will convey a sufficiently correct idea of a crocodile; and the picture
+of an elephant, only one inch square, will create no difficulty, if the
+correct height be given. When these rules have been attended to, it will
+be found, that this principle in Nature has been successfully imitated;
+and the pupil, by the previous process of individuation, will be
+perfectly prepared for the delightful task of grouping the objects which
+he now knows. When he comes to these objects in the narrative, he
+conceives the idea of them accurately, and he groups them without
+effort. There is no hesitation, and no confusion in his ideas. The
+painting formed upon the mind is correct; the whole picture is united
+into one connected scene, and is permanently imprinted on the memory for
+future use.
+
+Another circumstance connected with this principle of grouping in
+children, we found to be, that when, at any time a greater number of
+objects were presented to the mind than it was able to reiterate and
+group, it silently dropt the surplus, and grouped those only which came
+within the reach of its powers; but if in any instance an attempt was
+made to _force_ the child to receive and reiterate the ideas of objects
+beyond a certain point, the mind got confused, and its powers
+weakened.--The imitation of Nature in this point is also of great
+importance in education, particularly in teaching and exercising
+children in reading. To perceive this more clearly, it will be necessary
+to make a few remarks on the nature of the art of reading.
+
+Reading is nothing more than a mechanical invention, imitative of the
+act of hearing; as writing is a mechanical mode of indicating sounds,
+and thus becomes a substitute for the art of speaking, and conveying
+ideas. But there is this material difference between reading and
+hearing, that in hearing the person giving attention is in a great
+measure passive, and may, or may not attend as he pleases. He may
+receive part of what is said, and, as prompted by Nature, he may
+silently drop all that he cannot easily reiterate. But in the act of
+reading, the person has both the active and the passive operations to
+perform. His mind, while he reads, must be actively engaged in
+decyphering the words of his book, and the ideas are, or should be, by
+this act, forced upon the observation of the mind at the same time. As
+long, therefore, as the child is required to read nothing except that
+which he understands, and to read no more, and no faster, than his mind
+can without distraction receive and reiterate the ideas which he reads,
+the act of grouping will be performed with ease, and with evident
+delight, and the powers of the mind will be healthfully and extensively
+exercised and strengthened:--But if this simple principle of Nature be
+violated, the exercise becomes irritating to the child, and most
+pernicious in its consequences. The neglect of this application of the
+principle is so common in education, that it usually escapes
+observation; but on this very account it demands from us here a more
+thorough investigation.
+
+We say then, that this principle is violated when a child is required to
+read that which it does not, and perhaps cannot understand; and also
+when he is required to read more, or to read faster, than he is able to
+reiterate the ideas in his own mind. On each of these cases we shall say
+a few words, for the purpose of warning and directing the teacher in
+applying this important principle in education.
+
+Let us then suppose a child set to read a section which he does not, and
+which there is every probability he cannot understand, and then let us
+carefully mark the consequences. The child in such a case reads the
+words in his book, which ought to convey to his mind the ideas which the
+words contain. This is the sole purpose of either hearing or reading.
+But this is not accomplished. The words are read, and the ideas are not
+perceived; but the child is required to read on. He does so; and of
+course when the first part of the subject or sentence has been beyond
+his reach, the second, which most probably hangs upon it, must be much
+more so. In this therefore he also fails; but he is still required to
+read on. Here is a practice begun, which at once defeats the very
+intention of reading, and allows the child's mind to roam upon any thing
+or every thing, while the eye is mechanically engaged with his book. The
+habit is soon formed. The child reads; but his attention is gone. He
+does not, and at length he cannot, understand by reading. This habit, as
+we formerly explained, when it is once formed, it requires great efforts
+on the part of the child to overcome. Most people when they are actively
+engaged in life, do at last overcome it; while thousands, who have
+nominally been taught to read, never can surmount the difficulties it
+involves. Many on this account, and for want of practising an art which
+they cannot profitably use, lose the art altogether.
+
+But again, let us suppose a child set to read that which he may
+understand, but which he is required to read more rapidly than allows
+him to perceive and to reiterate the ideas while reading, and let us
+mark what are the necessary consequences in such a case. The child is
+called on to read a sentence, and he does so. He understands it too. But
+the art of reading is not yet familiar, and he has to bend part of his
+attention to the decyphering of the words, as well as to the perception
+and reiteration of the ideas. This requires more time in a child to whom
+reading is not yet familiar, than to a child more advanced. But give him
+a little time, and the matter is accomplished the ideas have been
+received, and they will be reiterated, grouped, and committed to the
+keeping of the memory,--and then they will form part of his knowledge.
+But if this time be not given,--if the child, while engaged in
+collecting the ideas from the words of one sentence, be urged forward to
+the reading of another, the mental confusion formerly described
+instantly takes place. More ideas are forced upon the mind than it can
+reiterate; no group can be formed, because the elements of which it
+ought to be composed, have not yet been perceived; the imagination gets
+bewildered;--the mind is unnaturally burdened;--its faculties are
+overstretched;--the child is discouraged and irritated; the powers of
+his mind fatigued and weakened; and the whole object of the teacher is
+at once defeated, and rendered worse than useless.--In every case,
+therefore, when the child is called on to read, sufficient time should
+be given;--the teacher taking care that the main design of reading, that
+of collecting and grouping ideas, be always accomplished; and that the
+pupil reads no more at one time than he can thoroughly understand and
+retain.
+
+There is yet another circumstance connected with this process of
+grouping, which ought not to be overlooked. It refers to the order in
+which the objects to be grouped by the child are presented to his
+notice. A child under the guidance of Nature, receives and retains its
+impressions of objects in a natural and simple order. When it witnesses
+a scene, the group of objects, or actions formed and pictured on the
+mind by the imagination, is exactly as they were seen, the one
+circumstance following the other in natural and regular order. In
+telling a story therefore to a child, and more especially in composing
+lessons for them to read, this part of Nature's plan should be carefully
+studied and acted upon. The elements of which the several groupings are
+composed, or the circumstances in the narrative to be related, should be
+presented in the order in which the eye would catch them in Nature, or
+the order in which they occurred, that there may be no unnecessary
+retrogression of the mind, no confounding of ideas, no fear of losing
+the links that connect and bind together the minor groupings of the
+story. In the history of Cain and Abel, for example, the child is not to
+be required to paint upon his imagination, a deadly struggle between two
+persons of whom as yet he knows nothing; and then, retiring backwards
+in the story, be made acquainted with the circumstances connected with
+their several offerings to God; and last of all, their parentage, their
+occupations, and their characters. The minds of the young and
+inexperienced would be perplexed and bewildered by such a plan of
+proceeding; and the irregularity would most probably be the cause of
+their losing the whole story. The opposite of this plan is no doubt
+frequently adopted in works of fiction prepared for adults, and for the
+sake of effect; but every one must see that it is unnecessary in simple
+history, and is not at all adapted for the instruction of the young.
+When Nature's method is adopted, the child collects and groups the
+incidents as he proceeds, and paints, without effort, the whole living
+and moving scene on his imagination, as if he himself had stood by, and
+been an eye-witness of the original events.
+
+The ascertained benefits of these modes of imitating Nature, are
+literally innumerable; and it is happily within the power of every
+parent or teacher, in a single hour, to test them for himself. We shall
+merely advert to one or two instances which occurred in the recorded
+experiments, where their effects, in combination with the other
+principles, were conspicuous.
+
+In the experiment upon the prisoners in the County Jail of Edinburgh,
+the acquisition of their knowledge of Old Testament History, instead of
+being a burden, was to them a source of unmingled gratification. There
+were painted upon their minds the leading incidents in the history of
+the patriarchs, not only in groups, but their judgments being ripened,
+they were able to perceive them in regular connection. These pictures,
+then so pleasantly impressed on their imaginations, are likely to remain
+with them through the whole of their lives. The Report says, that "they
+were examined on their knowledge of the Book of Genesis," and "gave a
+distinct account of its prominent facts from Adam down to the
+settlement in Goshen, and shewed by their answers that these
+circumstances were understood by them in their proper nature and
+bearings."
+
+By the same means, but in less time, and to a greater extent, the same
+object was attained with the children in Aberdeen, who, though chosen
+from the schools specially on account of their want of knowledge, were,
+by only a few hours teaching, enabled, besides many other subjects of
+knowledge, to receive and retain on their minds the great leading
+circumstances that occurred from "the death of Moses downwards, to that
+of the revolt of the ten tribes in the reign of Rehoboam."
+
+In the experiment in London also, a large portion of Old Testament
+history, with much other knowledge, was acquired in a few hours by a boy
+of about nine years of age, who, previously to the commencement of the
+experiment, knew no more of God than the name;--who had no idea of a
+soul, or that he should live after death;--who "had never heard of Adam,
+Noah, or Abraham;"--"had no idea of a Saviour; knew nothing of heaven or
+hell; had never heard of Christ, and knew not whether the name belonged
+to a man or a woman." Yet this boy, in an exceedingly short time, could
+give an account of many groupings in the Old Testament history.
+
+We shall only remark, in conclusion, that if, by the proper application
+of this principle, so much knowledge may be acquired by rude and
+ignorant children, not only without effort, but in the enjoyment of
+great satisfaction; what may not be expected in ordinary circumstances,
+when the pupils are regularly trained and prepared for the purpose, and
+when all the principles employed by Nature in this great work, are made
+to unite their aids, and to work in harmony together for producing an
+enlightened and virtuous population? This may most assuredly be gained
+in an exceedingly short period of time, by a close and persevering
+imitation of Nature in these educational processes.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[17] Note O.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. VI.
+
+_On the Methods by which Nature may be imitated in Communicating
+Knowledge by Classification, or Analysis._
+
+
+In a former chapter we had occasion to notice a fourth principle brought
+into operation by Nature in the acquisition of knowledge, which is the
+principle of Classification, or Analysis; and we shall now enquire how
+this principle may be successfully imitated by the teacher for the
+furtherance of his art.
+
+There are two forms, which in a former chapter we endeavoured to trace
+out and explain, in which this principle of Analysis appears in the
+educational process of Nature. We shall here again very shortly advert
+to them, beginning with that which in education is perhaps the most
+important, but which hitherto has certainly been least attended
+to,--that of teaching connected truths by progressive steps.
+
+When we read a connected section of history for the first time, and then
+examine the state of our knowledge respecting it, we find that we have
+retained some of the ideas or truths which we read, but that we have
+lost more. When that portion which we have retained is carefully
+examined, we find that it consists chiefly of the more prominent
+features of the narrative, with perhaps here and there occasional
+groupings of isolated circumstances. We have, in fact, retained upon the
+memory, little more than the general outline,--the great frame-work of
+the history. There will be the beginning, the middle, and the end,
+containing perhaps few of the minor details, but what is retained is all
+in regular order, bound together as a continuous narrative, and,
+however meagre, the whole forms in the imagination of the reader, a
+distinct and connected whole. There is perhaps no more of the intended
+fabric of the history erected in the mind than the mere skeleton of the
+building; but this frame-work, however defective in the details, is
+complete both as to shape and size, and is a correct model of the
+finished building from top to bottom. This is the state of every
+advanced pupil's mind, after he has for the first time closed the
+reading of any portion of history or biography. If the narrative itself
+has been correct, this general outline,--this great frame-work of the
+history,--remains on his mind through life, without any material
+alteration. Additional information afterwards will assist in filling up
+the empty spaces left between the more massive materials, but it will
+neither shake, nor shift them; and even the most minute details of
+individual or family incidents, connected with the general narrative,
+while they add additional interest, and fill up or ornament different
+and separate parts, will never alter the general form of the fabric, nor
+displace any of the main pillars upon which it is supported.
+
+This is one way of illustrating this analytical process of Nature; but
+for the purposes of imitating it in education it is not perhaps the
+best. The idea of a regular analytical table of the history, formed of
+successive branches, by successive readings, is by far the most natural
+and applicable. By a first reading of a portion of history, there are
+certain great leading points established in the mind of the reader,
+which form the first branches of a regular analysis, and to some one or
+other of which parts or divisions every circumstance of a more minute
+kind connected with the history, will be found to be related. This first
+great division of the history attained by the first reading, if correct,
+will, and must, remain the same, whatever addition may afterwards be
+made to it. By a second reading, our knowledge of the leading points
+will greatly assist us in collecting and remembering many of the more
+minute circumstances embodied in them, or intimately connected with
+them; but even then, an ordinary mind, and more especially a young
+person, will not have made himself master of all the details. A third,
+and perhaps a fourth reading, will be found necessary to give him a full
+command of all the minuter circumstances recorded.[18]
+
+In endeavouring to take advantage of this principle, so extensively
+employed by Nature, it is of great importance to observe, that a certain
+definite effect is produced by each successive reading. A first reading
+establishes in the mind of the pupil a regular frame-work of the whole
+history, which it is the business of every successive reading to fill up
+and complete. There is by the first course, a separation of the whole
+subject into heads, forming the regular divisions of a first branch of
+the analysis;--the second course tends to subdivide these again into
+their several parts; and to form a second branch in this analytical
+table;--and a third course, would enable the pupil to perceive and to
+separate the parts of the narrative included in these several divisions,
+by which there would arise a third branch, all included in the second,
+and even in the first.
+
+We have here supposed, that the pupil has been engaged with the very
+same chapters in each of these several courses;--and that he read the
+same words in the first course that he read in those which followed. He
+had to read the whole, although he could retain but little. He had to
+labour the whole field for the sake of procuring plants, which could
+have been more certainly and more healthfully raised upon a square yard.
+His reading for hours has produced no more knowledge than is expressed
+by the first branch of the supposed analysis; and therefore, if the
+teacher would but analyse the subject for the child, whether it be a
+science or a history,--suppose for example, the History of Joseph,--and
+give his younger pupils no more at first than the simple _outline_ of
+the story, some very important advantages would be the result. In the
+first place, the very difficult task of keeping the volatile mind of a
+child continuously fixed to the subject during the lengthened reading of
+the whole narrative will be unnecessary;--the irritation and uneasiness
+which such a lengthened exercise must produce in a child will be
+avoided;--time will be economised, the labour of the teacher will be
+spared, and the mind of the child at the close of the exercise, instead
+of being fagged and prostrated, will be found vigorous and lively. And
+yet, with all this, the positive result will be the same. The child's
+knowledge of the subject in this latter case, will in reality be as
+extensive, and much more distinct and permanent, than in the former.
+
+Here is the first step gained; and to attain the second, a similar
+course must be pursued. Nature, who formed this first branch of the
+analytical table on the minds of the first class of the children, formed
+another and more extended branch in the minds of the second class. The
+teacher therefore has only to take each of the branches which form the
+first step, and sub-divide them into their natural heads, so as to form
+a second,--and to teach this to his children in the same manner that he
+taught them the former. By this means, the first class will now possess
+an equal degree of knowledge with those who occupied the second;--and by
+a similar process, the others would advance to the third and the fourth
+classes according to circumstances.
+
+The plan here proposed for imitating Nature by progressive steps, has
+been tried with undeviating success for many years. Its efficiency, as
+embracing the principle employed by Nature for the communication of
+knowledge, has been repeatedly subjected to the most delicate and at the
+same time the most searching experiments. By its means, in connection of
+course with the catechetical exercise by which it is wrought, very
+extraordinary effects have been produced even upon individuals whose
+minds and circumstances were greatly below the average of common
+children.
+
+In the experiment made upon the adult criminals in the County Jail of
+Edinburgh, the pupils acquired easily and permanently a thorough
+knowledge of the history contained in the Book of Genesis. "They gave a
+distinct account of its prominent facts, from Adam, down to the
+settlement in Goshen, and shewed by their answers, that these
+circumstances were understood by them, in their proper nature and
+bearings. They gave, in the next place, a connected view of the leading
+doctrines of revelation; when their answers evinced, most
+satisfactorily, that they apprehended, not merely each separate truth,
+but that they perceived its relation to others, and possessed a
+considerable knowledge of the divine system as a whole. They were also
+examined upon several sections of the New Testament; where their answers
+displayed an equally clear and accurate knowledge of the subject." These
+persons, be it observed, belonged to a class of individuals, who are
+generally considered to be peculiarly hostile to the reception of
+information of this kind, and certainly who are least able to comprehend
+and retain it; and all this, besides other portions of knowledge, on
+which they were examined during the experiment, was communicated with
+ease by about twenty hours teaching.
+
+By the experiment made at Aberdeen, upon children the most ignorant that
+the Committee of Clergymen could find among the several schools in the
+city, it was ascertained, that after only nine or ten hours teaching,
+they had not only received a thorough knowledge of "several sections of
+New Testament History," but that they had acquired a knowledge of all
+the leading events included in the Old Testament History, from "the
+death of Moses, downwards to that of the revolt of the Ten Tribes in the
+reign of Rehoboam. Here they distinctly stated and described all the
+leading circumstances of the narrative comprised in the 'First Step,'
+whose brief but comprehensive outline they appeared, in various
+instances, to have filled up at home, by reading in their Bibles the
+corresponding chapters."
+
+The efficiency of this form of analytical teaching, as exhibited in
+successive steps, when employed for the purpose of teaching a knowledge
+of civil history and biography, was also proved with equal
+certainty;--for these same children showed a thorough knowledge of that
+portion of the History of England embraced by the reign of Charles I.
+and the Commonwealth; and in biography, the life of the late John Newton
+having been employed for the purpose, they shewed such an acquaintance
+with the leading facts, and the uses to be made of them, that the
+reverend gentlemen in this report of the experiment say, that the
+children had "to be restrained, as the time would not permit."
+
+In teaching the sciences, particularly the science of natural
+philosophy, this method of employing the principle of analysis has been
+found equally successful. Nature indeed, by the regular division of her
+several works, has obviously pointed this out as the proper method of
+proceeding, especially with the young; and the success that has
+invariably accompanied the attempt, shews that the opinion is well
+founded.
+
+In the experiment at Aberdeen, the class of children, who were specially
+selected from their companions on account of their ignorance only a few
+days before, were "interrogated, scientifically, as to the production,
+the nature, and the properties of several familiar objects, with the
+view of shewing how admirably calculated the Lesson System is, for
+furnishing the young with a knowledge of natural science and of the
+arts. One of their little companions being raised before them on a
+bench, they described every part of his dress, from the bonnet
+downwards, detailing every process and stage of the manufacture. The
+bonnet, which was put on his head for this purpose, the coat, the
+silk-handkerchief, the cotton vest, were all traced respectively from
+the sheep, the egg of the silk-worm, and the cotton-pod. The buttons,
+which were of brass, were stated to be a composition of copper and zinc,
+which were separately and scientifically described, with the reasons
+assigned, (as good as could be given,) for their admixture, in the
+composition of brass." "A lady's parasol, and a gentleman's watch were
+described in the same manner. The ivory knob, the brass crampet, the
+bamboo, the whalebone, the silk, were no sooner adverted to, than they
+were scientifically described. When their attention was called to the
+seals of the gentleman's watch, they immediately said, 'These are of
+pure, and those of jeweller's gold,' and described the difference. The
+steel ring was traced to the iron-stone in the mine, with a description
+of the mode of separating the metal from its combinations. The processes
+requisite for the preparation of wrought-iron from the cast-iron, and of
+steel from the wrought-iron, with the distinguishing properties of each
+of these metals, were accurately described, and some practical lessons
+drawn from these properties; such as, that a knife ought never to be put
+into the fire, and that a razor should be dipped in warm water previous
+to its being used. Various articles were collected from individuals in
+the meeting, and successively presented to them, all of which they
+described. India-rubber, cork, sponge, pocket combs, &c. A small pocket
+thermometer, with its tube and its mercury, its principles and use, and
+even the Turkey-leather on the cover, were all fully described. After
+explaining the nature and properties of coal-gas, one of the boys
+stated to the meeting, that since the commencement of this experiment,
+he had himself attempted, and succeeded in making gas-light by means of
+a tobacco-pipe;--his method of doing which he also described."
+
+The other form in which the principle of Analysis may, in imitation of
+Nature, be successfully employed in communicating knowledge to the
+young, is not to be considered as new, although the working of the
+principle may not have been very clearly perceived, or systematically
+regulated. It is seen most simply perhaps in the division of any
+subject,--a sermon for example--into its great general heads; and then
+endeavouring to illustrate these, by sub-dividing each into its several
+particulars. By this means the whole subject is bound together, the
+judgment is healthfully exercised, and the memory is greatly assisted in
+making use of the information communicated.
+
+It is upon this plan that the several discourses and speeches in the
+Acts of the Apostles have been analysed, as an introduction to the
+teaching of the epistles to the young.[19] Upon the same principle
+depends the success of the "Analysis of Prayer," of which we shall
+afterwards have to speak; and it is by means of this principle, in
+connection with the successive steps, that the several departments of
+natural philosophy are proposed to be taught.
+
+The efficiency of the principle in this form, as applied to the teaching
+of natural philosophy to mere school boys, has been ascertained by
+numerous experiments, of which the one in Aberdeen, already alluded to,
+has afforded good evidence. But the experiment conducted in Newry, on
+account of several concurrent circumstances, is still more remarkable
+and appropriate, and to it therefore we propose briefly to refer.
+
+"In the year 1830, the writer, in passing through the town of Newry on
+his way to Dublin, was waited upon by several Sunday school teachers,
+and was requested to afford them some information as to teaching their
+schools, and for that purpose to hold a meeting with them and their
+fellow teachers, before leaving the place. To this he readily agreed;
+but as he intended to go to Dublin by the coach, which passed through
+Newry in the afternoon, the meeting had to take place that same day at
+two o'clock. At that meeting, the Earl of Kilmorey and a party of his
+friends were very unexpectedly present; and they, after the business of
+the meeting was over, joined with the others in requesting him to
+postpone his departure, and to hold a public meeting on the following
+Tuesday, of which due intimation would be given, and many teachers in
+the neighbourhood, who must otherwise be greatly disappointed, would be
+able to attend." To this request, accordingly, he at once acceded.
+
+"In visiting the schools next day, the propriety of preparing a class or
+two of children for the public meeting was suggested and approved of;
+and the day-teacher being applied to, gave Mr Gall a list of six of his
+boys for the purpose. With these children he met on Monday; and after
+instructing them in the doctrines of the Gospel, and teaching them how
+to draw lessons from Scripture, he began to teach them some parts of
+natural philosophy, and to draw lessons also from these. Their aptness,
+and eagerness to learn, suggested the idea of selecting one of the
+sciences, and confining their attention principally to it, for the
+purpose of ascertaining how much of the really useful parts of it they
+could acquire and learn to use, in the short space of time which must
+intervene between that period and the hour of meeting. Considering what
+would be most useful and interesting, rather than what would be most
+easy, he hastily fixed on the science of anatomy and physiology, and
+resolved to mark the time during which they were engaged with him in
+learning it. These lessons were altogether oral and catechetical,--as
+neither he nor the children at that time had any books to assist them in
+their labours.
+
+"The method adopted by Mr Gall in communicating a knowledge of this
+important and difficult science to these school-boys, was strictly
+analytical;--classifying and connecting every part of his subject, and
+bringing out the several branches of the analysis in natural order, so
+that the connection of all the parts was easily seen, and of course well
+remembered. An illustration of his method may induce some parents to try
+it themselves.
+
+"He first directed their attention to the bones, and taught them in a
+few words their nature and uses, as the pillars and safeguards of the
+body;--the shank, the joint, and the ligaments, forming the branches of
+this part of the analysis. He then led them to imagine these bones
+clothed with the fleshy parts, or muscles, of which the mass, the
+ligaments, and the sinews, formed the branches. He explained the nature
+of their contraction; and shewed them, that the muscles being fastened
+at one end by the ligament to a bone, its contraction pulled the sinew
+at the other, and thus bent the joint which lay between them.--He then
+taught them the nature and uses of the several viscera, which occupy the
+chest and belly, and their connection with each other. This prepared the
+way for considering the nature of the fluids of the body, particularly
+the blood, and its circulation from the heart and lungs by the arteries,
+and to them again by the veins, with the pulsation of the one, and the
+valves of the other. The passage of the blood through the lungs, and the
+uses of the air-cells and blood-vessels in that organ were described;
+when the boys, (having previously had a lesson on the nature of water,
+atmospheric air, and the gases,) readily understood the importance of
+bringing the oxygen into contact with the blood, for its renovation
+from the venous to the arterial state. The nature of the stomach and of
+digestion, of the intestines, lacteals, and absorbents, was next
+explained, more in regard to their nature than their names,--which last
+were most difficult to remember;--but the knowledge of the function,
+invariably assisted the memory in recalling the name of the organ. They
+were next made acquainted with the brain, the spinal cord, and the
+nervous system generally, as the source of motion in the muscles, and
+the medium of sensation in conveying intelligence from the several
+organs of sense to the brain, by which alone the soul, in some way
+unknown, receives intelligence of outward objects. This prepared the way
+for an account of the organs of sense, and the mechanism of their parts;
+and lastly, they were made acquainted with the integuments, skin, hair,
+and nails, with the most obvious of their peculiarities.--On all these
+they were assiduously and repeatedly catechised, till the truths were
+not only understood, but were in some degree familiar to them. In this
+they were greatly assisted by a consideration of their own bodies; which
+Mr Gall took care to make a kind of text-book, not only for making him
+better understood, but for enabling them more easily and permanently to
+remember what he told them. When he shewed them, by their hands, feet,
+and face, the ramifications of the blood-vessels and nerves,--the
+mechanism of the joints,--the contraction of the various muscles,--the
+situation and particular uses of which he himself did not even know, but
+which were nevertheless moved at their own will, and whenever they
+pleased,--the young anatomists were greatly pleased and astonished; and
+this added to their eagerness for farther information, and to their zeal
+in shewing that they understood, and were able again to communicate it.
+
+"These preparatory meetings were never protracted to any great extent,
+as the whole time was divided into three or four portions,--the boys
+being dismissed to think over the subject, (for they had nothing to
+read,) and to meet again at a certain hour. The watch was again
+produced, and the time marked; and when the whole period occupied by
+this science and its connections was added together, it amounted to two
+hours and a half exactly. One of these lessons, and the longest, was
+given during a stroll in the fields.
+
+"The public meeting of parents and teachers was held at Newry on the 5th
+of October 1830, when the above class, with others, were examined on the
+religious knowledge which had been communicated to them on the previous
+days, with its lessons and uses; after which the six boys were taken by
+themselves, and thoroughly and searchingly catechised on their knowledge
+of the anatomy and physiology of the human body. They were examined
+first on the nature and uses of the bones, their shapes, substance,
+joints, and ligaments. Then on the nature and offices of the muscles,
+with their blood-vessels, nerves, ligaments, sinews, and motions;--the
+uses of the several viscera;--the heart with its pulsations, its power,
+its ventricles and auricles, and their several uses;--the lungs, with
+their air-cells, blood-vessels, and their use in arterializing the
+blood;--the stomach, intestines, &c. with their peristaltic motions,
+lacteals, &c.;--the brain, spinal cord, and nerves, with their
+connections, ramifications, and uses;--the senses, with their several
+organs, their mechanism, and their manner of acting. On all these they
+were questioned, and cross-questioned, in every variety of form: And
+that the audience might be satisfied that this was not a mere catalogue
+of names, but that in fact the physiology of the several parts was
+really known, and would be remembered, even if the names of the organs
+should be forgotten, they were made repeatedly to traverse the
+connecting links of the analysis forward from the root, through its
+several branches, to the extreme limit in the ultimate effect; and, at
+other times backward, from the ultimate effect to the primitive organ,
+or part of the body from which it took its origin. For example, they
+could readily trace forward the movement of the arm joint, or any other
+joint, from the ligament of the muscle at its junction with the bone,
+through its contraction by the nerve at the fiat of the will, by which
+the sinew of the muscle, fastened at the opposite side of the joint, is
+pulled, and the joint bent;--or they could trace backward any of the
+operations of the senses,--the sight, for example, from the object seen,
+through the coats of the eye, to the inverted picture of it formed upon
+the retina, which communicated the sensation to the optic nerve, by
+which it was conveyed to the brain. In all which they invariably
+succeeded, and shewed that the whole was clearly and connectedly
+understood.
+
+"When this had been minutely and extensively done on the several parts
+of the body, some medical gentlemen who were present were requested to
+catechise them on any of the topics they had learnt, for the purpose of
+assuring themselves and the audience that the children really and
+familiarly understood all that they had been catechised upon. One of the
+medical gentlemen, for himself and the others present, then stated
+publicly to the meeting, that the extent of the children's knowledge of
+this difficult science was beyond any thing that they could have
+conceived. And afterwards affirmed, that he had seen students who had
+attended the medical classes for six months, who did not know so much of
+the human body as these children now did."
+
+This experiment became more remarkable from a circumstance which took
+place within a few days afterwards, and which tended still more strongly
+to prove the permanence and efficiency of this method of imitating
+Nature; shewing, not only that truth when communicated as Nature
+directs, is easily received, and permanently retained upon the memory,
+but that all such truths when thus communicated, become more and more
+familiar to the mind, and more decidedly under the controul, and at the
+command of the will. The circumstance is thus recorded in the account of
+the experiment[20] from which we have already quoted.
+
+"At the close of the meeting, Mr Gall took farewell of his young
+friends, not expecting to have the pleasure of seeing them again; and
+(after a promised visit to Ravenstile,) he proceeded on the following
+Thursday to Rostrevor, where he found a numerous audience, (publicly
+called together by Lady Lifford, the Rev. Mr Jacobs, and others, to
+receive him,) already assembled.
+
+"Here, in the course of teaching a class of children brought to him for
+the first time, and explaining the nature and capabilities of the
+system, reference was made to the above experiment only a few days
+before in their neighbourhood at Newry. Two gentlemen,[21] officially
+and intimately connected with the Kildare Place Society of Dublin, being
+accidentally present, were at their own desire introduced to Mr Gall by
+a clerical friend after the close of the exercises. The circumstances of
+the Newry experiment, which had been mentioned during the meeting, were
+strongly doubted, till affirmed by the clerical friend who introduced
+them; who, having been present and witnessed it, assured them that the
+circumstances connected with the event had not been exaggerated. They
+then stated, that it must of necessity have been a mere transient
+glimpse received of the science by the children; which, being easily
+got, would be as easily lost; and that its evanescent nature would
+without all question be found, by their almost immediately having
+forgotten the whole of what had been told them. Mr Gall, however,
+assured them, that so far from that being the case, he was convinced,
+from long experience, that the information communicated would be much
+more lasting than that received in any other way. That the impressions,
+so repeatedly made upon their minds by the _catechetical exercises_,
+would remain with them very likely through life; while the effect of the
+_analytical mode_, by which he had linked the whole together, would
+prevent any of the important branches from ever being separated from the
+rest. If, therefore, they remembered any of the truths, they would most
+probably remember all. And besides, he shewed, that the daily use, in
+the ordinary business of life, which they would find for the lessons
+from the truths taught, would revive part, and perhaps the whole, upon
+their memories every day. But as it was of importance that they should
+be satisfied, and to set the matter at rest, he agreed _to call the boys
+unexpectedly together_ at another public meeting in Newry, where they
+might be present and judge for themselves; and without seeing or talking
+with the boys, he would examine them again publicly, and as extensively
+as before; when he was convinced they would shew, that the whole was as
+fresh on their memories as when they at first received it. In short,
+that they would be able to undergo the most searching ordeal, with
+equal, if not greater ease, than they had done formerly.
+
+"This was accordingly done. A meeting took place next day, equally
+respectable, and perhaps more numerous than the former, to which the
+boys were brought from their school, without preparation, or knowing
+what they were to be asked. They were then more fully and searchingly
+examined than at first; and there being more time, they were much longer
+under the exercise. It was then found, that the information formerly
+communicated was not only remembered, but that the several truths were
+much more familiar, in themselves and in their connection with each
+other, than they had been at the former meeting. This had evidently
+arisen from their own frequent meditations upon them since that time,
+and their application of the several lessons, either with one another,
+their parents, or themselves. The medical gentlemen were again present,
+and professed themselves equally pleased."
+
+From the number and variety of these facts, which might be indefinitely
+extended, it is obvious, that a new path lies open to the Educationist,
+which, as yet, has been scarcely entered upon. The same amount of
+success is at the command of every teacher who will follow in the same
+course, and keep rigidly in the path pointed out to him by Nature.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[18] Note P.
+
+[19] Note Q.
+
+[20] Complete Directory for Sunday School Teachers, vol. i. p. 267, and
+Effects of the Lesson System, p. 37.
+
+[21] Counsellor Jackson, M. P. Secretary to the Kildare Place Society,
+and Mr Hamilton, brother-in-law to the Duke of Wellington, one of the
+Committee.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. VII.
+
+_On the Imitation of Nature in Teaching the Practical Use of Knowledge._
+
+
+The third step in the educational process of Nature we have found to be,
+the training of her pupil to the practical use of his knowledge.--All
+her other processes, we have seen from numerous circumstances, are
+merely preparatory and subservient to this; and therefore, the attempt
+at imitation here by the teacher is of corresponding importance. The
+practical application of knowledge must be the great end of all the
+pupil's learning; and the parent or teacher should conduct his exercises
+and labours in such a manner as shall be most likely to attain it. The
+powers of the mind are to be cultivated;--but they are to be cultivated
+chiefly that the pupil may be able to collect and make use of his
+knowledge:--And knowledge is to be pursued and stored up;--but this is
+to be done that it may remain at his command, and be readily put to use
+when it is required. To suppose any thing else, is to suppose something
+directly opposed to all the indications of Nature, and to the plainest
+suggestions both of reason and experience.
+
+If in this department then, the teacher is to imitate Nature with
+effect, there are two preliminary objects of which he ought never to
+lose sight. The first is, that he studiously select from the numerous
+subjects which may form the staple of education, those only, or at least
+chiefly, which are to be most useful, and which may most easily and most
+frequently be put to use by the pupil;--and the second is, that whatever
+be the truth or the subject taught, the child should, at the time of
+learning, be instructed in the methods and the circumstances in which it
+may be used. To neglect these preliminary points, is really to betray
+the cause of education, and, besides inflicting a lasting injury on the
+young, to deceive the public.
+
+In our enquiries into Nature's method of applying knowledge, we found,
+in a former chapter, that she employs two distinct agencies in the work.
+The one we denominated the Natural, or Common Sense; and the other is
+the Conscience, or Moral Sense:--the one appearing to regulate our
+knowledge in so far as it refers to the promotion of our own personal
+and physical comforts; and the other, in so far as it refers to the
+rights and the well-being of others, and to our own moral good. The
+method which she employs in working out these two principles, is, as we
+before explained, very nearly the same; consisting of the perception of
+some useful truth,--the deduction of a lesson from that truth,--and the
+application of that lesson to corresponding circumstances. On that
+account, our attempts to imitate her operations as exhibited by the one,
+will, in form, be nearly the same as in the other. We shall here,
+therefore, attend to the methods by which Nature may be successfully
+imitated under both agencies, and shall then state a few illustrations
+and facts which are more peculiarly applicable to each in particular.
+
+Before doing this, however, we cannot help once more pressing upon the
+mind of all connected with education, the great importance--the
+necessity--of that part of the subject upon which we are now to enter.
+We have said, and we again repeat, that _this_ is education; and every
+thing else taught to a child is, or ought to be, either preliminary or
+supplementary;--_belonging_ to education, perhaps, but not education
+itself. It is _practice_, and not _theory_, that constitutes the basis
+of all improvement, whether in the arts, or in morals and religion; and
+it is to this practical application of what he learns, that every child
+should be trained, by whatever name the mode of doing so may be known.
+All our blessings are destined to come to us by the use of proper means;
+and this general principle applies both to temporal and spiritual
+matters. Now "the use of means," is only another mode of expressing "the
+practical application of knowledge." And if so, what are we to think of
+the philosophy or the candour of the person, who is apparently the
+friend of education, but who remains indifferent or hostile to the thing
+itself, merely because it is presented to him under another name. He may
+be a zealous advocate for the spread of knowledge;--but that is not
+education.--Knowledge is but the _means_,--the application of it is the
+_end_; and when therefore he stops short at the communication of
+knowledge, while he is indifferent to the teaching of its use, he
+endangers the whole of his previous labour. One single truth put to use,
+is of more real value to a child than a thousand are, as long as they
+remain unused; and of this, every friend of the young ought to be
+convinced. Our health, our food, and our general happiness depend, not
+on knowledge _received_, but on knowledge _applied_; and therefore, to
+teach knowledge that is inapplicable or useless, or to teach useful
+knowledge without teaching at the same time how it may be put to use by
+the pupil, is neither reasonable nor just. Hence the importance of our
+present investigation; and hence we have no hesitation in saying, that
+the enquiry, "How can Nature be most successfully imitated in her
+application of knowledge?" is the most momentous question that can be
+put by the teacher; and a successful answer will constitute the most
+precious boon that can be afforded to education. To assist in this
+enquiry is the design of the present chapter; and we shall accordingly
+examine a little more in detail the circumstances that take place in the
+experience of the young, when they are induced to apply their knowledge
+under the guidance of Nature, and without another teacher.
+
+For this purpose, let us suppose two children about to cross a piece of
+soft ground. The one goes forward, and his foot sinks in the mud. Does
+the other follow him? No indeed. The most stupid child we could find, if
+within the limits of sanity, would immediately stand still, or seek a
+passage at another point. Here then is an example of the way in which
+children, while entirely under the guidance of Nature, make use of their
+knowledge, by applying the principle of which we are here speaking in
+cases of urgency and danger; and we shall now endeavour to analyse the
+process, that we may the more readily arrive at some exercise, by which
+it may be artificially imitated, whether the application be urgent and
+required at the moment or not.
+
+We have supposed one child going forward on the soft ground, while the
+other is slowly following him. When the foot of the first sinks, the
+other instantly stands still; and a spectator can perceive, better
+perhaps than the child himself, that something like the following mental
+process takes place on the occasion. The child thinks with himself,
+"Tom's foot has sunk; if I go forward, I also will sink; I will
+therefore stand still, or cross at another place." This is an exact
+parallel to thousands of similar instances which come under the notice
+of parents and others every day; and is a process quite familiar to
+adults who have paid any attention to the operation of their own minds
+when similarly circumstanced. When it is analysed, we find it to
+consist, as shewn in a former chapter, of three distinct parts, not one
+of which can be left out if the effect is to be produced. There is
+always, at the commencement of such an operation, the knowledge of some
+fact; "Tom's foot has sunk." There is, secondly, an inference or lesson
+drawn from this knowledge, "If I go forward, I also will sink." And
+there is, thirdly, the practical application of that lesson, or
+inference, to the child's present circumstances: "I will stand still, or
+cross at another place."
+
+It is this process, or one in every point similar, that takes place in
+the mind, either of the young or the old, whenever they apply the facts
+gleaned by observation or experience for the guidance of their conduct.
+Now what we are at present in search of, is an exercise applicable to
+_reading_, as well as to observation;--to the _school_, as well as to
+the play ground or the parlour;--and to knowledge whose use may not be
+required at the instant, as well as that to which we are driven by
+necessity.
+
+The desideratum here desired is to be found by the teacher in the
+method, now very extensively known, of drawing lessons from useful
+truths, and then applying them to the future probable circumstances of
+the pupils. For example, when a child reads, or is told that Jacob was
+punished by God for cheating his brother and telling a lie, the great
+object of the parent or teacher is to render these truths
+_practical_,--which the question, "What does that teach you?" never
+fails to do. The child, as soon as he knows the design of his teacher in
+communicating practical truths, and is asked the above question, will
+tell him, that he ought never to cheat his neighbour, or tell a lie. The
+application of these lessons, when thus established as a rule of duty
+founded on Scripture, is as extensive as the circumstances in which they
+may be required are various;--and the teacher has only to suppose such
+a case, and to ask his pupil, if he were placed in these circumstances,
+what he should do. The dullest of his children will at once perceive the
+duty, and the source from which he derives confidence in performing it.
+
+There is no difficulty, as we have seen, in drawing and applying
+practical lessons in cases of urgency, where experience and the common
+sense of the individual prompt him to it;--and this attempt to imitate
+Nature in less urgent cases, and especially in hearing, or in the more
+artificial operation of reading, has been found in experience to be
+completely successful. We shall endeavour to point this out by a few
+familiar examples.
+
+Let us for this purpose suppose, that one of the boys formerly mentioned
+is accompanied by his teacher, instead of his companion, and is
+approaching the soft ground which lies between them and the house.
+Before they arrive at the spot, his teacher tells him, that the marsh
+before them is so soft that even a child's foot would sink if he
+attempted to tread upon it. The boy might hear, and perfectly understand
+the truth, and yet he might not at the time think of the use to which it
+ought to be put. But if the teacher shall immediately add, "What does
+that teach you?"--his attention would instantly be called, not so much
+to the truth itself, as to the uses which ought to be made of it, and
+his answer in such a plain case would be ready, "We must not cross
+there, but seek a road to the house by some other way." Now here the
+fact was verbally communicated; and although the object was in sight,
+and the use of the fact might in some measure have been anticipated so
+as to suggest the answer, yet a little consideration will shew, that a
+similar effect would have been produced by the question, had the parties
+been in the house, or had the truth been derived from reading, and not
+from the oral communication of the teacher.
+
+It is the want of something like this in the acquisition of truth by
+books, which renders that kind of knowledge in general of so little
+practical benefit. The truths and facts learned while attending school,
+are too often received as mere abstractions, without reference to their
+uses, or to the personal application of those uses to the circumstances
+of the child or his companions. Events daily occur in which the pupil's
+knowledge might be of important service;--but the benefits to be derived
+from it not having been taught, and the method of applying the facts
+which he has acquired by reading not having been explained,--the
+knowledge and its uses are seldom seen together, and the practical
+benefit of the teaching is accordingly lost. This at once accounts for
+the very remarkable circumstance, that children, and not unfrequently
+adults also, derive far more benefit from the scanty knowledge which
+they have gleaned by observation and experience, than from the many
+thousands of highly useful facts which have again and again been pressed
+upon their notice by reading and study. In almost every case Nature
+prompts us, as we have seen, to turn to our own benefit the knowledge
+which she has imparted; but as the mode of teaching reading, which is
+the _artificial_ method of acquiring information, often overlooks the
+use we are to make of it, we remain satisfied with the knowledge itself,
+and do not think of its application. To illustrate this fact in some
+measure, let us suppose a basket of filberts set down for the use of a
+company of boys, and that one of them tries to crack the shells with his
+front teeth. He fails. But he sees his companions put the nuts farther
+back in the mouth, and succeed. Does he lose his share, by continuing to
+misapply the lever-power provided for him by Nature?--No indeed. He, by
+a single observation, at once draws and applies the lesson;--he
+immediately cracks his nuts as readily as his companions, and he
+continues to do so all his lifetime after. But the same boy may have,
+that very forenoon, been reading a treatise on the power of the lever,
+and might read it again and again without considering himself at all
+interested in the matter, or thinking it probable that he ever would.
+His reading, without the application we are here recommending, would
+never have led him to perceive the slightest similarity between the
+fulcrum of the lever, and the insertion of his jaw; or any connection
+between the lesson of the school, and the employment of the
+parlour:--But that would.
+
+This is but one of a thousand examples that might be given, of the evils
+arising from the non-application of knowledge in reading, and which are
+applicable, not to children merely, but also to adults. The drawing and
+applying of lessons, the exercise which we are here recommending, has
+been found a valuable remedy for this defect in ordinary reading. The
+object of the teacher by its use, is to accomplish in the pupil by
+_reading_, what we have shewn Nature so frequently does by
+_observation_;--that is, to train the child to apply for his own use, or
+the use of others, those truths which he acquires from his _book_, in
+the same way that he does those which he derives from _experience_. To
+illustrate this, we shall instance a few cases of every day occurrence,
+in which the question, "What does this teach you?" when supplemented to
+the fact communicated, will almost invariably answer the purpose
+desired, whether the truth from which the lesson is to be drawn, has
+been received by observation, by oral instruction, or by reading.
+
+When an observing well-disposed child sees a school-fellow praised and
+rewarded for being obliging and kind to the aged or the poor, there is
+formed in the mind of that child, more or less distinctly, a resolution
+to follow the example on the first opportunity. Here is the fact and the
+lesson, with the application in prospect. This whole feeling may be
+faint and evanescent, but it is real; and it only wants the cultivating
+hand of the teacher to arrest it, and to render it permanent.
+Accordingly, if on the child hearing the praise given to his companion
+for being kind and obliging to the poor, he had at the time been asked,
+"What does that teach you?" the lesson suggested by Nature would
+instantly have assumed a tangible form; and in communicating the answer
+to the teacher, both the truth and the lesson would have been brought
+more distinctly before the mind, and the reply, "I should be kind and
+obliging to the poor," would tend to fix the duty on the memory, and
+would be a good preparation for putting it in practice when the next
+occasion should occur.
+
+Again, if another thoughtful and well disposed child sees a companion
+severely punished for telling a lie, the question, "What does that teach
+me?" is in some shape or degree formed in his mind, and his resolution,
+however faint, is taken to avoid that sin in future. This, it is
+obvious, is nothing more than a practical answer to the above question,
+forced upon the child by the directness of the circumstances, but which
+would not have so readily made its appearance, or produced its effect,
+in cases of a less obtrusive kind, or in one of more remote application;
+and every person must see, that the beneficial effects desired would
+have been more definite, more effectual, and much more permanent, had
+this faint indication of Nature's intention been followed up by orally
+asking the question at the child, and requiring him audibly to return an
+answer.
+
+Let us once more suppose a child in the act of reading the history of
+Cain and Abel, in the manner in which it is commonly read by the young,
+and that the child thoroughly understands all the circumstances. He may
+be deeply interested in the story, while the uses to be made of it may
+not be very clearly perceived. But if, after reading any one of the
+moral circumstances, such as "Cain hated his brother," or after having
+it announced to him by the teacher, he was asked, "What does that teach
+you?" the practical use of the truth would at once be forced upon his
+mind, and he would now very readily answer, "It teaches me that I should
+not hate my brother." In this case also, it is quite obvious, that
+without such a question having been proposed, and the answer to it
+given, the practical uses of the truth recorded might have been
+altogether overlooked; and even although they had not, still the
+question and its answer will always have the effect of making them stand
+out much more prominently before the mind, and will enable the memory to
+hold them more tenaciously, and bring them forth more readily for
+practice, than if such an operation had been neglected. Hence the great
+importance of training the young by this exercise early to perceive the
+uses of every kind of knowledge, particularly Scriptural knowledge;
+because the habit formed in youth, will continue to render every useful
+truth of practical benefit during life.
+
+We may remark here, that the exercise is not limited in its application
+to the young. For if an adult were first told, that the squalid beggar
+before him, though once respectable and rich, had made himself wretched
+by a course of idleness and dissipation, and were then asked, "What does
+that teach you?" he would instantly perceive the lesson, and would be
+stimulated to apply it. When, in like manner, the farmer is told that
+his neighbour has ruined himself by over-cropping his ground; or the
+iron master, that the use of the hot-blast has doubled the profits of
+his rival; a similar question would at once lead to the legitimate
+conclusion, and most likely to the proper conduct.
+
+In all these examples, the operation of mind which we have endeavoured
+to describe, is so exceedingly simple, that it is perhaps difficult to
+decide how much is the work of Nature, and how much belongs to the
+exercise here recommended. This at once proves its efficiency, as an
+imitation of her process, in following her in the path which she has
+here pointed out; and it at the same time recommends itself as strictly
+accordant with observation and experience. The teacher then, in order to
+render the knowledge he communicates useful, has only to do regularly
+and by system, that which, under the direction of Nature, every
+intelligent and enquiring mind in its best moments does for itself.
+Wherever a useful truth has been communicated in the school or family,
+or a moral act or precept has been read or announced, the question by
+the parent or the teacher, "What does that teach you?" will lead the
+pupil to reflection, not only on its nature, but on its use; and the
+ability to do so, as we shall afterwards see, may be acquired by almost
+any individual with ease. Regular training in this way, leads directly
+to habits of reflection and observation, which are of themselves of
+great value; but which, when found acting in connection with the desire
+and ability to turn every truth observed into a practical channel,
+become doubly estimable, and a public blessing. The pupil therefore
+ought early to be trained of himself to supplement the question, "What
+does this teach me?" or, "What can I learn from this?" to every
+circumstance or truth to which his attention is called; because the
+ability to answer it forms the chief, if not the only correct measure of
+a well educated person. In proof of this it is only necessary to remark,
+that as it is not the man who has accumulated the greatest amount of
+anatomical and surgical knowledge, but he who can make the best use of
+it, that is really the best surgeon; so it is not the man who has
+_acquired_ the largest portion of knowledge, but he who _can make the
+best use_ of the largest portion, that is the best scholar. Hence it is,
+that all the exercises in a child's education should have in view the
+practical use of what he learns, and of what he is to continue through
+life to learn, as the great end to which all his learning should be
+subservient.
+
+The moral advantages likely to result from the general adoption of this
+mode of teaching useful knowledge are exceedingly cheering, and the only
+surprise is, that it has been so long overlooked. That the principle,
+though not directly applied to the purposes of education, was well
+known, and frequently practised by our forefathers, appears obvious from
+many of their valuable writings. One beautiful example of its
+application is familiar to thousands, though not always perceived, in
+the illustration given of the Lord's prayer towards the close of the
+Assembly's Larger and Shorter Catechisms. The study of the lessons there
+drawn from the truths stated or implied in that prayer, will afford a
+better idea of the value of this mode of teaching, than perhaps any
+farther explanation we could give, and to these therefore we refer the
+reader.
+
+Before closing these general observations upon the value and necessity
+of this method of training the young to the practical use of knowledge,
+there is a circumstance which should not be omitted, as it tends to
+double all the advantages of the exercise, both to the teacher and the
+pupil. It will be found in general, especially in morals, that every
+practical lesson that is drawn from a truth or passage, actually
+embodies two,--both of which are equally legitimate and connected with
+the subject. There is always a _negative_ lesson implied, when the
+_positive_ lesson is expressed; and there is in like manner a _positive_
+implied, whenever it is the _negative_ that is expressed. As for
+example, when the child, from the history of Cain and Abel, draws the
+negative lesson that he should _not hate_ his brother; the opposite of
+that lesson is equally binding in the positive form, that he should
+_love_ his brother. And when, from the history of Job, the positive
+lesson is drawn that we ought to be patient; the negative of that lesson
+becomes equally binding, and the child may, by the very same fact, be
+taught and enjoined not to be fretful, discontented, or impatient,
+during sickness or trouble. Of this method of multiplying the practical
+uses of knowledge, we have a most appropriate example in the Assembly's
+Larger and Shorter Catechisms, where the illustrations given of the
+decalogue are conducted upon this important principle, and in a similar
+way.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. VIII.
+
+_On the Imitation of Nature in Teaching the Use of Knowledge by means of
+the Animal or Common Sense._
+
+
+A large portion of what has been advanced in the foregoing chapter, has
+reference to the practical application of all kinds of knowledge,
+whether by the Animal or Moral sense; and we shall here offer a few
+additional remarks on the teaching of those branches which are more
+immediately connected with the former.
+
+When a person is sent to learn an art or trade, such as a carpenter, he
+is not sent to hear lectures, or to get merely an abstract knowledge of
+the several truths connected with it; but he is sent to practise the
+little knowledge that he is able of himself to pick up. His is a
+practical learning; ninety-nine parts in every hundred being employed in
+the practice, for one that is employed in acquiring the abstract
+principles of his occupation. When, on the contrary, a child is sent to
+school, to prepare him for this practical application of his knowledge,
+the former proportions are generally reversed, and ninety-nine parts of
+his time and labour are taken up in attaining abstract knowledge, for
+one that is occupied in assisting him to reduce it to practice. Both
+modes of teaching the boy are obviously wrong. He would, when sent to
+it, learn his business in much less time by a previous acquaintance with
+its principles; and all these ought to have been furnished him as a
+part of his general knowledge while he attended the school. Such
+information, indeed, ought to have formed a large portion of his
+education;--and it will be a matter of surprise to every one who closely
+considers the subject, how soon and how easily the principles, even of
+so complicated a trade as a carpenter, may be acquired when they are
+taught in the right way, and at the proper time. A few of the simplest
+principles in mechanics practically learned,--a knowledge of the
+strength and adhesion of bodies,--of the nature of edge tools,--and the
+importance of accuracy and caution, might have been made familiar to him
+while attending his studies; and if carefully and constantly reduced to
+practice, these would have been of the greatest service to him when
+called to the work-shop.
+
+The methods by which natural philosophy ought to be taught in schools,
+must partake of all the laws which Nature employs in the several parts
+of her teaching. Individuation, Grouping, and especially Analysis, must
+be rigidly attended to. By dividing all the subjects of general
+knowledge into the two grand divisions of Terrestrial and Celestial, and
+these again into their several parts, the whole field of useful
+knowledge would be mapped out, and connected together, so that each
+subject would occupy a distinct place of its own, and be readily found
+when it was required. The facts, or at least the most useful facts
+connected with each of these, would very soon be communicated; and when
+turned into a popular and useful form, by drawing and applying the
+corresponding lessons, the ease and delight of laying up these precious
+stores of useful knowledge by children, will not be easily conceived by
+those who have not witnessed it.
+
+With respect to _the ease_ with which this method of communicating
+knowledge can be accomplished, we may remark in general, that when a
+principle has been explained, and has become familiar to the child, all
+the phenomena arising out of it, when pointed out, are readily perceived
+and retained upon the memory in connection with it. For example, by a
+knowledge of the principle which teaches that fluids press equally on
+all sides, when considered in connection with the weight of the
+atmosphere, a child, with very little trouble, would be put into the
+full possession of the cause of many facts in natural philosophy,
+exceedingly dissimilar in their appearance, but which are all mastered
+with ease and intelligence by a knowledge of this law. When the
+principle and its mode of working have been explained, the child is
+provided with a key, by which he may, in the exercise of his own powers,
+unlock one by one all the mysterious phenomena of the air and common
+pump, the cupping-glass, the barometer, the old steam and fire engine,
+the toy sucker and pop-gun, the walking of a fly on the ceiling, the
+ascent of smoke in the chimney, the sipping of tea from a cup, the
+sucking of a wound, and the true cause of the inspiration and expiration
+of the air in breathing. To teach these singly, would obviously be
+exceedingly troublesome to the teacher, and laborious for the child; but
+when thus linked together, as similar effects from the same cause, they
+are understood at once, and each of them helps to illustrate and explain
+all the others. They are received without confusion, and are remembered
+without difficulty. All this may in general be done even with children,
+as we shall immediately prove, by the method recommended above, of
+requiring, after the illustration of the principle, the lessons which it
+is calculated to teach.
+
+The results of this simple method of imitating Nature in one of the most
+valuable of her processes, have been found remarkably uniform and
+successful; and when it shall be regularly brought into operation in
+connection with the other parts of the system, it promises to be still
+more valuable and extensive. But even already, with all the
+disadvantages of time, place, and persons, the importance and
+efficiency of the exercise have been highly satisfactory. We shall
+shortly advert to a few instances of its success, which have been
+publicly exhibited and recorded.
+
+The criminals in the jail of Edinburgh, after three weeks teaching, had
+acquired a considerable degree of expertness in perceiving and drawing
+lessons from the moral circumstances which they read from Scripture. In
+the report of that experiment, the examinators say, "They gave a
+distinct account, (from the book of Genesis,) of the prominent facts,
+from Adam, down to the settlement in Goshen, and shewed by their
+answers, that the circumstances were understood by them, in their proper
+nature and bearings. From each peculiar circumstance, they deduced an
+appropriate lesson, calculated to guide their conduct, when placed in a
+like, or analogous situation. It is within the truth to allege, that in
+this part of their examination, they submitted upwards of fifty palpable
+lessons, that cannot fail, we would conceive, hereafter to have a
+powerful influence upon their affections and deportment."
+
+In the experiments both in Newry and London, the children were found
+quite adequate to the exercise; and in the latter instance, three
+children, who at their first lesson did not know they had a soul, were
+able to perceive and to draw lessons from almost any moral truth or fact
+presented to them. This they did repeatedly when publicly examined by
+the Committee of the London Sunday School Union, in presence of a large
+body of clergymen, and a numerous congregation in the Poultry Chapel.
+But we shall at present direct attention more particularly to the
+children selected from the several schools in Aberdeen, as given in the
+Report by Principal Jack, and the Professors and Clergymen in that
+place. After mentioning, that these children, so very ignorant only
+eight days before, had acquired a thorough acquaintance with the
+leading facts in Old Testament History, they say, "From the various
+incidents in the Sacred Record, with which they had thus been brought so
+closely into contact, they drew, as they proceeded, a variety of
+practical lessons, evincing, that they clearly perceived, not only the
+nature and qualities of the actions, whether good or evil, of the
+persons there set before them, but the use that ought to be made of such
+descriptions of character, as examples or warnings, intended for
+application to the ordinary business of life.
+
+"They were next examined, in the same way, on several sections of the
+New Testament, from which they had also learned to point out the
+practical lessons, so important and necessary for the regulation of the
+heart and life. The Meeting, as well as this Committee, were surprised
+at the minute and accurate acquaintance which they displayed with the
+multiplicity of objects presented to them,--at the great extent of the
+record over which they had travelled,--and at the facility with which
+they seemed to draw useful lessons from almost every occurrence
+mentioned in the passages which they had read."
+
+They were able also to apply this same principle,--the practical
+application of useful knowledge,--to the perusal of civil history, and
+also biography. The report states, that "they were examined on that
+portion of the History of England, embraced by the reign of Charles I.
+and the Commonwealth; and from the details of this period, they drew
+from the _same circumstances_, or announcements, political, domestic,
+and personal lessons, as these applied to a nation, to a family, and to
+individuals;--lessons which it ought be the leading design of history to
+furnish, though, both by the writers and readers of history, this
+Committee are sorry to say, they are too generally overlooked.
+
+"They were then examined on biography,--the Life of the late Rev. John
+Newton being chosen for that purpose; from whose history they also drew
+some very useful practical lessons, and seemed very desirous of
+enlarging, but had to be restrained, as the time would not permit."
+
+The practicability and the importance of teaching children to apply the
+same valuable principle to every branch and portion of natural
+philosophy were also ascertained. The same report, after stating the
+fact, that the children scientifically described to the meeting numerous
+objects presented to them from the several kingdoms of Nature, goes on
+to say, that "here also they found no want of capacity or of materials
+for practical lessons. A boy, after describing copper as possessing
+poisonous qualities, and stating, that cooking utensils, as well as
+money, were made of it, was asked what practical lessons he could draw
+from these circumstances, replied, That no person should put halfpence
+in his mouth; and that people should take care to keep clean pans and
+kettles."
+
+The common school boys in Newry also found no difficulty in the
+exercise, as applied to the abstruse and difficult sciences of anatomy
+and physiology. The account of that experiment, says, that they were
+"examined as to the _uses_ which they ought to make of all this
+information, by drawing practical lessons from the several truths.
+Accordingly, announcements from the different branches of the science
+were given, from which they now very readily drew numerous and valuable
+practical lessons, several of which were given at this time of
+themselves, and which had not been previously taught them. These were
+drawn directly from the announcements; and all, according to their
+nature, calculated to be exceedingly useful for promoting the health,
+the comfort, and the general happiness of themselves, their friends, or
+their companions."
+
+But by far the most extensive and satisfactory evidence of the value and
+efficiency of this exercise, in the mental and moral training of the
+young, was afforded by the experiment undertaken at the request of the
+Lesson System Association of Leith, and conducted in the Assembly Rooms
+there, in the presence of the Magistrates and Clergy of that town, of
+Bishop Russell, Lord Murray, (then Lord Advocate,) and a numerous
+meeting of the friends of education. The children were those connected
+with a Sabbath school, who had been regularly trained by their teacher,
+a plain but pious workman of the town, to draw lessons every Sabbath
+from the several subjects and passages of Scripture taught them. To give
+all the specimens which afford evidence of the value and efficiency of
+this exercise in the education of children, would be to transcribe the
+report of the Association; we shall therefore confine ourselves to a few
+of the circumstances only, which were taken in short-hand by a public
+reporter who was present.
+
+After some important and satisfactory exercises on the being and
+attributes of God, from which the children drew many valuable practical
+lessons, it is said, that the examinator "expressed his entire
+satisfaction with the result, and remarked, that he himself was
+astonished, not only at the immense store of biblical knowledge
+possessed by these children, but the power which they possessed over it,
+and the facility with which they could, on any occasion, use it in
+'giving a reason for the hope that is in them.' He then proceeded to the
+next subject of examination which had been prescribed to him, which was,
+to ascertain the extent of their mental powers and literary attainments,
+which would be most satisfactorily shown by their ability to read the
+Bible profitably; and for this purpose he requested that some of the
+clergymen present would suggest _any_ passage from the New Testament on
+which to exercise them. The Rev. Dr Russell (now Bishop Russell,)
+suggested the parable of the labourers hired at different hours, Matt.
+xx. 1-16. Mr Gall accordingly read it distinctly, verse by verse,
+catechising the children as he proceeded, and then made them relate the
+whole in their own words, which they did most correctly.
+
+"Mr Gall then selected some of the verses, and called upon them to
+separate the circumstances, or parts of each verse, and to state each as
+a separate proposition. This also they did with the greatest ease; and
+in some cases a variety of divisions were brought forward, thus proving
+the high intellectual powers which they had acquired, and the ease with
+which they could analyse any passage, however difficult.
+
+"It was next to be ascertained what power the children had acquired of
+drawing lessons from Scripture; and for this purpose, Mr Gall, in order
+to husband the time of the meeting, confined the children's attention to
+one verse only, and proposed to submit each of the moral circumstances
+contained in that verse, one by one, as they themselves had divided it.
+The following are the lessons drawn by the children, as taken down in
+short-hand by the Reporter.
+
+"_Mr G._--The householder invited labourers at the eleventh hour;--what
+does that teach you?--It teaches us, that God at various seasons calls
+people to his church.--It teaches us, that we ought never to despair,
+but bear in mind the language of Jesus to the repentant thief on the
+cross,--'To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise.'--It teaches us, that
+we ought not to boast of to-morrow, since we know not what a day or an
+hour may bring forth.--It teaches us, that time is short, and that life
+is the only period for preparation and hope.--It teaches us, that we
+ought to be prepared,--have our loins girt, and our lamps burning; for
+we know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh.--It
+teaches us, that we ought to number our days, and apply our hearts to
+heavenly wisdom.--It teaches us, that we ought not to put off the day of
+repentance; because for every day we put it off, we shall have one more
+to repent _of_, and one less to repent _in_.--It teaches us,
+
+ 'That life is the season God hath given
+ To fly from hell, and rise to heaven;
+ That day of grace fleets fast away,
+ And none its rapid course can stay.'
+
+"Mr Gall here requested the children to pause for a moment, that he
+might express the high gratification he felt at the fluency, the
+readiness, and the appropriateness of the lessons which they had drawn.
+He was only afraid that they had inadvertently fallen upon a passage
+with which the children were familiar, by having had it recently under
+their notice; and he therefore requested Mr Cameron to state to the
+meeting whether this was really the case or not. Mr Cameron rose and
+said, that what the meeting now saw was no more than could be seen any
+Sunday in the Charlotte Street School. They had not had any preparation
+for this meeting; and he did not remember of ever having had this
+passage taught in the school. He would recommend that the children be
+allowed a little freedom; and when they were done with that
+announcement, let any other be taken, for it was the same to them
+whatever subject might be chosen.
+
+"Mr Gall accordingly repeated the announcement again, and called on them
+to proceed with any other lessons from it which occurred to them. They
+accordingly commenced again, and answered as follows: It teaches us,
+that we ought to remember our Creator in the days of our youth, while
+the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh in which we shall say we
+have no pleasure in them.--It teaches us, that we ought to prepare for
+death; to gird up our loins, and trim our lamps, lest it be said unto us
+in the great day of the Lord, when he maketh up his jewels, 'Depart from
+me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his
+angels.'--It teaches us so to conduct ourselves, that whether we live
+we live unto the Lord, and whether we die we die unto the Lord; and that
+whether we live therefore or die, we may be the Lord's; for to that end
+Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of
+the dead and the living.[22]--It teaches us to improve our time lest we
+find that the harvest is past, and the summer ended, and us not
+saved.--It teaches us, that we ought to study, in that whether we eat or
+drink, or whatsoever we do, we do all to the glory of God.--It teaches
+us, that we ought to endeavour to secure an interest in Christ in
+time.--It teaches us, that delays are dangerous.--It teaches us, that
+the day of the Lord cometh like a thief in the night, and that when
+sinners shall say, 'Peace and safety,' sudden destruction cometh upon
+them.--It teaches us, that we ought to acquaint ourselves early with
+God; and that we ought to walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
+redeeming the time, because the days are evil.--It teaches us, that we
+ought to seek the Lord while he may be found, and call upon him while he
+is near; that the wicked ought to forsake his way, and the unrighteous
+man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, who will have mercy
+upon him, and to our God, who will abundantly pardon.--It teaches us to
+improve our time; and to bear in mind, that though patriarchs lived
+long, the burden of the historian's tale is always, 'and they died.'--It
+teaches us, that we ought not to allow pleasures and enjoyments to
+interfere with, or overcome, our more important duty of seeking God.--It
+teaches us, that we are never too young to pray, and to remember that
+God says, 'Now;'--the devil, 'To-morrow.'
+
+"Mr Gall here took advantage of a short pause, and said, 'We shall now
+change the announcement. Give me a few lessons from the fact stated in
+this parable, that _when the husbandman invited the labourers into the
+vineyard at the eleventh hour, they accepted the invitation_.--What does
+that teach you?'--It teaches us, that we ought to accept the invitation
+of Jesus to come with him, 'Ho! every one that thirsteth, come ye to the
+waters, and he that hath no money; come ye buy and eat; yea, come, buy
+wine and milk without money, and without price. Seek ye the Lord while
+he may be found; call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake
+his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto
+the Lord, who will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will
+abundantly pardon.'--It teaches us, that we ought to show a willingness
+to accept the invitation of Christ, since 'he is not willing that any
+should perish, but that all should come unto him and live.'--It teaches
+us, that we ought to accept the invitation of Christ, since we are
+informed in the Scriptures, 'that whosoever cometh unto him he will in
+no ways cast out.' It teaches us, that we ought to accept of the
+invitation of Christ; for the Bible informs us, that the invitation is
+held forth to all; 'for whosoever will, let him take of the waters of
+life freely.'--'Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden,
+and I will give you rest.'--It teaches us, that we ought not to hesitate
+in accepting the invitation of Christ; for God says he will not always
+strive with man.
+
+"Mr Gall here again expressed not only his satisfaction, but his
+astonishment, at the success with which Mr Cameron had taught the
+Scriptures to these children. This exhibited itself in two ways;
+_first_, in enabling them to draw lessons from any passage of Scripture;
+and _second_, in having so disposed of what Scripture they had already
+been taught, that whenever a doctrine or duty was to be brought before
+them, scriptural declarations crowded around them 'as a light to their
+feet, and a lamp to their path.' He himself had no doubt that the
+children were no more prepared upon this passage than upon any other;
+but it would exhibit this fact more satisfactorily, if _another_ passage
+were selected, which he requested some of the gentlemen present to do.
+
+"The clergymen present accordingly requested Mr Gall to try the
+concluding portion of the second chapter of Luke, which details Christ's
+visit to Jerusalem at twelve years of age. After having read and
+catechised the children on this passage, as he had done on the former,
+he proceeded at once to call for lessons. Mr Gall gave us the
+announcement that _'Joseph and Mary worshipped God in public_,' and
+asked for one or two lessons from this? It teaches us, that we ought to
+worship God both in public and in private.--It teaches us, that no
+trifles ought to hinder us from worshipping God.--One child quoted the
+following verse:--
+
+ 'Come then, O house of Jacob, come,
+   And worship at his shrine!
+ And walking in the light of God,
+   With holy beauties shine.'
+
+"Mr Gall then said, Let us change the announcement: 'Joseph and Mary
+went regularly every year to the feast of the passover?'--What does that
+teach you?--That teaches us, that we ought to attend the house of God
+regularly.--It teaches that we ought to attend church both times of the
+day.--It teaches us that we ought to worship God regularly; for God
+loveth order, and not confusion.
+
+"Let us change the announcement again. 'Jesus attended the passover when
+he was twelve years of age.' What does this teach you?--It teaches us,
+that parents should train up their children in the way they should
+go.--It teaches us, that learning young is learning fair.--It teaches
+us, that children should never be thought too young to be brought up in
+the fear of the Lord.--It teaches us, that children should obey their
+parents.--What are we to learn from their 'fulfilling the days?'--It
+teaches us, that we should not leave the church until the sermon is
+over.--It teaches us, that we ought not to disturb others by leaving the
+church."
+
+Remarkable as this exhibition was of the attainment of extraordinary
+mental power by mere children, yet it is but justice to say, that the
+above is merely a specimen of the elasticity and grasp of mind which
+these children had acquired. Some idea of the extent of this may be
+formed when it is considered, that all these passages and, subjects were
+chosen for them at the moment, and by strangers. And it is worthy of
+remark, that if such an amount of mental power, and such an accumulation
+of knowledge, of the best and most practical kind, were easily and
+pleasantly acquired by children in the lowest ranks of life, of their
+own voluntary choice, under every disadvantage, and with no more than
+two hours teaching in the week; what may we not expect, when the
+principles here developed, are wielded and applied by those who
+thoroughly understand them, not for two hours, with an interval of six
+busy days, but every day of the week?--The prospect is cheering.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[22] At this part, the Report of the Experiment contains the following
+Note:--"The reader will perceive that some of the lessons diverge at
+times from the announcement; but it is of great importance, in an
+experiment of this kind, neither to omit nor amend what is wrong, but to
+give exactly the words that were spoken. Not the least remarkable
+circumstance elicited by this experiment is the fact, that these
+children, who know nothing of the rules of grammar, have obviously, by
+the mental exercise induced by the system, become pretty correct
+practical grammarians. The variations made in many of the passages of
+Scripture quoted by them show this."
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. IX.
+
+_On the Imitation of Nature in Teaching the Practical Use of Knowledge
+by means of the Moral Sense, or Conscience._
+
+
+In a former chapter we endeavoured to collect a few facts specially
+connected with the moral sense, as exhibited in the young, and the
+methods which Nature employs, when conscience is made use of for the
+application of their knowledge.[23] We shall in this chapter offer a few
+additional remarks on the imitation of Nature in this important
+department; but before doing so, it will be proper to clear our way by
+making a few preliminary observations.
+
+No one disputes the general principle, that education is proper for
+man;--and if so, then education must be beneficial in all circumstances,
+and at every period of his life. In particular, were we to ask whether
+education were necessary in early childhood, and infancy, universal
+experience would at once answer the question, and would demonstrate,
+that it is much more necessary and more valuable at that season, than at
+any future period of the individual's life. In proof of this, we find,
+that enlightened restraint upon the temper, and a regulating care with
+regard to the conduct, are productive of the most beneficial results;
+while, on the contrary, when this discipline is neglected, the violence
+of self-will generally becomes so strong, and the checks upon the temper
+so weak, that the character of the child formed at this period may be
+such as to make him for life his own tormentor, and the pest of all with
+whom he is to be associated.--No one can reasonably deny this; and the
+conclusion is plain, that education of some kind or other is really more
+necessary for the infant and the child, than it is either for the youth
+or the man.
+
+If this general principle be once admitted, and we set it down as an
+axiom that the infant and the child are to learn _something_,--it
+naturally follows, that we are required to teach them those useful
+things for which Nature has more especially fitted them; while we are
+forbidden to force branches of knowledge upon them of which they are
+incapable. Our object then, ought to be to ascertain both the positive
+and the negative of this proposition; endeavouring to find out what the
+infant and child _are_ capable of learning, and what they _are not_. Now
+it is an important fact, not only that infants and young children are
+peculiarly fitted, by the constitution of their minds and affections,
+for learning and practising the principles of religion and morals; but
+it is still more remarkable, that they are, for a long period, incapable
+of learning or practising any thing else. If this can be established,
+then nothing can be more decisive as to the intention of Nature, that
+moral and religious training, is not only the great end in view by a
+course of education generally, but that it is, and ought always to be,
+the first object of the parent and teacher, and the only true and solid
+basis upon which they are to build all that is to follow. Let us
+therefore for a moment enquire a little more particularly into this
+important subject.
+
+When we carefully examine the conduct of an enlightened and affectionate
+mother or nurse with the infant, as soon as it can distinguish right
+from wrong and good from evil, we find it to consist of two kinds, which
+are perfectly distinct from each other. The one regards the comfort and
+physical welfare of the child;--the other regards the regulation of its
+temper, its passions, and its conduct. It is of the latter only that we
+are here to speak.
+
+When this moral training of the judicious mother is examined, we find it
+uniformly and entirely to consist in an indefatigable watchfulness in
+preventing or checking whatever is evil in the child, and in
+encouraging, and teaching, and training to the practice of whatever is
+good. She is careful to enforce obedience and submission in every
+case;--to win and encourage the indications of affection; to check
+retaliation or revenge; to subdue the violence of passion or inordinate
+desire;--to keep under every manifestation of self-will;--and to soothe
+down and banish every appearance of fretfulness and bad temper. In
+short, she trains her young charge to feel and to practise all the
+amiable and kindly affections of our nature, encouraging and commending
+him in their exercise;--while, on the contrary, she prevents,
+discourages, reproves, and if necessary punishes, the exhibition of
+dispositions and conduct of an opposite kind. This, as every one who has
+examined the subject knows, is the sum and substance of the mother's
+educational efforts during this early period of her child's
+progress;--and what we wish to press upon the observation of the reader
+is, that the child at this period is literally incapable of learning any
+thing else which at all deserves the name of education. He may be taught
+to be obedient; to be submissive; to be kind and obliging; to moderate,
+and even to suppress his passions; to controul his wishes and his
+will;--to be forbearing and forgiving;--and to be gentle, peaceable,
+orderly, cleanly, and perhaps mannerly. Is there any thing else?--Is
+there any one element of a different kind, that ever does, or ever can
+enter into the course of an infant or young child's education? If there
+be, what is it?--Let it be examined;--and we have no hesitation in
+saying, that if it be "education," or any thing that deserves the name,
+it will be found to resolve itself into some one or other of the moral
+qualities which we have above enumerated. If therefore children, during
+the earlier stages of their educational progress are to be taught at
+all, religion and morals _must_ be, the subjects, seeing that they are
+for a long period capable of learning nothing else. And it is here
+worthy of especial notice, that in teaching religion and morals, there
+is a negative as well as a positive scale;--and experience has uniformly
+demonstrated, that if the parent or teacher neglect to improve the child
+by raising him in the positive side, he will, by his own efforts, sink
+deeper in the negative. Selfishness, as exhibited in the natural
+depravity of human nature, will in all such cases strengthen daily; and
+all the evil passions which selfishness and self-will call into
+exercise, will then be strengthened and confirmed perhaps for life.
+
+But while we perceive that the young are incapable of learning any thing
+else than what is properly termed religion and morals, we find it to be
+equally true, that they are peculiarly fitted and furnished by Nature
+for making rapid and permanent progress whenever religion and morals are
+made the subjects of regular instruction and training. Few who have
+considered carefully the facts stated above, will question the accuracy
+of this assertion in so far as _morals_ are concerned; but there are
+some who will doubt the capacity of infants and children to be
+influenced by _religion_. Now this doubt arises from not observing the
+difference,--and the only difference,--that exists between morality and
+religion. A man or a child is _moral_ when he is kind and forgiving for
+his own sake, and to please himself or his parents;--but he is
+_religious_ when he does the same thing for conscience sake, and to
+please God. Now children, by the very constitution of their minds, are
+well fitted for receiving all that kind of religious knowledge which
+acts upon the feelings, and influences the conduct; while the heart is
+peculiarly sensitive, and is disposed to bend under the influence of
+every expression of affection and tenderness exhibited by others towards
+them. Their faith in all that they are told, as we have seen, is
+unhesitating and entire; and the capacity of their lively imaginations,
+for comprehending things mighty and sublime, which is too often abused
+by the ideas of giants, and ogres, and ghosts, is sanctified and refined
+by hearing of the greatness, and goodness, and love of the great Creator
+of heaven and of earth. When they are informed of his affection and
+tenderness to them individually;--of his mercy and grace in saving them
+from the awful consequences of sin by the substitution of his own Son
+for their sakes;--of his numerous benefits, and his unceasing care;--of
+his constant presence with them though unseen; and of his hatred of
+sin, and his love of holiness;--there is no mixture of doubt to
+neutralize the effects of these truths; and they much more willingly and
+unreservedly give themselves up to their influence, than those who are
+older. Hence, the repeated declarations of our Lord, that "unless we
+become as little children, we shall in no case enter into the kingdom of
+God." A simple enumeration therefore of the benefits they have received
+from this kind and condescending heavenly Father, is well fitted to fill
+the heart of an unsophisticated child with affection and zeal,--and most
+powerfully to constrain him to avoid every thing that he is told will
+grieve and offend him, and to watch for opportunities to do what he now
+knows will honour and please him. This is religion; and it is peculiarly
+the religion of the young;--and that man or woman will be found most
+religious, who, both in spirit and in action, shall approach nearest to
+it in its purity and simplicity.
+
+From all these considerations we see, that Nature has intended that the
+first part of the child's education shall consist almost exclusively of
+moral and religious training;--and this we think cannot be disputed by
+any one who considers the above facts dispassionately, or who will allow
+his mind to act as it ought to do under the influence of ascertained
+truth. We shall now therefore offer a few remarks on the manner in which
+this may most effectually be carried into effect; or, in other words,
+how Nature may most successfully be imitated in the application of
+knowledge by means of the moral sense.
+
+1. The first thing to be observed here then is, that the early efforts
+of the parent or teacher are to be employed for disciplining the child
+under the influence of the executive powers of conscience.--The child is
+to be trained to the perfect government of his inclinations and temper,
+by a watchful attention on the part of the parent to every instance of
+their exhibition in his daily conduct, the regulation of the desires,
+the softening down of the passions, the eradicating of evil
+propensities, the restraining and overcoming the exercise of self-will,
+the converting of selfishness into benevolence, and the cultivating and
+strengthening of self-controul within, and of sympathy, and forbearance,
+and kindness to all without. These are the great ends which the parent
+and teacher are to have in view in all their dealings with the child.
+They are, in short, to take care that their pupil be reduced to a state
+of enlightened submission, and uniform obedience; and for that purpose,
+they are to employ all the means and the machinery provided by Nature,
+in the use of which she has afforded them abundant examples.
+
+In the accomplishment of these ends, _the agent_ employed has much in
+her power. It is a delicate, as well as an important work; and here,
+more than perhaps in any after period of the child's educational
+progress, an affectionate and enlightened agency is of the greatest
+importance. In that constant watchfulness and exertion, necessary to
+check or to controul the unceasing and often unreasonable desires of a
+froward child, there is naturally created in the mind of a hireling or a
+stranger, a feeling of irritation and dislike, which nothing but
+enlightened philanthropy, or high moral principle, will ever be able
+thoroughly to overcome;--and these qualifications are scarcely to be
+expected in those who are usually picked up to assist the mother during
+this important season. In families, Nature has graciously balanced this
+effect, and amply provided for it, in the deep-seated and unalterable
+affection of the parent. The mother then is the proper agent, selected
+and duly qualified by Nature for superintending this important work
+during this early period. The out-bursts and irregularities of natural
+depravity in the young, must be met by an unconquerable affection,
+exhibited in the exercise of gentleness, guided by firmness;--of
+kindness and forbearance, combined with a steady and an untiring
+perseverance. Irregularity or caprice in the nurse, may be the ruin of
+the morals of the child. The selection of assistance here is often
+requisite, and yet how few comparatively of those into whose hands
+children and infants are placed, possess the high qualifications
+necessary for this important occupation?[24] The parent who from any
+cause is prevented from taking charge of the superintendence of her
+offspring at this period, incurs a serious responsibility in the choice
+of her assistant; for if these qualifications be awanting, or, if they
+be not exercised by the nurse or the keeper, the happiness and moral
+welfare of the child during life are in imminent danger.
+
+2. The child is not only to be trained to think and to act properly, but
+he must be trained to do so _under the influence of motives_. If this be
+neglected, we are not imitating Nature in her mode of applying knowledge
+by means of the moral sense. We have seen, as formerly noticed, that a
+child under the influence of conscience, has always a painful feeling of
+self-reproach, or remorse, after it has done wrong; and a delightful
+feeling of self-approval and joy, when it has done something that is
+praiseworthy. These are employed by Nature as powerful motives to
+prevent the repetition of the one, and to win the child to the frequent
+or regular performance of the other;--and this is their effect. In
+imitating her in this part of her educational process, we must in like
+manner follow in the spirit of this principle. There must be motives of
+action held out to the child; something that will tend to keep him from
+the commission of evil, and something that will stimulate and encourage
+him in doing good. Both are necessary, and therefore, neither of them
+should be neglected. What these motives ought to be, we shall
+immediately shew; but at present, we are anxious to establish the fact,
+that motives to do good, should be invariably employed with our pupils,
+as well as motives to avoid evil. In ordinary life, we generally find
+too much of the one, and too little of the other. The fear of punishment
+held out to prevent mischief or evil, is common enough; but there is
+seldom sufficient attention paid to the providing of proper incitements
+to the practice of virtue. Some, indeed, have gone the length of
+affirming that there ought to be no such incitement held out to the
+young; under the erroneous idea, that actions performed for an
+equivalent, or in the hope of a reward, cease to be virtuous. But the
+same reasoning would apply with almost equal force to the fear of
+punishment in stimulating to duty, or in deterring from wickedness; and
+yet they would scarcely affirm, that the child who, for fear of the
+consequences, refused to break the Sabbath or to tell a lie, was equally
+guilty with the boy who did both. There are, no doubt, some motives to
+virtue that are higher and more noble than others, as there are
+differences in the degrading nature of punishment employed to deter men
+from vice. But both kinds may be necessary for different persons. The
+man who forgives his enemy because he seeks the approbation of his Maker
+and the reward promised by him, and the man who does so, because he
+wishes to live in quiet, and to consult his own ease;--the boy who
+refrains from sin lest he should offend God, and another who does the
+same from the fear of the rod,--are each influenced by motives, although
+they are of a very different kind. But it is plain, that the motives
+employed may be equally efficient, and that they ought to be used
+according to their influence upon the individual, and his advancement in
+the paths of morality and religion. Where the higher motive has not as
+yet acquired influence, the lower motive must be employed; but to refuse
+the employment of either would be wrong, and the sentiment which would
+totally exclude them, has no countenance in Nature, in experience, nor
+in Scripture. In Nature, we see the directly opposite principle
+exhibited; and find that the remorse of conscience consequent upon
+crime, in preventing future transgressions, is not more powerful in
+those whose moral status is low, than is the feeling of delight and joy
+after an act of benevolence, which excites to new deeds of charity, in
+those whose religious attainments are greater. Scripture, and the
+history of all those whom Scripture holds out for imitation, unite in
+teaching the same sentiment. There are many more promises in the sacred
+record given to virtue, than there are threatenings against vice; and
+the highest altitudes of holiness are not only represented as having
+been attained by the influence of these promises; but the persons who
+have already reached them, are still urged to greater exertions, and a
+farther advance, by the reiteration of their number and their value.
+Moses, we are told, "had an eye to the recompense of reward;" and our
+Lord himself, "for the joy that was set before him," endured the cross.
+Let us not then attempt a better method than God has sanctioned; and in
+our intercourse with the young, let us not only deter them from the
+commission of evil by the fear of disfavour or the rod, but let us also
+incite them to virtue, by the hope of approbation and of a future
+reward.
+
+3. In our enquiry into the practical working of the moral sense, we
+found, not only that there were motives of action employed for
+encouraging the pupil to virtue, and for deterring him from vice; but we
+found also, that these motives referred chiefly to God, to a future
+judgment, and to eternity. In our attempts to imitate Nature in this
+particular feature of her dealing with the moral sense, we begin more
+distinctly to perceive the high value of Religious Instruction to the
+young, and are led directly to the conclusion, that the motives to be
+employed with children for encouraging and rewarding good conduct, must
+be those chiefly of a spiritual kind, referring to God, and to his
+favour or disapprobation, rather than to the rod, or to any secular
+reward. The importance of imitating Nature in this matter, for giving a
+high tone both to the sentiments and to the morals of the young, is very
+great. It is now generally admitted, that secular, and especially
+corporal punishments, are never required, except in connection with a
+very low and degraded state of the moral sentiments; but it is equally
+correct with respect to secular rewards for moral actions. They may both
+of them at times be necessary, but in that case they are necessary
+evils; and, as a class of motives, they should never be the rule, but
+invariably the exception.--We must not, however, be misunderstood. We
+are no more for abandoning _secular rewards_, than we are for giving up
+corporal punishments. We speak not here of their _abandonment_, but of
+their _enlightened regulation_;--both of them may be of service. But
+what we wish to point out as an important feature in moral training is,
+that they are, or should be, but seldom necessary; and that they ought
+never to be resorted to except when they really are so. The differences
+observable in the results arising from _secular_, and those from _moral_
+motives, are very different, both as regards their power in restraining
+from vice, and their influence in stimulating to virtue. What, for
+example, would we think of the moral condition of a child, or of the
+virtue of his actions, if he had to be hired by a comfit, or a piece of
+money, to do every act of kindness which he performed; or if he refused
+to relieve a sister, or prevent an injury to his companion, unless
+similarly rewarded? This secular spirit in morals, when thus exposed in
+its deformity, is obnoxious to every sentiment of virtue, and shews
+itself to be a mere system of buying and selling. But how very different
+does the reward appear, and the feeling which it excites, when that
+reward assumes the moral character, and is found to be the desire of
+pleasing the parent, and much more when it seeks the approbation of the
+Almighty? Every one will see how beneficial and elevating the effects of
+cherishing the one must be, and how debasing comparatively is the
+influence of the other. That children are capable of being acted upon by
+these higher motives, we have already seen; and, when we aim at securing
+the effects which they are calculated to produce, we are closely
+imitating Nature in one of her most important operations, and may
+therefore calculate upon a corresponding degree of success.[25]
+
+4. In the operations of Nature by means of the moral sense, we found,
+that the impressions made upon the mind in reference to sin or duty,
+were always most efficient, and most permanent, when the sin or duty was
+presented to them in the form of example;--that the example increased in
+efficiency and interest as it was familiar or near;--and that it became
+still more powerful when it was actually seen or experienced.--From
+these circumstances we are led to conclude, that the lives and conduct
+of men, and especially the narrative parts of Scripture, are the proper
+materials to be employed in the moral training of the young; and the
+mode of making use of them is also very plainly indicated. The closer we
+can bring the lesson taught to the child's own experience, or to his own
+circumstances, the more familiar will it become, and the deeper will be
+the impression it will make. An instance of infant disinterestedness or
+heroism, in the parlour or the play-ground, pointed out, and placed in
+connection with corresponding circumstances in the lives or conduct of
+those from whom they have previously drawn moral lessons, will render
+the latter much more familiar and practical, and will create more
+energetic desires, and stronger feelings of emulation with respect to
+the former. Or if the conduct of the person of whom the child hears or
+reads, can be brought home and applied to his own case and
+circumstances; or if he can be made to perceive the very same
+dispositions or conduct exhibited in his companions; or if he can be
+made to see how he himself can embody in his own conduct those
+principles and actions which God has approved, and requires to be
+imitated,--the end of the teacher will be much more certainly gained,
+than it can be in any other way. This is moral training, conducted by
+the proper moral means; and to attempt to gain the same end by means
+which do not either more or less embody these principles, will be found
+to be much more difficult, and much less efficient. Whoever will
+consider what is implied by our Lord's address to the Pharisees who
+erroneously blamed his disciples for unlawfully, as they thought,
+plucking the ears of corn on the Sabbath, will see this method of
+reading and applying Scripture distinctly pointed out. "Have ye never
+read," said our Lord, "what David did, and those who were with him?"
+This they might have done frequently; but the mere reading could never
+answer the purpose for which it was recorded. The moral lesson must be
+drawn, and it must also be applied to similar cases of mere ceremonial
+observance.
+
+To apply this principle, then, to the moral training of the young by
+means of Scripture History, the method is obvious.--The events of the
+narrative are to be used as examples or warnings to the child in
+corresponding circumstances. If, for example, the teacher wishes to
+enforce the duty and the benefits of patience, the history of Job has
+been provided for the purpose. When that story is taught, and the
+lessons drawn and applied to the ordinary contingencies of life, such as
+accident, disease, or distress in a companion; or to circumstances in
+which the child himself may hereafter be placed; he will be better
+prepared for his duty in such events, or, in the words of Scripture, he
+will be "thoroughly furnished" to this good work. If they are to be
+taught meekness, the history of Moses, or of other pious men who have
+been tried and disciplined as he was, will be found best adapted for the
+purpose. And more especially, the life of our Lord, in which all the
+virtues concentrate, has been given "as our example, that we may follow
+his steps," and which ought especially to be employed in training the
+young "to love and to good works." The reason why example is preferable
+to precept in teaching children, will be obvious, when we consider the
+nature of the principle of grouping, as exercised by the young, and the
+difficulty they experience in remembering abstract or didactic subjects.
+When a child receives instruction by a story, the imagination is
+enlisted in the exercise, the grouping of the persons and circumstances
+assists the memory, and the moral and practical lessons which they have
+drawn from the narrative, are associated with it, and remain ready at
+the command of the will whenever they are required.--It was for this
+reason among others, that our Lord taught so frequently by parables;
+and, in doing so, has not only set the parent and teacher an important
+example, but has, in his teaching, illustrated a principle in our nature
+which he himself had long before implanted for this very purpose.
+
+5. In our investigations into the working of the moral sense, we found,
+that there was a marked difference between the decisions of conscience
+when judging of actions done by _ourselves_, and those which were
+performed by _others_. As long as the child is innocent of any
+particular vice, he can judge impartially of its nature and demerit; but
+when the temptation to commit it has really begun to darken his mind,
+and more particularly when he has at last fallen before it, all the
+selfish principles of his nature are employed to deceive his better
+judgment, and to drown or overbear the voice of conscience within him.
+From this we learn the importance of preparing the mind _beforehand_,
+for encountering those temptations to which the pupil will most likely
+be exposed; not only by teaching him to draw the proper lessons from
+corresponding subjects, but by making him apply these lessons to his own
+case and affairs. The teacher is to suppose circumstances, in which he,
+his parents, and companions, are most likely to be placed, and in which
+the lessons drawn from the narrative will be required to weaken or to
+prevent the influences of temptation. As, for example, it might be
+asked, "If you had accidentally broken a pane of glass, and your parents
+asked you who did it, what should you do?" There would in this case,
+while it was only supposed, be no temptation to stifle conscience, or to
+bend to the influences of selfishness or fear, and the child would
+accordingly answer readily, that he ought to confess his fault, and tell
+that he himself had done it. When again asked, "From what do you get
+that lesson?" he will most probably reply, "From Jacob telling a lie to
+his parent;--from Ananias and Sapphira telling a lie;--from the command,
+'Lie not one to another,' and 'Confess your faults one to another,'" &c.
+By this means the child is forewarned;--he is prepared and fortified
+against the sin, if the temptation should occur; but which would not
+have been the case without this or some similar exercise.
+
+6. We have also seen, in our investigations into the working of the
+moral sense, the deplorable effects of stifling conscience, and of the
+child's being permitted to repeat his transgressions; while, upon the
+same principle, the most beneficial consequences result from the child's
+frequently practising self-denial, self-controul, and acts of
+benevolence. In the one case, sin and vice lose much of their deformity,
+and gain greatly in strength; while, in the other, every act of virtue
+makes vice appear more hideous, and excites to a more decided advance in
+the paths of rectitude. From these circumstances we are led to
+conclude, that every act of sin in the pupil ought to be carefully
+guarded against by the parent or teacher, and, if possible, prevented;
+while every exertion ought to be made to induce to the performance of
+good and kind actions, however humble or unimportant these actions in
+themselves may be. If God does "not despise the day of small things,"
+neither should we; and one act of kindness by a child, however trifling,
+will most assuredly prepare the way for another. This circumstance also
+shews the impropriety of attempting to magnify faults, when perhaps no
+fault was designed; and the evil consequences, as well as the injustice,
+of refraining to commend a child, when commendation is due. The timorous
+fear, in many conscientious parents, of making children _vain_, is the
+common excuse for this unnatural conduct. Such persons seem to confound
+things _vain_ with things _valuable_, though they are perfectly opposed
+to each other. Approbation for any definite quality, excites the
+individual to excel in _that_ quality, whether it be worthless or
+otherwise. But virtuous deeds are not worthless; and by commending, as
+our Lord repeatedly did, those who have done well, they, by that
+principle of our nature of which we are here speaking, are strongly
+excited to do better. To feed vanity, is to commend vanities; and they
+who prize and commend beauty, or fashion, or dress, or frivolous
+accomplishments, may be guilty of this folly; but not the parent or the
+person who commends in a child those things which are really
+commendable, and after which it is his greatest glory to aspire.
+
+7. We have already taken notice of Nature's mode of employing motives
+for the prevention of evil, and for the encouragement of the child in
+virtue, and how this is to be imitated in the education of the young;
+but we have left for this last section, and for separate consideration,
+the greatest and most powerful motive of all. This is a view of the
+inherent sinfulness and danger of sin, and the means appointed by God
+for man's redemption from it. All other motives to restrain men from
+sin, and to induce them to follow holiness, when compared with an
+enlightened view of this one, sink into insignificance. God's hatred of
+sin, and his holy abhorrence of it in every form, when contemplated in
+the abstract, may have a response from the head of him who compares it
+with his own detestation of meanness, and fraud, and profligacy; but
+when this hatred of vice in the Almighty is viewed in connection with
+gospel truth, and is contemplated in its effects upon One to whom it was
+only imputed, it begins to wear a very different complexion; and, as a
+motive to beware of that which God is determined to punish, and which he
+would not pass over even in his own Son, it leaves all other motives at
+an immeasurable distance. The same thing may be said of God's goodness
+and mercy in the gospel, as a motive for us to love him, and to glory in
+denying ourselves to serve him. The extent of the danger from which he
+has saved us, the amount and the permanence of the glory which he has
+procured for us, and the price that was paid for both, will powerfully
+"constrain" spiritual minds, to "live no longer to themselves, but to
+him who hath died for them."
+
+But the question which will be asked here is, "Are children capable of
+all this?"--We unhesitatingly answer, from long experience, that they
+are. Whoever doubts the fact has only to try. Can a child not understand
+that a distinction ought to be made between the person in a family who
+endeavours to make all happy, and another whose constant aim is to make
+them all miserable?--Can he not understand, that the parent who refuses
+to punish a wicked child, is in effect bribing others to join him in his
+wickedness?--Can he not understand that a debt due by one, may be paid
+by another?--and that a simple reliance on the word of his benefactor,
+followed by submission to his will, may be all that is required to
+secure his discharge?--No one will say that a child is incapable of
+understanding these simple truths; and if he can comprehend _them_, he
+can be made to understand and appreciate the leading truths of the
+gospel. The teacher has only himself clearly to perceive them; and then,
+divesting the truths of those unnecessary technicalities which are
+sometimes, it is feared, used very improperly and unnecessarily, he
+ought to convey them to the child, either orally, or by some simple
+catechism suited for the purpose. Wherever this is done in effect, there
+education will prosper; and when it shall become general among the
+young, it will be found to be "as life from the dead."
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[23] See pages 111 to 129
+
+[24] Note X.
+
+[25] Note Y.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. X.
+
+_On the Application of our Knowledge to the Common Affairs of Life._
+
+
+There is another point connected with the practical use of our
+knowledge, which deserves a separate and careful consideration. It is
+the method of applying our knowledge, or rather the lessons derived from
+our knowledge, to the common and daily affairs of life. In this exercise
+both old and young are equally concerned;--but it is evident that youth
+is the proper time for training to its practice.
+
+To acquire this valuable art, the pupils in every seminary ought to be
+regularly and frequently exercised in the application of their
+lessons;--first, when they have been drawn from a particular subject,
+which has occupied their attention for the day; and afterwards
+generally, from any part of their previous knowledge. To illustrate what
+we mean by this application of our knowledge, let us suppose a person
+placed in difficult circumstances, and that he is desirous of knowing
+the path of duty, and the particular line of conduct which he should
+pursue. If he is to trust to himself for the information required, it is
+evident that he must either fall back upon his previous knowledge, and
+the instructions he has already received; or he must go forward upon a
+mere conjecture, or on chance, which is always dangerous. All knowledge
+is given expressly for such cases, and especially Scripture knowledge;
+the great design of which is, "that the man of God may be thoroughly
+furnished to good works." But if the person has not been trained to make
+use of his knowledge in this way and for this purpose, he will be nearly
+as much at a loss as if his knowledge had never been received. Hence the
+great importance of training the young early and constantly to draw upon
+their knowledge for direction and guidance in every variety of situation
+in which the parent or teacher can suppose them to be placed in future
+life. By this means they will be prepared for encountering temptation,
+which is often more than the half of the battle;--they will form the
+habit of acting by rule, instead of being carried forward by fashion, by
+prejudice, or by chance;--and they will soon acquire a manly confidence,
+in deciding and acting, both as to the matter and the manner, of
+performing all that they are called upon to do, in every juncture, and
+whether the duty be important in the ordinary sense of that term or
+otherwise.
+
+For this special mode of applying knowledge, we have not only the
+indications plainly given in Nature, which we have endeavoured to
+illustrate, but we have also Scripture precept, and Scripture example.
+Leaving the numerous instances in the Old Testament, we shall confine
+ourselves to a few given by our Lord himself, and his apostles. For
+example, he prepared his disciples for the temptations which the love of
+worldly goods would throw in the way of their escape from the
+destruction of Jerusalem, by enjoining them to "Remember Lot's wife."
+Now let us observe how a teacher, in communicating the history of Lot's
+wife for the first time, would have prepared these disciples for such a
+difficulty in the same way. When they had read, that while fleeing for
+her life, the love of her worldly goods made her sinfully look back, so
+that she was turned into a pillar of salt; the obvious lesson drawn from
+this would be, that "we ought to be on our guard against worldly
+mindedness;"--and the _application_ of that lesson to the coming
+circumstances would have been something like this. "When you are
+commanded to flee from Jerusalem for your lives, and remember that your
+worldly goods are left behind, what should you do?"--"We should not turn
+back for them." "From what do you get that lesson?"--"From the conduct
+and fate of Lot's wife."
+
+In a similar way, the apostle James prepared Christians for humble
+resignation and patient endurance under coming trials, by calling to
+their remembrance "the patience of Job." He stated the trials to which
+they were to be exposed, and then he directed their attention to the
+Scripture example which was to regulate them in their endurance of them.
+Now it is obvious that a teacher, in communicating the history of Job to
+the young, should follow this example, and should make the same use of
+it that the apostle did, not only by drawing the lesson, that he "ought
+to be patient," but in _applying_ that lesson to temptations to which
+the child is likely to be exposed, as James did to the circumstances in
+which he knew Christians were to be placed. As for example, when the
+child had drawn the lesson, that "we should be patient under suffering,"
+the teacher might apply it in a great variety of ways, each of which
+would be a delightful exercise of mind to the child,--would impress the
+lesson and its source more firmly upon the memory,--and would prepare
+him for the circumstances in which the lesson might be required. Were
+the teacher accordingly to ask, "If you were confined by long continued
+sickness;--or if you were suffering under great pain;--or if you were
+oppressed by the cruelty of others, and could not help yourself;--or, if
+you were grieved by being separated from your friends,--what would be
+your duty?" The answer to each would be, "We ought to be
+patient."--"From what do you get that lesson?"--"From the conduct of
+Job, who was patient under his sufferings."
+
+The apostle Paul follows a similar plan, in applying the practical
+lessons drawn from the conduct of the Israelites in the wilderness, for
+fortifying the Corinthians against temptations to which they were likely
+to be exposed,[26] and tells them that this is the use to be made of Old
+Testament history. These lives are "ensamples," and are "written for our
+admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come."--In like manner he
+forewarned the Hebrews against discontent and covetousness,[27] by
+drawing a _general_ lesson from a _special_ promise made to Joshua; and
+then exhorts every Christian to apply it to himself personally, by
+employing the language which he puts into their mouths, "The Lord is my
+helper, and I will not fear what man can do unto me."
+
+In the same way, when our Lord repeatedly says, "Have ye not read?" and,
+"Thus it is written," he gives us obvious indications of the importance
+of the duty of thus preparing for temptation, by the application of our
+lessons from Scripture. They are each and all of them examples of
+practical lessons derived from knowledge formerly acquired, and now
+employed in the way of application, to connect that knowledge with
+corresponding circumstances as they occur in ordinary life. The lesson,
+it will be observed, and as we formerly explained, is always made the
+connecting link which unites the two; and without which there is no such
+thing as the bringing of knowledge and its use together, when that
+knowledge is required. In other words, without the lesson, knowledge is
+_useless_; and, without the application of the lesson, knowledge is
+_never used_. Both therefore are necessary, and both should be rendered
+familiar to the young. It is only necessary here to observe, that in
+teaching the children to _draw_ the lessons, the teacher proceeds
+forwards from the knowledge communicated, and, by deducing the lesson,
+prepares the child for the events in life when they shall be
+necessary;--but in _applying_ the lessons, he proceeds backwards, from
+the events, through the lesson to the knowledge from which it is
+derived. We have a beautiful example of this in the recorded temptations
+of our Lord. He was tempted to turn stones into bread; here was the
+event which required a knowledge of the corresponding duty; and he
+immediately applied the lesson that "we should not distrust God," and
+through this lesson, though not expressed, he went directly back to the
+source from which it was drawn, by saying, "Thus it is written, Man
+shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God." When in like
+manner he was tempted to throw himself from the temple, he immediately,
+through the lesson "that we should not unnecessarily presume on the
+goodness of God," went to the passage of Scripture from which it was
+drawn;--and, in the same way, when tempted to worship Satan, there was
+precisely the same process;--a lesson, derived from previous knowledge
+and applicable to the circumstances, used as a uniting link to make the
+duty and the Scripture exactly to correspond.
+
+Of doing all this which we have described above; even children are
+capable. This has been again and again proved by repeated experiments,
+and now by extensive experience in many schools. The difficulties of
+introducing it, even for the first time in any seminary, do not lie with
+the children, who in every case have shewn themselves quite adequate to
+the exercise; and wherever it has been followed up with corresponding
+energy, they have been raised much higher in the grade of intelligence
+and mental capacity by its means. This will be evident from the
+following, taken from among many examples.
+
+The criminals in Edinburgh Jail during the short time they were under
+instruction, acquired considerable facility in this valuable art. The
+report states, that "some of them were afterwards exercised on the
+application of the lessons. This part consists in supposing certain
+circumstances and temptations, to which they may be exposed in ordinary
+life, and then leaving them, by a very profitable, and usually a very
+pleasant operation of their own minds, in reference to these, to call up
+to their recollection, and to hold in review, the whole accumulated
+range of their previous knowledge. Among the various classes of things
+thus brought in order before the eye of the mind, they are easily taught
+to discriminate all those precepts and examples which are analogous to
+the cases supposed, from which again they very readily select
+appropriate lessons to _guide them in these emergencies_; thus linking
+the lessons to the circumstances, which is done in the previous exercise
+of deducing them; and then the circumstances to the lessons; and in this
+manner, establishing a double tie between the understanding and the
+conscience.
+
+"For example, a woman from the Lock-up House, being asked how she ought
+to conduct herself when the term of her confinement was expired?
+answered, That she ought not to return to her sinful courses, or wicked
+companions, lest a worse fate should befal her. When again interrogated
+where she got this lesson, she immediately referred to the case of Lot,
+who, being once rescued from captivity by Abraham, returned again to
+wicked Sodom, where he soon lost all his property, and escaped only with
+his life. Another being asked what she should do, when involved in a
+quarrel with troublesome companions? replied, That she should endeavour
+to be at peace, even though she should lose a little by it; and
+produced as her authority the conduct of Abraham, who when Lot's
+herdsmen and his could not agree, gave Lot his choice of the country, in
+order to secure peace."
+
+The children in Aberdeen also found no difficulty in perceiving the use,
+and in applying the lessons to their common affairs. The report of that
+Experiment states, that "the most important part of the exercise,--that
+which shewed more particularly the great value of this System, and with
+which the Meeting were especially struck,--was the appropriate
+application of the lessons from Scripture, which they had previously
+drawn. They were desired to suppose themselves placed in a great variety
+of situations, and were asked how they ought to conduct themselves in
+each of these. A few examples may be given, though it is quite
+impossible to do justice to the subject. A boy, for instance, was asked,
+'If your parents should become infirm and poor, how ought you to act
+towards them?' 'I ought,' replied the boy, 'to work, and help them.' And
+being asked, 'Whence he drew that lesson?' he referred to the conduct of
+Ruth, who supported Naomi and herself, by gleaning in the fields.--A
+girl was asked, 'If your mother were busy, and had more to do in the
+family than she could easily accomplish, what ought you to do?' Her
+answer was, 'I ought to give her assistance;' and she referred to the
+conduct of Saul, in assisting his father to recover the asses which were
+lost; and to that of David, in feeding his father's sheep when his
+brothers were at the wars.--A little boy was asked, 'If your parents
+were too indulgent, and seemed to give you all your own will, what ought
+you to do?' 'I ought not to take it,' replied the boy very readily; and
+added, that it was taking his own will that caused the ruin of the
+prodigal son. Another boy being asked, 'If you should become rich, what
+would be your duty to the poor?' answered, 'I ought to be good to the
+poor; but it would be better to give them work than to give them money;
+for Boaz did not give Ruth grain, but bade his shearers let some fall,
+that she might get it by her own industry.'"
+
+In the Experiment in London, a child was asked, "When you live with
+brothers and sisters who are wicked, what should you do?" and answered,
+"I should not join with them in their sins." And when asked where she
+got that lesson, answered, "From Joseph, who would not join with his
+brothers in their sin."--Another was asked, "When you see others going
+heedlessly on in the commission of sin, what should you do?" and
+answered, "I should warn them of their danger;" and referred to Noah,
+who warned the wicked while building the ark.--Again, "When people about
+you are given to quarrel, what should you do?" We should endeavour to
+make peace; and referred to Abram endeavouring to remain at peace with
+Lot's herdsmen.--"When you have grown up to be men and women, what
+should you do?" "We should go to a trade, and be industrious;" and
+referred to Cain and Abel following their different employments.--"When
+two situations occur, one where you will get more money, but where the
+people are wicked and ungodly; and the other, where you will get less
+money, but have better company, which should you choose?" "The good
+company, though with less money;" and referred to Lot's desire for
+riches taking him to live in wicked Sodom, where he lost all that he
+had.--"When your parents get old, and are unable to support themselves,
+what should you do?" "We should work for them;" and referred to Ruth
+gleaning for the support of her old mother-in-law; and another referred
+to Joseph bringing his father to nourish him in Goshen.--"When your
+parents or masters give you any important work or duty to perform, what
+should you do?" "We should pray to God for success, and for his
+direction and help in performing it;" and referred to Abraham's servant
+praying at the well.--"When we find people wishing to take advantage of
+us and cheat us, what should we do?" "Leave them;" and referred to Jacob
+with his family leaving Laban.--"Were any one to tempt you to lie or
+commit a sin, what should you do?" "We ought not to be tempted;" and
+referred to Abraham making Sarah tell a lie in Egypt.--"How should you
+behave to strangers?" "We should be kind to them;" and referred to Lot
+lodging the angels.--"Were a master or mistress to have the choice of
+two servants, one clever, but ungodly, and the other not so clever, but
+pious, which one should be chosen?" "The pious servant;" and referred to
+Potiphar, whom God blessed and prospered for Joseph's sake.--"When any
+one has injured us, what should we do?" "Forgive them;" and referred to
+Joseph forgiving and nourishing his brethren.--"When you have once
+escaped the snares and designs of bad company, what should you do?" "We
+should never go back again;" and referred to Lot going back again to
+live in Sodom from which he at last escaped only with his life.
+
+In the account given of the Newry Experiment, the boys were equally
+ready in applying for their own benefit the lessons they had drawn from
+their knowledge of anatomy and physiology. The account says, that "the
+most interesting, as well as the most edifying part of the examination,
+and which exhibited the great value of this method of teaching the
+sciences to the young, was the _application_ of these lessons to the
+circumstances of ordinary life. Circumstances were supposed, in which
+they or others might be placed, and they were required to apply the
+lessons they had drawn for their direction, and for regulating their
+conduct in every such case. This they did with great sagacity, and
+evident delight, and in a manner which convinced the audience that the
+few hours during which they had been employed in making these
+acquisitions, instead of being irksome and laborious, as education is
+too often considered by the young, were obviously among the happiest and
+the shortest they had ever spent in almost any employment,--their play
+not excepted. We shall give a specimen of these, and the answers given,
+as nearly as can be recollected.
+
+"The case of walking in a frosty day was supposed, and they were asked
+what, in that case, ought to be done? The answer was, That we should
+take care not to fall. Why? Because the bones are easily broken in
+frosty weather.--When heated and feverish in a close room, what should
+be done? Let in fresh air; because it is the want of oxygen in the air
+we breathe that causes such a feeling, but which the admission of fresh
+air supplies.--When troubled with listlessness, and impeded circulation,
+what should we do? Take exercise; because the contraction of the muscles
+by walking, working, or otherwise, forces the blood to the heart, and
+through the lungs, by which health and vigour is promoted.--Where should
+we take exercise? In the country, or in the open air; because there the
+air is purer than in a house or a town, where fires, smoke, frequent
+breathing, and other things, render the atmosphere unwholesome.--Would
+breathing rapidly, without exercise, not nourish the blood equally well?
+No; because although more air be drawn into the lungs, there would be no
+more blood to combine with its oxygen.--What should be done, when
+candles in a crowded church burn dim, although they do not need
+snuffing? Let in fresh air; because the air is then unwholesome for want
+of oxygen; which, carried to a great extent, would cause fainting in the
+people, and would extinguish the candles themselves.--When a fire is
+like to go out, what should be done? Blow it up with bellows. Why not by
+the mouth? Because the air blown from the lungs has lost great part of
+its oxygen, by which alone the fire burns. Why then does a fire blown
+with the mouth burn at all? Because part of the oxygen remains, said one
+boy; and another added, "and because part of the surrounding air is
+blown in along with it."
+
+At the second meeting with these boys, occasioned by the unexpected
+circumstances formerly alluded to, they were summarily, and without
+previous notice, taken from their school to another public meeting,
+without knowing for what purpose they were brought, and had to undergo a
+still more searching examination on what they had been previously
+taught. Here again they shewed their dexterity in making use of their
+lessons, by the application of them, and proved that they had been doing
+so to themselves in the intercourse which they had had with their
+relations at home. The account goes on to say, that "they were then more
+fully and searchingly examined than at first; and there being more time,
+they were much longer under the exercise. It was then found, that the
+information formerly communicated was not only remembered, but that the
+several truths were much more familiar, in themselves and in their
+connection with each other, than they had been at the former meeting.
+This had evidently arisen from their own frequent meditations upon them
+since that time, and their application of the several lessons, either
+with one another, their parents, or themselves. The medical gentlemen
+were again present, and professed themselves equally pleased. The
+lessons, _with considerable additions_, were also given, and the
+applications especially were greatly extended. In these last they
+appeared to be perfectly at home; and relevant circumstances might have
+been multiplied for double the time, without their having any difficulty
+in applying the lessons, and giving a reason for their application."
+
+But the most satisfactory of all the experiments on this point, as
+implying the possession of a well-cultivated mind, holding at command an
+extensive field of useful knowledge, was the one in Leith, although
+from accident, or inadvertence on the part of the reporter, a large
+portion of it has been lost to the public. The following fragment,
+however, will be sufficient to shew its nature and its value. The
+examinator wished "to ascertain the power which the children possessed
+of applying the passage to their own conduct; and for this purpose, he
+proposed several circumstances in which they might be placed, and asked
+them to show how this portion of Scripture directed them to
+act.--Supposing, said he, that your father and mother were to neglect to
+take you to church next Sunday, would that be wrong?--Yes.--From what do
+you get that lesson? And when he was twelve years old, they went up to
+Jerusalem after the custom of the feast.--Is it right that children
+should go to church with their parents? Yes.--Why? Because Jesus went
+with his parents.--Would it be right for you to go out of church during
+the time of the service? No.--Why? Joseph and Mary remained till the
+service was over.
+
+"The next point to be ascertained was, whether the children were able,
+not only to perceive what passages of Scripture were applicable in
+particular circumstances, but also to find out what circumstances in
+life those passages might be applied to. For this purpose, Mr Gall
+asked, 'Could you tell me any circumstances which may happen, in which
+you may be called on to remember that Joseph and Mary attended public
+worship?'--If a friend were to take dinner or tea with us, that should
+not detain us from attending church.--Idle amusements should not detain
+us from church; and nothing should keep us from it but sickness.
+
+"Mr Gall again expressed his unabated satisfaction at the results of the
+examination, in proving the intellectual acquirements of the children.
+But so important did the application of the lessons appear to him, that
+he must trespass still further upon the time of the meeting by a more
+severe test of the children's practical training on this particular
+point. It was a test which he believed to be altogether new to them; but
+if they should succeed, it will prove still more satisfactorily, that
+their knowledge of Scripture has made it become, in reality, a light to
+their feet, and a lamp to their path.
+
+"Mr Gall then produced a little narrative tract, which he read aloud to
+the children; and after the statement of each moral circumstance
+detailed in it, he asked the children whether it was right or wrong.
+When the children answered that it was _right_, he required them to
+prove that it was so, by some statement in the word of God, because the
+Bible should to them, and to every Christian, be the _only_ standard of
+what is right and wrong; and so, in the same manner, when they said that
+it was _wrong_, he required them also to prove it from Scripture.
+
+"As soon as the children perceived what was wanted, passages of
+Scripture, both of precept and example, were brought forward with as
+much readiness and discrimination as before. The only exception, was one
+or two quotations from the Shorter Catechism in proof of their
+positions, which were of course rejected, as deficient of the required
+authority."
+
+The concluding remarks by the Right Honourable and Reverend reporters of
+the Experiment in Edinburgh, may with propriety be here given, as it is
+applicable, not only to prison discipline, but to education in general.
+"The result of this important experiment," they say, "was, in every
+point, satisfactory. Not only had much religious knowledge been acquired
+by the pupils, and that of the most substantial, and certainly the least
+evanescent kind; but it appeared to have been acquired with ease, and
+even with satisfaction--a circumstance of material importance in every
+case, but especially in that of adult prisoners. But the most uncommon
+and important feature of it was, the readiness which they, in this
+short period, had acquired of deducing _Practical Lessons_ from what
+they had read or heard, for the regulation of their conduct. Every
+leading circumstance in Scripture, by this peculiar feature of the
+System, was made to reflect its light on the various common occurrences
+of ordinary life, by which the pupils themselves were enabled to judge
+of the real nature of each particular act, and to adopt, or to shun it,
+as the conscience thus enlightened should dictate. The acting and
+re-acting, indeed, of every branch of the System, upon each other,
+interweaves so thoroughly the lessons of Scripture with the feelings and
+thoughts of their minds, and associates them so closely with the common
+circumstances of life, that it is almost impossible that either the
+portions of the Bible which they have thus learned, or the practical
+lessons thus drawn from them, should, at any future period, escape from
+their remembrance. The evolutions of their future life, will disclose
+circumstances which they are prepared to meet, by having lessons laid up
+in store, adapted to such occurrences; and especially, when the mental
+habit is formed of applying Scripture in this manner, there is scarcely
+an event which can happen, but against its tempting influence they will
+be fortified by the armour of divine truth.--Their compliance with
+temptation, should that take place, will not be done without a
+compunction of conscience, arising from some pointed and warning example
+that comes in all its urgency before their minds;--and they will, when
+seduced from rectitude, have a light within them, and a clue of divine
+truth, to guide them out of the dark and mazy labyrinth of error and
+crime, into the path of duty and virtue. It is God alone that can bless
+such instruction, and render it savingly efficacious; but surely the
+inference is fair, that this System furnishes us with an instrument,
+which, if skilfully employed, will effect all that man can do for his
+erring brother or sister."
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[26] 1 Cor. x. 1-11.
+
+[27] Heb. xiii. 5, 6
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. XI.
+
+_On the Imitation of Nature, in training her Pupils fluently to
+communicate their Knowledge._
+
+
+There is a fourth, or supplementary process in Nature's educational
+course, the successful imitation of which promises to be of great
+general benefit, as soon as it shall be universally adopted in our
+elementary schools. It is, as it were, the door-way of intellect,--the
+break in the cloud, through which the sun-light of concocted knowledge
+is to find its way, to enlighten and cheer the general community.--We
+refer to that acquirement, by which persons are enabled, without
+distraction of mind, internally to prepare and arrange their ideas, at
+the moment they are verbally communicating them to others.
+
+When this process is analysed, we find, as explained in a former
+chapter, that it consists simply in an ability to think, and to arrange
+our thoughts at the time we are speaking;--to exercise the mind on one
+set of ideas, at the moment we are giving expression to another. Simple
+as this at first sight may appear, we have seen that it is but very
+gradually arrived at;--that many persons, otherwise possessing great
+abilities, never can command it;--that it is altogether an acquisition
+depending upon the use of proper means;--but that, at the same time, any
+person whatever, by submitting to the appropriate discipline, may attain
+almost any degree of perfection in its exercise. The object required by
+the teacher, therefore, is a series of exercises, by means of which his
+pupils will be trained to think and to speak at the same moment; to have
+their minds busily occupied with some object or idea, while their powers
+of speech are engaged in giving utterance to something else. For the
+purpose of suggesting such an exercise, we shall again attend shortly to
+the exhibition of the process, as we find it under the superintendence
+of Nature.
+
+An infant, as we formerly explained, can for a long period utter only
+one or two words at a time,--not because it is unacquainted with more,
+but because it has not yet acquired the power of thinking the second
+word, while it is giving utterance to the first. It has to attain, by
+steady practice, and by slow degrees, the ability of commanding the
+thoughts, while uttering two, three, or more words consecutively,
+without a pause. A child also, whose mind is engaged with its toys,
+cannot for some time, during its early mental advances, attend to a
+speaker; much less can it think of, and arrange an answer to a question,
+while it continues its play. It has to stop, and think; it then gives
+the information required; and after this it will perhaps resume its
+play, but not sooner. When a child can speak and continue its
+amusements, it is an evidence of considerable mental power; and as
+Nature makes use of its play, for the purpose of increasing this
+ability, the teacher, and especially the parents, ought to excite and
+encourage every attempt at conversation while the pupil is so employed.
+But our object at present is to arrive at one or more regular exercises
+that shall embody the principle; exercises which may at all times be at
+the command, and under the controul of the teacher and parent, and which
+may form part of the daily useful arrangements of the school or the
+family. The following are a few, among many, which we shall briefly
+notice, before introducing one which promises to be still more
+beneficial, and more generally applicable to the economy of literary
+pursuits, and the arrangements of the academy.
+
+One of the exercises which assists in attaining the end here in view, we
+have already alluded to, as being successfully employed by Nature for
+the purpose,--that is, the child's play. Any amusement which requires
+thought or attention, is well calculated to answer this purpose,--and
+if the child can be induced and trained to speak and play at the same
+time, his thinking powers being occupied by the external use of his
+toys, the end of the teacher will in so far be gained. Questions put to
+a child at that time, and answers given by him while he continues to
+exercise his mind upon his amusements, will prepare the way, and greatly
+assist in giving him the power of exercising it upon ideas, without the
+help of these external and tangible objects. The principle in both cases
+is the same, although in the one it is not carried out to the same
+extent as it is in the other. And here we cannot help remarking, how
+extensive and important a field the working of this principle opens up
+to the ingenious toy-man. If a game, or games, can be invented, where
+the child must have his attention occupied with one object, while he is
+obliged to answer questions, or to make observations, or to detail
+facts, or in any other way to employ his speaking powers
+extemporaneously, (not repeating words by rote,) the person who does so
+will greatly edify the young, and benefit the public.
+
+Another method by which the principle may be called into exercise, is to
+tell a short story, or simple anecdote, and then to require the child to
+rehearse it again. In doing this, the mind of the child is employed in
+communing with the memory, while he is engaged in detailing to the
+teacher or monitor, the special circumstances in their order. Upon the
+principles of individuation and grouping, too, (the two most important
+principles, be it observed, which Nature employs with young children,)
+we can perceive, that it will be much easier for the child, and at least
+equally powerful in producing the effect, if the teacher or parent shall
+confine himself to one or two stories or anecdotes at a time, till, by
+repeated attempts, the child can in its own words, and in its own way,
+readily and fluently detail the whole of the circumstances to the
+parent or teacher, whenever required.
+
+A similar mode of accomplishing the same object, when the child is able
+to read, is, to require him at home to peruse a story of some length,
+and to rehearse what he can remember of it next day. This ought,
+however, in every case to be a narrative, or anecdote, consisting of
+groupings which the child can, on reading, picture on his mind. If this
+be neglected, there is danger of the child's being harassed and
+burdened, without any corresponding benefit being produced. It is here
+also worthy of remark, that Dr Mayo's "Lessons on Objects" may be
+employed for this purpose with considerable effect. If a list of
+qualities, such as colour, consistence, texture, &c. be put into the
+child's hand, and he be required to elucidate and rehearse those
+relating to one particular object, either placed before him, or, what is
+better, one with which he is acquainted, but which at the time he does
+not see, the eye and the mind will be engaged with his paper, and in
+recollecting the particular qualities of the object, at the same time
+that he is employed in communicating his recollections.
+
+Another method for producing the same end, consists in the parent or
+teacher repeating a sentence to the child, and requiring him to remember
+it, and to spell the several words in their order. Here the child has to
+remember the whole sentence, to observe the order of the several words,
+to chuse them one after another as he advances, and to remember and
+rehearse the letters of which each is composed. The mental exercise here
+is exceedingly useful, besides the advantages of training children to
+correct spelling. At the commencement of this exercise with a child, the
+sentence must be short, and he may be permitted to repeat each word
+after he has spelled it, which will help him to remember the word that
+follows;--but as he advances, he may be made to spell the whole without
+pronouncing the words; and the length of the sentence may be made to
+correspond with his ability. Great care however should be taken by the
+teacher that this exercise be correctly performed.
+
+Many other methods for exercising the child's mind and oral powers at
+the same moment, will be suggested by the ingenuity of teachers, and by
+experience; and wherever a teacher hits upon one which he finds
+efficient, and which works well with his children, it is to be hoped
+that he will not deprive others of its benefit. Such communications in
+education, like mercy, are twice blessed. But the exercise which, for
+its simplicity and power, as well as for the extent of its application
+to the business and arrangements of the school, appears to answer the
+purpose best, and which embodies most extensively the stipulations
+required for the successful imitation of Nature in this part of her
+process, is that which has been termed the "Paraphrastic Exercise." The
+exercise here alluded to has this important recommendation in its
+practical working, that while it can be employed with the child who can
+read no more than a sentence, it may be so modified and extended, as to
+exercise the mental and oral powers of the best and cleverest of the
+scholars to their full extent. It consists in making a child read a
+sentence or passage aloud; and, while he is doing so, in requiring him
+at the same moment, to be actively employed in detecting and throwing
+out certain specified words in the passage, and in selecting, arranging,
+and substituting others in their place; the child still keeping to the
+precise meaning of the author, and studying and practising, as far as
+possible, simplicity, brevity, elegance, and grammatical accuracy. It
+may be asked, "What child will ever be able to do this?" We answer with
+confidence, that every sane pupil, by using the proper means, may attain
+it. This is no hypothesis, but a fact, of which the experiment in Leith
+gives good collateral proof, and of which long and uniform experience
+has afforded direct and ample evidence. Any teacher, or parent indeed,
+may by a single experiment upon the very dullest of his pupils who can
+read, be satisfied on the point. Such a child, by leaving out and
+paraphrasing first one word in a sentence, then two, three, or more, as
+he acquires ability, will derive all the advantages above described;
+and, by advancing in the exercise, he may have his talents taxed during
+the whole progress of his education to the full extent of their powers.
+It is in this that one great recommendation lies to this exercise,--it
+being adapted to every grade of intellect, from the child who can only
+paraphrase a single word at a time, to the student who, while glancing
+his eye over the passage, can give the scope of the whole in a perfectly
+new form, and in a language and style entirely his own. Of the nature
+and versatility of this exercise we shall give a single example.
+
+Let us for this purpose suppose that a child sees in the first answer of
+the First Initiatory Catechism the words, "God at first created all
+things to shew his greatness," and that the teacher wishes to exercise
+his mind in the way, and upon the principle of which we are here
+speaking, by making him paraphrase it. He begins by ascertaining that
+the child knows the exact meaning of one or more of the several terms
+used in the sentence, and can give the meaning in other words. As for
+example, he should be able to explain that the first word means, "the
+Almighty;"--that the words at "first," here signifies, at "the beginning
+of time;"--that "created" means, "brought into existence;"--that the
+term "all things," as here used, indicates, "all the worlds in Nature,
+with their inhabitants;"--that the phrase to "shew," means to "exhibit
+to his rational creatures;"--and that his "greatness," at the close
+implies, his "infinite majesty and perfections."
+
+Now it must be obvious, that any one of these explanations may be made
+familiar to the dullest child that can read; and if _this_ can be done,
+the principle may immediately be brought into exercise. For example,
+when the child knows that the first word means "the Almighty," and that
+"first" is another way of expressing "the beginning of time," he is
+required to read the whole sentence, and in doing so, to throw out these
+two words, and to substitute their meanings. He will then at once read
+the sentence thus: "[The Almighty,] at [the beginning of time,] created
+all things to shew his greatness." The same thing may be done with any
+one or more of the others; and if the child at first feels any
+difficulty with two, the teacher has only, upon the principle of
+individuation, to make one of them familiar, before he be required to
+attend to a second; and to have two rendered easy before he goes forward
+to the third. Each explanation can be mastered in its turn, and may then
+be employed in forming the paraphrase; by which means the child's mind
+is called to the performance of double duty,--reading from his
+book,--throwing out the required words,--remembering their
+explanations,--inserting them regularly and grammatically,--and perhaps
+transposing, and re-constructing the whole sentence,--at the moment that
+he is giving utterance to that which the mind had previously arranged.
+
+The same thing may be done with a sentence from any book, although not
+so systematically prepared for the purpose as the Initiatory Catechisms
+have been. The explanations of any of the words which may be pointed
+out, or under-scored by the teacher, can easily be mastered in the usual
+way by any of the children capable of reading them; and if he shall be
+gradually and regularly trained to do this frequently, his command of
+words, in expressing his _own_ ideas, and his ability to use them
+correctly, will very soon become extensive and fluent. The importance of
+this to the young is much more valuable and necessary than is generally
+supposed. Nature evidently intends that childhood and youth should be
+the seed-time of language; and the exercise here recommended, when
+persevered in, is well calculated to produce an abundant harvest of
+words, suited for all kinds of oral communications.--Its importance in
+this respect, as well as its efficiency in fulfilling all the
+stipulations necessary for imitating Nature in the exercise of the
+principle which we are here illustrating, will be obvious to any reader
+by a very simple experiment.
+
+For this purpose the sentence which we have already employed may, for
+the sake of illustration, be represented in the following form.--"[God]
+at [first] [created] all [things] to [shew] his [greatness.]"--Here each
+of the words, which we formerly supposed to be explained by the child,
+is inclosed in brackets. Now if the reader will be at the pains of
+trying the experiment upon himself, and shall endeavour to observe the
+various operations of his own mind during it, he will at once perceive
+the correctness of the above remarks. That he may have the full benefit
+of this experiment, he has only to fix upon any one--but only one--of
+the inclosed words in the above sentence, and having ascertained its
+precise meaning as before given, he must _read_ the sentence aloud from
+the beginning, following the words with his eye in the ordinary way,
+till he arrives at the word he has fixed on. This he leaves out, and in
+its stead inserts the explanation, and then goes on to read the
+remainder of the sentence.--At the first trial he will perhaps be able
+to detect in his own mind some of the difficulties, which the less
+matured intellect of the young pupil has to encounter in his early
+attempts to succeed in the exercise; but he will also see, that it is a
+difficulty easily overcome when it is presented singly, and when the
+pupil is permitted to grapple with the paraphrasing of each word by
+itself. The reader will also be able to trace the operation of the young
+mind while engaged with the explanations, which differ entirely from
+the words which he is at the moment looking upon and reading. He will
+observe, that when the eye of the child arrives at the word fixed upon,
+he has to pause in his utterance for a moment, till the mind goes in
+search of what it requires; in the same way, and upon precisely the same
+principle, that an infant who has managed to speak one word, has to
+stop, and go in search of the next, and then to concentrate the powers
+of its mind upon it, before he can give it expression. But if the reader
+will repeat the operation to himself upon the _same word_, till he can
+read its explanation in the sentence without difficulty and without a
+pause; and then do the same with two, then with three, and so on, till
+he has completed the whole; he will be able to appreciate in some
+measure the importance of this exercise in training the young to such a
+command of language, as will enable them, on all known subjects, to
+deliver fluently, and in any variety of form, the precise shade of
+meaning which they wish to express.
+
+This of itself will be a great attainment by the pupil; but it is not
+all. The reader will also perceive what must be the necessary result of
+persevering in this exercise, during the time of a child's attendance at
+school, in training him to that calm self-possession,--that perfect
+command of the mind and the thoughts,--while engaged in speaking, which
+the frequent and gradually extended use of this exercise is so well
+calculated to afford. All the children of a school, without exception,
+may be exercised by its means, and upon the same paragraph; for while,
+by the paraphrasing of but one word in a clause, it is within the reach
+of the humblest intellect; yet, by the changes and transpositions
+necessary in more difficult passages, either to smooth asperities, or to
+avoid grammatical errors, it provides an extemporaneous exercise suited
+to the talents of the highest grade in any seminary.
+
+The collateral advantages also of this exercise, are both valuable and
+extensive. The operation of the principle which supposes double duty by
+the mind, enters into the nature of numerous acts in ordinary life,
+besides that of thinking and speaking, and which a perfect command of
+the thoughts in paraphrasing will tend greatly to facilitate.--For
+example, it will greatly assist the pupil in making observations during
+conversation, in attending to the weak and strong points of an argument,
+and in preparing his materials for a reply, while he is all the time
+hearing and storing up the ideas of a speaker.--It will enable him more
+extensively, and more deliberately to employ his mind on useful subjects
+while engaged with his work, even in those cases where a considerable
+degree of thought is required;--and it will greatly aid him in acquiring
+the art of "a ready writer," and will be available, both when he himself
+writes his own thoughts, or when he requires to dictate them to others.
+Many persons who can express their ideas well enough by speech, find
+themselves greatly at a loss when they sit down to write them;--and this
+arises entirely from the want of that command of the mind which is
+necessary whenever it is called on to do double duty. The person cannot
+think of that which he wishes to write, and at the same moment guide the
+hand in writing; in the same way, and for the same reason, that a child
+cannot answer a question and yet continue his play. By the use of the
+paraphrastic exercise, however, the pupil will soon be enabled not only
+to concoct in his own mind what he intends to write, during the time he
+is writing; but the faculty may, by the same means, be cultivated to
+such an extent, that he may at last be able to dictate to two clerks at
+a time, and sometimes perhaps, (as it has been affirmed some have done)
+even to three.
+
+A similar collateral advantage, which will arise from the persevering
+use of the paraphrastic exercise, deserves a separate consideration.--It
+will gradually create a capacity to take written notes of a subject,
+either in the church, the senate, or the lecture room, during the time
+that the speaker is engaged in delivering it. It is in the ability to
+hear and concoct in the mind one set of ideas, while writing down an
+entirely different set, that the whole art of accurate "reporting"
+consists. The writing part of the process is purely mechanical; the
+perfection of the art consists chiefly in the command which the reporter
+acquires over the powers of his mind. The person while so employed has
+to hear and reiterate the ideas of the speaker as he proceeds; these he
+must remember and arrange, selecting, abridging, condensing, or
+abandoning, according to the extent of his manual dexterity in writing.
+But it is worthy of remark, that if the person be able to think,--to
+exercise his mind,--and to continue to write without stopping while he
+does so, the _amount_ of what he writes is a mere accident, and depends,
+not upon the state of the mind, but upon the mechanical part of the
+operation, which is aided by the arts of stenography and abbreviation.
+This mental capacity is most likely to be acquired by the regular and
+persevering use of the paraphrastic exercise. It will train the pupil to
+that command over his thoughts, which, with a little practice in this
+particular mode of applying it, will soon enable him, with perfect
+self-possession, to hear and to keep up with a speaker, while he
+continues without a pause, to write down as much of what has been said,
+as his command of the pen will allow. Without this mental ability, he
+could not while listening write at all; but when it has been
+sufficiently acquired, there is no limit to his taking down all that is
+spoken, except what arises from the imperfection of the mechanical part
+of the process,--his manual dexterity. All these collateral advantages
+will accrue to the pupils by the use of this exercise; and this latter
+one will be greatly promoted in a school by a piece of history, an
+anecdote, or a paragraph of any kind, which none of the pupils know,
+being read slowly for only a few minutes, while the whole of the pupils
+who can write are required to take notes at the time, and to stop and
+give them in, as soon as the reading is finished.[28]
+
+It is also here worthy of remark,--and it is perhaps another proof of
+the efficiency of the several exercises before enumerated as imitations
+of Nature,--that they all, more or less, embody a portion of this
+principle of double duty performed by the mind. In each of them, when
+properly conducted, the pupil is compelled to speak, and to think at the
+same moment. Not a little of their efficiency and value indeed, may be
+attributed to this circumstance. In the catechetical exercise, for
+example, it is not difficult to trace its operation. For in the attempt
+of the child to answer a question previously put to him, the teacher
+will be at no loss to perceive the mind gradually acquiring an ability
+to think of the original question and of the ideas contained in the
+subject from which he has selected his answer, at the very moment he is
+giving it utterance. And a knowledge of the fact should excite teachers
+in general, so to employ this exercise as to produce this effect.--The
+analytical exercise also, in its whole extent, calls into operation the
+working of this principle, whether employed synthetically or
+analytically. When children are employed with the analytical exercise
+proper,--as in tracing a practical lesson backwards to the subject or
+circumstance from which it has been drawn, and in attaching that
+circumstance to the story or class of truths to which it belongs; or
+when, as in the "Analysis of Prayer," a text of Scripture has to be
+classified according to its nature, among the several parts into which
+prayer is divided;--in all these cases, there is this same double
+operation of the mind, searching and comparing one set of ideas, while
+the pupil is employed in giving expression to others.
+
+The exhibition of the principle will be easily traced, from what took
+place in the experiment in London, where the report states, that "the
+third class were next examined on the nature and practice of prayer.
+They shewed great skill in comprehending and defining the several
+component parts of prayer, as invocation, adoration, confession,
+thanksgiving, petition, &c. They first gave examples of each separately;
+and then, with great facility, made selections from each division in its
+order, which they gave consecutively; shewing, that they had acquired,
+with ease and aptitude, by means of this classification, a most
+desirable scriptural directory in the important duty of prayer. They
+then turned several lessons and passages of scripture into prayer; and
+the Chairman, and several of the gentlemen present, read to them
+passages from various parts of the Bible, which they readily classified,
+as taught in the 'Questions on Prayer,' and turned them into adoration,
+petition, confession, or thanksgiving; according to their nature, and as
+they appeared best suited for each. Some of the texts were of a mixed,
+and even of a complicated nature; but in every case, even when they were
+not previously acquainted with the passages, they divided them into
+parts, and referred each of these to its proper class, as in the more
+simple and unique verses."
+
+But a similar working of the same principle takes place when the
+analytical exercise is employed synthetically, and when the pupil is
+required to go from the root, forward to the extreme branches of the
+analysis, as is done when he forms an extemporaneous prayer, from a
+previous acquaintance with its several divisions and their proper order.
+In this very necessary and important branch of a child's education, the
+"Analysis of Prayer" is usually employed, and has, in thousands of
+instances, been found exceedingly effective. During this exercise, the
+child has steadily to keep in view the precise form and order of the
+Analysis, and at the same moment he has to select the matter required
+under each of the parts from the miscellaneous contents of his memory,
+to put them in order, and to give them expression. In doing this there
+is a variety of mental operations going on at the same moment, during
+all of which the pupil will soon be enabled continuously to give
+expression to his own ideas, with as much ease and self-possession as if
+he were doing nothing more than mechanically repeating words previously
+committed to memory. This is a valuable attainment; and yet the whole of
+this complicated operation of attending to the several branches of the
+analysis, and of selecting, forming, and giving utterance to his
+confessions, his thanksgivings, and his petitions, with perfect
+composure and self-possession, is within the reach of every Christian
+child. It is accomplished by a persevering exercise of the principle
+which has been illustrated above, and which is exemplified in the
+paraphrastic exercise. Many adults, it is believed, have been enabled,
+with ease and comfort, to commence family worship by its means; and
+numerous classes have been trained to the exercise in a few lessons. We
+shall here detain the reader by only a single example.
+
+The writer having been requested to meet with the Sunday School Teachers
+of Greenock and its neighbourhood, about the year 1827 or 1828, paid a
+visit to that place, and had the proposed meeting in a large hall of the
+town, where he endeavoured to explain to them, practically, a few of the
+principles connected with Sunday School Teaching, as more scientifically
+detailed in the present Treatise. For the purposes of that meeting,
+three children belonging to one of the Sunday Schools, were for a few
+hours previously instructed, and prepared to exhibit the working of some
+of those principles which, it was hoped, would lessen the labour of the
+Sunday School Teachers, and at the same time increase their influence
+and their usefulness. These children, (two girls and a boy,) about the
+ages of ten or twelve years, were regularly instructed by means of the
+catechetical exercise, in the doctrines, examples, and duties of
+Christianity; and among other subjects, they were made acquainted with
+the "Analysis of Prayer," and exercised by its means, without its being
+hinted to them, however, what use was intended to be made of it.
+
+The meeting was a crowded one; where, besides the Sunday School
+Teachers, and Parents of the children, nearly all the Clergymen of the
+place were present. When the more ostensible business of the meeting had
+been concluded, the writer consulted privately with two or three of the
+clergymen, and asked, whether they, knowing the general sentiments of
+the persons composing the meeting, would think it improper that one of
+the three children who had shewn themselves so intelligent, should be
+called on solemnly to engage in prayer with the audience before
+dismissing. To this they replied, that there could be no objections to
+such a thing, provided the children were able;--but of their ability,
+they very seriously doubted. On this point, however, the writer assured
+them there was no fear; and if that were the only objection, they would
+themselves immediately see that it was groundless. The boy accordingly,
+without his even conjecturing such a thing previously, was, before the
+meeting was dismissed, publicly called on to engage in prayer. He was
+for a moment surprised, and hesitated; but almost immediately, on the
+request being repeated, he shut his eyes, and commenced, with a solemn
+and faltering voice for one or two sentences; when, recovering from
+every appearance of trepidation, he proceeded with much propriety and
+solemnity of manner, with great latitude, and yet perfect regularity and
+self-possession, through all the departments of adoration, confession,
+thanksgiving, and petition, in language entirely his own, selecting for
+himself, and arranging his sentences agreeably to the Analysis, which
+was evidently his guide from the beginning to the end. This Treatise
+will, there is little doubt, be read by some who were that evening
+present, and who will remember the universal feeling of surprise and
+delight, at the perfect propriety of expression, the serenity of mind,
+and the solemnity of manner, which characterised the whole of this
+uncommon exercise. It did appear to many as a most unaccountable thing;
+but when the principle is perceived, as explained above, the wonder must
+at once cease, and we can distinctly see, that by using the proper
+means, the same ability is within the reach of all who will be at the
+pains to make the trial.
+
+This same principle is also exercised to a very considerable extent in
+drawing and applying lessons from a previous announcement. A very little
+attention to the operations of the mind in that exercise will be
+sufficient to shew this. Let us suppose, for example, that an
+announcement is made to a child, from which he is required to draw a
+practical lesson. This announcement must be distinctly present to his
+mind, while he is engaged in considering its meaning, its moral
+character, and its bearing on his own sentiments and conduct;--but more
+especially, all this, besides the original announcement, has still to be
+kept in view, while he is engaged in giving the lesson to the teacher in
+his own language as required. But in the application of the lessons, the
+principle is still more extensively called into operation. The child is
+asked, how he should act in certain given circumstances. These
+circumstances must accordingly be kept steadily before the mind, during
+the whole of the succeeding mental operation. He has to consider the
+lesson, or the conduct which he should pursue in these circumstances,
+and then, by the association of his ideas, he must call up from the
+whole of his accumulated knowledge, the precepts, the examples, the
+warnings, and even the implications, which form his authority for
+deciding on the conduct which he ought to pursue. These again must be
+kept before the mind, while he is preparing, and giving in his own
+language his conclusions to his teacher.
+
+All this was very obvious in the several public experiments, where the
+drawing of lessons, and the application of them by the pupils, were
+introduced.--In the case of the adult prisoners in Edinburgh County
+Jail, it was very observable; and the rolling of the eye, and the
+unconscious movement of the head, as if deeply engaged in some mental
+research when an application was required, were peculiarly pleasing and
+obvious to all the spectators. The reason was, that they had to keep
+before their mind, the circumstance, or statement involved in the
+question asked, while they had, at the same time, to review the several
+portions of their knowledge, chuse out the passage or example which was
+calculated to direct them in the duty; and then, still keeping these
+accumulated ideas present before the mind, they had to prepare and give
+expression to their answers. The same thing had to be done, but to a
+much greater extent, by the children in Aberdeen, in London, and in
+Newry. But the most satisfactory evidence of the beneficial working of
+this principle, in the drawing and applying of lessons, and by this
+means in giving even to children a command of language, and a power of
+extemporaneous speech which is but rarely attained even by adults, is to
+be found in the Seventh Experiment in Leith. The writer feels more at
+liberty in descanting upon the extraordinary results of that
+investigation with the children, because he had no share in their
+previous instruction; the peculiar merits of which belonged entirely to
+their zealous and pious teacher. He was a plain unlettered man; and yet
+he has trained hundreds of children in his Sunday school, whose
+intellectual attainments, for their age and rank in life, the writer has
+seldom known to be surpassed. There were exhibited by the children, from
+the beginning of the experiment to the end, an amount of knowledge, a
+degree of mental culture, a grasp of mind, and a fluency of expression,
+which had never before been witnessed in children of a similar class, or
+of the same age, by any person then present. The pupils were at the time
+quite unprepared for any extraordinary exhibition;--the subjects were
+chosen indiscriminately by the clergymen present, and were repeatedly
+changed;--and what is still more extraordinary, it was found, upon
+investigation, that the subjects were in general entirely new, or at
+least they had never been previously used as exercises in the school.
+The children, however, with all these disadvantages, were perfectly at
+home in each one of them. There appeared to be no exhausting of their
+resources; and the ease, and copiousness, and fluency of their language,
+were remarked by all present, as extraordinary, and by some as almost
+incredible. Many who were present, could scarcely believe that the
+children spoke extemporaneously. All these phenomena were simply the
+effects of the principle of which we are here speaking, regularly
+brought into operation, in the weekly acts of drawing and applying their
+practical lessons. The exhibition of so much mental power possessed by
+mere children,--and these children collected from the very humblest and
+rudest classes inhabiting a sea-port town,--appeared to be a
+circumstance altogether new. The official persons present, and the very
+Rev. Bishop Russell, who took an active part in the examination,
+expressed their decided satisfaction at the results of the whole
+experiment; and the effects of these principles, as illustrated by such
+children, made the present Lord Murray remark publicly at the close of
+the meeting, that it was obviously "a valuable discovery, calculated to
+be extensively useful to society."
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[28] Note Z.
+
+
+
+
+PART IV.
+
+ON THE SELECTION OF PROPER TRUTHS AND SUBJECTS TO BE TAUGHT IN SCHOOLS
+AND FAMILIES.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. I.
+
+_On the General Principles which ought to regulate our choice of Truths
+and Subjects to be taught to the Young._
+
+
+In all cases where our temporal interests are concerned, a proper
+discrimination in the selection of such exercises and studies as shall
+best suit our purpose, is considered as not only prudent, but necessary.
+The neglect of this would, indeed, by men of the world, be esteemed the
+height of folly. No ship-master thinks of perfecting his apprentices by
+lectures on agriculture; nor does the farmer train his son and successor
+to cultivate the land, by enforcing upon him the study of navigation. In
+a public school, therefore, when all classes of the community are to be
+taught, the truths and exercises should be selected in such a manner,
+that they shall, if possible, be equally useful to all; leaving the
+navigator and the agriculturist, the surgeon and the lawyer, to
+supplement their _general_ education, by the study of those special
+branches of learning which their several professions require.
+
+But even this is not enough:--Among those subjects and exercises in
+which all the children in a school may be equally interested, there are
+many which are neither equally useful, nor equally indispensable. A
+thorough consideration, and a careful selection of those which are most
+valuable in themselves, and which are most likely to be useful during
+life, become both prudent and necessary. In all ordinary cases, men act
+upon this principle. Health, food, and recreation, are all good and
+useful things; but even from among these we are sometimes compelled to
+make a choice, and the principle of our decision is always the same.
+When we cannot procure all, we chuse those which appear to us the most
+necessary, and abandon the others without regret. A man readily denies
+himself to sports and amusement, when he finds that he must labour for a
+supply of food and necessaries; and even the pleasures of the table are
+willingly sacrificed, for the purpose of securing or restoring the
+blessings of health. In like manner, those branches of education which
+are most important for securing the welfare of the pupils, and most for
+the benefit of society, ought to be selected and preferred before all
+others; seeing that to neglect, or wilfully to err in this matter, would
+be injurious to the child, and unjust to the community.--Our object at
+present therefore is, to enquire what those general principles are which
+ought to regulate us in our choice of subjects and exercises for the
+education of youth.
+
+1. The first and fundamental rule which ought to guide the Educationist
+and the Parent in the selection of subjects for the school, is to chuse
+those which are to promote the happiness and welfare of _the pupil
+himself_; without regard, in the first instance at least, to the
+interests or the ease of his friends, of the teacher, or of any third
+party whatever.--Children are not the property of their parents, nor
+even of the community. They are strictly and unalienably the property of
+the Almighty, whose servants and stewards the parents and the public
+are. The child's happiness and welfare are entirely his own;--the free
+gift of his Maker and Master, of which no man, without his full consent,
+has a right to deprive him. This happiness, and the full enjoyment of
+what he receives, both here and hereafter, have been made to depend on
+his allegiance and his faithfulness, not to his parents, nor even to the
+public, but to the great Lord of both. This allegiance therefore, is his
+first and chief concern, with which the will and the wishes, the
+interests or the ease, of teachers and parents, have nothing to do. If
+the directions of his Maker and Lord are attended to, he has nothing to
+fear. There is in that case secured for him an inheritance that is
+incorruptible, and far beyond the reach or the power of any creature. It
+is for the enjoyment of this inheritance that he has been born;--it is
+with the design of attaining it, and for increasing its amount, that his
+time is prolonged upon earth;--it is to secure it for him, and to
+prepare him for it, that the parent has been appointed his guardian and
+guide;--and it is for the purpose of promoting and overseeing all this
+among its members, that a visible church, and church officers, have been
+established and perpetuated in the world.
+
+In so far as each individual child is concerned, the parent is the
+immediate agent appointed by the Almighty for attending to these
+objects; and although, in a matter of so much importance, he is
+permitted to avail himself of the assistance of the teacher, he, and he
+only, is responsible to God for the due performance of those momentous
+duties which he owes to his child. When therefore the parents, for the
+purpose of forwarding some trifling personal advantage, or the teacher,
+for his own ease or caprice, are found indifferent to the kind of
+exercises used in the school, or to the results of what is taught in
+it;--doing any thing, or nothing, provided the time is allowed to pass,
+with at least the appearance of teaching;--they are, in such a case,
+betraying an important trust; they are heedlessly frustrating the
+wishes, and resisting the commands of their Master and Lord; they are
+sapping the foundations of society; and are thoughtlessly and basely
+defrauding the helpless and unconscious pupil of a most valuable
+patrimony.--In committing to parents the keeping and administration of
+this sacred deposit, reason, conscience, and Scripture, all unite in
+declaring, that it is given them, not for the promotion of their own
+personal advantages, but for the child's benefit; and that, while they
+never can be permanently bettered by its neglect, their good, even in
+this world, will be best and most surely advanced by a faithful
+discharge of their duty to their offspring.
+
+These remarks go to establish the general principle, that the parent is
+not the proprietor, but merely the guardian and the administrator of the
+child's interests. These interests are of various kinds. And although
+the above remarks refer chiefly to the spiritual and eternal advantages
+of the young, that circumstance arises merely from their superior value
+and importance. The argument is equally conclusive in regard to every
+one of his temporal concerns. For if both the parent and the child be
+the special property of God, and if the parent has been appointed by him
+as the conservator and guardian of the child's happiness, he has no
+right either to lessen or to destroy it for any selfish purpose of his
+own. In every case--even of discipline--he is bound to follow the
+command and the example given him by his Father and Master in heaven,
+not to chastise his offspring for his "own pleasure," but for the
+"child's profit." The rule therefore which ought to regulate the parent,
+and of course the Educationist, in making choice of the subjects and
+exercises for the school, is, that they shall really and permanently
+conduce to the _pupil's_ welfare and happiness, irrespective of the
+conflicting interests or wishes, either of the teacher, the parent, or
+the public. These will usually be in harmony; but as a general
+principle, the exercises are to be chosen with reference to the welfare
+of the _child_,--not of the _community_.
+
+2. Another rule which ought to be attended to in the selection of
+subjects and exercises for the seminary, is nearly allied to the former,
+but which we think, from its vast importance, should have a separate
+consideration. It is this, that a decided preference should be given to
+_every thing which advances the concerns of the soul, above those of the
+body;--which prefers heaven to earth,--and eternity to time_.--Man is an
+accountable and an immortal creature;--and therefore there is no more
+comparison between the value of those things which refer to his
+happiness in eternity, and those which refer only to his enjoyments
+during his lifetime, than there is between a drop of water and the
+contents of the ocean;--nay, between a grain of sand and the whole
+physical universe. The truth of this observation, when viewed in the
+abstract, is never questioned; and yet the educational principles which
+it naturally suggests are too often jostled aside, and practically
+neglected. It plainly teaches us, that the young ought to be made aware
+of the comparative nothingness of temporal and sensual objects, when
+placed in competition with those which refer to their souls and
+eternity; and that the subjects which are to be taught them in the
+school, should tend to produce these feelings.--But this is not always
+the case; and even when the subjects are in themselves unobjectionable,
+the methods taken for teaching them frequently neutralize their effects.
+The national evils which have arisen from this neglect are extensive and
+lamentable, consisting in an almost exclusive attention among all
+classes to temporal matters, and to sensual gratifications. These
+characteristic, features in our people may all be traced, from their
+exhibition in general society, to the want of a thorough knowledge of
+those truths which tend so powerfully to deaden the influence of the
+things of sense and time, and to moderate our pursuit after them. It is
+in a particular manner at this point that the reckless cupidity, and
+the debased and short-sighted selfishness of the lower classes, ought to
+be met and removed, by the enlightened and kindly instructions of more
+capacious minds. Society, as at present constituted, acts as if there
+were no futurity. Time is the eternity of thousands; and therefore they
+think only of time. Had they, as rational creatures, but a correct
+view,--however faint,--of their destination in eternity, their conduct
+and pursuits would very soon be changed, and their selected enjoyments
+would become, not only more rational, but much more exquisite. Education
+is the instrument by which alone this can be effected, whether in the
+church or in the school; and to this point, both parents and children
+should be assiduously directed for their own sakes, and for the sake of
+the community.
+
+Hitherto there has in education been too much of the mere shadow of
+rational knowledge, without the substance; and the consequence has been,
+that many parents in the lower classes have never been able to perceive
+their _own_ best interests, and therefore it is that their children by
+them have been equally neglected. Nor is this only a partial evil, or
+confined to the lower classes.--It is, on the contrary, when we examine
+the matter closely, nearly universal. Among ignorant and thoughtless
+parents, who are either unable or unwilling to look any further than the
+few short years of life, the training of their children to figure
+respectably and gracefully during it, may not perhaps excite much
+wonder;--but that such conduct should be followed by Christian parents,
+who know that both they and their children have souls, and that there is
+such a thing as eternity before them both, is truly humbling. Nor is it
+much for the credit of the philosophy of the present day, that while its
+promoters admit as an axiom the superiority of moral and religious
+attainments, they are found in practice to bestow their chief attention,
+and to lavish most of their approbation on physical investigations and
+on intellectual pursuits. Every sound thinker must see, that by doing
+so, the first principles of philosophy are violated; and many well
+meaning persons are, by this inverted state of public opinion,
+insensibly drawn away from the more valuable food provided for them as
+responsible and immortal beings, to feed on the mere chaff and garbage
+of temporal and sensual enjoyments; or the more valuable, but still
+temporary crumbs of the intellectual table. That this practical abuse of
+acknowledged truths should be found among the ignorant and the depraved,
+might perhaps be expected; but that it should be witnessed, and yet
+winked at, by men of learning and study, whose comprehensive minds,
+although still inadequate to comprehend the full import of an eternity
+of advancing knowledge, can yet appreciate the comparative
+insignificance of seventy--nay of seventy thousand--years' investigation
+into the mysteries of Nature, is very painful. We do not, in saying
+this, depreciate in the slightest degree the sublime discoveries which
+are daily being made of the Almighty and his works;--but we say, upon
+the soundest principles of philosophy, that were all these discoveries
+multiplied ten thousand times, they could not for a moment compete with
+what yet remains to be communicated to the successful aspirant after the
+revelations of eternity. Religion and morals are the only means by which
+success in that great competition can be gained; and therefore, to a
+child, a knowledge of all that man has yet discovered, or can ever know
+in this imperfect state of existence, is really as nothing, in
+comparison with the knowledge and practice of but one religious truth,
+or with the slightest advance in the science of morals.--A child once
+possessed of a living soul is born for eternity. Its happiness has been
+made to depend, not on the possession of physical good, or of
+intellectual power, but entirely on its moral condition;--and the
+physical good it receives, and the intellectual power it attains; are
+nothing more than means intended by the Almighty to be used for the
+purpose of perfecting his moral condition while he is still in this
+world. The whole period of his existence here, is but the moment of his
+birth for eternity. Care and enlightened attention to his moral
+condition during that short period of probation, will usher him
+spiritually alive and fully prepared for enjoying an eternal weight of
+intelligence and glory;--while inattention, or misdirected activity now,
+may no doubt put him prematurely in possession of a few intellectual
+morsels of this eternal feast, but it will assuredly shut him out from
+its everlasting enjoyment, and will entail on him comparative ignorance,
+and a living death for ever.
+
+In this view of the case then,--and what Christian will deny that it is
+the correct one,--there cannot be a more short-sighted proposition
+suggested in the counsels of men, than that which would sanction a
+system of education for an _immortal_ being, that either overlooked, or
+deliberately set aside, his well-being in eternity. The very idea is
+monstrous. It is a deliberate levelling of man to the rank of mere
+sentient animals; and is another form of expressing the ancient advice
+of the sensualist, "Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die." By
+every person of learning, then, and even by individuals of humbler
+attainments, in the exercise of a plain common understanding, the
+importance of the rule in education which we are here recommending, must
+at once be admitted;--That in the selection of truths and exercises for
+educating and training the young, a decided preference should always be
+given to those which have a reference to their well-being and happiness,
+not in time so much as in eternity.
+
+3. In selecting subjects and exercises for the education of the young,
+those are to be preferred, by which _the largest amount of true and
+solid happiness is to be secured to the pupil_.--A man's happiness is
+his only possession. Every thing else which he has, is only the means
+which he employs for the purpose of acquiring or retaining it. Happiness
+accordingly, by the very constitution of our nature, is the great object
+of pursuit by every man.[29] The means of happiness are no doubt
+frequently mistaken, and often substituted for happiness itself. But
+even these conflicting circumstances, when properly considered, all tend
+to shew, that happiness is the great object desired, and that it is
+universally sought after by every intelligent mind. By a wise and
+beneficent arrangement of the Almighty, it has been so ordered, that
+happiness is to be found only in the exercise of the affections;--and
+the amount of the happiness which they confer, is found to be
+proportionate to the excellence of the object beloved. The love of God
+himself, accordingly, is the first of duties, and includes the
+perfection of happiness. The love of all that are like him, and in
+proportion as they are so, ranks next in the scale; and hence it is,
+that all moral excellence,--the culture of the affections and the
+heart,--is to be preferred to intellectual attainments, as these again
+are to take precedence of mere physical good.
+
+This established order for the attainment of happiness, is in society
+most strangely inverted. Beauty, strength, honour, and riches,--mere
+physical qualities,--are generally preferred to the qualities of the
+mind;--and mental attainments, again, too often command more
+consideration than moral worth. This is altogether an unnatural state of
+things; and the consequences of its prevalence in any community, must be
+proportionally disastrous. How far the modes for conducting the
+education of the young hitherto have tended to extend or perpetuate this
+error, it is not for us here to say. But if they have, the sooner the
+evil is rectified the better. Happiness, as we have said, is the single
+aim of man,--however he may mistake its nature, or the means by which
+it is to be attained. And as it is to be found, not in intellectual
+power, nor in the possession of physical good, but only in moral
+culture, it follows, that the attainment of this moral excellence should
+be the one chief design aimed at in the education of the young.
+
+The benevolence and wisdom of this arrangement are obvious. For had
+happiness been made to depend on the possession of _intellectual_ power,
+few comparatively could have commanded the time and means which are
+necessary for the purpose; and had it been attached to the possession of
+riches, or honour, or any other species of _physical_ good, there would
+have been still fewer. But it is not necessarily attached to the
+possession of either. Men may enjoy riches and honours, beauty and
+health, and yet they may be unhappy. The highest mental attainments
+also, when disjoined from moral excellence, tend only, as in the fallen
+angels, to stimulate their pride, and to aggravate their misery. But
+happiness is exclusively and unalterably attached to the cultivation of
+_the affections_,--to the acquisition of moral excellence;--so that it
+is equally within the reach of every individual, however obscure, or
+however talented. Few men can be intellectually great,--fewer still can
+be rich or powerful; but every man may, if he pleases, be good,--and
+therefore happy. In choosing the subjects and exercises then for the
+education of the young, those which tend to the production and to the
+cultivation of the moral affections,--love to God, and love to men,--are
+always to be preferred to those which have relation merely to the
+attainment of _intellectual_ acquirements, or the possession of mere
+_physical_ good.
+
+4. In choosing subjects and exercises for the education of the young,
+reference should be had, all other things being equal, to _the
+prosperity and welfare of the community in general_.--We have already
+shewn that, under God, the happiness and welfare of every individual
+are his own special property, and must in all cases, therefore, be at
+his special disposal. No ordinary combination of circumstances will ever
+warrant an unjust encroachment on what is so peculiarly his own. But the
+happiness and welfare of an individual are almost uniformly found to be
+connected with the happiness and prosperity of those with whom he has to
+associate. The Educationist, therefore, ought to have the welfare of the
+community in view, while he is selecting those exercises which are
+specially to benefit his pupil; and he will almost invariably find, that
+by choosing those subjects and exercises for the individual, which will
+tend most surely to promote the general well-being of society, he will
+not only not require a sacrifice of any of the personal benefits to
+which the child has a claim, but that he will greatly increase their
+amount, and add to their value. When this is the case, to overlook the
+good of the community in selecting exercises and subjects for the
+school, would be of no advantage to the pupils, and would be an act of
+positive injustice to the public at large.
+
+These general principles, we think, when considered singly, must approve
+themselves to every thinking mind; and if so, they must be still more
+beneficial when they are combined, and acted upon systematically in the
+preliminary arrangements of any seminary. The nearer, therefore, the
+Educationist can keep to them in making his selection of subjects and
+exercises, the better will it be both for the pupil and for the
+community at large, while the benefits expected from an exercise where
+there is any material deviation from them, will most probably turn out
+to be delusive, and the exercise itself detected as the mere bequest of
+an antiquated prejudice, or the temporary idol of fashion. These
+principles being admitted to be sound in the abstract, will greatly
+assist us in deciding upon the relative value and appropriateness of
+some of the propositions which we shall immediately have to submit to
+the reader; and we would here only remark, for his guidance, that if, in
+the following recommendations, he finds an exercise correctly to accord
+with the above principles, while he yet hesitates as to the propriety of
+its adoption in the school, or feels inclined to accede to its
+exclusion,--he ought, in such a case, carefully to review the grounds of
+his decision, as these are most likely to be erroneous. He has good
+reason to suspect that he is labouring under prejudice, or is unduly
+biassed by long cherished opinions, when he refuses the legitimate
+application of a general law,--a law which he has previously admitted to
+be sound,--and which is as likely to be applicable to the case in hand,
+as to any other of a similar kind.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[29] Note R.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. II.
+
+_On the particular Branches of Education required for Elementary
+Schools._
+
+
+In making choice of suitable subjects for the education of a community,
+there are two considerations which ought to regulate us in our
+selection. The one is, the indications of Nature respecting any branch
+of education; and the other is, the peculiar usages of the place and
+persons with whom the pupil is destined to associate. As an example of
+the former class of subjects, we may instance reading and writing; and
+of the latter, book-keeping and the classics. The branches belonging to
+the former will be found more or less useful to all without exception;
+while those which rank under the second class, although requisite for
+some, will be found unnecessary, and generally useless, to many. From
+the character of the present work, our business is chiefly with the
+former class; and we shall therefore advert very shortly to a few of
+them, pointing out the intimations of Nature respecting them, and
+giving a few hints as to the best methods by which they may be taught.
+
+And first of all, _Religion and Morals_ are clearly pointed out by
+Nature as a branch of education peculiarly necessary for the young. On
+this we shall not here again enlarge, but shall merely refer the reader
+to some of our previous pages, where it has been made sufficiently
+clear.[30]
+
+Next in importance as a branch of education plainly indicated by Nature,
+we ought to rank _the principles of Natural Philosophy_. We say next _in
+importance_, not _in time_; because they are evidently not to be taught
+to the child in this order, although it will be found in experience that
+these principles may be communicated by successive "steps" much sooner
+than is generally thought.[31] Nature begins early; and so should we.
+The very infant becomes practically a natural philosopher, and continues
+to act regularly upon the truths or principles which experience enables
+him to detect. He soon learns that flame burns, that clothes keep his
+body warm, that stumbling will cause a fall, and that the support of a
+chair or stool will prevent it. As he grows up he learns the danger of
+handling sharp knives, hot irons, and burning coals; he learns to detect
+some of the effects of the mechanical powers, which he frequently
+applies, although he cannot explain them. This we perceive exemplified
+in his ingenious contrivances in cutting his sticks, wrenching with
+forks, hammering with stones, kicking with his toes, and afterwards more
+powerfully with his heels; in trundling his hoop, in sailing his mimic
+fleets by the force of his breath, and in adapting to the requisite
+moving powers his wind and water mills. He even learns to know something
+of the composition of forces, as we perceive by his contrivances in the
+flying of his kite, the shooting of his marbles, and the rebounding of
+his ball. Now, as these adaptations are never to be ranked under the
+class of instinctive actions, but have been in every case acquired by
+actual experience, it shews, that there is an outgoing of the mind in
+search of principles, and we think it is probable, that these principles
+are often, although perhaps but dimly perceived, from the various, and
+frequently successful contrivances of the child in difficulties, and in
+circumstances when he is desirous of procuring relief. This at all
+events shews us, that children are very early prepared, and capable of
+receiving instruction of this kind.
+
+The _importance_ attached by Nature to this branch of learning, is not
+less remarkable, than is its universality. It is the great hinge upon
+which every temporal comfort of the individual is made to turn. What we
+have here termed "natural philosophy," is to the body and to time, what
+religion and morals are to the soul and eternity;--the well-being of
+both depends almost entirely upon the proper application of their
+several principles. It is no doubt true, that the principles are not
+always very clearly perceived; but it is equally true, that the
+application of these principles will be more easy, more frequent, and
+much more effective, when they are made familiar by teaching. Hence the
+importance of this branch of education for the young.
+
+Next in importance as branches of education, and prior perhaps in point
+of time, come the arts of _Reading_ and _Writing_.--Speech is a valuable
+gift of Nature, bestowed upon us for the communication of our ideas, and
+_writing_ is nothing more than a successful imitation of Nature in doing
+so. The hearing of speech, in like manner, is closely copied in the art
+of _reading_. These two arts, therefore, as most successful imitations
+of Nature, recommend themselves at once to the notice of the teacher as
+an important branch of education for the young. The one enabling him to
+speak with the hand, and to communicate his ideas to his friend from
+any distance; and the other, the art of hearing by the eye, and by which
+he can make the good and the wise speak to him as often and as long as
+he may feel inclined.[32]
+
+Of _Arithmetic_, we may only remark, that the necessity of sometimes
+ascertaining the number of objects, of adding to their number, and at
+other times of subtracting from them, indicates sufficiently that this
+is a branch of education recommended by Nature. It may only be necessary
+here to remark, that, from various concurring circumstances, it appears,
+that what is called the Denary Scale is that which is most conducive to
+general utility. As to the nature of Arithmetic, and the best methods of
+teaching it, we must refer to the Note.[33]
+
+_Music_ is one of Nature's best gifts. The love of it is almost
+universal; and few comparatively are unable to relish and practise it.
+Its effect in elevating and refining the sentiments in civilized
+society, is matter of daily observation; and its power to "soothe the
+savage breast," has been often verified. To neglect the cultivation of
+music, therefore, during childhood and youth, when it can be best done,
+not only without interference with other branches of study, but with
+decided advantage in forwarding them, is both imprudent and unjust. We
+say that it is _unjust_;--for while much ingenuity and large sums of
+money have been expended in producing musical instruments for the
+gratification of men, the child of the poorest beggar is in possession
+of an instrument in the human voice, which for sweetness, variety,
+expression, and above all, for its adaptation to language, has never
+been equalled, and stands quite unapproachable by all the contrivances
+of man. How cruel then in parents or teachers to allow an instrument so
+noble and so valuable to fall to ruin from the want of exercise! It is
+to deprive their pupil of a constant solace in affliction, and to dry
+up one of the cheapest, the readiest, and the most innocent and
+elevating sources both of personal and social enjoyment. Of its uses,
+and methods of teaching in the school, we must again refer to the
+Notes.[34]
+
+_Dancing_ is obviously the sister of music, and is perhaps equally
+sanctioned by Nature. It is obviously capable of being consecrated and
+employed for high moral purposes; and its abuse therefore should form no
+argument against its regular cultivation. That it was so employed by the
+appointment of God himself, is matter of history; and that it is still
+capable of being preserved from abuse, cannot reasonably be denied. The
+stand that has so frequently been made against even the innocent
+enjoyment of this boon of Nature, is now admitted to be a prejudice,
+derived originally from its flagrant and frequent abuse. These
+prejudices are gradually and silently melting away; and it is cheering
+to see the better feelings of our nature effectively advancing the art
+to its legitimate place in education, under the guise of gymnastics and
+callisthenics. That these, however, are but imperfect substitutes for
+what Nature has intended for the young, is obvious, when we contrast
+them with the gambols of the kitten, the friskings of the lamb, and the
+unrestrained romps of healthy children newly let loose from the school.
+The truth is, that the accumulation of the animal spirits must be thrown
+off by exercise, whether the parent or teacher wills it or no; and if
+the children are not taught to do this _by rule_, as in dancing, they
+will do it without rule, and perhaps beyond the proper limit, both as to
+time, place, and quantity. Education indeed cannot be expected to
+flourish to the extent desired, till the mental labours of the school
+can be occasionally relieved by some physical exercise, either within
+doors, or in the open air.[35]
+
+The love of pictures and of _Drawing_ is also a boon bestowed upon us by
+Nature, and is a desirable acquisition for the young. The art may
+generally be acquired with little trouble, and often with great
+enjoyment. It is certainly neither so necessary, nor so valuable, as
+some of the branches of which we have been speaking; but as it may be
+easily attained, and as its future exercise will always be a source of
+innocent and refined enjoyment, it ought to occupy a place in every
+educational institution. Almost every person is gratified by looking
+upon a good picture; and few comparatively are unable to acquire the
+rudiments of the art which produces them. It requires but little
+teaching, provided good copies be procured;--and even these will be
+frequently unnecessary, where the pupils are encouraged to copy from
+Nature. The proper methods of doing this, however, must be left to the
+circumstances of the school, and to future experiments.
+
+With respect to the teaching of _History_, a little consideration will
+convince us, that it does not consist in the mere communication of
+historical facts. History is, or ought to be, a science; and the
+succession of events is nothing more than the implements employed by the
+master in teaching it. The _facts_ of history, like those of chemistry,
+agriculture, or mechanics, are taught merely as means to an end.--They
+are the elements from which we derive principles, which are to be
+practically applied by the learner; and it is _the ability to apply
+these_ that constitutes the learning. The facts upon which any science
+is based, must no doubt be known before it can be taught;--but they may
+be known without the science having ever been mastered: For it is not a
+knowledge of the facts, but the capacity to _make use_ of them, that
+entitles a man to the appellation of a chemist, an agriculturist, a
+mechanic, or a historian.
+
+Viewing the study of history in this light, we at once perceive, that
+the teaching which it requires is not a dry detail of dates and
+circumstances;--but the practical uses which ought to be made of them.
+The only legitimate use of history is to direct us how we ought to
+conduct ourselves as citizens, and how rulers and governors can most
+safely and successfully manage the affairs of the public, in all the
+varying events of political change. The teacher therefore is to
+communicate the facts, for the purpose of turning them to use, by
+drawing, and teaching his pupils how to draw lessons of prudence,
+energy, or caution, as regards the nation;--in the same way that
+Biography is taught for the sake of drawing lessons of a more personal
+kind, as regards a family or a neighbourhood. Both were practically
+exhibited in the experiment in Aberdeen; by which it was made obvious,
+that children, as well as adults, were capable of studying it. Where the
+circumstances of a seminary will admit, it ought not to be neglected.
+The mere inconveniences which may for some time attend the introduction
+of such a mode of teaching history is no good reason for its neglect;
+and the want of practical elementary books drawn up upon this plan, in
+the form of successive "Steps," is the chief desideratum, which we hope
+soon to see supplied.
+
+_Geography_ is another branch of education pointed out to us by Nature
+for the benefit of man. We speak here, however, of physical geography,
+and not of the historical and political departments of it. These belong
+more properly to history. The chief object in teaching this science, is
+to convey to the mind of the pupil a correct idea of this world as a
+sphere, on the top of which he stands, and of the relative positions of
+all the kingdoms and countries on its surface. This will be, and it
+ought to be, a work of time. The more correctly and familiarly the pupil
+can form the idea of this sphere as a whole, the sooner and the better
+will he become acquainted with its parts. Acting upon the principles of
+reiteration and analysis, formerly described, the pupil ought to
+sketch, however rudely, the great outlines of the four divisions of the
+earth, upon a blank, or slate globe, till he can do so with some degree
+of correctness. The separated divisions may then be sketched on a common
+slate, without caring as yet for the details; and when this can be
+accomplished readily, the same thing may be done with the different
+kingdoms of which they are severally composed. The child ought never to
+be harassed by the minute details, till he comes to sketch the
+countries, or the counties. What is required _before this_, is their
+relative position, more than their form; and this, upon the principle of
+analysis, will be easiest and most permanently acquired by mastering in
+the first place the great outlines.
+
+Children, by mere imitation, will practically acquire the art of
+_Grammar_, long before they are capable of learning it as a science. It
+ought invariably to be taught by "Steps;" and the child should have a
+perfect knowledge of the etymological part, before he is allowed to
+advance to syntax. The efficiency of this concluding part of grammar,
+depends entirely upon his familiarity with the former. It will therefore
+be found here, as in the practice of arithmetic, that the prize will
+ultimately be awarded, not to him who expends most labour and strength
+in running, but to him who has made the best preparation for the race.
+
+The art of _Composition_, or the ability to express our thoughts in an
+orderly and natural form, is the last branch of education to which, as
+recommended by Nature, we shall here allude. The perfection of this art
+appears to depend on three circumstances. There must be a clear
+understanding of the subject upon which the person is to write;--there
+must, in the second place, be a distinct perception of the most natural
+order in which it ought to be presented to the mind and imagination of
+others;--and the third is, an ability to manage these materials with
+facility, and without distraction of mind, while engaged in writing
+them. As to the first of these three, nothing requires to be said here,
+as the exercises recommended in the previous part of this Treatise will
+almost invariably accomplish it. With respect to the second, that of
+presenting the ideas connected with the subject in due and proper order,
+it may be remarked, that the hints formerly given, as to the natural
+order of "grouping" objects to be presented to the imagination, will be
+of great use here, and to them we must refer;[36]--and the third object
+here required, that of managing the thoughts at the moment of writing
+them, has been in effect already described and treated of, in a previous
+part of this Treatise.[37] It is the same kind of ability as that which
+is required for acquiring fluency and ease in extemporaneous speaking,
+and is to be gained by the use of the same means. It is here only
+necessary to observe, that abstract teaching and general directions are
+not the things most required for forwarding a child in this branch of
+his education. These, at an advanced stage of his learning, will no
+doubt be of service; but till the pupil can write with some degree of
+freedom, they are in a great measure useless, or worse. What is wanted
+most in our elementary schools, is a successful _beginning_;--suitable
+exercises to assist the pupil in writing his own thoughts properly, but
+in his own way. Many methods have been devised to effect this, and with
+more or less success;--but we believe the most efficient, because the
+most natural and simple, is that which has been engrafted upon the
+paraphrastic exercise. In regard to its ease, it is only necessary to
+say, that a child who can but write a sentence, may begin to practise
+it;--and its efficiency may be argued from the fact, that while every
+step is progressive, the advanced exercises give ample scope for the
+abilities of the cleverest in the school.[38]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[30] See Part II. chap. x. p. 111. Part III. chap. ix. p. 257, and p.
+310-313. For the methods of teaching, see Note S.
+
+[31] Note T.
+
+[32] Note U.
+
+[33] Note V.
+
+[34] Note W.
+
+[35] Note A a.
+
+[36] See pages 215, 216.
+
+[37] See Pages 297, &c.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP III.
+
+_On the Easiest Methods of Introducing these Principles, for the first
+time, into Schools already established._
+
+
+That the educational principles attempted to be developed in the
+preceding pages, shall ultimately pervade the great fields of Elementary
+learning, admits we think of but little doubt; and yet the diminutive
+word "When?" in relation to this change, forms a question, which it
+would be extremely difficult to answer. Every improvement of the kind
+hitherto has been gradual; and experience shews, that the admission of
+the most important principles in Science, has been often retarded,
+rather than forwarded, by undue precipitation on the part of their
+friends. It is with this historical fact in view that the following
+hints are now offered, in order to render any sudden change unnecessary,
+and to enable teachers gradually to feel their way to greater success by
+_new_ methods, without making any material change for some time on the
+_old_. We speak advisedly when we say, that two half hours daily, if
+regularly and honestly employed in working out these principles in a
+school, will do more real good in forwarding the education of the pupils
+attending it, than all the rest of the day put together. This portion of
+time, divided between the two parts of the day, would not materially
+interfere with the usual routine of any seminary, which might still be
+proceeded with as before, till the teacher saw his way more clearly in
+enlarging the exercises, and extending the time.
+
+_Younger Classes._--With respect to the young children who are as yet
+incapable of understanding by reading, we would advise that they be
+repeatedly exercised by a monitor in sections of four or five, during
+not more than ten or fifteen minutes at a time, by means of the
+"Scripture Groupings for children." The Key to that little book will
+enable any monitor, or even scholar, who can read, efficiently to
+perform this duty. The design here is chiefly mental exercise; but with
+that mental exercise, the most important and valuable information may be
+communicated. The monitor is to announce a sentence, and then to
+catechise on it, taking care to avoid all "Catechetical Wanderings,"[39]
+and confining himself strictly to the sentence announced, from which the
+child in that case will always be able to bring his answer.
+
+When a section has been mastered, the children may be encouraged to tell
+the story in their own way, the monitor taking care that the child is
+not reiterating the _words_, instead of the _ideas_. A few of the moral
+circumstances may also be presented to their minds, and the lessons
+drawn and applied according to their capacity.
+
+_Second Classes._--Where the children are capable of reading, they may
+get a section of the "Groupings," or of any of the "First Steps," to
+read at home. On this they ought to be catechised in school, before
+reading it there, to see whether it has been previously read and
+understood or not. This preparation ought to be strictly enforced. They
+may then read it by sentences in turn, be catechised upon it, have the
+moral circumstances separated, and the lessons drawn and applied. One
+section should in general be _thoroughly known and mastered_, before
+passing to another; and all the previous sections should be frequently
+and extensively revised, chiefly by the application of their several
+lessons.
+
+_Higher Classes._--The whole school, with the exception perhaps of the
+very young classes, may be taken together, and catechised on some
+section of one of the Steps, or on a passage of Scripture previously
+prescribed. This they ought each to read and understand _at home_, and
+be prepared to paraphrase it, to separate the moral circumstances, and
+to draw the corresponding lessons.[40] This will in a short time be easy
+for them; and to ensure the preparation, the name of each pupil ought to
+be kept on a separate card, and these being shuffled, the teacher, after
+asking the question at the whole, may take the upmost card, and require
+that child to answer it. All must in that case be prepared, as none can
+know but he may be the person who shall be called on publicly to answer.
+The application of the lessons will be found the most useful, and to the
+children the most interesting part of this exercise. In this the teacher
+supposes a circumstance, or situation, corresponding to the lesson
+drawn, in which the pupils may be placed; and he requires them to say
+how they ought to act in such a case. When they give their _opinion_,
+they must then give their _authority_; that is, they must refer to the
+lesson, and through the lesson, to the Scripture truth from which it was
+drawn.
+
+_Natural Philosophy._--In teaching the principles of _Natural
+Philosophy_, a select class may be formed, more circumscribed as to
+number, and from among the more advanced scholars. To these, a section,
+or part of section, of the "First Step to Natural Philosophy," is to be
+given to prepare at home,--to understand, and to be ready to draw and
+apply the lessons,--in a manner similar to that prescribed above, and as
+illustrated in the Key to that work.
+
+_Writing._--In teaching the art of _Writing_, upon the preceding
+principles, the chief object is to train the pupils easily and readily
+to _write down their own thoughts_. To accomplish this, a certain
+portion of their time may be occupied as follows. The teacher reads a
+sentence, or a paragraph, or, what will perhaps be better, a short
+story, or anecdote, and requires the whole of them to write it down in
+their _books_ for after examination. These of course are to be examined
+and corrected, with any necessary remarks by the teacher or
+assistant.--In this exercise, there is no necessity for circumscribing
+the pupils as to time,--it being required that they write accurately,
+grammatically, and neatly, whether in large or small text. To all those
+who are first finished, some other exercise ought to be provided that
+they may in that manner usefully occupy the time that may remain of
+their hour.
+
+_Arithmetic._--The introduction of the Arithmetic Rod, and its Key, into
+a school, will be productive of many advantages.[41] The line of figures
+upon the A side of the Rod, being painted on a board in sight of the
+whole school, and which is never required to be altered, the teacher has
+only to announce a sum to be added to each of the figures; the first
+pupil that is done, deposits his slate on a table, stool, or form, and
+goes to his place; the next places his slate above his, and the others
+in the same way as they finish. The answer in the Key will shew their
+accuracy, and the order in which their slates lie points out their
+respective merits. Another very important object is gained by this
+exercise; for the teacher, by recording the time taken by any one of the
+pupils in adding a particular sum to the line, can measure by the watch
+the rate of his improvement every month, every week, or even every day.
+The parents of any child, by means of the Rod and its Key, can also do
+this at home with perfect exactness.
+
+These hints for the regulation of teachers are thrown out with great
+deference, as they have not been sufficiently tested by actual
+experiments. Teachers, however, will be able, each for himself,
+according to the circumstances of his school, and the capacities of his
+children, to adopt such parts as he finds most effective; and so to
+modify others, that the end shall perhaps be more efficiently gained,
+than by strictly adhering to any one of them.--Education in all its
+parts is yet in its infancy; and these crude hints can only be expected
+to help it forward to maturity.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[38] See Key to Second Initiatory Catechism, pages xxi. & xxii.
+
+[39] See Complete Directory for Sunday School Teachers, vol. i. p. 278.
+
+[40] For these exercises the Teacher or monitor will find himself
+greatly assisted by means of the "Helps" to Genesis, Luke, Acts, &c.
+where, besides the lessons, all the explanations are given in the form
+of a paraphrase.
+
+[41] See Note V.
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+NOTES
+
+
+Note A, pages 45 and 55.--It may perhaps be reasonably objected to this
+term of "Reiteration," that it is a new term for an act of the mind
+which has already received another name. The Author's excuse is
+two-fold. In the first place, he thinks, that any other term which he
+could have employed, might have been misunderstood, as writers are not
+as yet at one on the subject. But, secondly, no other term would have
+included so fully all that he intends to designate by the act of
+"Reiteration." In this he may be mistaken; but as it is of little
+consequence by what name an object may be called, provided the thing so
+named be properly defined, he thought it safest to apply the term he
+best understood, and which, in his opinion, most correctly describes the
+act itself.
+
+The same thing may be said of the terms, "Individuation," "Grouping,"
+and "Classification," which may perhaps be nothing more than
+"Abstraction," "Combination," and "Generalization." His misconception of
+those latter terms, and of what is included in them, may have led him to
+think that the mental operations which he has perceived in the young are
+different. If so, there can be little harm in using the terms here
+adopted; but if, on the contrary, they do really include more, it would
+have been hurtful to use a term which had been previously defined, and
+which did not include the whole that was intended.
+
+
+Note B, p. 56.--It may be a question, but one certainly of little
+practical consequence, whether we ought to place the principle of
+"Individuation," or this of "Reiteration," first in order. The child, no
+doubt, fixes upon the individual object before he can reiterate it; but
+it is still this act of reiteration that first impresses the idea on the
+mind, and constitutes it a part of his knowledge.
+
+
+Note C, p. 58.--It may be proper here to explain once for all, that it
+is not the intention of the Author, as indeed he has not the ability, to
+define scientifically the mental processes which he thinks he has
+observed in the young. His object is simply to point them out, so that
+they may be successfully imitated by the teacher in the exercises of the
+school.
+
+
+Note D, p. 60.--The fact, that children who learn to repeat words
+without understanding them, do sometimes acquire the meaning of them
+afterwards, is no valid objection to the accuracy of this statement.
+Repeated experiments, in various forms, and with different persons, have
+established the important fact, that when children at any future period
+master the ideas contained in the words which they had previously
+committed to memory, it is not _because_ of that exercise, but _in spite
+of it_. They have attained them by another, and a perfectly different
+process. It is generally by reading the words from the memory,--thinking
+them over,--and in that way searching for, and reiterating the ideas
+they contain. This is much more difficult than when the person reads for
+the first time the same words from a book; and it has this serious
+disadvantage, that it has to be read from the memory _every time_ the
+ideas are required, which is not the case when the ideas are reiterated
+in the natural way by hearing, or by reading.--On this subject see the
+Experiment made before the Clergy and Teachers of Stirling, in July
+1833, with "Blind Alick" of that place, who could repeat the whole
+Bible;--and the Supplementary Experiment to ascertain the same
+principle, made in the House of Correction in Belfast, before the
+Teachers and Clergymen of that town, in December 1837.
+
+
+Note E, p. 83.--Perhaps it may be found, that "Grouping," and
+"Classification," are only different manifestations of the same
+principle. But even if it were so, it would have been necessary here to
+treat of them separately, on account of the very different uses made of
+them by Nature. The present, be it observed, is not a metaphysical
+treatise, but a humble attempt to be popularly useful.--See Note C.
+
+
+Note F, p. 105.--This principle may by some be considered as "instinct,"
+and others may affirm that it is "reason." All that we require to do
+here is to point out the phenomenon,--not to define it. The name is of
+little consequence. It is the principle itself, as perceived in its
+manifestations, that we have to do with, for the purpose of successfully
+imitating it in our dealings with the young.
+
+
+Note G, p. 132.--There needs scarcely any farther proof of this than the
+fact, that barristers, by constant practice, are usually the most fluent
+extemporaneous speakers. It is also strongly corroborative of the
+statement in the text, that clergymen generally, and especially those
+who are most accustomed to the use of extemporaneous prayers and
+sermons, find most ease in replying to an opponent on any subject that
+is familiar to them.
+
+
+Note H, p. 160, & 201.--It is a very remarkable fact, to which the
+attention of the writer was lately called, that Mrs Wesley, the mother
+of the Rev. John Wesley, founder of the Wesleyan Methodists, appears to
+have acted upon the principles here developed. In Southey's Life of that
+great man, there occurs the following Note:
+
+"Mrs Wesley thus describes her peculiar method (of teaching her children
+to read,) in a letter to her son John, (the founder of the Wesleyan
+Methodists.)
+
+"None of them were taught to read till five years old, except Kezzy, in
+whose case I was overruled; and she was more years in learning than any
+of the rest had been months. The way of teaching was this: The day
+before a child began to learn, the house was set in order, every one's
+work appointed them, and a charge given that none should come into the
+room from nine till twelve, or from two till five, which were our school
+hours. One day was allowed the child wherein to learn its letters, and
+each of them did in that time know all its letters, great and small,
+except Molly and Nancy, who were a day and a half before they knew them
+perfectly, for which I then thought them very dull; but the reason why I
+thought them so, was because the rest learned them so readily; and your
+brother Samuel, who was the first child I ever taught, learnt the
+alphabet in a few hours. He was five years old the 10th of February; the
+next day he began to learn; and as soon as he knew the letters, began at
+the 1st chapter of Genesis. He was taught to spell the 1st verse, then
+to read it over and over till he could read it off hand without any
+hesitation;--so on to the second, &c. till he took ten verses to a
+lesson, which he quickly did. Easter fell low that year, and by
+Whitsuntide he could read a chapter very well; for he read continually,
+and had such a prodigious memory, that I cannot remember ever to have
+told him the same word twice. What was yet stranger, any word he had
+learnt in his lesson, he knew wherever he saw it, either in his Bible or
+any other book, by which means he learnt very soon to read an English
+author well.
+
+"The same method was observed with them all. As soon as they knew the
+letters, they were first put to spell and read one line, then a verse,
+never leaving till perfect in their lesson, were it shorter or longer.
+So one or other continued reading at school, time about, without any
+intermission; and before we left school, each child read what he had
+learned that morning, and ere we parted in the afternoon, what he had
+learned that day."--_Southey's Life of Wesley_, Note, p. 429.
+
+In the above simple narrative, there is a distinct reference to the
+principles of "Reiteration," and "Individuation," and hence Mrs Wesley's
+great success.
+
+
+Note I, p. 162.--When the true nature of Education is better understood,
+it will be found that a child may have advanced far on its path by oral
+instruction, before it be either necessary or desirable that he should
+be compelled to read for himself. To assist the parent and teacher in
+this preliminary part of their duty, the "First Initiatory Catechism,"
+or the "First Steps" to the Old and the New Testaments, with their
+respective Keys, may be used with advantage,--they having been
+constructed upon the principles here recommended. But the best Book _to
+begin with_, will be the "Groupings from Scripture," with its Key for
+the use of monitors, or older children, who can by its means greatly
+assist the parent or teacher in the work. In making use of that little
+book, the sentences are to be announced in whole or in parts to the
+pupils one by one; and upon which they are to be thoroughly and
+extensively catechised. As for example, the first announcement may be
+given thus:--"_God made the first man_," from which the following
+questions may be formed--"Who made the first man?" "Whom did God make?"
+"What man did God make?" "What did God do to the first man?" The teacher
+or monitor ought then to add the additional fact, "that God made the
+first man _of clay_," and catechise again upon the whole. After this is
+well understood, he may complete the sentence, "God made the first man
+of clay, _and called him Adam_." The child will then be able--not to
+repeat the words only, for that is not the effect of this
+exercise,--but to communicate the ideas in his _own words_; which,
+however, will generally be found to be the very same as in the book.
+This distinction is most important. When the whole section has been
+completely mastered, the lessons and their applications may also be
+taught;--by all of which the mental faculties will soon become vigorous
+and lively, and the pupil will be well prepared for all the exercises to
+which he may afterwards be called.
+
+
+Note K, p. 151.--The art of catechising from any lesson or book, is a
+very simple one when the principle is understood. It consists simply in
+selecting the most important words contained in the announcement, and
+forming a question upon each of them, in such a manner, as to require
+that particular word from the pupil as the answer to the question raised
+upon it. For example, when the teacher has in four words announced the
+fact, that "Jesus died for sinners;" he will be able to form a question
+from the three chief ones, "Jesus,"--"died," and "sinners." These
+questions will be, "Who died?"--"What did Jesus do for sinners?" and
+"For whom did Jesus die?" It is not necessary that the words should be
+taken up in their order, which may be always left to the discretion of
+the teacher. For the several parts of this principle, as employed upon
+clauses, or whole sentences or subjects, see next Note L.
+
+
+Note L, p. 185.--The Catechetical Exercise has for convenience been
+divided into three kinds of exercises, called the "Connecting Exercise,"
+the "General Exercise," and the "Verbal Exercise." The "Connecting
+Exercise," includes those comprehensive questions, which require the
+pupil to go over perhaps a whole subject, or several sentences, to
+complete his answer; as if in teaching the Parable of the Sower, the
+pupil were asked, "What were the several kinds of ground on which the
+seed was sown?" or, "What is said of the seed sown by the way side?" In
+answering either of these questions he would have to combine many ideas,
+and the truths contained in several distinct clauses. This exercise is
+used commonly in revising several sections at a time after they have
+been taught.
+
+The "General Exercise," is used in all the advanced classes, sometimes
+in connection with the Verbal Exercise, and includes those questions
+chiefly which are formed upon clauses in the book or section taught. As,
+for example, when the pupil is asked, "What became of the seed sown by
+the way side?" or, "What did the birds of the air do?" he has to give
+one or more clauses, containing several ideas, as his answer.
+
+The "Verbal Exercise" has to do only with the words of the clauses, and
+the single idea which the particular word is intended to convey; as when
+it is said, "the birds of the air devoured it up;" the questions, "What
+devoured the seed?" "What birds?" "What did the birds do?" "What did the
+birds devour?" refer chiefly to the words, and the single ideas which
+they communicate.
+
+It may be here remarked, however, that although these exercises are
+divided in theory, they ought seldom to be altogether separated in
+practice. In using the Verbal Exercise with the younger classes, many
+questions will be required which properly belong to the "General;" and
+in using the "General Exercise" with the advanced classes, neither the
+"Connecting," nor the "Verbal Exercise," ought to be altogether
+excluded.
+
+
+Note M, p. 192.--In communicating knowledge to the young by means of the
+Catechetical Exercise, care ought to be taken that the truths or ideas
+be communicated regularly, and not too many at a time. In making use of
+the "Groupings," or "First Steps," the contents of one section ought to
+be well understood, and all the circumstances to be made familiar,
+before the child passes to another. To do otherwise is not to forward,
+but to retard his advance in the attainment of knowledge. There ought
+also to be frequent returns upon the sections formerly mastered, so that
+the truths be more and more firmly fixed upon the memory. This will also
+be accomplished by means of the lessons from the several moral truths
+taught, and by their application to the circumstances of ordinary life.
+
+It is also a matter of great practical importance, in teaching any
+subject, that the teacher confine himself strictly to it, avoiding all
+kinds of "Catechetical Wandering," by which the minds of his pupils will
+be distracted and enfeebled if they _cannot_ follow him, and by which
+their attention will be powerfully drawn away from the lesson, if they
+_can_.--For example, if the subject to be taught be the "Good
+Samaritan," nothing can be plainer than that the mind of the pupil ought
+to be concentrated upon the subject, till it be "grouped," and fixed
+upon the mind and memory as one combined and moving scene, so that one
+circumstance in the story will conjure up all the others.--This is
+Nature's plan.--But if the teacher, at the very commencement, when the
+child has read that "a certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho,"
+shall call his attention from the story itself, to ask where Jerusalem
+was? What was Judea? Who dwelt there? Who was their progenitor? From
+what bondage were they saved? Who conducted them through the wilderness?
+Who brought them into Judea? requiring the whole history of the Jews,
+their captivity, and restoration; the effect is most pernicious, and is
+fatal to the great design intended by the teacher. It is destructive of
+that habit of concentration of mind upon a particular subject, which is
+always the accompaniment of genius; and which ought to be cultivated in
+the young with the greatest assiduity and care. But this habit of
+"Catechetical Wandering," does not stop here, for the teacher has yet
+another word in this first sentence which admits of a similar treatment;
+and instead of returning to the lesson, he takes up the word "Jericho,"
+by means of which he follows a similar course; "riding off" from the
+original subject, and leaving the child bewildered and confused, to
+commence again, to be again interrupted and distracted by other
+irrelevant questions. Many evils result from this practice; and the
+cause is obvious. For if the child has been taught these irrelevant
+truths before, this is obviously not the time to introduce them, when
+he is in the very act of _learning a new subject_;--and if he has not
+been taught them previously, the matter becomes worse; for by this
+attempt to teach a variety of new things at the same time, some
+important principles of Nature are still more violently
+outraged.--_After_ the subject has been taught, and the child is called
+on to _revise_ his several lessons, then is the time to combine them,
+and to point out their various connections,--but not before.
+
+
+Note N, p. 195.--It will always be found advisable to teach the alphabet
+to children long before they begin to read; and while they are being
+verbally exercised on the "Groupings from Scripture," and other books of
+a similar kind. To do so at home by way of games, will be found easiest
+for the parent, and most pleasant for the child. By having the small
+letters on four dice, (six on each,) and allowing the use of only one
+till the six letters on its sides are familiar;--and not giving the
+third, till those on the two first have been mastered; and the same with
+the fourth,--will be found useful, provided they be only occasionally
+made use of. A too frequent repetition of the _game_ will destroy its
+effect; and therefore, as there is sufficient time, it ought only to be
+allowed on proper, and perhaps on _great_ occasions. Other contrivances,
+besides those given in the text, such as making the child guess at
+letters, drawing letters from a bag, and naming them, &c. will readily
+occur to ingenious parents or teachers. It should be observed, that as
+this acquirement is needed but _once_ in the child's lifetime, a little
+pains or trouble ought not to be grudged in forwarding it.
+
+
+Note O, p. 208.--In using the "First Class Book on the Lesson System,"
+the teacher must take care that the letters and their sounds, or powers,
+be perfectly familiar to the child before he begins to read. The first
+lesson, of course, is composed altogether of words new to the child,
+each of which he must be taught to _read_ by combining the powers of the
+letters composing it;--and he must never be allowed to pass on to the
+following word, till all the previous ones can be correctly and readily
+decyphered. Before beginning to the second, or succeeding lessons, the
+new words occurring in it, (which are prefixed,) must be read and made
+familiar to him one by one, and explained if necessary. By this means he
+will soon be able to _pick up the ideas_ in his lesson by even a first
+reading, which is the great end that the teacher ought to have in
+view.--The capital letters need not be taught till the child comes to
+them in his reading.--The lessons being consecutive, none must be
+omitted.
+
+
+Note P, p. 220.--The nature of successive "Steps" will be better
+understood by using, than by describing them. The following, however,
+will give some idea of their design; keeping in mind, that the contents
+of the several branches must be written out in such a manner as to
+convey the ideas in the common way. The following is a rude sketch of
+what the History of Joseph would be like, if the ideas under each branch
+of the analysis were fairly written out as First, Second, and Third
+Steps.
+
+ANALYTICAL TABLE.
+
+SHEWING THE NATURE OF SUCCESSIVE STEPS IN EDUCATION.
+
+THE HISTORY OF JOSEPH.
+
+ -------------+-----------------+-------------------------------------------
+ Substance of | Substance of a  |
+ a First Step.| Second Step.    |         Substance of a Third Step.
+ -------------+-----------------+-------------------------------------------
+              {Joseph's father  {Jacob loved Joseph best of his family; who
+ Joseph       {was partial to   {Brought him the evil reports of them; and
+ was beloved  {him.             {Got a coat of many colours.
+ by his       {
+ father,      {And he dreamed   {Joseph told his dream of the sheaves,
+ and          {that he was      {And his brothers hated him the more.
+ hated        {to be great.     {He told his dream of the sun and stars;
+ by his       {                 {And his father observed the saying.
+ brothers;    {
+              {These things     {His brothers would not speak peaceably to
+              {made the family  {Him; and envied and hated him; and
+              {uneasy.          {His father expostulated with him.
+
+                                {Joseph sought his brothers at Dothan;
+              {Joseph was       {Was cast into a pit, and afterwards
+              {cruelly used by  {Sold for a slave.
+              {his brothers,    {His brothers concealed the crime, and
+              {                 {His father mourned him as dead.
+ And although {
+ he was       {                 {Joseph was carried to Egypt, and
+ long in      {And was made     {Was a slave in Potiphar's house;
+ affliction,  {a slave to       {Where he was industrious and faithful;
+              {Potiphar;        {And was tempted by his mistress.
+              {
+              {                 {Joseph was unjustly put into confinement.
+              {Who unjustly     {He was useful in prison, where
+              {cast him into    {A butler and baker were confined.
+              {prison.          {Joseph interpreted their dreams; but was
+                                {Left in prison by the butler forgetting
+                                {him.
+
+              {                 {Pharoah was displeased with the magicians.
+              {He was brought   {The butler told him of Joseph;
+              {out to Pharoah,  {And Joseph interpreted his dreams,
+              {                 {And was advanced to authority.
+              {
+              {                 {Joseph married and was made next to
+              {And made ruler   {Pharoah. He collected corn for seven
+              {over all Egypt;  {Years; Distributed it to all nations; and
+ He rose      {                 {Sold it for the cattle and lands of Egypt.
+ at last      {
+ to great     {                 {Joseph's brothers came to Egypt for food;
+ prosperity.  {During which     {And he spake roughly to them.
+              {time he behaved  {He detained Simeon;
+              {with great       {Brought and entertained Benjamin;
+              {prudence to his  {And hid his cup in Benjamin's sack.
+              {brothers;        {He then made himself known to his brothers.
+              {
+              {                 {Joseph brought his father and family to
+              {And kindly       {Egypt. He settled, supported, and honoured
+              {took care of the {Them. He buried his father,
+              {whole family.    {And left several charges with his brothers.
+
+
+Note Q, p. 225.--In giving a specimen of this mode of illustrating a
+connected subject, we may only premise, that the method, as a branch of
+Education, requires that all the general heads should be perceived
+first, before any of them is sub-divided. For example, Paul's sermon at
+Antioch, (Acts xiii.) must be perceived by the pupil in its great
+outline, or general heads, before he be called on to separate these into
+their several particulars. These heads as given in the Analysis, (Help
+to Acts, vol. I. p. 187,) are to the following purport:
+
+"The design of Paul in this discourse appears to be,
+
+ I. To conciliate the Jews.
+
+ II. To prove that the Messiah had already come, and that Jesus
+ was that Messiah.
+
+ III. To remove certain objections against Jesus being the
+ Messiah.
+
+ IV. To establish the claims of Jesus as the Messiah; and,
+
+ V. To press his salvation upon their notice and acceptance."
+
+When these general divisions, or heads, are understood, either by
+reading the respective verses which they occupy, or by the oral
+illustration of the teacher, each of them may then be taken separately,
+and sub-divided into its parts. For example, the first head, which in
+the analysis is, "_First_, Paul endeavours to conciliate the Jews by
+giving a brief outline of their history, till the days of David, to whom
+the Messiah was specially promised," ver. 17-23. This first of the above
+five heads, is separable into the following particulars. "1. The
+condition of the Jews in, and their deliverance from, Egypt;--2. Their
+history in the wilderness;--3. The destruction of their enemies, and
+their settlement in Canaan;--4. Of the Judges till the time of
+Samuel;--5. The origin of the kingly authority in Israel;--and 6. The
+history of their two first kings." These again may be sub-divided into
+their several parts, of which the last will form a good example. It
+appears in the Analysis in the following form:
+
+ VI. History of their two first kings.
+   i. Of Saul, and the time of his reign, ver. 21.
+   ii. Of David, and his character.
+     1. Saul was removed to make room for David, ver. 22.
+     2. David was chosen by God to be their king, ver. 22.
+     3. An account of David's character, and God's dealing with him.
+        [1.] God's testimony concerning David.
+          (1.) What David was, ver. 22.
+          (2.) What David was to do, ver. 22.
+        [2.] God's promise to David.
+          (1.) A Saviour was to be raised up for Israel, ver. 23.
+          (2.) This Saviour was to be of David's seed, ver. 23.
+
+
+Note R, p. 314.--There is not perhaps a subject in the whole range of
+human investigation that is so much misunderstood in practice, as a
+person's own happiness. Whatever causes uneasiness, or distress, or
+anxiety of mind, destroys happiness;--which shews that it is this
+pleasure, or delight itself,--this exercise of the heart, that we are
+seeking, and not the money, or the applause, or the sensual indulgences,
+which sometimes procure it. The heart of man has been made for something
+higher and more noble than these grovelling objects of sense and time.
+History and experience shew, that it can never be satisfied with any
+finite good; and especially, the possession of all earthly enjoyments
+only leaves the void more conspicuous and more painful. The whole world,
+if it were attained, would but more powerfully illustrate its own
+poverty; for even Alexander weeps because there are no more worlds to
+conquer. Scripture declares, and Nature, so far as we can trace her,
+confirms it, that man--and man alone--was _made after the image of
+God_,--and therefore nothing short of God himself can ever satisfy
+_him_. Heaven itself would be inadequate to fill the soul, or to allay
+the cravings of such a being. The fellowship and love of the Almighty,
+and that _alone_, by the very constitution of our nature, can fill and
+satisfy the boundless desires of the human heart. They who stop short of
+this, can never be satisfied; while they who place their happiness on
+HIM, will always be full, because he alone is infinite. The
+love of God, and the desire for his glory then, are the only true
+foundation of human happiness. And hence it is, that the perfection of
+enjoyment, and the whole sum of duty, meet in this one point,--THE
+LOVE OF GOD.
+
+
+Note S, p. 318.--The writer is aware that, in doing justice to this
+department of a child's education, it is impossible to avoid the charge
+of "enthusiasm," perhaps "illiberality," or "fanaticism." In what we
+have urged in the preceding pages, we have endeavoured calmly to state
+and illustrate simple facts,--plain indications of Nature,--and to draw
+the obvious deductions which they suggest. We intend to follow precisely
+the same course here, although quite aware that we are much more liable
+to be misunderstood, or misrepresented. We shall at least endeavour
+calmly to put what we have to say upon a true philosophical basis.
+
+We all admire what is termed "Roman Greatness,"--that self-esteem that
+would not allow the possessor to degrade himself, even in his own
+estimation, by indulging in any thing that was mean, or disreputable, or
+contrary to the unchangeable rule of right. Cato's probity, who chose to
+die rather than appear to connive at selfishness; and Brutus's love of
+justice, who could, with a noble heroism, and without faltering, doom
+even his own sons to death in the midst of the entreaties of his friends
+for their pardon, and the concurrence of the people;--are but two out of
+numberless instances from ancient history. Now we ask, if we admire, and
+approve of men being so jealous of _their_ honour, is it to be imagined
+that the God who made them, and who implanted those high moral
+sentiments in their breasts, should be less jealous of _his_?--Every one
+will acknowledge that he is infinitely more so.--And it is in accordance
+with this true philosophical sentiment, that we come to the conclusion,
+that to teach religion,--that is, to teach the character of God, and the
+duty we owe him,--without what is called the "peculiar doctrines" of
+Christianity, is to lower the character of the Almighty, and to impugn
+his holiness, his faithfulness, his justice, and even his
+goodness;--things under the imputation of which even a high-minded Roman
+would have felt himself degraded and insulted.
+
+In teaching Religion and Morality to the young, therefore, the pupil
+must know, that God is too holy to look upon sin, or to connive at
+it;--too just to permit the very least transgression to pass with
+impunity;--too faithful to allow his intimations, either in Nature, or
+in Providence, or in Scripture, ever to fail, or to be called in
+question, without danger;--and too good to risk the happiness of his
+holy creatures, by allowing them to suppose it even _possible_ that they
+can ever indulge in sin, and yet escape misery. Where a knowledge of
+these attributes of Deity is _wanting_, his character must appear
+grievously defective; but wherever they are _denied_, it is most
+blasphemously dishonoured.--Hence the importance of even a child knowing
+how it is that "God can be just, while he justifies the ungodly."
+
+All these perfections, with the additional revelation of his mercy and
+grace, are exhibited, and greatly magnified and honoured, by the
+Christian scheme; and it is to the simplicity of this, as the foundation
+of the child's education, that we wish at present to direct the
+attention of the parent and teacher.
+
+A child may be taught to know that God hates sin, and that he must, as a
+just God, punish even the least transgression. There is no difficulty in
+understanding this simple truth. And it may be made equally clear, that
+man must have suffered for himself, and that for ever, if God had not
+sent his Son Jesus Christ to endure in their place the punishment which
+the inflexible nature of his justice required. To believe that God will
+pardon sin _without_ such an atonement, is, as we have shewn, to sully
+the character of God; while to believe it, and to act upon the belief,
+is at once the highest honour we can pay to his perfections, and becomes
+the strongest possible stimulant to a grateful heart to avoid sin, and
+to strive to love and to obey Him. This accordingly is the sum of
+Christianity, when divested of its technicalities; and this is the
+foundation,--and the only proper foundation, upon which to rear either
+morality or religion. But it _does_ form a solid and ample foundation
+for that purpose. And there is perhaps no Christian of any sect who will
+deny, that either child or adult, who simply depends for pardon and
+acceptance with a holy God, on the substitution of the Saviour, and who,
+in evidence of his sincerity, strives to hate and avoid sin, and to love
+and obey God, is not in a safe state.
+
+In teaching these simple fundamental truths to the young, the parent or
+teacher will find the "Shorter Confession of Faith," of great use. Its
+"First Step" ought to be taught first; and the second must on no account
+be proceeded with, till the truths in the first have become familiar.
+The same rule ought also to be adopted with the second, before passing
+to the third. The "First Initiatory Catechism" has also been found of
+great benefit to the young; and which is very easily and successfully
+taught by means of its Key.
+
+The foundation being thus laid, the great object of the teacher then is
+to train the child to duty;--teaching, in a familiar way, what _conduct_
+ought to be avoided, and what pursued,--what is displeasing to God, and
+what he delights in. This can only be done, or at least is best done, by
+drawing lessons from Scripture. The very commandment, "Thou shalt not
+steal," is dealt with by Nature in this way; for when we examine the
+operation of the mind, when acting even upon the direct precept, we find
+that it assumes the form of a lesson, which in that case is only an echo
+of the command. Scripture example and narrative, however, are always
+preferable with children; and perhaps the best method of initiating them
+into the ability to perceive and draw lessons generally, will be to
+begin and carry them forward by means of the "Progressive Exercises" at
+the end of the First Initiatory Catechism. Very young children are able
+to _commence_ this important exercise; and the information and
+directions given in the Key will enable any monitor to carry them
+forward.
+
+The application of the lessons ought to be the principal concern of the
+teacher. On this much of their utility depends, and of which the
+following will afford a sufficient example.
+
+In the 5th line of the "Progressive Exercises," above referred to, the
+announcement is simply that "Rebekah was obliging,"--from which the
+child will readily enough draw the lesson, that "we also should be
+obliging." But to _apply_ this lesson, the teacher is to suppose a
+corresponding case, and to ask the child how it ought to behave on that
+occasion. For example, he may ask, "If a companion wanted a sight of
+your book, what should you do?" "Lend it to him."--"From what do you get
+that lesson?" "From Rebekah being obliging."--"If you saw your companion
+drop his ball, or his marble, without perceiving it, what should you
+do?" "Pick it up and give it to him."--"How do you know that you ought
+to do that?" "From God giving Rebekah as our example, who was obliging."
+
+The field which here opens up for the ingenuity of the teacher for the
+moral improvement of the young is almost boundless.
+
+
+Note T, p. 318.--The method which both Nature and experience have
+pointed out, as the best for giving a practical knowledge of the
+principles of Natural Philosophy to children, is to state and explain
+some general principle, such as, that "Soft and porous bodies are bad
+conductors (of heat;") and then set them to think, by asking what
+special lessons that general truth teaches them. This leads the pupil to
+a train of thought, which will at all events prepare him for the proper
+lessons when suggested by the teacher, and which will enable him at once
+to perceive why his mother has to make use of a cloth when using the
+smoothing iron; why a metal tea-pot must have a wooden handle;--why soft
+clothing preserves the heat of his body, and keeps him warm;--and why
+the poker by the fire gets heated throughout, while a piece of wood, the
+same length and in the same spot, remains comparatively cool.
+
+To teach the phenomena of Nature, out of their mutual relations to the
+general principle, would be both laborious and evanescent, because of
+the want of the great connecting link, afforded by the analytical method
+here supposed. It was by the above means that the children, in the
+experiment in Aberdeen, and more especially those in that at Newry,
+appeared to the examinators to be inexhaustible; they having, during a
+space of time unprecedentedly short, got hold of principles which
+enabled them, without any great stretch of memory, and by the
+association of ideas, to account for hundreds of familiar objects and
+circumstances, the nature and working of which they had never perhaps
+thought of before.
+
+The application of the lessons in these exercises is equally necessary,
+and equally beneficial. It may be _directly_ from some of the lessons
+drawn, such as, "Why is it inconvenient to handle hot irons?" "Because
+hard bodies readily conduct heat." Or it may be varied by asking the
+reason of a phenomenon not formerly perceived;--such as, "Why does the
+fire scorch the foot when it is without a stocking, and not when we have
+a stocking on?" "Because soft bodies, such as the stocking, do not
+readily conduct heat." These are sufficient as specimens of the mode of
+conducting classes upon these principles; the "Steps," and their "Keys,"
+constructed for the purpose, will assist both teacher and pupil in their
+proper working.
+
+
+Note U, p. 320.--In teaching children to read, two things are to be
+specially observed.--_First_, that the child shall know that the letters
+in a syllable are used merely as the signs of sound, by the combination
+of which he is to get a _hint_ only of the sound of the whole word. This
+will very soon enable him to teach himself.--The _second_ is, that the
+child shall know that his reading is only another way of getting at
+truth by words _seen_, instead of words _heard_. This will make him
+search for the ideas, even while learning to read; and the habit being
+formed, he will never afterwards be satisfied without understanding all
+that he reads.
+
+The letters of the Alphabet, with their powers, having been made
+familiar, the "First Class Book" may be put into the pupil's hand, and
+the first word taught him by the combination of the three
+letters,--"Bob." Shew him how the letters pronounced shortly, and
+rapidly one after another, _form the word_. He will then be able to
+_read_ this word wherever he finds it. The word "has," is to be taught
+in the same way, and then the word "dog." He must then be asked, "Who
+has a dog?" and "What has Bob?" till he understands that these three
+words convey an idea. The second and succeeding lines are to be taught
+the same way;--the teacher making him read the words in different parts
+_out of their order_, to take care that he does not repeat by rote.
+
+At every new lesson he must learn to read the words which precede it,
+and to read them _well_ before beginning. The great design of his
+reading being to collect the ideas conveyed by the words, his doing so
+is greatly facilitated by his learning to read the words before
+beginning to the lesson. It is only necessary to remark, that the
+homely nature of the lessons tends greatly to produce the effect here
+designed, and which would not perhaps be so successfully accomplished at
+this stage in any other way.
+
+Children may be taught to _write_ almost as soon as they can read a few
+of their lessons. Care being taken that they hold the pen properly, they
+will soon learn to form the letters as an amusement;--and when these are
+known, they will soon be able to combine them into words. When they
+begin to write sentences, it ought to be from their own minds, or
+memories, but not from copies. Writing is merely an imitation of Nature
+in her operation of conveying ideas by speech; and the nearer the
+imitation can be made to correspond with the original, the more perfect
+will it be. Speech is intended solely for the communication of our
+ideas;--and so should writing. We teach children words and the names of
+things, but we never teach them to express their own thoughts, by
+rehearsing after us either long or short speeches of our own. Neither
+can we so readily teach children to express their own thoughts by
+writing, if we attempt to do it by making them copy words which others
+have thought for them, and the ideas of which they themselves perhaps do
+not perceive. Copy-lines are a great hinderance to the young; and even
+for teaching the correct and elegant formation of the letters they do
+not appear to be always necessary.
+
+
+Note V, p. 320.--Arithmetic, and numerical calculations of every kind,
+are wrought by what have been termed "the four simple Rules," viz.
+Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, and Division. They who are expert
+and accurate in working _these_, have only to learn the several rules by
+which they are applied to all the varied purposes of life, to be perfect
+arithmeticians.
+
+But when the working of these four rules is analysed, we find that, with
+the exception of the multiplication table, the whole four are merely
+different applications of the rule of addition. Subtraction is wrought by
+_adding_ a supposed sum to the figure to be subtracted;--multiplication
+(with the exception mentioned above,) it wrought simply by _adding_ the
+carryings and the aggregate of the several lines;--and division, with the
+same exception, is also in practice wrought by a series of _additions_. If
+then we shall suppose the multiplication table fully mastered, it follows,
+that the person who has attained greatest expertness _in addition_, will
+be the most expert in the working of any and every arithmetical exercise to
+which he may be called.
+
+But _expertness_ in arithmetical calculations, is by no means so
+valuable as _accuracy_;--and upon the above principle, it also follows,
+that the person who acquires the greatest degree of accuracy and
+confidence in working _addition_, must, of course, be most accurate in
+all his calculations. The importance of this principle will be much more
+prized by and bye than it can be at present;--we shall however shew here
+how it may be taken advantage of.
+
+Upon the principle of Individuation, we have seen, that a child will
+learn one thing much better and sooner _by itself_, than when it is
+mixed up with several others; and therefore we come to the conclusion,
+that a child, when taught the practice of addition by itself, till he is
+fully master of it, both as respects rapidity and accuracy, has
+afterwards little more to do than to get a knowledge of rules. One
+month's systematic exercise in _this way_, will do more in forming a
+desirable accountant for a desk, than a whole year's exercise otherwise.
+In the one case, the pupil starts to the race without preparation, and
+with all his natural impediments clinging to him, which he has to
+disentangle and throw off one by one during the fatigues and turmoil of
+the contest; while the other, on the contrary, delays his start till he
+has deliberately searched them out and cast them aside, and thus
+prepared himself for the course. He then starts vigorous and light, to
+outstrip his labouring and lumbering competitors, not only in this, but
+in every after trial of strength and skill of a similar kind.
+
+To follow out this plan with success, the "Arithmetic Rod," containing
+three sides, has been provided. On one side there is a single line of
+figures, on the second two, and on the third three. These lines of
+figures for a school, ought to be painted on three boards sufficiently
+large for all to see them distinctly. The first line is to be mastered
+perfectly, before the second or the third is to be taught.
+
+The way to begin with the first line, is to make the pupil mentally add
+a certain sum to each figure on the board, say two, or seven, or
+fourteen, or any other sum, beginning always with a small one. He is
+besides to add the carryings also to each figure, and to write down the
+sum as he goes on. The beginner may be exercised with the sum of two, or
+even one, and have the sum increased, as he acquires a knowledge of the
+method. These sums, as the pupils advance, may be extended to any
+amount. The Key will shew, in every case, whether the exercise has been
+accurately performed; and by marking the time in any particular case,
+the teacher can measure exactly, every week or month, the advance of
+each pupil.
+
+The mental advantages of this exercise are numerous. Among other things
+it trains to a great command of the mind; and brings into exercise an
+important principle formerly illustrated, (Part III. ch. xi. p. 288,) by
+which the pupil acquires the ability to think one thing, and to do
+another.
+
+When the pupil is sufficiently expert at one line of figures, he should
+be exercised upon the B side of the rod, containing the double line. He
+is to practise adding each pair of the figures at a glance,--till he can
+run them over without difficulty, as if they were single figures. He is
+then to add a sum to _them_, as he did on the single line, till he can
+add the sum and the double figure as readily as he did one. The C side
+of the rod is to be treated in the same way;--first by adding all the
+three figures at a glance, and naming the sum of each, till he can do it
+as readily as if there was but one; and then he is to add any special
+sum to them as before.
+
+
+Note W, p. 321.--Children generally delight in music, and seldom weary
+in its exercise. It forms therefore, when judiciously managed, a most
+useful exercise in a school for the purposes of relaxation and variety,
+and for invigorating their minds after a lengthened engagement in drier
+studies. It thus not only becomes desirable to teach music in the
+seminary as a branch of education for after life, but for the purposes
+of present expediency.
+
+That music may be taught to the young in a manner much more simple than
+it has yet generally been done, is now matter of experience. The notes
+are only _seven_, and these are each as precise and definite in
+proportion to the key note as any letter in the alphabet. There is
+obviously no difficulty in teaching a child seven figures,--and there is
+in reality as little difficulty in teaching him seven notes; so that,
+having the key note, he will, in reading a tune, sound each in its order
+when presented to him, as readily and accurately as he would read so
+many figures.
+
+To render this exercise more simple to children, and more convenient in
+a school, the notes have been represented by figures, 1 being the key
+note. The other notes rise in the common gradation from 1 to 8, which is
+the key note in alt. By this means, the teacher by writing on the common
+black board a few figures, gives the children the tune, which a very
+little practice enables them to read as readily as they would the words
+to which they adapt it.
+
+For particulars as to time, &c. see "Shorter Catechism Hymn Book," p. 23
+and 24.
+
+
+Note X, p. 264.--There is perhaps no department in the family economy
+which ought to be so cautiously filled up as the _nursery maid_; and yet
+we generally find, that the duties of this office are frequently handed
+over to any thoughtless giddy girl, whose appearance is "shewy,"
+although she be without education, without experience, and often without
+principle. Why there has been as yet no regular seminary for the
+training of young persons of good principles, for the responsible duties
+of the nursery, is not a little remarkable. Not one of the many valuable
+institutions for particular classes is so much wanted, and which, if
+properly conducted, would be a greater blessing to families and to
+society generally. One of the most beautiful features in our infant
+schools is the circumstance, that they have tended greatly to lessen
+this evil, and in some measure to supply the desideratum.
+
+
+Note Y, p. 268.--The question of rewards and punishments in a public
+school is a difficult one; and although there has of late been an
+obvious improvement in this respect, we are afraid that the principles
+which ought to regulate them are not yet very clearly understood. Hence
+the contrariety of sentiments on the subject, with little more than mere
+_opinions_ offered to support them. The following few crude thoughts on
+the subject, may perhaps lead others better qualified to consider it
+more extensively.
+
+We can all readily enough distinguish the difference between _physical_
+efforts, _intellectual_ efforts, and _moral_ efforts; but we are very
+ready to confound the rewards which, we think, Nature has pointed out
+as most appropriate to each. For physical exertions, such as the race,
+or the wrestling match, physical returns appear natural and appropriate
+enough; and therefore, money, decorations, or other physical honours,
+are the ordinary rewards for excelling in any of them. But to desire
+money as a return for intellectual excellence, appears to every well
+constituted mind as sordid and unseemly. The reward for the exertion of
+intellect must partake of intellectual dignity; and hence it is, that
+esteem, applause, or admiration,--the incense of the _mind_,--appears to
+be the natural return for such exertions. In proof of this, we may
+instance the sensible degradation which is felt, when the reward
+proffered for mental efforts, even in children, takes the form of food,
+or clothing, or money;--and the kind of estimation in which students
+hold their medals, books, and other prizes, acquired at their several
+seminaries. These are never valued for their intrinsic worth, but only
+as permanent signs of _approbation_, or _admiration_,--feelings which
+are purely intellectual in their character, and perfectly distinct from
+the grossness of physical rewards on the one hand, and the
+affections--the moral incense of the _heart_,--on the other.
+
+All this appears pretty evident; and it obviously leads us to the next
+and concluding step, which is, that the natural and proper reward for
+_moral_ actions, ought to partake of the moral character. It is the love
+and affection of those we serve, or who are called on to estimate, or to
+decide on the character of our actions,--that is the proper, the
+natural, the desirable return. A little consideration, we think, will
+shew us, that this, as a general principle, is really correct; and that
+applause, admiration, or wonder, when they are afforded without
+_affection_, do not satisfy the heart, that in the exercise of love,
+seeks love in return.--It is the friendship, the fellowship, the
+affections of those whom we aim at pleasing, that alone can approve
+itself to our minds as the appropriate returns for moral actions.
+
+
+Note Z, p. 299.--The following are a few specimens of the paraphrastic
+exercise, as employed upon different subjects:--
+
+"But Martha was [_cumbered_] [_about much serving_,] and came to
+[_him_,] and said, Lord, [_dost thou not care_] that my sister hath left
+me to [_serve_] alone? [_bid_] her, therefore, that she [_help_] me."
+
+This verse is paraphrased in the Help to Luke by substituting the
+explanation of the words printed in Italics, and within brackets, for
+the words themselves, in the following manner:
+
+"_But Martha was_ [much incommoded and harassed] [to get every thing in
+order for the temporal accommodation of Jesus and his disciples,] _and
+came to_ [Jesus,] _and said, Lord_, [art thou indifferent or careless
+about the circumstance] _that my sister hath left me to_ [prepare the
+victuals, and do all the work of the house] _alone_? [Command] _her,
+therefore, that she_ [leave her seat at thy feet, and come to assist]
+_me_."
+
+"Every thing [_in nature_] [_shews forth_] God's [_wisdom_,] [_power_,]
+and [_goodness_;] but the Bible, which is the [_word of God_,] and which
+was [_written_] by [_holy_] men at [_different times_,] under [_his
+direction_,] has most [_clearly_] [_revealed_] what [_God is_,] what he
+has done and what [_we should do_."]
+
+This is paraphrased in the Key to the Second Initiatory Catechism thus:
+
+"_Every thing_ [that has been made in the world and sky] [gives clear
+and constant proof of] _God's_ [chusing the best ends, and accomplishing
+these by the best means,] [his being able to do any thing, and every
+thing,] _and_ [never ceasing to care for, and to promote the happiness
+of all his creatures;]--_but the Bible,--which is the_ [only declaration
+of God's mind and will to man,] _and which was_ [composed, and put, with
+pen and ink, upon parchment or paper,] _by_ [good and pious] _men, at_
+[dates long distant from each other,] _under_ [the care of God, who told
+them what they were to write,]--_has most_ [distinctly and plainly,]
+[brought into view, and let us know,] _what_ [God's character and
+perfections are,] _what he has done, and what_ [is our duty, both to God
+and man."]
+
+"The [_word of God_,] which is contained in the [_Scriptures_] of the
+Old and New Testament, is the only [_rule_] to [_direct us_] how we may
+glorify and enjoy him."
+
+This is paraphrased in the Key to the Shorter Catechism in the following
+manner:
+
+"_The_ [revelation of God's will,] _which is contained in the_
+[writings] _of the Old and New Testament, is the only_ [guide] _to_
+[give us information] _how we may glorify and enjoy him_."
+
+
+Note A a, p. 321.--Nature has obviously intended that all men should be
+both physically and mentally employed; and that, for the proper
+maintenance of health, the time occupied by _physical_ exercise, ought
+in general to exceed that which is employed exclusively in study. The
+combination of both in ordinary cases, however, is still more plainly
+indicated. In the circumstances of the young, physical exercise is
+peculiarly necessary. The writer looks forward with confidence to a
+time, when to every seminary of eminence will be attached a sufficient
+plot of ground for gardening and agricultural purposes, that the
+physical energies of the pupils may not be allowed irregularly to run to
+waste, as at present; but when they shall be systematically directed to
+interesting, and at the same time to useful purposes. The hand-swing,
+although an excellent substitute, will never cope in interest, even to a
+child, with the moderate use of the hoe, the rake, or the spade. Such a
+system will produce many and valuable advantages to the young.
+Gardening, by postponing the results of labour, exciting hope, and by
+its daily advances, encouraging to perseverance, will tend to produce a
+most beneficial moral effect; and will greatly assist the teacher in
+establishing and strengthening some of those valuable checks upon the
+volatility of the young mind, which are exceedingly necessary for the
+proper conduct of life, but which there is usually but small opportunity
+of cultivating in youth.
+
+But even then, for the proper conducting of a school, there will, for
+_in-door exercise_, be something more required than has yet been
+provided, both as to kind and degree. When we examine a number of
+children at play, we seldom find them sitting, or even standing for any
+length of time, when they have space and opportunity to exercise their
+limbs. The hand-motions of the infant schools, therefore, although
+excellent so far as they go, do not go far enough; and even the marching
+of the children is obviously too monotonous, and not sufficiently
+lively, for throwing off the accumulated mass of animal spirits, which
+is so speedily formed in young persons while engaged at their lessons.
+It was to supply this defect that the writer, a number of years ago,
+made some experiments with a large class of children, and with complete
+success. The exercise was founded on the singing and marching of the
+infant schools, and consisted in what is known in certain seminaries, as
+"Rights and Lefts." The children were taught to meet each other in bands
+of equal number, and by giving the right and left hand alternately to
+those who came in the opposite direction, they undulated, as it were,
+through each others ranks, and passed on to their own music, till they
+met again on the other side of the room, and proceeded as before. The
+exercise thus afforded to the upper and lower extremities of each child,
+the expansion caused to the chest, and the play given to the muscles of
+the back and body, are exceedingly beneficial; and the whole being
+regulated by their own song, gives healthy, and not excessive exercise
+to the lungs and the whole circulation.
+
+It was also found, that this amusing employment for the young, was
+capable of great variety. Instead of two bands meeting each other in
+_lines_ in opposite directions, and parting, to meet again at the other
+side of the room, they were formed into a circle, one-half moving in one
+direction, and one-half moving in the opposite, by which means the
+circle was never broken. It was also found, that one of these circles,
+containing six or eight children only, could move within the other when
+it contained a larger number, without those in the one interfering in
+the least with those of the other; and the effect became still more
+imposing when _between_ these, and _without_ them, two other bands of
+children joined hands, united in the song, and moved round in opposite
+directions.
+
+These details may appear trifling to some; but experience will soon
+convince practical men, that in education, as in Nature, the most simple
+means often produce the most powerful and the most beneficial results.
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+    +-----------------------------------------------------+
+    |               Transcriber's Note:                   |
+    |                                                     |
+    | Footnotes listed as a Note followed by a letter are |
+    | gathered together at the end of the book.           |
+    |                                                     |
+    | Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the        |
+    | original document has been preserved.               |
+    |                                                     |
+    | Typographical errors corrected in the text:         |
+    |                                                     |
+    | Page  20  he changed to be                          |
+    | Page  28  vallies changed to valleys                |
+    | Page  36  pullies changed to pulleys                |
+    | Page  38  bye changed to by                         |
+    | Page  45  recal changed to recall                   |
+    | Page  57  inconsistences changed to inconsistencies |
+    | Page  59  recal changed to recall                   |
+    | Page  61  he changed to be                          |
+    | Page  67  oppreseive changed to oppressive          |
+    | Page  68  word "is" added                           |
+    | Page  73  recals changed to recalls                 |
+    | Page  77  harrassed changed to harassed             |
+    | Page 103  missle changed to  missile                |
+    | Page 113  decrepid changed to decrepit              |
+    | Page 120  pronouned changed to pronounced           |
+    | Page 142  slighest changed to slightest             |
+    | Page 144  intance changed to instance               |
+    | Page 150  educa- changed to education               |
+    | Page 152  Jessus changed to Jesus                   |
+    | Page 166  fourteeen changed to fourteen             |
+    | Page 168  Pestalozzie's changed to Pestalozzi's     |
+    | Page 169  unnaccountable changed to  unaccountable  |
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+    | Page 192  missing word "be" supplied                |
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+    | Page 197  exceeedingly changed to exceedingly       |
+    | Page 197  recal changed to recall                   |
+    | Page 210  comtemplation changed to contemplation    |
+    | Page 211  soffa changed to sofa                     |
+    | Page 234  than changed to then                      |
+    | Page 245  Terrestial changed to Terrestrial         |
+    | Page 277  forwarned changed to forewarned           |
+    | Page 280  aplication changed to application         |
+    | Page 283  speciment changed to specimen             |
+    | Page 302  faultering changed to faltering           |
+    | Page 326  Princiciples changed to Principles        |
+    | Page 333  desireable changed to desirable           |
+    | Page 339  faultering changed to faltering           |
+    | Page 340  ungodily changed to ungodly               |
+    +-----------------------------------------------------+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Practical Enquiry into the
+Philosophy of Education, by James Gall
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