PROGRESSIVE EDUCATION

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PROGRESSIVE

EDUCATION,

COMMENCING WITH THE INFANT

BY MADAME NECKER DE SAUSSURE.

TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH :

WITH

NOTES AND AN APPENDIX

BY

MRS. WILLARD AND MRS. PHELPS.

• BOSTON:

WILLIAM D. TICKNOR. 1835.

Entered according to an Act of Congress, in the year 1835.

By WILLIAM D. TICKNOR, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts

BOSTON:

WILLIAM A. HALL & COMPANY, 122, Washington-street.

CONTENTS

Preface. By Mrs. Willard, Preface. By the Author, Introduction,

Page

13 23

BOOK I.

Chapter I. The Design of Education, - 43

" II. Perfection should be aimed at, 58

I: III. The perfection of our nature considered, - 69

IV. Influence of character in strengthening the will, 81

V. Impulses of the will and the influence of reason, 92

VI. Influence of religious character in strengthening

the will, 102

BOOK II.

Chapter I. Means of perfecting Education, - 115

II. Birth, and the first months, 129

III. Dispositions to be cultivated the first year, - 145

IV. Commencement of the second year, 159 V. Influence of sympathy and example, - - 170

VI. Means by which children acquire language, 183

CONTENTS.

BOOK III.

Page

Chapter I. Of the habits at two years old, - . 200

II. Habit of obedience, - - ' . 207

III. Third year— Activity, . . 221

IV. Progress during the third year, - - 229 V. Of the imagination at three years old, - 242

VI. Of the conscience before four years old, - 255

VII. Advantages of early development of religious

character, .... 269

VIII. Religious education of young children, - 282

" IX. Religious worship, - ... 295

APPENDIX.

Observations upon an infant during its first year. By a

mother, . . 323

The first three months, ----- 324

The infant at six months, - .... 332

The child at nine months, ... 335

From nine to twelve months, - . - 340

The child at a year old, ... - 345

PREFACE.

BY MRS. WILLARJ).

IN giving to the young mothers of my country a translation of this excellent work of Madame Necker de Saussure, I am happy to make an offering which will prove highly useful to such as are desirous of qualifying themselves for the wise and judicious fulfil- ment of their maternal duties. I have often been told, by my former pupils, who are now mothers, that they found it very difficult to satisfy their own minds with respect to the best mode of managing their little chil- dren ; and an expression of my opinion on the subject has been frequently requested. I rejoice that infant education has at length been investigated by one so competent to do it justice as the author of this volume.

In my search after the best works on education, while in France, I owe much to the aid of Madame Belloc ; from her I received this work ; on examining it, I found it to be the very book so much needed by the mother and the Infant School teacher.

Madame Necker de Saussure is the sister-in-law of Madame de Stael, and was her intimate friend and

O PREFACE.

biographer. The two de Saussures, her father and brother, are identified with the history of literature and science. No woman of the age has enjoyed more distinguished advantages for intellectual improvement than she whose fortune it was to bear a near and inti- mate relation to so many gifted individuals ; and she has consecrated the rich treasures of her mind to a noble object. Who that would be instrumental in doing good to the world, would not choose rather to be the author of her Progressive Education, than of the brilliant, but seductive Corinne, of Madame de Stael, notwithstanding the latter has been said to be " the greatest work of the first female writer of all ages and countries 1 " Scarcely her inferior in vigor of intellect, original genius, or acquired talents, Madame de Saus- sure possesses, what was wanting in the character of her distinguished friend, fervent and devoted piety. She is not a speculative believer, but a vital, experi- mental Christian. Hence, with the humility of her divine Master, she has said, " Suffer the little children to come unto me."

With a great deal of nature and simplicity, there is in this work much profound thought and argument. Mothers, in order to profit by it, must be educated : it is not written for the ignorant and uncultivated ; such could neither comprehend its reasoning, nor profit much by its precepts. But, at the present day, and especially in our own country, females are so educated as to be capable of appreciating works of a high order.

The views of Madame de Saussure upon the facul- ties of the mind, more especially in relation to the in-

PREFACE. y

dependent agencies of the will, will be recognized by my pupils as coinciding with my own sentiments, so often expressed in my lectures on Mental Philosophy. I hoped to have found leisure for adding to the work more of my own reflections, and the results of my ex- perience. Mrs. Phelps, who has so long aided me in the objects to which I am devoted, has contributed towards the Notes in the body of the work ; — they may be con- sidered as generally expressive of ideas which we hold in common upon the subjects to which they relate.

The Appendix, containing a Mother's observations upon her infant during its first year, will, I think, prove of much practical utility to young mothers. Having, myself witnessed the results of the system of management there described, in the patience, docility, and intelligence of the child who was the subject of it, I am enabled to bear my testimony in its favor.

Nothing can be more pleasing to the true friend of woman, than the sight of a well-educated female bringing all her faculties into exercise in the perform- ance of the appropriate duties of her sex, as mistress of a household, as a wife and mother. To prepare the rising generation of women for these important duties, and to bring forward teachers to aid me in this, has been the grand object of my life. When I see pow- erful minds among my own sex rising up in support of the same object, I feel my heart encouraged and my hands strengthened to persevere. That the women of our own country are taking a higher rank in the scale of rational beings, is apparent, in the fact that

10 PREFACE.

frivolous conversation and pursuits are giving place to such as are suggested by intelligence, benevolence and piety.

NOTE. — The Editors hope to present the public, ere long, with the remaining portion of Madame de Saus- sure's Progressive Education ; and should she pursue the plan intimated in the following extract, we shall lose no time in giving to our country, a translation of the views of this able and accomplished author upon Female Education.

Extract of a letter from Madame Necker de Saus- sure to Mrs. Willard ;— dated Geneva, July 21, 1834. (Translated from the French.)

" Permit me to express, Madam, how much I am delighted that my book has received the approbation of yourself and your sister, Mrs. Phelps, so far as to induce you to translate it. Your own works, which I have had the happiness to read, show to what enlightened judges mine has been sub- mitted. In my second volume, as I have treated of a greater number of subjects than in the first, and discussed more contested points, the chance is greater that it may not, in all respects, accord with your ideas ; but my sentiments in general so far harmonize with yours, that I can at least depend upon your indulgence.

" Since my last volume of Progressive Education was written, I have reflected much upon the education of women, and even began a treatise upon the subject; you may judge, therefore, how precious to me is this communication with you. Your experience is much more extensive than my own, which has been confined to private education. But the difficulty of writing on this subject alarms me ; opinions

PREFACE. 11

upon the destination of women diverge so far, and are so much under the influence of locality, that one can scarcely hope to produce a general impression, at least if the attempt be made to go beyond a mere common-place morality. It is very singular, that with sentiments essentially the same, and sustaining the common relations of wife and mother, women of different countries, and in different ranks, so little understand each other. The slightest diversity in custom, or received forms, renders them strangers to each other's hearts.

" We cannot even treat of the defects of our sex, without seeming unjust to the women of some countries, and ap- pearing to point out those of others ; — thus, our defects are not those of the French: if we go into Germany and Eng- land, we shall find those from which we are free, but at the same time qualities in which we are deficient. With us. a woman shines by prudence and an extreme circum- spection ; these entitle her to consideration, more than brilliancy of mind. Americans might find me too timid in my views of female education ; while, at home, it might be thought I had gone too far ; not that instruction, among us, is regarded with indifference, but it is desired only on con- dition that it produce no movement of the soul that may effect any change in real life. In France, tout pris de nous, the desire to emancipate women has become disor- derly, striking at the root of all social institutions, and threatening the most sacred ties. At Lyons, is published a journal, edited by females, themselves, in which the prin- ciples are manifestly those of St. Simonisme.

c;Mr. Martin has recently published a work entitled •Education of Mothers.' — At first I supposed my labor performed ; but though I find some interesting pages in the book, and that he requires of mothers many fine sen- timents, still there are no definite counsels for their guidance. — Vague in religion as false in philosophy, there only remains to the reader the pleasure of having perused some very fine phrases.

12 PREFACE.

"With much more satisfaction I have examined two volumes of the American Annals of Education, edited by Mr. Woodbridge. In this work I have found excellent ad- vice upon the religious education of women, upon the care of health, and the development of the faculties.

" There are treasures in the soul of woman which yet remain to be explored and brought forward. This must be the work of an early, a thorough, and a judicious educa- tion."

PREFACE.

NUMEROUS examples authorize, at the present day, the successive publication of different volumes of a work. This course seems naturally indicated, when one of the parts forms a whole by itself, as is the case in the present work : an important subject, that of the moral education of early infancy, is here found, not exhausted, indeed, but considered as fully as it seemed to require.

In a work which has for its object the progressive education of the whole life, this volume may be con- sidered under a double aspect : it is a first part, destined to be soon succeeded by a second, which will complete what relates to infancy — and it is at the same time a separate essay ; it is the study of a period of human existence, short, indeed, it is true, but per- fectly distinct from every other, and replete with facts interesting to the observer.

There exists, indeed, between this period, and the portion of life which follows it, a line of demarcation not arbitrarily drawn, but which belongs to the immu- table and necessary order of the development of the 2

14 PREFACE.

individual. The child at the age of five years pos- sesses all the intellectual faculties bestowed upon man : some of these faculties, yet weak and little accustom- ed to exercise, are frequently called into action by the most frivolous motives ; and although expressed, as yet, only by insignificant actions, they are still mani- fested, and the child makes use of them in his own manner.

Before the age of four years, on the contrary, the child is a different being ; it is destitute of reflection, one of the essential elements of human reason. Its mind, already very active, does not consider itself, and is unconscious of its own operations. Moreover, the instincts of the first age are yet with him in full vigor : its moral and physical nature are still composed, in a great degree, of the faculties bestowed upon the first period of life for a temporary and special object — en- dowments which we do not discover in after life. Thus, dispositions which partake of the mysterious na- ture of instinct, such as sympathy, and the tendency to imitation, soon cease to be noticed, either because they are, in truth, much diminished, or because the new development of the faculties, with which we are better acquainted, attracts our whole attention. Final- ly, when the child begins to use language, it is only as a means of external communication ; his thoughts do not, without effort, flow in words, and he lives the same life of sensations and images, of desires and im- pressions, as that of animals, and newly-born infants. From this mode of existence, so different from ours, we infer that infancy is the only age which is clearly separated from the periods which follow it, these being connected to each other by inseparable gradations.

PREFACE. 15

I do not mean to be understood that the peculiarities of the infant mind do not disappear gradually. The period from five to twelve years is an interval of transi- tion, during which the instincts of the child become feeble in proportion as the faculties of the man in- crease. But these instincts exist in the mind of the individual, at a period when it is difficult to discover them. If, then, we neglect to study them when they alone prevail, we shall not distinguish them in a more complicated existence. One of the elements of the moral constitution of the pupil will always be unknown by us, if we have not observed the child in the first pe- riod of its existence.

Other considerations, still more weighty, will be join- ed to these, if we can be convinced of two truths ; the one, that from the conditions imposed upon the soul at its first entrance into this world, the faculties which de- cide the formation of the character are those which are first manifested in the individual ; the other, that edu- cation possesses an immense influence over the devel- opment of these faculties. This last truth is placed beyond a doubt by the schools recently established for children from the age of two to six years. In these we can judge of the happy effects that the principles by which I have been guided, produce in application. And if, on the one hand, the happy results which these institutions present, give the sanction of a more extend- ed experience to the conclusions which I have deduced from facts observed in a narrow circle, — I venture to flatter myself, on the other hand, that these deductions will serve to explain, in a rational manner, the success of the method employed in these schools.

16 PREFACE.

This hope is not entirely unfounded, at least as respects Geneva, where infant schools are at present forming. The remembrance of M. de Saussure is yet so vivid in his country, it is so well known that his zeal for public instruction here was equal to that displayed in his labors as a physician, that his daughter has some reason to hope to be listened to, when she speaks of education. This is one motive which has led me to hasten the publication of a volume which may, at this time, prove of important utility at Ge- neva.

In an introduction containing the plan of this whole work, I shall give some account of the views, by which, in its progress, I have successively been influ- enced.

While I undertook to trace the moral history of life, in pointing out, as far as I was able, the means of improvement which are adapted to its different ages, I designed to pass rapidly over the years of infancy.

Impressed with the great idea that our existence here is but the prelude to another, that our passage through the present world is only an education for another, I would view this idea in its various applica- tions. Relying upon these words of Scripture, — 'All things shall work together for good to those who love God,' my design was to show that he who will avail himself of divine assistance, finds in every event, in the diversified interests which contribute to unfold our various moral faculties, the means of advancing towards his true destination. Without presuming too much upon the effect of my work, I have hoped to ben- efit myself, to find, in lofty thoughts, a support, a refuge

PREFACE. 17

and consolation ; 10 derive some advantage from the silent teachings of time, and to recommence, by my remembrances r the work which my life has thus far too little promoted.

At the first, my attention has been directed more to the results of life, than to that preparation for life itself, which should occupy the commencement of it; and the education of infancy was presented to me as a subject necessary, from my plan, to be noticed, but already exhausted by the distinguished writers who have devo- ted their thoughts to this subject.

But in examining this subject more closely, I have found much that is new, especially with regard to the first years of life. Philosophers have almost entirely disregarded very young children : instructers by pro- fession do not often have them under their care ; and when they are with them, they too frequently regard the future pupil as mere brute matter, destined to re- ceive its value from them. They consider him an ignorant being, not thinking that, in order to arrive at the point where he is susceptible of rational instruction, the mental constitution of the child must be entirely dif- ferent from that of man.

Females, on the other hand, quick to seize upon the slightest indications, and to comprehend the least in- tentions of children, are often satisfied with understand- ing them by sympathy. Their feeling is directed im- mediately to practical utility ; and when a ready dis- cernment has decided what will conduce to this, they consider it of little importance to arrive at general re- sults. I was myself for a long time deeply occupied with education; but I had studied my children without 2*

18 PREFACE.

feeling that I was investigating the general principles of infant minds : all my observations seemed confined to the individual. The different systems of which I had ac- quired a knowledge not being able to satisfy me, I follow- ed the guidance -of the little experience I had gained, and what I believed to be good sense. But as this ex- perience became more enlarged, as more leisure afford- ed me the opportunity to mature my reflections, I per- ceived the effect of general laws, in the uniformity of the phenomena presented by infancy. Perhaps, in de- scribing them, the charm, attached to the contemplation of this age, has led me too far. But, either by the facts I have cited, or the conclusions deduced from them, I have extended the subject beyond my original inten- tion.

Without abandoning my undertaking, as it is announ- ced in the Introduction, I have gradually changed the proportions of it. Pressed by time, and by the ad- vancement of the age, I have felt the necessity of reducing the dimensions of the part which first occu- pied most of my attention; and that \vhichvvas designed to have formed two thirds of the work, will be little more than one third.

The first book is devoted to tbe exposition of prin- ciples which are applicable to every period of educa- tion. Nothing, surely, is more important than for the instructor to be fully acquainted with his own views, to demand of himself, in the first place, his precise ob- ject, since this is the best method of attaining that ob- ject.. Yet, under these two relations, how numerous are the reflections presented ! What a vast field of thought opens before us, at the simple contemplation of

PREFACE. 19

that undertaking, so great, and at the same time so common — that of educating a child ! The final destina- tion of man, the obligations imposed upon him by the divine la\v, and the constitution of the present world, •with the qualities which may render him capable of performing these obligations, become so many objects of deep and anxious contemplation. And when we consider what education is — that it is designed to in- fluence the will, to impress upon the soul characters which will remain during life, we discover, not only that profound study of the human mind is indispensable to the instructor, but that he should be acquainted wilh the order in which the moral faculties are unfolded. It is not as an idle speculation, that such a study is pre- sented : we see it to be the foundation, and even the essence of the art of education.

It is unnecessary for me to say that I have merely glanced at these great subjects. Guided by the sublime principles of Evangelical morality, I have endeavored to avoid all useless discussion ; in applying my princi- ples to human life, I have taken some points as agreed upon which are yet debated : but to support all my con- victions by solid proofs, to resolve all difficulties, and remove all objections, would equally have surpassed the limits of my subject and of my powers. I have not affected philosophic coldness, but have expressed the feelings by which I was actuated, without exagger- ating them, or indulging unkind expressions towards those who differ from me, and especially without allow- ing myself, in favor of the best objects, to allege rea- sons which seem trivial or doubtful. If I have ventur- ed to touch upon lofty themes, it has been because

20 PREFACE.

they were inherent to my subject, and have involunta- rily commanded my' attention ; or they have pursued, rather than been sought by me. However the theoretical part of my work may be subject to criticism, I hope to have presented ideas which may be fruitful, in useful applications.

The second book is devoted to the study of the two first years of life — that important period, during which education is in a degree directed by vague ideas, since the child who does not yet speak cannot aid the observer in discovering what passes in his mind. But the discerning instinct of mothers, often penetrates the obscurity which involves this tender infancy, and fur- nishes important observations upon which to found our reasonings.

On the contrary, the period from the age of two to four years, the consideration of which occupies the third book, is the most instructive season for us. Then the new progress of the child, without having as yet changed his moral existence, serves to reveal it to our eyes ; we then see the peculiar nature of infancy dis- tinctly manifested, at the very period when it is about to disappear. The results of the facts relative to the soul during this period and the preceding, are consid- ered in a separate chapter ; and this concludes the history of infancy.

Hitherto, what has been advanced is only a collec- tion of observations, and seems not related to the prin- cipal subject of the work, the formation of morality in children. But, for the interest of morality itself, I have thought it my duty to invite the instructor's atten- tion to facts which have been the least regarded. We

PREFACE. 21

begin to feel, that to secure the advancementof educa- tion, it is necessary to discover the physiological meth- od ; or, in other words, to discover the laws of the moral development of the individual. But, without pretend- ing to understand the essential nature of the soul, we may yet study the progress of the intellect from the birth of the human being. And, as a being immersed in total ignorance can attain a knowledge of the physic- al and moral world only by degrees, and in a determin- ed order, we very soon discover that this order decides the development of the various faculties in the soul of the child. It is thus that the examination of facts always conducts to an explanation of their consequen- ces.

Another benefit which we shall derive from the study of the infant, will be, to teach us more properly to estimate the endowments bestowed upon it by Provi- dence ; qualities so adapted to its future destiny, that a moral constitution in any respect differing from the present, would have rendered him less susceptible of progress. In viewing him with regard to futurity, we see that many of his apparent defects — that even his weakness and his imperfect development, are the effects of a wise dispensation. He has the perfection of an ignorant being, a state the most favorable to be instructed ; and he has also the perfection of a depend- ent being, wholly unable to help himself, and a wonder- ful talent for obtaining aid of others. He can excite in us emotions of goodness, of devotion, and of con- stant affection, which we feel for none but him : he succeeds in inspiring us with a tender and heart-felt pity, and yet amuses and pleases us. Too improvi-

22 PREFACE.

dent to be enslaved by his necessities, he has the grace, sometimes the pride of independence, and when he has received every thing at our hand, his friendship has still a disinterested air.* The immediate work of God, noble in view of its future destiny, and interesting in its present form, the infant presents at the same time a charming creation, and a perfect sketch.

* Who has not, at times, felt the irresistible power of infancy to awaken tenderness and gentle affections ! When the heart is sad, or seared by disappointment, it seems insensible to any emotions but of the most gloomy and despairing kind. Now like a beam of light glancing athwart the darkness of midnight, does an infant's smile kindle up an involuntary cheerfulness, and provoke the sternest features to return an answering expression. The widowed mother, as she clasps her babe to her bosom, feels the apathy of grief to be succeeded by a softened emotion, and as she raises her supplications to the Father of the fatherless, is inspired with the wish to live for her child, and the resolution to nerve herself, for his sake, to encounter the storms of life, in a cold and unfeeling world, where there are few to care for those who need to be cared for. [Eo ]

I N T R O D U C T I O N .

Mr design is to represent the progress of life, and the feelings which animate us at every period of it : I wish to describe the changes which time produces in us ; but this is not my only object. As the noblest aim of the study of the human heart is to soften it, I desire to seek the means of rendering our dispositions more exalted and more holy, more favorable to the tranquillity of the soul, and the display of its activity.

It is the history of the soul, especially, that I propose to trace ; a history less different in various individuals than that of their external condition, but of much great- er importance. The changes which our souls experi- ence, have for us the nature of real events. Upon the state of the heart, depends not only our own happiness, but also the train of events that the desire of gratifying our inclinations may produce. The most unforeseen determinations, are not to be ascribed to chance ; for they have been preceded by desire.* Thus, by indu'g-

* This is a most important suggestion, and ought to be im- pressed with great care upon the minds of every young person,

24 INTRODUCTION.

ing in certain thoughts, we unconsciously weave the web of our future destiny. The succession of our feelings, is the confused sketch of the drama which is afterwards represented in our conduct.

All, then, is education in human life. Each year of our existence is the consequence of years that precede it, and the preparation for those which follow ; each age has a task to perform for itself, and another in re- lation to that which succeeds it. And if, in proportion as we advance in life, the perspective of life itself seems to narrow before us — if it seems less necessary to prepare for a career always diminishing, there is a point of view the reverse of that. There is an interest which increases with years. The less the time re- maining to us to live, the more valuable does each mo- ment become, in the view of the Christian. He who aims to win the prize of the race feels his courage and hope redouble as he approaches the goal.

Infancy, indeed, differs from other ages, in many respects. There is a time of weakness, and inexperi- ence, when the newly-created soul acquires its first no- tions of things, and is brought into intercourse with an

particularly females. To the susceptibility of their hearts, and an unrestrained license of imagination, are to be ascribed much of the misery which many of our sex endure. Surrounded by attentive friends, watched over by parental tenderness, and en- joying all the refinements and luxuries which wealth can pur- chase, many a female has been left to muse in secret over a hope- less passion, which might have been checked in its beginning — or has been induced to marry a man in whom neither moral or in- tellectual endowments made up the want of worldly goods. In poverty and degradation, she must realize that by indulging in certain thoughts, she did unconsciously weave the -web of her des» tiny. [Er.]

INTRODUCTION. 25

unknown world ; it then sustains no responsibility ; the care of its education is not con6ded to itself : but, if the work of education consists in the development of the faculties, we cannot assign to it any definite period. The mind is always capable of being enlarged, and the heart of being softened ; even religious feeling, the most elevated of our sentiments, has a tendency to in- crease, by exercise. All the springs which act up- on the child, have power with the man ; outwardly, circumstances and events ; inwardly, those feelings which prompt us to love and to hate, to imitate, to hope and fear, exert a continual influence upon our souls. How then can we assign any boundaries to the extent of education ? The character and the mind are constantly receiving modifications ; this is what renders education always possible ; not only is it possible, but unavoidable : some species of it is incessantly active : to know if we can direct it, is the only doubtful ques- tion.

The development of the character does not, it is true, depend entirely either upon the will of instructors in infancy, or upon that of the pupil at a more ad- vanced age ; but does it follow from this that these wills have no power ? Because we have not every thing at our disposal, does it follow that we can influence no- thing ? Many causes, it is true, act without our know- ledge, and against our wishes ; but there are regular and beneficial influences which are at our command. It is because there is at all periods an accidental educa- tion, that it is necessary to balance the effects of it by one which has been premeditated.

All the power given to man in education, depends 3

26 INTRODUCTION.

upon the exercise of his will.* This power is, in my opinion, great ; and it is for this alone that man will always be responsible. The transient influence of instructors should establish the durable empire of con- science, and give a permanent direction to what is most variable with the child, and remains fluctuating with man — the will. If, then, there exists a source, where the will may become invigorated, whence it can derive the assistance necessary to sustain, enlighten, and direct it, and to reanimate it when sinking into ap- athy, it would seem that the great object of education is to render the access to this more easy to the human being in the successive periods of his life.

After having described the first years of life, when

* There is a vulgar opinion prevailing among some parents, that a child's ' will must be broken, ' as the expression is ; but it should be understood that the icill, resolution, or firmness of pur- pose, all of which are nearly synonymous terms, is in fact the very stamina of the mind. It is indeed necessary that a child should very early be taught obedience, and to know that its own wishes are not always to he gratified. For this end, should he prove re- fractory, punishment of some kind should be resorted to, until he is made to submit to authority. Yet in doing this, a very young child may be made to understand, by an affectionate, though de- cided manner, that his own good only is intended; and thus, though his spirit may be subdued, it will remain unbroken. It is painful to think of the manner iu which some parents and teachers govern the young and tender minds committed to their fostering care. Insult and ignominy are heaped upon the de- fenceless being, as ungovernable passion or mistaken views of discipline may prompt, and either a sullen obstinacy, a morbid melancholy, or a servile abjectness of spirit, takes the place of that ingenuous frankness, that playfulness of disposition and noble independence which are so lovely and interesting in the young, and which are far from being incompatible with a character sub- mitted to a judicious discipline. [Eo.]

INTRODUCTION. 27

education, with some slight differences, is the same for all children, I shall revert to the peculiar character which should be given to the early education of fe- males. Indeed, it will be their education that I shall principally consider in the whole course of the work. I can more easily speak of them, both because I know them better, and because the contemplation of their destiny is better suited to my design. The domestic relations hold a more important place in their existence; and hence they are more subject to the influence of nat- ural events. As they embrace no particular profession — as they are neither merchants, soldiers, or magis- trates, the natural dispositions are more apparent in them; they are daughters, wives, and mothers, more than men are sons, fathers or husbands. Observe the young female, desirous of rendering herself lovely, — she who is on the eve of marriage — the wife, jealous of her husband's affections — the mother, solicitous for her children — and you will find the same sentiments in- fluencing the conduct, and acting upon the heart, from Lapland to Peru, from the slave to the princess. The difference of age are also more marked in females. A man who has embraced a particular profession, goes on, during his whole life, through nearly the same rou- tine, and the uniformity of his actions affects also the state of his feelings. All the interests of woman, on the contrary, change with years ; her position in socie- ty changes also, and it becomes more easy to mark the influence of time upon her life.

Another reason which leads me to address myself to females, is because they will listen to what I say. Having no public profession, they usually mark out.

28 INTRODUCTION.

more or less judiciously, a sort of moral career ; each one conceives a certain ideal excellence, which she seeks to reach, and by which she directs her course. Her thoughts and opinions are little concealed. If she is ignorant of many things, she at least does not boast of knowing every thing ; and the want of positive knowledge is more than compensated by the desire of acquiring it. The education of her children which de- volves upon her, leads her to aim at what is best for them and for herself: all advice upon this sacred sub- ject is gratefully received ; and the observations that she is continually making, as a mother, increase her taste for mental analysis.

But, if I more particularly address myself to women, I would not be thought to do it in an exclusive manner. A religious point of view renders the condition of the heart important also with men. As Christians, the do- mestic relations become to them of great importance : increase of years gives to life a new character of grav- ity ; and the great idea of a future existence, causes the distinctions of wealth and rank to vanish.

The tendency of this work will, I trust, be religious : it is not a book of mere amusement, since the observa- tion of life, such as it is in reality, is presented here ; and the spirit of Christianity, it is hoped, pervades it, although its doctrine be not frequently alluded to. Not, however, that I regard the doctrine as indifferent. If the devotion of the heart is of the first importance, the religion of it is not the least essentially founded upon a belief, and the nature of this belief influences that of devotion itself, and of a multitude of other opinions. But, sincerely attached to Christianity as our illustrious

INTRODUCTION. 29

reformers* have viewed it, I consider here its effects, rather than their cause. I appeal to that feeling which ought to be common among Christians, to that bound- less charity which esteems the name of tolerance to- wards brethren; implying, as it does, the existence of something wrong to be tolerated, as weak, and even injurious : I appeal to that charity, the exercise of which, though sometimes difficult, is indispensably ne- cessary, and which consists in allowing to all tbe-right which we claim, to think and judge for themselves.

This varied work, the author has not the vanity to suppose will, in a religious point of view, prove in- structive to persons eminent for their piety. These seem to me too elevated to need assistance from me. They have access to a higher source than human coun- sel ; and even of human counsel, of a kind better than my book can give. I address myself especially to a class unhappily much more numerous ; to those who, without being ranked among the adversaries of religion, do not comprehend the Christian language, who do not read the holy Scriptures, f cr those books which give a

* The circumstance of Madame De Sausure's belonging to the Protestant Church, renders the tone of her work more in unison with the feelings of most Christians among us than il probably would otherwise have been. It is true that the pious and amiable Fenelon wrote much that is delightful to the heart of the Christian, much that may seem to improve the female sex; but still there is interwoven with his sentiments something of that peculiar mysticism which belongs to the Romish church, and in his advice to young women, with a low estimate of female abilities, appears also a superstitious adherence to the contracted tenets of his church. [Eo.]

t It must be here recollected by (he reader that the author writes in a country where infidelity, and the influence of the

3*

30 INTRODUCTION.

faithful interpretation of them. Ignorant as they are of the most important resources, the difficulty is to make them feel their need of them. We scarcely

Romish Church have both tended to the disuse of the Scriptures. It is scarcely possible for us to realize the ignorance of the Word of God which prevails in many parts of those countries denom- inated Christian ; thick darkness, with respect to every thing spiritual, broods over the souls of millions who are within the very sound of the gospel, and superstition and scepticism seem to unite to hold the soul in bondage. Take for example one instance among thousands ; a girl of eighteen, who has recently arrived in this country, from Catholic Ireland ; quick in her conceptions, intelligent in every thing which is placed under her observation, she is wholly ignorant of all which the Bible teaches, except in those particulars where her priest has thought proper to enlighten her, in order to secure his own influence. In attempting to teach her to read, the word Noah occurred. She was asked who Noah was ; the answer was she did not know. — ' Have you never heard of the flood by which God once destroyed the earth ? ' She had not — ' Did you never go to school in your own country ? ' I did not, but I learned a little to read of a good Protestant lady, who told me to come to her house ; — she had a school for the poor children of the place, and wished me to go to it. I went to the priest and on my knees, asked him to permit me to go to this school of Lady C — ; he said, No, I must not be taught by any but himself, and that it was sinful for me to learn, especially from the Protestants.'

The same girl was for some time afraid to attend family prayers, because her priest had told her that there was no religion out of her own church, and that heretics and all who had any thing to do with them, would be eternally miserable. She also suffered much dejection because she had not access to a priest to whom Ehe might confess ; for, according to their faith, Roman Catholics can only hope for forgiveness and favor from God, through the intercessions of their priests ; of course, when cut ofFfrom inter- course with them, their souls are exposed to eternal perdition. How blessed is that religion which teaches us that none can forgive sins, but God only, and that his ear is ever open to the cry of the penitent ! [ED.]

INTRODUCTION. 31

know how to effect this ; for, so long as we are not able to give them, in the only language which they under- stand, a taste for divine truths, they will be like those barbarous people who never emerge from their condi- tion, because they do not conceive themselves to be deficient.

But I chiefly address myself to those whom I regard more immediately as my equals ; I speak to those who are impressed with the truth, the beauty, and primary importance of Christianity, but wish to connect it more closely with the various objects of interest, which we cannot, and ought not to banish from human existence. These, feel that religion is every thing, or nothing; that if it does not become an absorbing principle, it is an empty profession; but they find a difficulty in making universal application of such a principle, so numerous are the objects in this world, which, in the course of life, have a lawful, and even a useful place, and yet seem foreign to religion.* The education of the heart may present the means of doing this, since, considered with regard to religious perfection, there is no action or occupation indifferent ; every thing is injurious or useful, every thing retards or favors our progress. We

How often does the heart of the true Christian sink, in view of the trivial concerns which demand his attention, and even duties which seem to have a deadening influence upon his piety ! but such is the state in which our Heavenly Father has been pleased to place man, for the very purpose of trying him. If eve- ry thing incited him to piety, where would be the Christian's warfare ? But the real spirit of religion inwrought in the soul will not only carry us safely through all temptations, but turn them into occasions for spiritual improvement and growth in grace. [Eo.]

32 INTRODUCTION.

should observe the effect of objects upon us, instead of considering them as they are in themselves; and, re- pelling every thing which removes us from God, we should seek to approach him by every pure and eleva- ted means.

Having spoken of the design of this work, I proceed to state its plan.

It treats of premeditated* education ; that is to say, the education which aims to take advantage of the in- fluence of men and things, for the perfecting of the in- dividual. This education should continue during the whole life, and only change its agent : although this may be different, the work itself remains the same, and, from birth to death, there is always a subject to be per- fected.

Considered in this light, life is naturally divided into three periods.

During the first, which embraces the period of infan- cy, education is directed by minds superior to those of the individual who is to be acted upon.

During the second, which includes the period of ad- olescence or youth, and that portion of it, which the law subjects to parental authority, the pupil should more and more aid in his own education.

Finally, during the third period, the individual hav- ing become the arbiter of his own destiny, is himself called to labor for his own perfection.

The first of these divisions of human life, is that

*The expression ' premeditated education' seems rather foreign to our idiom, and yet when something the opposite of accidental education is meant, as is here the case, it is difficult to substitute a better. [Ec.]

INTRODUCTION. 33

where a writer on the subject finds his course the most distinctly traced. In considering infancy, be cannot do otherwise, than to address himself to the instructors who have undertaken the direction of it ; and accord- ingly education, properly speaking, or the cares of which children are the object, become the subject of which he should treat. But this subject would be too vast, either for ray plan, or my abilities, should I attempt to consider it in its whole extent. Obliged to limit my- self, it will chiefly be the formation of the character which I shall principally consider. I shall not dilate upon methods of teaching, but in the general views upon the development of the mind which I shall have occasion to offer, shall especially consider the moral ef- fect of the various occupations and different studies which are commonly pursued.*

Yet the rules which I have imposed upon myself in this work, required, from the commencement, an inves- tigation of .the human heart more profound than that of which infancy has heretofore been the object. Books upon education ordinarily contain the history of the thoughts and experiments of the instructor relatively to his pupil, rather than the history of the pupil himself, and of what passes in his mind. The latter is precisely what I have endeavored to discover. After having, in some general considerations, indicated the views which the instructor ought to take on the subject of his duties, I devote my attention to the child ; — I seek to know

* The author here refers more particularly to what she designs to do in her future volumes on progressive education, than in this, which is devoted to a consideration of the first years of life. [£D.]

34 INTRODUCTION.

his feelings during the entire period when an imperious necessity subjects him to our power ; and this examin- ation leads me to infer that the majority of the im- pressions attributed tcJ caprice and unreasonableness, in infancy, have a higher origin. The conditions to which the soul is subjected upon its entrance into this world, furnish, 1 think, a sufficient explanation for many feelings which infants experience; and I also re- cognize in them the effect of a dispensation eminently favorable to the development of the noblest faculties. I then attempt to describe the moral constitution of the child at different ages, and deduce the practical results which these observations clearly present. This order, the most natural of all, is not however the only one which I have observed. Certain dispositions should be cultivated before others, either because they are fu- gitive, or because they may facilitate the whole work of education. Principles must be established before con- sequences are deduced from them. There is then a moral and logical connexion, independent of the order of facts, but not less essential to follow.

After observation and its consequences, there will generally follow the exposition of a truth which seems particularly applicable to the age I am considering. When the changes produced by years shall lead to corresponding changes in the consequences of this truth, I shall present it under a new aspect. Thus we shall see the same principles differently developed in the suc- cessive periods of education.

This blending of observations, of theory and the ap- plication of their results to infancy, presents great diffi- culties in execution. Arising from it, are too frequent

INTRODUCTION. 35

and strong contrasts, and too sudden transitions. Noth- ing is apparently so frivolous and trifling, as details con- cerning little children, as the whole mass of facts pre- sented by that age ; nothing, on the contrary, is so great, so difficult, or so obscure, as the study of the faculties of the soul. Yet how can we separate these two ele- ments of education? Shall we attach sufficient impor- tance to the form, often very insignificant, under which certain faculties are presented in the child, if we do not consider them in relation to their future importance? Should we fail of seeing the future in the present ; — the ripened wheat, in the blade of grass ? Should we not even keep in view the point from which we set out, and that to which we would attain, infancy and manhood ? If the apparent changes of tone and of ob- ject seem, in a literary point of view, less striking than a different method, this must not tempt to deviate from what I consider essential to the subject, and most im- poi tant to consider. Perhaps with a superior tact I should have avoided these dissonances ; but to neglect to say things which I believe useful, I consider a great- er wrong than to state them in an imperfect manner.

When the pupil has arrived at the period of adoles- cence, we see him beginning to aid in the work of his own education. He comprehends and adopts the best design with regard to it; he approves the means of pro- moting it, and chooses or appoints them. His parents preserve all their right over him, but by degrees they lose their power ; their authority would no longer ex- ert a salu:ary influence, if they were obliged to use it. All should be confidence at first, then complete and familiar persuasion. Their moral influence requires

36 INTRODUCTION.

the more careful management, as it will very soon di- minish, and as this period often gives a direction to the whole life.

It is not easy to employ judiciously, this precious and fragile remnant of a decaying power. Observation is often rendered useless, by sudden changes which are produced in the character of the pupil. We know him no longer,* and he has little knowledge of himself. He is sincere, but every moment deceived, both with regard to himself and every thing about him. His ar- dent and flexible imagination always places what he be- lieves to be, in the place of what really is ; the combat of hopes with possibilities is as yet little felt by him, and he lives in an atmosphere of illusions that nothing has yet dissipated. Ignorant of the extent or limits of his faculties, of what his will can, and what it cannot accomplish, he is by turns confident and desponding.

While this state of fluctuation still continues, and the youth is assailed upon all sides by new passions or temptations, the hand which had guided him seems insensibly withdrawn, and he is often cast alone amidst

* How true is this observation ! how often is the parent to whom the heart ofhis child had been as an open page, suddenly dismay- ed by finding its inscriptions concealed from his inspection, and the being whom he had led and influenced without the appearance of opposition, bounding from his grasp, and gone, whither he can- not follow him ! That is, his affections, desires and pursuits seem changed, and an impenetrable veil now shrouds the internal pro- cesses of thought which are going on. The parent must, in sea- son, foresee that his passive child will become the self-centred man, and so wisely improve and wield power, while in his pos- session, that the man shall recognize as his friend, the guardian of the child. [En.]

INTRODUCTION. 37

the dangers of the world. Yet such is the ascendancy of principles which may have been inculcated by a good education, such is that of the pure and generous feel- ings which may have been easily inspired at an earlier age, that not only shall the young man escape the dan- gers which surround him, but form anew those virtuous resolutions, the accomplishment of which will occupy his future life.

The variety of interesting objects which rise to the view of youth is so great, there is such a* crowd of new feelings and thoughts, new ideas and impressions, that it is extremely difficult to analyze and describe the condition of the subject of education at this period.

Whatever else I may omit in this limited sketch, 1 shall at least consider the essential object, religion, and shall endeavor to show how important it is, during that short interval, which, with females, separates infancy from marriage, to give to future mothers principles of piety.

The remaining part of the work will consider the suc- cessive occasions naturally presented to adults to pro- mote their own perfection. The young man is hardly released from the yoke of parental authority, when a strong feeling leads him to resign at least a part of his liberty, in uniting the destiny of another to his own. Until this period, his only concern had been for himself. The object of the devotion of his parents, he had en- tered into their views, while he attended to his own in- terests, and labored to store his intellect with knowl- edge, and his soul with virtues. With the feeling of an artist, he had viewed his own character as a work which he was to accomplish, and considered that noble 4

38 INTRODUCTION.

and generous qualities were to be its crowning orna- ment;— but self was always first in his thougbts. He desired that good should be done, but that this good should be effected by himself, and considered particular- ly the part which he had performed upon every oc- casion. Hence that species of self-conceit which so often renders young persons disagreeable.

It is impossible without a strong moral power for nature to be subdued, and the bonds of selfishness un- loosed. Such a resolution is often reserved to the power of paternal love, and perhaps this feeling only is capable of entirely effecting it.* By means of this sentiment alone, man learns to know true affection, that entire consecration of soul which does not expect a re- turn equal to what it gives, which looks for no happi- ness like that which it would procure for the object of its attachment. At this period, I shall again direct my attention to children, not as being themselves the ob- ject of education, but as educating, so to speak, their parents, because they place them in a situation where 9very interest and every feeling concur to make them sensible of the necessity of morality, and of its most certain source, religion.

Then terrestrial existence has received its most ex- tensive development, when the soul has formed its greatest number of relations with other beings. An useful member of society, still a son, and already a fither, man perceives the various branches of his duty

* Qucre. Is parental love more generous, devoted or self-sac- rificing, than that which subsists between the sexes in its highest and purest form of conjugal affection ? [Eo.]

INTRODUCTION. 39

to be widely extended ; and he animates a sphere of activity proper to the nature of his faculties. Yet he soon discovers that these faculties have their limits. Illusions are dissipated by his being perpetually brought into contact with real things ; his external influence is increased, as a certain ardor diminishes ; the repetition of the scenes of the world extinguishes the vivacity of his impressions, and his interest in life for himself, somewhat abated, passes more and more into that of his children ; and upon them his imagination fixes with new hopes and new illusions.

But these children, in the course of their life, do not fully satisfy his expectation ; they may very soon stray from home, and at last become entirely separated. It is the same with a thousand objects of lively interest; the esteem and gratitude of others, or some good which we had hoped to effect. Every thing decays, is with- ered, or fades in the distance. We perceive that af- fairs move on without us, and we become detached from others and from ourselves.

But the pious soul, possesses more than the compen- sation for the loss of the fascinating charms and illu- sions of youth. In such an one, the great sense of duty survives ah1, and gives its possessor an enjoyment and activity independent of worldly thoughts and objects. The invisible world appears, in proportion as the visi- ble world vanishes from his sight, and his hopes rest upon the only Being who can never deceive him. A greater degree of elevation and of tranquillity, and a more just appreciation of objects, communicate to him a new and entirely different species of greatness. He now understands why he was sent into this earth, and the plan of human life is unfolded to his understanding.

40 INTRODUCTION.

He perceives that, placed upon the earth in order that his faculties should be expanded, he is not destin- ed to remain connected to the objects which have served to unfold them. His new powers aspire to a new exercise. The understanding would be elevated to a higher contemplation than that of terrestrial objects, and that ardent affection which had been called forth by imperfect creatures, now seeks to fix itself upon the only perfect Being ; — thus his development is not sus- pended ; his advancement, though less apparent, is more real, and less liable to interruptions.

His contemplative faculties gain more than his active powers seem to have lost, and his higher destination may already be manifested in this life. Thus, in old age a more entire disinterestedness, a more constant serenity, an undefinable something of wise, tranquil, and heavenly, seem to surround his venerable brow with the anticipated glory of immortality. Thus are exemplified those beautiful words of Scripture, ' As the outward man decays, the inner man is renewed.'

It is indeed a strong proof of our immortality that this principle of advancement always continues to exist in our soul. And as the action of this principle is ne- cessarily arrested in advanced life only by the decay of corporeal organs, that is to say, by an obstacle which may be presented at any other age, it is clear that the state of decline towards the close of life, is entirely un- connected with the nature of the soul, and that it is no argument against the possibility of an eternal progress in the extent of its faculties.

It is true, this progress demands the concurrence of our own will. Those who do not penetrate beyond the

INTRODUCTION. 41

exterior of things, remain during life occupied with vain appearances, and education has not in them ac- complished its design. Time not only fails to elevate, but it corrupts them. When this is the case, there will be a perfection of selfishness instead of devout and holy sentiments. Then, the heart becomes more and more withered, and the desires more and more debased — the personal happiness to which the egoist* had attached every thing escapes from him, since he has become in- sensible to the noblest enjoyments, and no others con- tinue. For him, old age is truly desolate. To his ter- rified imagination death seems indeed the king of ter- rors, and perhaps even more appalling than annihilation: but it is painful to dwell upon such a picture.

* Egoist from ego 7, has no synonime in English. It means one occupied with self, hence egoisme, selfishness. [Eo.]

4*

PROGRESSIVE EDUCATION.

CHAPTER I.

THE DESIGN OF EDUCATION.

" To desire virtue for the pleasure it affords, is to fall into epicu- rianism." — FENELON.

To bring up a child, is to place it in a situation to ac- complish, in the best manner possible, the destination of its life. But what is the general destination of human life? Upon the answer to this question, evidently depends the entire direction of education. We are far from having determined this direction, when we say that education has for its end the development of the faculties; this is its work, rather than its end.

Education does develop the faculties : if it proposed to itself nothing else than to give to the pupil the means of existing here below, it would still develop them. At Senegal, as in England, certain qualities are cultivated . but what qualities do they favor with the preference ? In what sense will be that increase which they would always give to the human faculties ? And as the least difference of proportion in the elements of which we are formed, in- fluences the nature of our moral constitution, it is neces-

44 THE DESIGN OF EDUCATION.

sary to be acquainted with the destination of a person, in order to decide what he ought to do.

The ancients considered happiness the end of human existence. Supreme felicity, was presented to them under forms, sometimes noble, sometimes more or less sensual ; but an idea of seeking it has always existed. Even in our own age the attempt is made to revive this kind of philos- ophy. Under the equivocal name of utility, some pretend even to consider the desire of happiness the foundation of morality. But the prominent and sublime feature of Christianity, is to have set before man a more elevated object than earthly felicity.

What says the Christian religion in its sacred language ? It tells us that, with divine assistance, man can in this life begin to revive in his soul the effaced image of the Crea- tor ; and that if he complies with the conditions of the gos- pel, conditions whose performance has a constant tenden- cy to purify his heart, the great atonement offered for his offences, ensures him eternal salvation, or a union with God in another life. This doctrine is only perfection promised as a reward to those who seek to perfect them- selves.

An order of ideas so elevated belongs naturally to the source from, whence it is derived. We could not ask more from a divine revelation ; and we ought not to expect less. What is perhaps most astonishing, is, that so many persons of superior talents, virtuous characters, and noble souls as have in all ages honored humanity, have not con- sidered that to assign to man happiness for the sole object of his existence upon earth, was to corrupt the moral sen- timent in his heart. Indeed, all the attempts to identify felicity and virtue, have not deceived mankind. Neither the noble fiction of the Stoics, that vice alone is an evil, and that grief is not one ; nor the less elevated assertion

THE DESIGN OF EDUCATION. 45

of the Utilitarian*, that our duty is always conformed to our interest, can sustain examination. However philoso- phers may attempt to elevate happiness and lower moral- ity, there is always a difference, often an opposition to the ideas which they would confound. Reason, experience, cool reflection, the emotions of the heart, all tell us that to satisfy conscience, it is often necessary to renounce the idea of being happy ; they tell us, that if unhappiness is inevitably attached to vice, happiness is not, in this life, al- ways the reward of virtue.

It would seem, that such philosophers have taken the means for the end. The desire of happiness is one of the motives which leads us to develop our faculties, and by which we advance towards the true end of our exist- ence. But to understand one of the causes of our actions, is not to know our final destination. A person ignorant of the use of a watch, who should attentively regard the interior of one, might comprehend its mechanism; he might conceive where resides the moving force, and how it pro- duces action ; but would he know that this complicated work has for its object the measure of time? This is the secret of the inventor, and a person unacquainted with his views would not discover it.

Thus should we pronounce upon the end of human life, while limiting ourselves to consider the mechanism of our actions. But if we view the result to which the course of life will bring us, we see that the supposed end is not ac- complished — happiness is not obtained.

And, moreover, this is only one of the causes of our ac- tions. Who can deny that the love of right is also a feel- ing natural to man — that justice and truth seem his ele- ment 1 What being is so abandoned of Heaven, as not to feel under a moral obligation, as not to know that in this world he has duties to perform ? This is truly a law of

46 THE DESIGN OF EDUCATION.

the soul, which is always admitted by the reflecting mind, which, though we may transgress, we dare not deny its obligation. The other law is, so to speak, only a phys- ical propensity, like gravitation in dead matter. It is a force which acts upon our senses, upon those of our incli- nations which are at their service ; while the liberty, and glory of man, consists in the power of resisting this im- pulsion.

But why should AVC weary ourselves to lay a foundation for morality, by proving its necessity ? Morality ! a uni- versal basis which all suppose, upon which everything rests, without which there would exist, neither society, lan- guage, or human beings. What logic is in reasoning, what are the mathematics in the exact sciences, morality is in the system of our existence : primitive truth, co-eter- nal with God, the expression of his infinite perfections, it is manifested in the works of his hand. Man has received its impress ; its features disfigured, but ineffaceable, al- ways appear in him, notwithstanding his vices, his wan- derings, and his false systems. Thus, when Christianity shows him the moral law, most excellent, most holy, and most severe, and at the same time most merciful, it is no sooner offered to his view, than he thinks not of it as a discovery, but recognizes it as the law written upon his own heart.

If we descend from this height, we shall find that com- mon sense commands us not to propose felicity for our object, since we know not what it is. The end and the road which leads to it are equally unknown, and the very idea of happiness is wholly indefinite. The ancients were never able to agree with regard to the nature of the supreme good ; and perhaps it is not in the power of man to define it. Reason tells us what it ought to be rather than what ji really is. Imagination, more free in its flight, cannot

THE DESIGN OF EDTTCATION. 47

even figure it to itself, with any permanence ; and when it would represent it, a sort of insipidity is attached to its creations. Experience, so instructive, teaches nothing de- cisive with regard to it ; for what do facts tell us ? That with every imaginable advantage, a man may yet be very much to be pitied, if he does not possess a certain thing called contentment of mind ; but that is to say, that to be happy, we must be happy. So that when we wish to de- fine happiness, we are always obliged to have recourse to synonymous terms.

If we express ourselves with a severity, which is not much allowed in ordinary usage, we shall perhaps find that there is something false and contradictory in the idea which we are obliged to form of happiness. That it be a situation free from trouble, we do not say ; but, since a desire not satisfied is a trouble which the imagination can magnify at its will, we are obliged to say that it is a state where all our wishes are realized. But, this state would in time become very tedious. There would then be no motive for action, and our powers would remain dormant. We have faculties which require to be exercised, and the office of imagination is to create some desire capable of calling them into action. We are formed, then, to possess desires and wishes; this is for us the state of moral health. Our souls flow forth in wishes, as the sap of a vigorous tree extends itself to the branches. There is no happiness without activity, no activity without an end; and whoever desires an object, desires that which he has not yet ob- tained. Supreme earthly felicity would then be a state in which we want something, which is absurd. *f"

But if this word has not an absolute sense, it takes one by comparison. Our condition can be improved : the feeling of existence can be rendered more animated and more agreeable. When does this take place 1 It is when

J

48 THE DESIGN OF EDUCATION.

we believe ourselves to be approaching towards the ac- complishment of a desired object ; it is when the moral feeling is kept alive by hope. The most desirable objects of that hope contain in themselves the germ of others ; they transport the thought beyond their possession. The learned are intent upon discovering some truth which shall throw light upon a more general truth ; the charita- ble man sees in the good which he at present dispenses the commencement of a much greater good. There is al- ways a future in the enjoyments which answer our expec- tations. If it is otherwise, the pleasure of having obtained them does not repay for the trouble of seeking them.

Happiness, such as we can conceive as existing on earth, is not then a fixed situation; it is a progress; it is a state in which a mild and regular excitement is sustained in us by hope. When we advance towards the accom- plishment of a well-chosen end, we enjoy in anticipation the moment of its arrival, and at last have the real enjoy- ment of this moment. But if there does not proceed from that some other interest, some new aliment for the activi- ty of the soul, our situation is not much improved.

The art of being happy, is then the art of dispensing hope through our whole life, The most enviable situation is that in which we have prospectively a succession of ends, all so accessible that we can proceed with calmness and confidence, but of which the most distant are the most worthy of our desires. We then seem to lose none of our steps ; we support cheerfully the fatigues of our voyage, and the future is presented to our view under ' a smiling and favorable aspect.

It is to be remarked, that the greater part of the occu- pations of life are formed after such an idea. We see in them an increasing progression, in such goods as riches, esteem, glory, and power, which deserve the name of

THE DESIGN OF EDVCATION. 49

goods, provided they are not esteemed beyond their proper value. And when these occupations are in subordination to the most elevated of all vocations, to that which offers the greatest of all possible advantages of progression, the Christian vocation, they undoubtedly present the elements of happiness. But such occupations offer only precarious compensations, and are not open to all, especially to fe- males ; and as physical nature often proceeds in an in- verse progression, passing from evil to evil and from deg- radation to degradation, it is of infinite importance for the human imagination, which is prone to anticipation to fig- ure to itself a succession of hopes.

But if we would obtain contentment, we must not per- haps have happiness in view. Those who, in pursuing their various occupations, have gathered in their journey through life all the happiness which it can afford — those, I say, have not proposed happiness as their end. They as- pired to some object more precise, more definite, to which, if it had been necessary, they would have sacrificed hap- piness itself. It is thus that they proceed on their path- way through life. Not only is the search for happiness illusory, but it retards us in the pursuit of what is valu- able,

In fact, the impossibility of forming to ourselves a clear idea of happiness, is the reason that our imagination sub- stitutes pleasure in its stead. We represent it to ourselves as valuable, notwithstanding its fugitive nature: there are in the immense treasures of nature and of art, many things calculated to delight the senses and the heart of man; but unfortunately, these objects are not always within our reach, and when they are, the pleasure they afford is ev- anescent, or themselves are perishable. Then the desires most difficult to satisfy, are the most inconstant, The great rewards of perseverance are lost, and we at last be- come disgusted with every thing. 5

50 THE DESIGN OF EDUCATION.

Besides, the pursuit of happiness renders us more sensi- ble to the evils of life ; since there is a peculiar bitterness in disappointment, inversely proportioned to what we ex- pected. The habit of referring every thing to self, of con- sulting our own desires, is to nourish egoism, that unjust master who is never satisfied with the exertion we make to serve him, and who thus disturbs the whole of our exist- ence. Nothing of an earthly nature, when closely con- sidered, can fully satisfy the soul. The way to increase the griefs and diminish the pleasures of life, is to keep an account current of both.

These considerations are, however, insufficient, and he who should limit himself to them would fail in justice to the subject. If the search for happiness is idle and vain, it is not for that alone that we should renounce it. We do not condemn it as a road which leads to evil, but as a road which, if it does lead to some good ought not to be followed. The principle which holds duty in subordina- tion to utility, is bad in itself, independently of the conse- quences which result from it. The will of God, or, in other words, the moral law, ought not to occupy a second- ary place in our heart ; it claims unbounded empire, and although it be true that we find it our interest to submit to this law, yet we ought not to give this as the motive of our obedience.

Let us rely upon the disposition of the supreme direct- or ; he has not neglected the care of our happiness. The objects necessary to our preservation and enjoyment, have been spread with profusion throughout the universe : the inclinations which lead us to these objects are deeply root- ed in our very constitution. Involuntarily, we desire pleasure, and terrestrial joys : we ought to possess in the will a counterpoise to all these instincts. Otherwise, we should be incapable of resisting them. If I pursue hap-

THE DESIGN OF EDUCATION. 51

piness, from an instinct of my nature, when it is evidently contrary to the spirit of the moral law, am I guilty?

It is said, I know, that for the desire of happiness mere- ly, it is often wise to sacrifice the present to the future. It is, surely, a very good thing to counsel us to prudence ; but without relation to duty, prudence is a quality of no moral value, and is often an obstacle to good as well as to evil. Should we ever know remorse, if we had only to reproach ourselves with having neglected our own grat- ifications, or of having made too low an estimate of the value of pleasure? Does not an unconquerable feeling tell us that our interest is the only thing which we have a right to sacrifice ? *

Those who wish 'to give to the system of utility, a char- acter of grandeur and elevation which it does not possess, say, that it is a question of general good, and recommend morality, because it is advantageous to society. It is well to recommend it, but the means of enforcing its observance fail altogether in this doctrine. Once suffer the principle of utility to be, as they would have it, substituted for con- science, and how can we expect an individual to sacrifice himself for the public good ? They may say, that the in- terest of each individual is conformed to that of society : but if we do not believe it, if even, setting conscience aside, we have frequent reason not to believe it, why shall we submit ourselves to their judgment? They may speak to us of duty ; but if they have set aside conscience, who will listen, or obey them? No law, but the moral law,

* It is certainly questionable how far we have a right to sacrifice ourselves. God has given to each of his great family the care of one being, that is, of himself— and if he neglect this one, or inflict upon him unnecessary pain, or deny him reasonable gratifications, is he not unfaithful to his trust ? To have right, as well as to do right, seems to be the duty of each individual. [Ec.]

52 THE DESIGN OF EDUCATION.

proceeding from God, can be imposed upon us. Howev- er imperfect be our nature, an equivocal rule is always repugnant to it. Man is weak, inconsistent, and corrupt, but he has nevertheless an elevated idea of virtue, and if the divine light is little manifested in his conduct, we do see it shine forth in the loftiness of his conceptions.

Is it then true, as is pretended, that the two opinions up- on the end of human life, apparently so contrary, are, in reality only the same opinion, and that they both have happiness for their final end ? Is it true that those who have for their object virtue, or perfection, only prefer one kind of enjoyment to another ? It is always easy to con- found things ; but it appears to me that those who reason thus, have not been close observers of human nature. Without dwelling upon the grand examples which his- tory affords, without citing those devoted heroes who have had no other prospect than suffering, no other hope for themselves than death, I would say, that the attentive ex- amination of what passes even in our own souls will lead us to another conclusion.

I do not apprehend that when a person enters upon a career of painful duties, he forms to himself, clearly, one joy in the future. He submits to an obligation without appeal; he obeys an imperious law, without thinking whether any happiness will ensue. The calm region of duty is superior to that of hopes and fears ; there are not felt those fluctuations, which are the effect of the unequal appreciation of pains and pleasures ; all is constant, abso- lute, and of an enduring nature : — it is not the enjoyments of virtue, which the good seek, but virtue ; it is not the consolations of religion that they desire, but God himself, and in conformity to His will. This region which seems so elevated, is yet accessible to souls which are strangers to all the refinements of philosophy and learning, while

THE DESIGN OF EDUCATION. 53

that in which a person can enjoy the sacrifice of himself, is much less accessible ; for, to find a charm in the idea of self-devotion, requires a kind of elevation rarely found among men, and inconstant even in those who are suscep- tible of experiencing it The great and sublime emotions excited by the most elevated sentiments, do not fall to the share of all mortals ; age weakens them, misfortunes de- stroy them : they may be the reward, they are not the pure, and unalterable essence, of attachment to our duty. In this world such sentiments are connected with enthusi- asm ; in heaven they will be calm and lasting.

We must now return to the double nature of man. The contradictory results which are offered in the complex study of the human heart, can never be explained, if we do not admit that we are actuated by more than one mo- tive And since in the physical world all is opposition of forces, why should we expect to find in the moral world but one principle ? There are hi us two laws, as St. Paul has said ; * our feelings, experience, and reason, bear wit- ness to the same. While some instincts, necessary per- haps hi the physical order, but blind, and urging us for- ward in pursuit of pleasure, develop our faculties, we feel that our faculties, and even life are only designed to ele- vate us to a superior situation, and to restore degraded hu- manity to its primitive rank.

To say that religion itself proposes in the future, eternal happiness for our object, would be to enter upon an order of thoughts entirely different On this occasion, as in others, the sacred writers have employed the received ex- pression, and the reason of this is obvious, since all the ideas which they give of future rewards, are necessarily connected in our mind, with great happiness. The senti-

* Romans vi. 23. 5*

54 THE DESIGN OF EDUCATION.

ment of existence, is so sweet, that immortality, joined to an exemption from the disquietudes and evils of life, must appear to us a very happy condition. But in the imper- fect images which direct our hope, the idea of enjoyment never occupies the first place, while that of a more pure and elevated state, always does. Sometimes ' it is a crown of glory that fadeth not aicay? * ' an exceeding and eter- nal weight of glory,1 f ' the inheritance of the saints in light ;'J sometimes l particpation of the divine nature] § ' a new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righte- ousness] || ' the heavenly Jerusalem, enlightened by the glory of God} ** The word glory is constantly employ- ed here, and since this word often signifies the progress of the Christian in holiness upon earth, since we see that the faithful, 'are transformed from glory to glory, as by the spirit of the Lord,' ft it would seem that the recom- pense is of the same nature as the means by which we are called to obtain it, and that the regeneration commenced in this life, is to be finished in another. Religion thus confirms and sanctions, under the most expressive forms, that law of one immortal soul, which obliges it to become perfect.

Rigorous and imperative in the domain of morality, such a law governs equally all the faculties of the soul. The mind rises towards truth, the imagination towards beauty, and the conscience towards virtue.^ The whole

* 1 Peter v. 4. f 2 Cor. iv. 17. * Colos. i. 12.

§ 1 Pet. i. 4. II 1 Pet. iii. 13. ** Apocalypse xxi.

11. 23. tt 2 Cor. iii. 18.

M It is desirable that Metaphysicians should be able to fix some certain meaning to the words mind, spirit, soul, &c. But while some contend that mind, is a generic term, including all of man that is not matter, others would make the mind serve as a connect-

THE DESIGN OF EDUCATION. 55

spiritual being receives an impulse. "VVhy should we have been deprived of unerring instinct, the prerogative of inferior creatures, if Heaven, to make amends for our con- stant errors, had not endowed us with an irresistible desire for perfection. The want, the presentiment of a better state, are the instinct of man. He constantly examines, revises, and corrects his works, his instruments of labor, and his means of acquiring knowledge. A hope which is never realized, is not however entirely deceived: he arrives at improvement, although he does not attain per- fection ; his fate is to desire more than he can attain.

ing link between the body and soul ; considering that the soul is the spiritual and immortal part of man, while the mind is connected more especially with the senses; that mind is common both to brutes and men, while the latter only possess souls. All this seems to be encumbering Mental Philosophy with useless and absurd dis- tinctions. Matter is one thing; mind, spirit, or soul is another. Respecting the latter, we know only its operations, and surely these operations do not of themselves constitute a new class of substances. We call the various changes which take place in matter, gravita- tion, affinity, &c. and the changes which take place in mind, rea- soning, loving, &c. We divide matter into various classes, as min- erals, plants, &c.;and we consider mind as susceptible of an ar- rangement into the will, understanding, emotions, &c. The neces- sity of insisting on some third term to apply to the brute creation, seems unnecessary, since, while we alk w to them, some of the prop- erties of mind, especially such as produce sensations, with even some of the higher powers, which seem to exist in certain tribes of animals, we perceive them incapable of moral distinctions, and therefore desti- tute of that element of mind which is necessary to fit it for glory and immortality. The poet who exclaims, ' Mind alone, bear witness earth and heaven ! The living fountains, in itself, contains of Beau- teous and Sublime,' seems to be fully of opinion that there is nothing more spiritual and more elevated than the mind itself. Returning then to the Author's expression, ' the mind rises towards truth,' or we would substitute for mind, understanding, c >n idering the three terms, understanding, imagination and conscience as orders of the mental faculties which constitute the mind. [Eo.]

56 THE DESIGN OF EDUCATION.

The desire for perfection, is that which education ought assiduously to cherish. To excite, preserve, and regulate it, is its most sacred task. And as the greatest degree of happiness with a rational being can only be found in the path of his true destination, instructors will just so much better attend to the interests of happiness, as they will cause to prevail over the other desires of the pupil that of becoming perfect

Education ought then to be suited to our double desti- nation ; it ought to prepare the child for two successive existences. Behold an immortal mind, which is here to be fitted for eternity, and a weak creature, sent into the world to suffer and to die \

The constitution of our nature is adapted to these two conditions. The soul has faculties fitted for its abode on earth, and it possesses those which bear its views and hopes beyond it. Both ought to be developed by educa- tion. Since it is not the Avill of God to call us immediate- ly to himself, and as he has obliged us to seek him in our journey through life, it is the duty of the instructor to pro- vide the child with what is necessary in the voyage.

But that life is a voyage, that it is only the swift pro- gress towards eternity, is an idea which ought to be at- tached to every period of our existence ; it is what should always be kept in view, and what, in my opinion, is not sufficiently expressed in the various definitions usually given of education. It is supposed to consist in bringing the youth to a certain state, rather than in implanting a disposition, which shall make him, at a future day infi- nitely surpass that state ; and yet, as the greatest moral and intellectual development, in childhood, is nothing, compared to what we expect in mature age, it is much more essential to give it this disposition. The progress already made is of much less importance than an inclina- tion to make further progress ; so that it is less necessary

THE DESIGN OF EDUCATION'. 57

to inquire with regard to the degree of advancement which the child has already made than with regard to the dispo- sition it manifests for the future. The nearer a pupil ap- proaches to the general level of society, in respect to knowledge or . religion, the more easily can he persuade himself that he has nothing more to acquire upon these subjects, and may relax his efforts, thus stopping at medi- ocrity, unless some new stimulus is added to renew his vigor.

This is why so many educations, apparently well con- ducted, produce insignificant results. This is the reason why so many minds disappoint our expectations. When there is no internal excitement, all very soon withers and falls to decay. Not to increase, is to decrease ; not to ad- vance, is to go back ; thus is it with human nature. If there is within us, a principle of restoration, there is also a principle of decay. We must exert ourselves, in order that we do not descend, and this can be done only by en- deavoring to rise.

According to Kant, the end of education would be this : ' to develop in the individual all the perfection of which he is susceptible.1 But as such a work cannot be accom- plished in childhood, and as it requires for its achieve- ment the entire existence, I would propose a slight change of this fine definition: to give to the pupil the icill and the means of arriving at the perfection of which he will one day be susceptible..

This supposes in th'e instructor some idea of the per- fection to which he may aspire, and, moreover, a know- ledge of the causes which act upon the will. This will be the subject of the following chapters.

CHAPTER II.

OF THE IDEA WHICH THE INSTRUCTOR OUGHT TO FORM OF PERFECTION. URIM AND THUMMIM, LIGHT AND PERFECTION. (GENESIS) SYMBOLS OF THE MOST HIGH FIGURED UPON THE BREASTPLATE OF THE JEWISH HIGH PRIEST.

PERFECTION, that noble end of education, of life, is not to be found upon earth any more than happiness ; but we are much less liable to wander in its search. Even while ignorant of its nature, we can always approach nearer to it, since the road which leads there is well marked.* And, if in proportion as we advance our strength increas- es, if we soon gain a better climate, and breathe a purer air, we shall not fail on our journey, of either encourage- ment or reward.

It is necessary however to form some idea of what we wish to obtain ; and what idea can we form of perfection, since we have never found it, and even our imagination cannot (dearly represent it to us 1 How can we do this, as, in examining each object, we judge it constantly infe- rior to that veiled image, which seems to us to soar above ourselves, and all things about us ? This judgment can only be the result of a comparison, for which we seem to

*Or, to express the same idea in the beautiful and expressive lan- guage of the Scriptures, ' The way-faring man, though a fool, need not err therein,' [En.]

PERFECTION" SHOULD BE AIMED AT. 59

want one of the terms. Some general considerations will perhaps aid us in the elucidation of this question.

We do not inquire here with regard to that sovereign perfection which is called absolute, to show that it is sus- ceptible of no more increase, an idea which can only be understood to apply to God. Indeed, the excellence which seems to us to constitute perfection, is of a nature to increase without limit. Whatever grandeur may be assigned to intelligence, strength, and beauty, we can al- ways add to it one degree more. It is in the region of infinity, that human thought loses itself, and perceives there can be nothing greater or more perfect. It is then rela- tive perfection only which we have to consider.

In this life an object is accounted perfect when it is what it should be ; that is to say, when it fully answers its des- tination. At the moment of creation, the Almighty as- signed to each of his works its destination, and in this sense, all beings, which answer to the views of God are perfect. Yet as some are endowed with properties or faculties, of which others are destitute, there appears to us a sort of hierarchy, among created beings. We attribute to them a rank proportioned to the grandeur of the quali. ties which they display, or to the importance of their des- tination, and this rank seems to determine the degree of their relative perfection.

Yet it is not always easy to estimate this degree ; it would be necessary for us to know the grand outline of the plan of God, in order to decide what place, each object ought to occupy, the link which connects it to other ob- jects, and the qualities which these relations demand- The contemplation of nature, doubtless reveals to us some of the designs of God. We see the heavenly bodies ac- complish their revolutions in fixed periods, — the seasons succeed each other regularly, the various species of plants and animals maintained and perpetuated, — order, motion,

60 PERFECTION SHOULD BE AIMED AT.

and life, preserved throughout the universe. The whole is too regular, the dependence of the parts too intimate for the perfection of the whole, not to answer to that of the parts. But how far are our vague ideas from the exact knowledge even of each piece of the grand mechanism. Not only are we without any ideas of what nature ought to be, but we cannot distinguish exactly what it is, when presented to us in reality. Our superficial observation stops before it arrives at the essence of bodies ; and one of the most interesting of all subjects, the organization of living beings, remains to us a profound mystery. We imagine however that we discover gradually the perfec- tion of the works of God ; but we cannot judge of them ; his works, as well as himself, surpass in every respect, our narrow views, and we can only approach the vestibule of his conceptions.

But when called to appreciate the works of man, the same disproportion does not exist. There the artist and the judge are upon a level, and the one has no faculty foreign to the other. Yet even here, the uncertainty of our ideas confuses us ; and we know not clearly enough what ought to be, to pronounce respecting what is. We understand in general what effect an artist has wished to produce, but we are ignorant whether he has taken the best means to succeed.

We review his plan, we remodel it in our mind ; and only perceive the defects of our inventions, when we come to put our theory in practice, But, through the darkness which obscures our mental vision, we almost always dis- cover two species of imperfections ; one in the first idea of the workmen, and another in the execution of the work ; such are the sources of imperfection profusely spread over human productions.

If Ave wish to remove at least one of these sources, we must leave the region of the fine arts, and enter the humble

PERFECTION SHOULD BE AIMED AT. 61

domain of mechanical arts. There, in the representation of geometrical figures, which answer to the most precise notions of our mind, we can be sufficiently near to see perfection realized. If, for example, I demand of a work- man to construct for me, in metal or ivory, a sphere, a cyl- inder, or a cube, as I well know what I have in view, if the execution of that object is regular, I have nothing more to desire. Nicer organs than mine, would perhaps find defects in them, but as I am formed, I do not see them, and I pronounce the work to be perfect.

A decision so favorable, leaves me, it is true, completely cold. It is an act of judgment which has only the char- acter of approbation, unaccompanied with admiration. But in this inferior perfection, we can seize upon the most im- portant element in the idea of perfection. In all which falls under the province of judgment, reason ought to give its full and entire approbation. And, as there are some qualities which reason has a right to require in all objects, as she very well knows in what these qualities consist, and as the notions which she has of them, without attain- ing altogether to mathematical precision, are among the number of those most clear to our mind, it is essential that relatively to those at least the conformity of what is, with what ought to be, should be complete. Thus in material works, the adaptation of means to an end, the just proportion and intimate connexion of parts, the dura- tion, and utility of the object are among the number of obli- gatory conditions. There are qualities correspondent to them in the moral domain ; so that if we give the name of regularity to the whole of those qualities which are at- tached to our notions of order, and which are to be judged by reason, we shall say that regularity is the first and in- dispensable element of perfection.

But this element is not the only one ; there is another, which, wherever it can be found, is equally necessary. 6

62 PERFECTION SHOULD BE AIMED AT.

Perfection, in itself, supposes a combination of all excel- lencies, and there are kinds of merit which judgment alone does not appreciate. All is not reason in man; feeling, and imagination, have their rights. We wish to admire; we cherish this sweet and grand emotion, and beauty is the natural subject of admiration. We desire both moral and physical beauty, and when the obligations imposed by duty are fulfilled, we then ask for these. Here, is presented an element, infinite by its nature, con- stantly susceptible of a greater degree of development. And from this it arises, that our desires are insatiable, and that the only perfection which can satisfy them, seems al- ways to escape us.

What is beauty? A question insolvable, perhaps, or which at least has' never yet been solved. We have nev- er discovered the common characteristic of the various objects which excite our admiration. They charm and fascinate us, they suspend for a moment the monotonous course of our existence, they transport us beyond the earth and from ourselves. The effect which they produce upon us sometimes unites them in our thoughts; but the link is not in them, it is in our soul.

What resemblance can we find between what are the most simple of all things, a brilliant or delicate color, and a melodious sound, and the immense complication of ob- jects, which the magnificent aspect of nature presents to us ? And yet the rapid and fugitive impression of such a color and such a sound, as well as the more permanent effect of a landscape, obliges us to exclaim, It is beautiful ! What is this power of moving our souls possessed by ter- restrial things ? What is this indefinable charm, myste- rious blessing of our existence ? Is it an anticipation of another state of being, a reflection of celestial splendor, an echo of the harmony above 1 Is it an impulse given to the soul, destined hereafter to contemplate infinite beauty?

PERFECTION SHOULD BE AIMED AT. 63

And this rapture mingled with a soft melancholy, is its use to remind us that we are only pilgrims on earth? There is in this a proof of goodness which we cannot misunderstand.

In order to distinguish ideas often confused, we observe that regularity is not a condition necessary to beauty. It becomes such if we require perfect beauty; but then the idea is not the most simple, and we form perfection by combining the two elements which constitute it. But if we seek to separate them, in taking for the sole character of beauty, the power of exciting admiration, we see that the sentiment can be more easily inspired. A child is presented to our view, and we are charmed with its dazzling1 complexion, and the brilliancy of its eyes, while perhaps its features will not sustain examination. The finest points of view in nature present nothing regular. And in the moral world, where order is represented by duty, how many actions which are not conformed to this rule excite our approbation ! A mother precipitates herself into the waves to perish with her drowning child : such a devo- tion appears to us noble ; our feeelings compel us to say it, and yet if she was the only support of an aged parent, she has done wrong. An heroic courage, the generous exal- tation of the most tender affections, have often produced sacrifices, which, though an austere morality would con- demn, yet to which an ideaof beauty is invincibly attached. From this fruitful source, spring the arts ; and when they add their enchanting illusions to a charm already too pow- erful, they raise to enthusiasm the admiration which cer- tain acts excite in us. Self-devotion is a principle common to all dazzling actions.

This seems to lead me to form some idea of perfection. In point of regularity, reason is the supreme judge, and reason knows what she wishes. She seeks to find quali- ties of which she has precise notions, and even when she can figure to herself no object which combines these

64 PERFECTION SHOULD BE AIMED AT.

qualities, she can in each real object deny or affirm the existence of them. This is a simple act of judgment, of which the most dull imaginations are capable.

The case is not the same, with regard to the other ele- ment. We cannot define precisely beauty in the physical order ; and in the moral order, we know better what are the qualities deserving of our esteem, than the vivid emo- tion to which the name of admiration is attached. It seems, in truth, that the sacrifice of one's self is the gene- ral character, which presents the most sublime examples. But if this enters necessarily into the idea of moral beauty, it is nevertheless insufficient to constitute it entirely, since a devotion which should be only an effect of weakness or habit, would affect us but little : thus there always remains something unknown to discover. The pleasure attached to admiration, is not, then, owing entirely to the exercise of the understanding, which is only satisfied with what it can clearly explain, but is owing rather to the flight of our most elevated faculties. The idea of beauty once enkin- dled in the bosom of man, the emotions are warmed, and imagination spreads her wings. Then it is no more real qualities which the mind contemplates, but lively, anima- ted representations, clothed with colors more brilliant than those of reality. When the wonders of the arts, the mas- ter-pieces of genius, or the splendid endowments of one of our fellow-mortals excite in us lively emotions, they effect a development in our own soul, and the enchantment which we experience is perhaps less connected with the object of our admiration than with the charms of a new beauty which they have served to reveal to us. Thus, while they have at first surpassed our expectation, we soon discover defects in them, because they are far from equal- ling the ideal model formed in our mind. The nearer these terrestrial things approach perfection, the more ele- vated becomes the idea of perfection. The elements of

PERFECTION SHOULD BE AIMED AT. 65

which it is composed, appear to us made to unite in an harmonious whole, and even the conditions which reason requires seem to add to beauty.

This is equally applicable to education. In proposing to form the character of the creature called man, instruct- ors have to execute a work which they should seek to render perfect They must not then lose sight of the two conditions necessary to form perfection. Reason, severe in her exactions, can define what she has a right to de- mand. She wishes a useful member of society, of the state and of the family ; a man who attends to his own in- terest without injuring that of others, and who assists them as far as he is able; an enlightened man, who contributes to the progress of knowledge, and civilization ; and who shows himself the advocate of religion, as well as a defend- er of morality. Behold the man modelled by reason. He will never be discovered in fault : we shall always approve his conduct, but we do not go so for as to admire him, and it is doubtful whether we should love him, if he had no other title to our esteem than his well-regulated conduct.

What is there then to regret in the original of such a portrait? What can be wanting to it? It lacks moral beauty : that element which expands the soul, which betrays in man the immortal being. Indications apparently very slight, can serve to discover to us modes of existence very different. He within whom rules the active principle of moral beauty, will distinguish himself little in his actions, from the man otherwise accomplished to whom this element is wanting. The first will be wise like the other, but his wisdom will liave the air of inspiration ; he will observe rule, like the other, but without thinking always that he does observe it : indeed it would seem rather that a happy harmony unites his feelings to his duty: thus we shall always approve him, but a more lively sympathy will draw us nearer him 6*

66 PERFECTION SHOULD BE AIMED AT.

and, by a singular contrast, we shall feel him more like ourselves, more our brother, and yet most superior to us. A word, a look, will be sufficient to establish between him and ourselves a rapid electric communication;* we know him before he acts ; we know that upon the first signal, he will fly to the relief of suffering humanity ; we shall find him in the day of misfortune.

Whence then proceed these impressions so different? Is there a real cause for the almost opposite feelings which these two beings excite in my mind ? Yes, there is one ; I believe the one capable of devotion, and I strongly doubt that the other is. Without the power of devotion there is no moral beauty. Nothing noble or great can exist on earth, without the powerful feeling which raises man above himself, which devotes him to an object worthy of his love, and, rendering him superior to the timid instincts of nature, seems to raise him above the limits set to hu- manity. When this living, expansive principle of moral beauty is wanting, man possesses but a cold merit, a pre- cise regularity, the result of painful efforts to accomplish a work, \vhich affects us little. It recalls to us the cube,

* What mind above the common mass of cold and heartless beings has not felt this kindling of its best emotions, when accidental col- lision with a kindred mind has elicited a sudden flash of feeling 1 In the circles of fashion this is perhaps a rare phenomenon ; for we do not here refer to a transient admiration, or that of sentiment Avhich evaporates as soon as expressed ; but we mean that union of soul which sometimes takes place between kindred minds, in whom the finest feelings of nature, instead of being blasted by a servile de- votion to low and worldly objects, have been cherished by the con- sideration of the high hopes and destiny of man, and a life consecra- ted to noble thoughts and pursuits. When such beings meet, they will at once feel and understand the tie which exists between them ; if this be true with respect to those influenced by moral virtue only, how much more so of the disciples of Jesus ! [En.]

PERFECTION SHOULD BE AIMED AT. 67

or the well-polished ball, and our indifference to these symmetrical forms tells us that this is not the perfection for man.

Yet when regard for order and rule is carried so far as to give him who experiences it the power of sacrificing all to his duty, we may ask if we do not find in his devo- tion the principle of moral beauty, and if he does not ex- hibit the most elevated perfection ? Without doubt he will present a spectacle worthy to be admired ; he will realize stoicism, the sublime conception of ancient times, which has never been entirely foreign- to great and generous souls : but it is upon universal sentiments that education should be founded, not upon a rare enthusiasm. The virtue and perfection which such a system supposes, are the noblest of human conceptions, but they are of an ab- stract nature. The most excellent qualities should be presented to us in a real object, in order to take consist- ence and life, and if that object is not God, it will be self. Here is a constant source of deception. It is, as Fenelon has said, self virtuous, and perfect self which we wor- ship, when, we imagine we only honor virtue ; so that the worship which seems the most pure, often degene- rates insensibly, into homage to our own merit.

Selfishness and pride, are almost inevitable with the being who has not consecrated his life to an object supe- rior to himself. But, what is the object worthy to become the supreme object of man's desires ? What is it which can satisfy wishes so boundless ? There is but one such subject. Perfection is in God only, or, rather, it is God himself — God considered in his moral attributes. Mortal eyes have been allowed to contemplate his sublime image. The divine majesty has appeared in the Saviour of the world, veiled under the most lovely features of humanity. And when the splendor of celestial endowments is joined to the touching character of devotion, we not only admire,

68 PERFECTION SHOULD BE AIMED AT.

but love so perfect a model ; an infinite gratitude fills our heart with a desire of imitation.

Such is the power of Christianity. A new affection communicates to man a new zeal, which raises him above himself, and the individual can henceforth advance to- wards perfection.

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CHAPTER III.

OF PERFECTION CONSIDERED WITH RELATION TO NATURAL AND SOCIAL INEQUALITIES.

" Education should be displayed in the external appearance of the individual" — J. P. RICHTER.

AMONG human enterprizes, there are few which resem- ble that of education. The weakness of human nature presents an obstacle to the accomplishment of good, both in the instructor and in the pupil — in the workman, and in the substance wrought upon. We are there restrained upon all sides in the display of our zeal, and even in the flight of our imagination, since the point is not to create, but to direct a development, which is often slow in its pro- gress. Ideal perfection would demand that the work once accomplished, this development should be complete ; that the noble attributes of humanity should be exhibited in the pupil in all their excellence : but this is what we dare not hope.

There are limits imposed by nature upon the individ- ual, as there are those enjoined by the social order upon whole classes of men.

What do we discover in the individual in early life ? Faculties of different degrees of elevation, more or less susceptible of progress. Their extension and proportions are little known to us ; but what we perceive of them, does

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not answer to our wishes. Yet there is one method better than any other to pursue in the direction of these endow- ments. It is important- to produce a combination so happy that these elements of unequal force shall be in equilibri- um, and that the conditions imposed by religion and so- ciety may be filled. From this arises a kind of peculiar perfection for each pupil, and, when it is necessary to im- agine, in anticipation. The instructor should have in view, a certain whole which he has never seen, but of which the child itself, in its most agreeable and interesting moments, gives him by degrees the idea.

That harmonious agreement which is presented by all parts of the works of nature, man was doubtless designed to offer ; it seems yet to reign in early infancy, and an excellent education ought unquestionably to preserve it ; but this is what we are far from having attained, as expe- rience but too plainly shows.

When Ave observe the generality of men, we feel that they are not what they might have become. Do they possess eminent qualities ? we perceive with so much the more pain certain defects which form with them a shock- ing contrast, and which seem scarcely to belong to the real character. The exclamation, What a pity ! often es- capes in speaking of those whom we most admire ; and perhaps it may in certain cases be applied to every one.

On the contrary, if we observe narrowly less gifted be- ings, we find them not so far in the back ground as we at first supposed. They always possessed some talent ; a particular aptitude to fill certain situations, and where they experience a tender or generous emotion, we perceive sudden flashes, which discover to us the kind of merit or perfection, which they might have possessed. They seem to be fruits of natural endowments, which have not been brought to maturity, or rather imperfect sketches of Avhat was destined to have exhibited a more finished model,

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But it is above all in regarding- ourselves, that we are inclined to cherish these sentiments. Self-love, so often undeceived by the realities of life, considers the excellence of our natural talents. We were made to be better, we think, but circumstances have not favored us, and our own efforts have been weak or inconstant. What there is true in this respect, favors an illusion which is dear to us, and we constantly regret some lost superiority, some brilliant display of our faculties which we have not been able to make.

These thoughts were familiar to the ancients, of which the worship they rendered to their good genius is a proof. They saw in that supernatural being a kind of image of their own person, a better self released from the shackles of humanity, and designed to lead them by the hand through life. This being became the object of their warm affection : they invoked it, they offered it sacrifices, and to it their birth-day was particularly consecrated. When, upon important occasions, they came to consult it, it was as an appeal to what was most pure and most elevated in themselves.

This fiction exhibits the genius of Paganism : wherever we meet with it, we find there the characteristics of such a system — the deification of nature, considered as especial- ly connected \vith each individual. It was also a species of God which the ancients sought to form in their sage. Their religion lowered the character of divinity in order to elevate that of man.

Yet the fable of the good genii presents itself under an interesting form. In attributing a celestial type to the in- dividual, it inspires a certain respect for the human form ; it imparts a sacredness and relief to the distinctive traits of each individual. It suggests to us a sentiment which should not be a stranger to our hearts. If the same crea- tive hand, which has so magnificently diversified its

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productions in the universe, has stamped upon each human being a peculiar character, then this character offers to us something sacred. It is the seal of the divine work, and the instructor should endeavor to preserve it. To discov- er how the greatest possible perfection may be given to the decided original bent of the mind, should be the object of his exertions.

It is indeed when he reaches this point, that man exer- cises the most power, that his qualities are most imposing, and that he accomplishes great things, with the least ef- fort. It is here that a happy agreement is found between his sentiment and his conduct, his words and the expres- sion of his physiognomy and his voice. If we recal to our thoughts the most lively impressions we have received, if we revive our most agreeable and dear remembrances, they will transport us to the moment when a being whom we admire has seemed to reveal his entire existence to us by a word, a gesture, or a look, which could belong only to himself. It is not always by his excellencies, it is per- haps even, by his eccentricities, that a distinguished man captivates our heart and delights our imagination.

Thus, great talents have always been accompanied by a strongly marked impression of originality, found with those who have rendered themselves illustrious by their virtues, or by the difficult enterprizes which they have accomplished. It is often manifested in early infancy, and when this is the case, it points out to education an im- portant duty. It is the proof of a vigorous cast of charac- ter, and of a moral health. When nature is constrained or checked, it is certain that a wrong course is pursued with the subject of education.

It is, however, of importance to stop at the precise point. This fine expression of countenance is an advantage which should be preserved when it exists, and not procured by art.

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It is the effect of certain happy endowments, which, in manifesting themselves, should be seen in harmony with truly solid qualities. Their development is always earli- est, because this is the course of nature ; but the progress of other qualities should advance sufficiently near, that they may support and fall in with the general character. If this cannot be the case, and the most important qualities must remain dormant, if we cannot hope that the whole moral being will increase together, it is better to repress a peculiarity which would produce no salutary result. The efforts of education should then be entirely directed to the weak side.

This seems to be a point upon which there is little agreement. Parents are tempted to take advantage of the dominant quality ; they fear to produce in the mind of the pupil a certain level which is frequently met with in very ordinary men. But with those this level, perhaps, has been the triumph of education ; without it they might have been as destitute of judgment, as they now are of genius.

When once the great foundations are laid, and the inter- nal equilibrium solidly established, peculiar tastes may be indulged ; but in childhood good proportions are all-im- portant. Even genius bears its first fruits only in a well- regulated mind. Without effacing, therefore, the predom- inant trait of character, we should seek to make it harmo- nize with all the others.

The same fault is often committed from other motives. It is so fatiguing to be obliged to stimulate dull faculties, that a teacher sometimes allows himself to be entirely led by any thing promising in the materials which he has to op- erate upon; and, as these are materials Avhich are easily moulded into any form, a serious evil results. Thus, one pupil is all memory, another all imagination. This is the consequence of great mistakes in education. The same 7

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may be said of the employment of certain principles, as self-love, or an acute sensibility. These are good auxilia- ries for education, only when they are in a state of activity ; but it is precisely then that it is dangerous to excite them. To exercise constantly the preponderating force, and suffer others to lie dormant, is to add more and more to the mor- al disproportion.

The weakness of indispensable faculties, such for ex- ample, as reason, frequently imposes upon us the duty of checking the progress of certain other powers, and of early limiting the extent of the mental development in several respects. It is of importance that the impulse upon the soul be general, that all the faculties advance side by side, and yet each should be exercised separately, in order that their different degrees of strength may be tested. An at- tentive examination of the springs which act upon the young mind, is indispensable ; for wrhen results only are considered, we are always in danger of being misled.

I would remark here, that religion, which ought to be the centre, or as the common trunk of the various branches of education, can also furnish, at each era, the precise point where certain development should cease. When the growth of a particular faculty is too rapid for the general character, the pupil delighting in its exercise, is excessively pleased with any trifling success which it procures him, and infallibly prides himself in it. He knows no longer how to distinguish true excellence, and the only progress of importance, that of the soul, interests him no more. Then religious feeling chills in his heart, the sense of his duty becomes weaker, and the value which he sets upon his own talents, leads him to despise those of his equals. Thus, far from truly expanding, his spirit becomes contracted, and the acquisitions at the surface, serve only to conceal the poverty at the foundation. The love of God, and of our neighbor, these two grand charac-

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teristics of Christianity, are only infallible proofs of the success of education in all its different stages. They are themselves a beautiful and harmonious development of our immortal nature, and thus they have been made to form the principal trait of the divine model which the Gospel presents to the imitation of men.

But when these sentiments are exhibited by the pupil, where they grow with his growth, and appear as the very soul of his conduct, then the progress of his mind in other respects should be accelerated. Education cannot give too much force to the various faculties of the mind. The most powerful of these faculties will be, in its hands, the best instruments for the execution of the best designs. And as religion and morality alone insure the purity of intentions, so the development of the understanding alone gives the hope that good intentions will be accomplished.

This may be verified in all the conditions of life. Ed- ucation is doubtless obliged to recognize great differences of situation among men : not only does necessity force it to do so, but it is also reasonable, since there is in society a degree of perfection peculiar to each rank and condition. If there is an harmony to be established in the mind of the individual, there is one to be established between this individual and its destination on earth. A happy agree- ment of the sentiments, opinions, and tastes, with ha- bitual occupation, facilitates the observance of the duties and the enjoyment of the pleasures attached to each situ- ation. It is not then proper that the faculties be stimula- ted beyond the point where they find in real life a natura\ and regular exercise. From birth there is a scale of de- velopment suited to the various conditions of life ; but in the most humble conditions, education has always a task to perform : it should always give a certain degree of cul- tivation to the understanding. There is a primary degree of instruction which is the natural right of each being, and of which no child should be deprived.

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For a Christian, not to know how to read that divine law which he believes he cannot violate without hazard- ing his salvation; for a man liable to be brought before tribunals, to be unable to read those human laws which may condemn him to death ; for him who gives or receives promises, not to be in a situation to give them validity by writing; for one who labors for wages, not to be capable of calculating what he has power to claim, — is to be igno- rant of the conditions to which existence itself is attached, and in some cases to be deprived of the means of perform- ing these conditions. These several incapacities throw incertitude upon human conduct in the various relations ; they banish security ; they oblige an unfortunate being to grope in midnight darkness, darkness which is often peo- pled with phantoms; and, in depriving him of information necessary towards the full exercise of his reason, his jus- tice and his good feelings, they often destroy the effect of the finest endowments of nature. Indeed the state of ig- norance which is thought to be accompanied by innocence and happiness, — in the entire absence of civilization, be- comes daily more melancholy and more dangerous in our European society.

The idea of a situation so deplorable, the common lot of a multitude of men who possess nothing which they can call their own ; this idea, I say, is a constant appeal to the charity of the Christian, to the solicitude of the philos- opher. The education of the indigent class is as impor- tant to the other classes as to themselves, since education is the only certain mean of influencing morality, and of ruling by the curb of duty those upon whom it is not always easy to impose others. And let it not be sup- posed that a feeble glimpse of religion, such as is some- times given to the ignorant, is sufficient. The incoherence and confusion of ideas of those unfortunate beings whose reason has not been exercised, invades the region of

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religion also, causing the most dreadful superstition. This is but too perfect a picture of the -condition of the poor classes in certain countries. And, to answer by a single fact the objections of those who are not in favor of establishments for the instruction of the people, I would say, that in England and Scotland, the public registers have proved that the number and importance of crimes have diminished in the exact proportion of the multiplica- tion of schools.

It would seem that governments, deeply interested as they are in the maintenance of order and prosperity in so- ciety, ought to be affected with these considerations ; but in waiting for this, the efforts of charity should not be par- alyzed ; individual activity can, in its sphere, produce much good. In elevated social positions, there is a natural magistracy which enlightened men can exercise. Our age seems already to feel it ; the duty of imparting a pri- mary degree of instruction to the indigent, seems already to be legibly inscribed upon many consciences. New motives and new encouragements are presented for perse- verance in this undertaking. Before the influence of ed- ucation has yet penetrated the mass, it can, in the elevated classes, form those capable of seconding this grand motion of the public mind, the result of Christianity, and an ad- vanced civilization.*

* No where has the truth that misery and vice most frequently proceed from ignorance, been demonstrated with so much force as in the writings of Dr Chalmers, the greatest religious genius of our church, and one of the most enlightened men of his age. The seal of the Christian, joined to the science of the economist, have con- ducted him to the true theory of the art so little known, that of re- lieving indigence : he has seen that the only way to succeed in doing this is to elevate the morals. The enemy of all abrupt change, he has found, and put in practice the means of delivering his country

7*

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In the superior ranks of society, the work of education thus becomes one of imposing grandeur. These duties, always sacred for the individual, assume an importance proportioned to the influence which he can exercise. There, when no defect in the character or in the mind op- poses itself, the entire accomplishment of the divine will requires the free exercise of the most elevated faculties of the soul. It is not only enjoined upon man to do good, but to do all the good possible. How will he succeed in doing this, without making every exertion in his power — without calling into action that understanding, that power of invention, that facility in acquiring new ideas, with which he has been endowed by his Creator ? Talent should not be buried — light ought not to be put under a bushel ; — these are terms of the divine law.*

Indeed, whatever species of good we desire to effect, knowledge is necessary. It is necessary to enable us to combat in this world that ever-growing principle of evil, immorality ; and it is necessary to enable us to relieve all kinds of misery; — men in the same situation, and anima- ted by the same zeal, will contribute to the happiness of their fellow-creatures in the exact .proportion of their

from the scourge of the poor taxes, the assistance of which only pro- duces ingratitude, and redoubles the misery of those to whom it is imparted. Persuaded that public charities are rarely exempt from inconvenience, he regards the education of the indigent, as the most certain and useful work of beneficence. A translation of the peri- odical work of Dr. Chalmers, (Christian and Civil Economy of Great Towns,) would be very instructive for the continent. [Eo.]

* The passages of Scripture, which some strangely suppose con- tradict this clear injunction, have often been misunderstood ; they regard religion itself, the homage of the spirit ; they teach a great truth ; it is, that God should not be sought by means of efforts, or subtilties of the mind, and that the way to go to him is open to all his creatures. [Eo.]

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capacity. We have need of a certain expansion of mind to possess influence, and in order that our influence be ju- dicious.

That it should he thus with thoss who hold the first stations in society, with those who move the two great levers in civilization, legislation and public instruction, none will dispute. Neither do these obligations cease among those in a more private condition. The chief of a work-shop or of a counting-house, a great landed proprie- tor, or the father of a family, all have need of an enlight- ened reason to aid, console, and instruct their subordinates. All knowledge, all talent, extends the sphere of our power, gives us the means of acting upon a greater number of minds, and through these upon others also : thus the movement of one beneficent soul may be propagated and communicated 'to multitudes, along with the knowledge and instruction which have emanated from the same source.

Nothing which is innocent should be withheld from the being whom education aspires to form. He partakes all interests with which the destiny of his equals is connected. The mechanical and mental arts, industry, agricul ure, commerce, all the animated movement, the varied exercise of human activity, will seem to him but the necessary re- sult of the development of our faculties. Society, with the different destinations of man, represents to him the soul and its various attributes ; it is, as it were, the relief of it ; and in this enlarged image of himself, the Christian also re- cognizes that of God. This also he seeks to rid of the impure alloy which corrupts it, and to restore to its prim- itive beauty. The task of becoming perfect, which is impos- ed upon him, does not seem limited to himself. He exerts himself also for those by whom he is surrounded, but with wisdom ; and, availing himself of what is best in the char- acter of our age, he thinks that those classes of society, to whom Heaven has given knowledge and leisure, are made for the instructors of the others.

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Such is, independently of the peculiar direction which the genius of the individual must determine — such is the disposition which education should seek to communicate, when no circumstances oppose it. To succeed in doing this, it is necessary, as I have before said, that each pupil possess the means and the will to continue to perfect him- self. The means will consist in the commencement of a development during infancy; since the will being sup- posed, one degree of progress facilitates the highest ulte- rior progress at which we aim ; but the most essential point, is the formation of the will; this remains to be con- sidered.

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CHAPTER IV.

INFLUENCE OF THE EDUCATION UPON THE STRENGTH OF THE WILL.

" Our daily avocation, is to become stronger than ourselves." — IMITATION OF CHRIST.

IT is with timidity that I approach this subject ; hut, without hoping- confidently to remove the great difficulty of education and of life, it is of importance that we should examine that which meets us at every step. How shall we attempt to educate human beings, without examining the spring which moves them to action? And if we can obtain nothing from intelligent creatures without the par- ticipation of their will, the smallest portion of light upon the means of influencing it cannot be without importance. It will be useless, to employ ourselves with other objects relative to education, if we have not at least reflected upon that, which deserves, before all else, to be considered.

Will, mysterious force ! powerful endowment, which seems alternately granted and withdrawn from man ! Why does it often languish inactive, and then revive again in our breasts? How, to a state of apathy, does it cause suddenly to succeed one of activity ? How, after having been lately tossed by the waves of our contradictory,

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ephemeral, half-formed desires, are we as a vessel driving before the wind, and flying across the seas and through tempests to the place of destination?

The weakness and wanderings of the will seem to be attached to our nature. The effects of this evil may be restrained and moderated, but must in some degree con- tinue to exist. On one side, the power of education in this respect is limited ; on the other, it does not make all the use of it which it might. Its duties here seem to be re- duced to three principal ones.

To fortify the will, to exalt and support it, if possible, where it may reign over the desires, finding in their strength, sometimes obstacles and sometimes aids, but nev- er a power which subjugates it.

Again; as the will, independently of its strength, should have a determined character and follow a regular course ; as it cannot display itself in acts without having to do with the inclinations of the heart ; as moreover it is cer- tain that we often feel it decided by the various motives which it may govern, education ought, in the second place, to give to the pupil the sentiments, tastes, and even the habits, which will exercise the most salutary influence upon the will, and which, in the moments when it is the least capable of effort, will impress a happy direction upon the conduct.

Finally; since notwithstanding the most assiduous cares, the weakness, the apathy, shall I say the momentary de- pravation of the will, is more or less clearly manifested in real life, the third and most essential duty- of education, is to open to the pupil the way to that high source, where the soul can become renewed and acquire new vigor. I shall speak successively of these three duties.

The will, considered with regard to its strength, inde- pendently of its education, receives the appellations of firmness, energy, and constancy. It is, as it were, the

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degree of life, the quantity of moral existence which each being possesses ; it is that which gives weight to his words, to his actions, to his very silence; which renders him the object of an esteem, of a love, sometimes of a fear proportioned to the idea of a power which he possesses. What inequalities do we find in this respect among beings otherwise equal ? Why, without having yet put them to the proof, do they produce so different effects upon us ? Whence come those views of others which often exercise a great influence over our conduct, while no distinct thought has revealed to us our motives 1

Is it in the power of instructors to increase the moral energy of a child ? However this may be, it appears cer- tain that it is very easy for them to diminish it : it is per- haps in this respect that we commit the most faults ; one of the most essential objects is one most neglected. Un- fortunately, education almost entirely tends to weaken firmness of character: it is most frequently, to say the truth, only a system of means to weaken the will. Per- suasive and insinuating, it hinders its formation ; severe and inflexible, it causes it to bend or break. It aims at the contraction of good habits, and the peculiar property of habit is to cause actions without the concurrence of the will. Here education is aided by the imitative instinct which produces an effect similar to that of a habit. Too often, in order to accomplish the object, deception is re. sorted to — the most pernicious of all examples, not only as respects morality, but energy.

Is it then that mankind do not know the value of ener- gy ? No, it cannot be ; for life soon shows us its impor- tance. Whatever may have been our actions, our feeling upon this point is unanimous : — if weak, we wish the support of energy ; if strong, we despise one who does not possess.it. Perhaps we in reality, value this quality above all others. Without it, morality seems to us only a good

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intention, which is of little value ; we feel but little admi- ration of devotion, when it proceeds from weakness of character ; and if we sometimes hesitate to pay homage to brilliant talents, it is because we have too often seen them separated from firmness of character.

Yet, whatever may be the importance of this quality, the reason that instructors have not favored its develop- ment is very simple ; it is because they always find it an obstacle in education. All which they desire to give to the child, — knowledge, application, wisdom, generosity, and good manners, require the continual sacrifice of the will. To diminish the energy of this faculty, is so con- venient a course to pursue, that we often take it without thinking of doing so. Perhaps if we were aware of it, we should proceed in the same manner. While the wan- derings of the will are always to be feared, while we are far and very far from being certain with regard to the di- rection of it, how can we seriously labor to give it a strength which can only increase the danger ?

Education should, I think, value its resources sufficient- ly not to fear beforehand the development of strength of character ; and since the government of parents or in- structors, as well as the usages of society, have necessari- ly a repressive influence ; since the progress of civilization has destroyed many sources of energy, it seems very es- sential to compensate for these several effects, and to give to the children, who are the men of the future, that nerve and force, of which the germ appears to have been granted them by the Creator.

It is not, however, in ceasing to exhibit firmness them- selves, that instructors will succeed in communicating it. If they are weak and vacillating, they add a bad example to an influence equally bad, or rather to the want of that influence which it is their duty to exercise. It is proper, if we may so speak, that they should submit to the

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obligation of commanding. The dominion, to which a state of entire helplessness submits man during infancy, is as indispensable to the formation of his morality, as the pres- ervation of his life. It is the means designed by Provi- dence for the development of all his qualities, including, among them, energy ; and the employment of this means has for its end, and should have for its limit, the freedom of the will. Education will only render man free. It will commit to him the government of himself, as soon as he, released from the subjection to blind instincts, shall choose what is good for an immortal soul. The distinc- tion between the strength of the desires and that of the will, although very ancient, may with propriety be here considered. The will ought to govern the desires, and when it holds its proper elevation, we see it an absolute sovereign, independent of the motives, incitements, and va- rious solicitations which tend to subject and even enchain it. ' The ultimate reason of the. free determinations of the trill? says a modern philosopher, ' is in itself:' if it were possible to discover it elsewhere, this discovery would be that of universal fatality.

Indeed, to maintain that our will is irresistibly influ- enced by the strength of the desires which spring from the heart, is to assimilate us to dead matter ; it is to impose upon us, from birth till death, the yoke of an imperious ne- cessity ; it is to bid defiance to the unconquerable feeling which, in attesting to man his liberty, renders him respon- sible for his conduct.*

* The same may be said of the more noble opinion •which subjects our will to the constant direction of the divine hand. That every thing depends upon God, and our liberty like the rest, who can doubt 1 But to affirm that we cannot at the same time be free be- ings is to limit the power of the Creator. Without urging the dan- gerous consequences of this doctrine, I would say that its effect 8

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We have to consider here, only the free and reflecting will, since it is this alone of which education should seek to augment the power. It is of little importance that some metaphysicians consider that there is an intervention of the will in the most unthought of actions of our existence, in those which, like respiration, are performed during sleep. Another word is necessary to designate the cause of the movements of which we are conscious, that great faculty of the soul which acts with knowledge and liberty, and feels that it had power to have determined otherwise. If this power of choice, which constitutes its very existence, and without which we might regard it as annihilated, submitted to a blind impulse, it is equally annulled as if it were entirely passive.

This death, or at least this momentary paralysis of the will, is the lamentable effect of the tyranny of the passions, and the loss of the feeling of liberty is the infallible mark of their victory. There is no free will where the passions reign : there is none in that state of intoxication when man deliberates no longer, but allows himself to be borne along by the torrent of his desires, as by some external impulse.

would be contrary to the views of the pious men, who have em- braced it. In declaring the absolute impotency of the will, they wish to show us the necessity of having recourse to celestial grace ; but should we always be in a state to have recourse to that, if our will was enchained 1 The act of prayer seems voluntary as well as any other ; the accomplishment of the conditions of the divine covenant ought also to be so. All the exhortations of Jesus Christ and of the apostles suppose that we possess the power of deciding for ourselves ; those even of the men whom we refute also suppose it, so true is it that in denying our liberty, we are involved in in- consistency ! We must resolve to admit separately truths which are not irreconcilable, but which, in their application, are respectively modified in a manner unknown to us : such are free will and the influence of the Holy Spirit upon our souls. [En.]

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' O my God,' says Fenelon, ' preserve me from that fatal slavery, which human arrogance has dared to call liberty.'

Such is the slavery to which, unfortunately, the child is subjected, who, not being directed by a steady hand, is given up to his own caprices. Such is the slavery which governs man during his whole life, when education, in neglecting to employ in season its most efficacious re- sources, has thus failed in its principal aim, that of ren- dering him master of himself. It is nevertheless true, that to attain this end, it should use its power with a wise economy.

It is indeed another way to enervate the will, to leave it constantly subjected to a foreign influence. This fault is also committed ; and education, in our days, in divesting itself of its harsh and severe form's, has not avoided this second rock. A mild, "and even voluntary servitude, de- prives the soul of energy, as surely as one more rude.

We are often deceived in this respect ; the pleasure which the child seems to experience in obeying, encour- ages us : he appears free, because he is happy ; and we take his zeal for energy. But when the will is not self- determined, when it has only been made to follow, al- though freely, the impulse of others, we cannot calculate upon its stability. In this state of half subjection it can appear lively, ardent, and even faithful, without knowing the influence which is exerted; and we cannot therefore draw any certain inference from it with respect to firmness of character.

This is what we often see in education. To obtain the concurrence of the child is without doubt an important point. When once we have succeeded in that, the great- est obstacles seem levelled. The obedience has nothing servile ; all is performed with facility, with joy ; there is wind in the sails, and we advance rapidly. Yet we must not be under a mistake here. It is not in adopting the

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desires of another, that we learn to decide for ourselves ; and what is called a good will is not always the genuine. A child, animated by the desire to please his parents, may he able to conquer the first difficulties of study ; he may be a model of conduct so long as he possesses the desire of their approbation, and yet remain without consistency or stability when this motive exists no longer. It is neces- sary for him to have learned to propose an object to him- self, to choose at his own risk, the best means of attaining it. The free and deliberate determination, the faculty of foreseeing the difficulties connected with the course we have taken, is what gives its stamp to the mind, and firm- ness to the character.

If, then, the pupil is in future to be master of his conduct, it is of importance to make him follow two rules apparent- ly opposed to each other ; one of subjection, in order to accustom him to repress his capricious desires ; the other of liberty, in order to form in him an independent will. This is a difficulty which is rarely viewed in its whole extent ; hence (and perhaps above all in the most careful educations) few decided characters are developed.

Another still greater difficulty is, that we cannot depend upon the aid of the pupil in correcting his defects which arise from want of firmness. To teach him self- government it would be necessary that he should possess the spring Avhich we wish to give him ; and it is not even easy to make him understand what he wants. From the miserable apathy of a child who never has a spontaneous volition, and who consequently is not susceptible of any progress, to fainter shades of the same defect, it is of little use to address reproaches to those who have not received the active principle of moral life.

Irresolution, one of the most ordinary symptoms of the weakness of the will, escapes our influence ; we have no fixed rule to give for opposing it ; and here reasoning has

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little effect. Irresolute people reason, perhaps, but too much; they view all objects under a thousand different aspects ; they foresee a thousand different results which may follow any course whatever : what they need is that energetic direction which makes a single motive prevail over several ; that we may hope or fear only a single thing. Shall we therefore direct the pupil to determine without reflecting, without considering what will result from his decision ? Certainly not ; this is not the part of reason ; she counsels entirely contrary to this, and thus tends to augment the defect,

It is the same with fickleness, another defect in which the will is so prompt as to have the appearance of strength, but has none in reality, since it has no permanence. What can an instructor do in this case? It is not in his power to revive extinct tastes, and, on the other hand, it would be equally absurd to persist in a conduct which had for a motive only a desire or a sentiment which no longer ex- ists, and which we cannot regulate by any general rules. We see then that reason, which is perfectly in its place when the object is to bend obstinacy in opinion, is much less so when it is necessary to communicate stability. Its resource here consists in taking advantage of circum- stances, that is, to prove that on the occasion in question, the pupil will do best to persevere. But we feel that con- duct thus influenced, has no security for the future.

To favor at the same time the work of reason, and the development of the best faculties, it is necessary, then, as it appears to me, that education commence by endeavoring to strengthen the character, to prepare the solid ground in which all good principles take root and bear fruit. The fickleness of the child renders this enterprize difficult; and as we are never certain of being able to influence him while nothing is yet fixed in his soul, the means of communicating firmness seem to be wanting like firmness 8*

90 INFLUENCE OF EDUCATION UPON THE WILL.

itself. Yet we must not despair. In the absence of rational motives, there remains a less elevated, but very efficacious resource, habit. By the habit of obedience, the pupil learns to repress his passions. In accustoming him to decide for himself in allowable cases, he acquires decision, and his will, no more passive, insensibly gains vigor.

The feeling of real liberty, but limited by necessity in its exercise, is that with which Rousseau wished to inspire his Emile. So far I agree with him ; but I regard duty as the moral necessity, and this is what Rousseau does not admit. He exempts the pupil from the observance of this law, because he does not think him in a state to judge in what duty consists. There is, however, one duty which is very well understood by the child, and which ini- tiates him by degrees in the knowledge of all others; it is that of obedience towards those to whom Heaven has confided his fate. His weakness, his wants, even his in- stinct, naturally place him in dependence upon them. It belongs to them to exercise their authority with mildness and decision. The problem to be solved in their govern- ment is presented in every government. The point is, to reconcile the greatest individual liberty, with the most perfect submission to laws.

For the attainment of this end, it is necessary to avoid orders half given, obligations partly imposed : such are insinuations, tacit solicitations ; such is the pretence of leaving a child master of his conduct, while we envelop him with a thousand chains. The atmosphere of doubt dis- solves energy, and relaxes the nerve of intentions. When the limits of liberty and duty are indefinite, a degree of uncertainty is spread over our projects, and even our ac- tions ; we have always to regret the resolution which we have not taken ; we are always tempted to retrace our steps. To preserve the child, and afterwards the man,

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from such torment, it is necessary that a just authority preside at the commencement of life, in giving a well- defined course to the will. Hence public education, in which we govern by immutable laws without constantly overseeing individuals, is the most favorable to the devel- opment of energy.

How far is the most exact discipline, united to the great- est independence, reconcilable with the sweetness of the relations between the teacher and the pupil, or between the parent and child, and the habitual confidence which should exist between them ? How far, with young girls, especially, is it reconcilable with that grace, that prepos- sessing appearance, that regard for others, in a word, that refinement of manners, which we require in females ? It is difficult to answer. Perhaps with them a strict disci- pline should not be for too long a time continued, but it must not be forgotten that all others have an enfeebling effect. Reason founded upon observation can only indi- cate principles, and numberless modifications afterwards find their place in the application. I will only add here, that deep affections belong only to strong minds, and that when once the feelings of the heart and conscience are well developed, they of themselves dictate all the refine- ments of conduct.

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CHAPTER V.

IMPULSES OF THE WILL, AND THE INFLUENCE OF REASON.

' Man delights in reasoning, which is his chef-d'oeuvre, and turns away from feeling, which is not his work ; he believes that in re- moving one link in the chain of mysteries he approaches to truth.'

AFTER having contemplated the will in the state of sovereignty, which seems the most absolute, we now view it reduced to a condition less elevated : under this aspect, it will appear to us influenced, even decided, by the im- pulses of which it has consented to follow the direction. It is then the various desires of the human heart, its instigators and responsible ministers, which we should blame for its wanderings. Hence the task of education, difficult to perform, but more easy to define, consists in surrounding the heart with guides which will not tend to lead it astray.

Education can find here a secondary source of energy for the will, in the strength of the motives employed to de- termine it. When these motives are important, when they merit the approbation of conscience and of men, their in- fluence is often permanent, and the soul at length contracts habits of constancy. But if we are only concerned about

IMPULSES OF THE WILL, &C. 93

actions, if we wish only to cause or prevent these indi- vidually, we advance a thousand trifling motives, without ever impressing a general direction. The pupil conducts well, but his morality remains passive ; and we have, as it were, formed a character destitute of substance. Yet with infancy, motives only have importance. At this age, the future is every thing ; actual results have little value, and the best actions are important only as indications of impulses which are to be prolonged. A man may do good or evil, independently of his intentions : his fellow- creatures suffer or enjoy the consequences of his conduct, and they do not need to investigate the motives of it ; but a child, exercising no influence abroad, all the activity which we demand of him is relative to himself; and when we suggest to him bad, or merely equivocal motives, we do him an injury for which no advantage can compen- sate. The nature of the motive is all with him ; the de- sire of learning ensures success in intellectual education, as does that of performing duty in the education of the heart. A decided resolution does not remain without ef- fect in youth ; and the knowledge once desired, can scarce- ly fail of being obtained. x

But I already hear the reply of parents. We should prefer, they say, that our children might be moved by the pure love of virtue : hence we always commence by telling them that duty requires of them that they do or neglect to do a certain thing ; but we do not see that this considera- tion has much effect upon them. If, on the contrary, we place before them some hope or fear, founded upon inter- ests which they better comprehend, we obtain what we wish of them. We employ means which of themselves possess activity ; we always give them useful habits, in the hope that reason will hereafter add to them good mo- tives.

This language is assuredly very plausible. The plea is good in a desperate case : I maintain only that we give

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it up too soon. The impatience to arrive at positive re- sults is such, that we choose the shortest \vay of doing this, without considering whether it is at the same time the best. We do not reflect sufficiently, that to act from self- ish motives is also a habit which it is not easy to eradicate. The idea of duty coldly presented, has, I acknowledge, but little influence ; but a more profound study of the means of acting upon the will, may open some new route : be- fore pursuing a course morally bad, we should be sure that there is no other to choose. An excellent intention, and zeal to perform its duties, are not a very rare phe- nomenon with a child. The happy instinct of mothers, and certain particular circumstances, often favor such dis- positions, the germ of which exists in all souls : the means of developing them, will soon be considered in this work ; but here, where we are chiefly occupied with principles, the question presents itself in all its importance. A more exact knowledge of the true impulses of the will, seems equally necessary to education as to morality. And since, under a very general point of view, these impulses are the same with children and with men, if we would have our knowledge founded upon observation, the surest way is to study what passes in our own heart, an object of exam- ination always present and suited to our purposes.

Yet, what we experience is not easy to unfold; the springs of our actions are concealed from our own eyes. Our determinations are more quickly taken than their motives are discovered, and those which We assign to them are not always the true ones. Subjected to the ne- cessity of reasoning, as soon as our mind, reflecting upon itself, would judge of our internal state, we are probably inclined to exaggerate the power of reason over us. Too great faith in its influence upon morality, is perhaps the error of an age, proud of the light which reason has dif- fused over a thousand objects.

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It is in general agreeable to us to believe that we act upon rational principles ; to establish these principles, to apply them to our particular situation, and to prove that our life is conformed to them, is the chain which we con- stantly seek to form. This chain is not difficult ; but it is not so with the delicate thread which binds our actions to our sentiments. The influence of our secret instincts, of tastes, antipathies, dislikes, of the good or bad desires which animate us, it is difficult to seize, often embarrassing to acknowledge ; and yet these emotions of the soul are the unknown source of the greater part of our decisions.

It is easy for us to observe this with others. We see plainly that our friends are determined by that mass of im- pressions and sentiments which seem often to make up the character ; but no person believes himself to follow any other guide than reason. We seek, therefore, to find how the course which we have taken accords with our rule. Our pretended motives are invented after our acts : the genera] principles with which we intend our conduct shall agree, appear to us to have been the foundation : and we take for the cause of our decisions, what is only the apology. Other maxims present themselves as soon as we have occasion to change, and there are always eternal truths to support our passing resolutions.

What are we to understand by the word reason ? In the extended sense which philosophy has given to it, we employ it to express understanding, that great faculty of the soul by which we discover truth. Taken in a more limited sense, it is applied to the conduct of life, and con- tinues to retain its first signification. Reason, also, as it is commonly considered, decides upon the relation of effects to causes, deduces consequences from principles, and pro- nounces relatively to the individual, upon the advantages or inexpediency of actions. Elevated above the inequali- ties and weaknesses common to humanity, we may consider

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it as the wise counsellor, who, in the government of our- selves, endeavors to maintain an equilibrium between our different powers. If it finds itself supported by exalted principles, it takes a very elevated character. United to religion, it may become the lofty wisdom which compre- hends our internal interests ; confined to the moral world, it draws from the constitution of society, practical rules for our conduct. Indeed whatever principle we admit, and whatever feeling animates us, this governs, in the calculation of the consequences which we are to experi- ence from them. Incapable of creating our various incli- nations, it only teaches us to direct those which exist. It is then a regulator, and not an impulse. This alone shows the kind and limits of its power.

When reason considers man in the abstract, it supposes him endowed with the most noble qualities, and conse- quently points out to him the greatest happiness to which he can aspire. From this fact arise the admirable pre- cepts which the wisdom of all nations has collected ; but when reason addresses herself to the individual, she does not find in him all the faculties equally developed : some are languishing, others have an excessive activity ; and as she can only appeal to those which already possess a cer- tain degree of life, there remain to her few general rules to give.

Yet the influence of reason is always salutary; it takes the future into the account ; it forms a union among the weak sentiments, in order to subdue the more violent ; it says to a creditor irritated by the continued delays of his debtor, — If you cause this man to be imprisoned, you will feel pity at the distress you will occasion his family, and the world will condemn your excessive severity. These considerations may be perfectly just ; but why has reason produced an effect in presenting them ? It is because it has found compassion and the fear of blame ; otherwise it would have had no influence.

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Such is the part of reason. Its skill consists in balanc- ing the desires, the one class by another ; its resource is the action of opposing forces. Possessing of itself no power, and acting but by the aid of the very feelings which it is sometimes called to oppose, if it finds in the soul noth- ing to which favors its influence, it loses all its efficacy. When this is the case, there is no foundation in the char- acter either for morality or true happiness.

Education cannot therefore attend too soon to the estab- lishment of impulses ; it should direct the development of the various faculties which act upon that sensible part of the soul from which the desires spring, and where de- cisions are formed. There are impulses of various kinds, which it is useful to distinguish. Some more particularly named instincts, watch over the preservation of our mate- rial existence ; others, not less selfish, but more nearly allied to morality, are stationed to guard that part of our happiness which depends upon the opinion of men. Such are self-love and its various modifications. Others, more elevated, as the feelings of justice, truth, and beauty, in- troduce the soul into the calm regions where it is purified, enlightened, and enlarged. There are others more im- petuous, which seem to transport our existence out of it- self, to place it among objects foreign to us, and cause us to live in other souls ; such are the tender affections, which from sympathy, their weakest shade, to the complete devotion of love, cause us to experience for our fellow- creatures, emotions as vivid as those which have self for their object. Finally, there exists one impulse which combines all the others possess that is great, tender, or devoted, which elevates the soul, not only above its proper sphere, but the world itself, and gives it a foretaste of eter- nity. This, I need not to say, is the religious sentiment. This inequality in the moral value of the impulses of the human heart prescribes to us the course we should 9

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pursue. It is the more essential for education to cultivate the disinterested and generous feelings, as these alone re- quire culture. The selfish desires and physical instincts grow without care ; they are even indestructible. If then you do not strengthen those which balance them, you not only cease to make any progress towards good, but you deprive reason of the greatest force which she can oppose to unreasonable desires. Do we not see that the passions are ungovernable in selfish hearts ? This is what we do not, perhaps, sufficiently consider.

Thus each state of morality and of feelings corresponds with man to the idea of a certain kind of happiness; and his reason, limited by this state, can indicate to him noth- ing beyond. Extol to some beings the beauties of nature, the charms of study, of friendship, of domestic life, and your voice will resound in the desert of his heart. If the effects of eloquence are transient, it is because it has only roused dormant impulses which very soon sink to their former state; having never been called into action, they are not there connected with the permanent interests of life.

Confined to a sphere, yet reason does her best ; what more could we wish ? Ask of her to regulate interests purely material, she will counsel to prudence ; she will tell you to abuse nothing, to preserve your health, your fortune, and will make of you one of those people whom Socrates ridicules in the Phedore, in saying that they were temperate by intemperance. Seeking to make us avoid dangers, she will encourage the observance of the social laws, since we cannot neglect these without exposing ourselves ; and, without having the motive of hope to give us, she will have at least at her disposal a lib- eral supply of threats.

Where reason does not find itself based upon lofty prin- ciples, it preaches the morality of consequences; it leads

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us to view the results of our actions more than their mo- tives, and shows that vice produces evil, instead of leading us to regard it as itself an evil. It thus enters again into the system of utility, the master-piece of its most ingenious combinations, insufficient, like itself, for its own ends, and without value m improving the heart. It undoubtedly possesses a repressive principle, but a force which can only be employed to restrain is often insufficient even for that. It is necessary to have the power of opposing one emotion to another, the sallies of good feelings to those of bad desires ; for if the simple barrier of duty only is opposed to them, the violent passions too often overleap it. That reason is indispensable in life, that without it we could not take one step, that it is necessary to govern the inclinations, or to direct them, I readily admit. I say further, that, in a very extended point of view, we see that it has some power over the formation of sentiments ; but it is an influence slow and indirect In frequently re- pressing excess, it deprives in the bad inclinations of exer- cise in the same proportion, and may in time extinguish them. There is implanted within us a principle of de- velopment, a vitality, which, restrained in one direction, is borne in another ; and even the feeling of selfishness cannot for a long time remain stationary in the human heart. The character of the same generation changes little ; but what one does by calculation, another does by impulse. The religious and disinterested feelings spring up, and facilitate in their turn the work of reason. She then causes a prevalence of truths which have long re- mained dormant, and which assume a rank in society, as soon as public sentiment accords with them ; and when these truths are expressed in actions, when they influence manners, and institutions are consecrated to them, their real value appears, in the production of national intelli- gence and virtue.

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But it is the correspondent development of feelings and intelligence, which produces these happy results, and these can be but little appreciated at a distance. Ages and peo- ple must be placed in the balance, in order to perceive the weight which reason has given to them. When she has not time to act, when her action is confined within the narrow sphere of the mind of a single man, her influence must be very limited ; — in order to produce great effects upon communities, reason must have a simultaneous ac- tion upon many minds.

On all sides we discover our limits : this is what I propose to show. The emotions are impetuous, blind, subject to various excitements ,- but they are the living forces of the soul. Let us cultivate them in our children, along with the intellectual powers ; let us never leave them without nourishment in the heart, or without ex- ercise in the life, and let us not repose upon reason alone. We believe that the greater part of the evils of this age may be attributed to that systematic personality, which leaves individuals without energy, as well as the political body without vigor. When one is attached to nothing, it is well for him to be attached to himself. Self- ishness is only a more severe word to express indiffer- ence to others ; its natural effect is to neutralize all other loves.

In general, the fault of education is rather negative than positive; it is in what we neglect, rather than in what we do. During a long course of instruction where all is passive with the child, without understanding the nature of the mind, there is danger that its fair proportions will be irrecoverably altered. The memory and reasoning powers are too often exercised alone, and the feelings are neglected, excepting self-love, which is excited as a stimulant. What may we expect Avill be the result of such a course 1 Exactly what we may observe with grown

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people, a great want of disinterested motives, and an ever- increasing preponderance of those which are sensual or selfish : such cannot fail to be displayed sooner or later. A will, feeble for what is good, ardent and skilful for every other object, thus becomes a necessary consequence.

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CHAPTER VI.

INFLUENCE OF THE RELIGIOUS SENTIMENT UPON THE WILL.

"The feeling of human weakness sustained by divine assistance, constitutes the character of the true Christian." — CELLERIER.

IN exposing some of the faults of education, I am far, from attributing to a want of care the various imperfec- tions of the will. The evil is probably too deep-rooted in our nature for us entirely to remedy.

It is not in the province of morality alone that the per- version inherent to this faculty manifests itself. We every where meet with it, and even in the direction of our near- est interests. What man is there who, in the direction of his health, of his fortune, or of his family, will never ac- cuse himself of negligence; or who does not some- times think he has not acted according to the dictates of a clear-sighted prudence ? Whence does it arise that this reproach is almost always well-founded? Why, under the most favorable suppositions, when our judgment is cor- rect, when our feeling speaks aloud to us, as in the case of our children and ourselves, why are we constantly sub- ject to apathy, or to some moral evil, still more serious 1

To account for it, it is necessary to allow a secret dis- order, a concealed source of irregularity attached to the

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exercise of the will. Yet we usually believe it better to deny this truth : we exalt our power over ourselves in order to give us this power ; but the means are ineffica- cious, as experience proves. All that is necessary, we say, is to trill. Every one can accomplish what he if ills; fine maxims and just ones, in a certain degree, good per- haps to obtain a sudden determination which we cannot retract, but without habitual influence. It is out of our power always to will, as well as always to will that which is good, and we must not treat lightly a difficulty under which human nature too often sinks.

What is our condition when left to ourselves ? On one side, emotions the very life of the soul, powers without which man is nothing : but these feelings are subject to a fetal intoxication, and therefore susceptible of becoming our greatest enemies : these are our impulses. On the other side, reason, powerful when exercised without our- selves, but weak and timid when it is directed within ; because it is dependent on that very state of morality, which it is to govern : this is our regulator.

Is it then astonishing, without supposing a degree of energy, which nature and education rarely combine to de- velop,— is it, I say, astonishing, that the will is inconstant in its influence? that it is inactive and insensible in the absence of emotions ; inconstant and vehement when they oppose it : violent, obstinate, even depraved and liable to precipitate us to ruin, when subject to some bad passion ? Conscience, it is true, gives us advice conformed to the best morality, but we often stifle its voice, and refuse to listen to it : the means of rendering us attentive to it are precisely what we seek.

In thus tracing the evil to its root, in viewing the ex- tent to which it has aflected the very principle of our ac- tions, viz. the will, we seem to be left without hope. But divine goodness has not left us without a resource.

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Among the emotions, the most powerful agents of the soul, there is one more pure, more noble, more closely connected with morality than the others, — the religious sentiment. This, finding nothing on earth sufficient to satisfy it, seeks assistance from above. It interrogates, it implores all nature, and every where it hears a secret voice which seems to answer to its appeal. This instinct left to itself, would doubtless wander but too often ; but it is not in false paths that we are called to contemplate its progress. We shall consider it as it always may be developed by an enlightened education : and since man must possess impulses, since reason once formed will only be exercised over the passions, since she assumes her most lofty character only when • she finds noble inclina- tions to reign in the soul, it is important to show that the religious sentiment is the only one which can give a hap- py impulse to the moral life.

But the field here becomes so vast, that I hesitate to survey it. Religious feeling joined to Christian faith, and finding in the word of God its rule and its director, is a source of moral virtue so abundant that I cannot speak of it in detail. I shall, departing in a degree from my sub- ject, the original impotence of the will, consider religious feeling in one of its most striking peculiarities, that is the access which it procures us to a superior power.

The defect of systems where some good principle of our nature is considered as the basis of all morality, is in general to offer resources which fail when they are most needed. The endowments of the soul are indeed all that we have at command. Nothing foreign to our heart can affect us ; but a principle which should belong to our in- timate constitution, would impress upon the soul an influ- ence the more salutary as it would raise it from despon- dency when it had despaired of its own powers. We are told to depend entirely upon our own resources, when we

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are not confident that we possess any. We are pointed to reason, when we are not rational ; we are referred to virtue, when it is virtue which is feeble. As soon as a desire is felt with that ardor and intensity which gives it the name of passion, one single idea alone occupies us. It pursues and hesets us; it plunges us into a fearful dream. All the proportions of our moral nature are changed ; all our feelings betray us ; even those which should defend us range themselves upon the strongest side. Our opinions deceive us. The excitement of pas- sion leads us to see generosity, greatness, more ability to do good in a new extension of our existence, and the shade of a false virtue contributes still to make us stray. How can we know ourselves while a prey to such infatuation? Where can a safe asylum be found in a heart already se- duced from rectitude ? Is not some fulcrum such as Ar- chimedes required to move the world, necessary to raise the soul from such a state ? What then is to be done when we feel indifferent to what is good ? What is to be done when we no longer experience the good resolutions of our youth, when we have even no fear of the consequences of our moral abasement? What shall we do, if, after vain efforts, our wearied soul remains subject to a fatal passion, which nothing within us is sufficient to balance? I say, with a deep conviction for such a situation, which is, alas ! too frequent, the only resource is religion.

Let us then prostrate ourselves at the feet of the Su- preme Being ; let us plunge into that immensity of conso- lation and succor ; let us draw from the source of life ; let us do this, and virtue will revive in our heart. An eternal instinct, the very bias of our soul, the desire of our excellence, of order, of grandeur: the harmony of the universe which gives us the idea of its Creator ; all tend to dissipate a fatal intoxication, and to cause a purer day to illuminate our spirit. When we give ourselves

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up to these influences, the calmness of celestial regions seems to diffuse itself around us : a deep and solemn im- pression announces to us a new state, a state at the same time humble and sublime, in which the will submits, the intentions are purified; where we are willing to give the future to the disposal of God, and where his holy law seems to be engraven on our hearts. Prayer, the sacred refuge where our passions dare not follow us, the source whence the life of the soul is restored — prayer has over our heart a powerful influence, and he who has not felt it, has not invoked God with perseverance or faith.

4 Enslaved by our passions' says Rousseau, ' we are made free by prayer.' Never did a more just expression proceed from a mind less aware of the force of what he uttered. When we are not in a situation to. resist our in- ordinate inclinations, we can weaken them by prayer ; this is but the same truth in other terms.

The child may soon feel the habitual need of commu- ning with God, of imploring him in his troubles, of sub- mitting to him his desires, of examining before him his past conduct, and his future projects, of imploring of him strength to enable him to persevere in good and to re- nounce evil. The more he examines his intentions in the presence of the perfect Being, the more will his mo- rality be formed ; the better will he discern his least faults, and the more will the restoring power of repentance and love purify his heart. Such is the direction which education can produce ; such the energetic impulse wrhich may thwart without annihilating the alternations of the will. But how shall we prevent the recurrence of these alternations, or inequality in love to God, in obedience to his holy law ? how shall we preserve the pupil from these sad variations which seem to be the inevitable lot of hu- man beings 1 The weakness of intentions is soon ren- dered sensible in actions. The more delicate is the

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conscience, the more will it perceive, the more will it be appalled with what it must upbraid itself for. The fear of having offended the Supreme Judge, joined most fre- quently to the wretched consequences of sin, may plunge the guilty soul into discouragement, and despair, may even lead him into the most deplorable wanderings, as the' history of false religions proves but too true : it is then essential that the means of elevating the will during the whole life, be as efficacious as that of deciding it at the commencement. Here is the triumph of Christianity.

In this important respect the peculiar character of our holy religion is shown in all its splendor. It is its pecu- liar object to alleviate our miseries, to save us from sin, the greatest of all evils. Its law, (and how can we fail of recognizing in this feature, its Divinity ?) its law is at the same time rigid and compassionate ; we always dis- cover through its mysteries the union of justice and mer- cy ; and in the bloody sacrifice of the Saviour of the world, truth becomes a sublime symbol to announce to guilty man, the pardon granted through faith and repentance.

Indeed, if we view our religion in relation to its influ- ence within us, we shall see that its morality, the most scrupulous of all before the commission of offences, is the least productive of despair, after them. In reading the writings of mere moralists, we find in them the marks of a certain cold severity. Like society, whose interests they take in hand, they grant no pardon to the guilty, and trust little to their repentance. Feeling that they offer no pow- erful means of regeneration, they believe that the best man has a necessary progression to evil ; they ascribe all evils to some false direction taken in infancy, and, attribu- ting an exaggerated importance to first impressions, they are inclined with Paley to regard man as a bundle of habits.

Man is not, however, entirely made up of habits ; he possesses a principle of life, a restoring principle; but the

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Christian religion alone can communicate activity to it, because this only has in its power at all times that which puts this principle in play, Hope. This only has hope for the guilty as well as for the dying. It takes man as it finds him, innocent or criminal, young or old, honored or despised of others, and always sustains or elevates him, always possesses motives to improvement to offer him. It is because the principle of Christianity is sufficiently powerful to form habits, and to break them ofT, to avail it- self of the influence of time, and to conquer that influence, that it possesses a peculiar and inestimable advantage in the government of the whole life.

I am ready to allow that the love of virtue may exist in lofty souls without any distinct idea of religion. Like talent and genius, this noble ardor is a gift from above; there are in moral as well as in physical nature sublime works of God; but without speaking of the hopes, the consolations, even the degree of perfection of which virtu- ous men who remain strangers to piety, are always de- prived, so that they still lack the most noble of our attri- butes, I would say, that it is not our object to consider these. Innate qualities are out of the question. What education seeks, at least with respect to the present life, is to revive the germ of virtues which would not naturally be developed.

On the other hand, there is a more extensive class of beings, who, without being acted upon by strong impulses, avoid great excesses. As temptations are not always strong, negative merit is so common that there is a proba- bility of being able to obtain it ; if our tenderness, and solici- tude for our children are moderate, if we reflect but little upon their fate in eternity ; we shall limit .our ambition for them to a similar situation. A thousand different mo- tives may combine to direct persons of good sense to a course of decent morality. The world, opinion, immediate

RELIGIOUS SENTIMENT VPON THE WILL. 109

personal interest are restraints upon them. But the de- sire, the constant necessity of perfection felt in the inmost soul, the firm intention of pursuing it, whatever may be the outward discouragements, such feelings, and such an intention, cannot, it seems to me, be founded upon a mere moral emotion. The progressive improvement of the heart, in my opinion, requires a religious influence. De- pending upon more assiduous cares than simple morality requires, the progress of the heart shrinks from observa- tion. He who wishes above even' thing else to rectify his secret motives, will often abstain from some action which appears to be good, if he perceives it would lead to evil ; he must then renounce the approbation of men ; and yet if he had only to do with himself, he would be liable to remissness in duty. Should we be sure to persevere in a long and difficult enterprize, if self only was considered? And would pretexts be wanting when we came to be wea- ry of sacrifices which would have self alone for their judge and object.

God only is at the same time within and without our- selves : within, to witness our efforts, our motives, our least thoughts ; without, that we may adore, supplicate, and fear him; that all lofty moral ideas, the objects of our veneration, exist in a sensible being, who sees, encourages and pities us. God is wisdom, living, animated; a wisdom, which feels love and inspires it. Perfection and moral beauty have in him an individual existence ; they speak to our heart and communicate with us. The necessity of placing ourselves in harmony with the object of our devo- tion, which is so imperious for those who love, becomes a motive for constant improvement. We feel that the vi- cious impulses of our soul are the obstacle that separates us from God, and henceforth that obstacle diminishes. We are penetrated by a salutary influence. When to the idea of the most holy God is joined that of the reconciled 10

110 INFLUENCE OF THE

God, the God who pardons our offences ; then what is most lofty in contemplation, most tender in gratitude, con- sumes, dissolves, so to speak, the mass of evil in our heart, and the will regenerated becomes swallowed up in the eternal source of all goodness.

It is thus that religion and morality reciprocally sup- port and serve each other; being alternately the means and the end. If we may judge of the designs of God, it would seem that the moral development of man, or the perfecting of his free will, is the design of his Creator in placing him in this world, and that if he has not formed him perfect, it is because, wishing to have him in a state of progression, it was necessary that he should have perfec- tion in view. Considering man in his character of hu- manity, it appears that religion, or the union of the soul with God in time and eternity, should be the great object of his pursuit, and that the exact observance of the divine law, which is at the same time the moral law, is the course by which to attain this end. When these attempts are the effect of love to God ; then he will be constantly ad- vancing; but, far from boasting of his progress, he scarcely perceives it — so inferior does he still remain to] the model before him.

The instructor is, with regard to the child, what Provi- dence is with regard to man ; he desires his present and future good, that of his immortal soul ; and he studies, as far as he is able, the designs of God, in order to conform his views to them. In attempting to exhibit the progress of thought in the mind of the instructor, we shall give the summary of our principles.

Supported on one side by the authority of Christianity, and upon the other by that of conscience, the instructor dares to pronounce that the object of man in this life should not be merely happiness. The law of our nature, which inclines us to enjoyment, seems 'to him that of our

RELIGIOUS SENTIMENT UPON THE WILL. Ill

blind instincts, of the physical power which influences us during the slumber of the will. To give predominancy to the law of the soul, to the law which impels moral feel- ing and all the intellectual faculties towards perfection, each one in its destined degree, is the task which the en- lightened and virtuous instructor prescribes to himself in education.

In examining how the idea of perfection is formed in the soul, he finds that it consists of ttco elements ; the one is regularity, which produces in us the love of order, — the other, beauty, which gives rise to admiration. In the sphere of morality, regularity is only the observance of the law of duty ; while beauty, as the most sublime exam- ples combine to proA'e, presents especially the character of devotion ; and since God is the only object of devotion, to whom we owe the performance of all our duties, we should consecrate ourselves to God, that is to say, to real, living holiness; to that God who, bearing our own nature, is of- fered to us in the Gospel as himself the example of devo- tion, and the highest degree of perfection.

Yet the instructor should measure the extension of his plan upon the possibility of executing it. If he takes the best possible advantage of the unequal faculties of the indi- vidual, the result, although it may lack brilliancy, will al- ways present harmony and originality of structure united to beauty of foundation. But to the end that order may reign in the breast of man, all partial progress should be prevented if it causes a loss of that moral and religious development, which is truly that of the soul. On the contrary, when nothing in external circumstances or in character is opposed to it, education may take the most lofty flight, and favor the growth of all the faculties ; secure that they will take a happy direction.

Such are the views of the instructor ; but how can he succeed in the execution of any design, if he cannot rely

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upon the aid of the pupil? What course shall he take to form and direct the will, a faculty irregular in its exercise, and which seems to be subject to no law ? Without well understanding its nature, he observes at first that the will is generally deficient in strength. Often incapable of performing its noblest employment, that of reigning over the desires of the heart, it still sustains the yoke of a for- eign influence. These two kinds of weakness seem to him to require two opposite rules. That the child may be accustomed to repress his passions, it is important to subject him to a strict discipline ; in order that he may learn to form his own decisions, it is necessary to render him in many respects independent. It does not, however, seem impossible to him to put this double system in ope- ration. The empire of law and that of liberty, subsists peaceably together, when their respective limits are dis- tinctly traced.

But how shall he succeed in governing the will which he wishes to render energetic ? What, with regard to it, is the power of reason upon Avhich we ordinarily found so many hopes ?• In examining this question narrowly, the teacher perceives that reason can cause no other power to prevail in the heart than that of the inclinations which it finds already formed there. He sees it to be a regulator, and not an impulse ; and feels the consequent necessity of cultivating disinterested feelings with the child, which only are able to balance the impetuosity of selfish instincts. The inaction of the heart, during the continuance of an ed- ucation too exclusively intellectual, seems to him accord- ingly at the same time to favor selfishness, and to leave the passions without a counterpoise.

This leads him to feel the importance of religion. Does he wish to give decision to the will ? the religious senti- ment is a powerful and universal impulse, deeply rooted in our nature, and tending more than any other towards

RELIGIOUS SENTIMENT UPON THE WILL. 113

good. Does he wish to repress it ? Christian morality is more pure, more strict, and still more adapted to the wants of humanity than philosophical morality, since the whole system of our duties may be understood by the mind, while we feel no desire to practise them. But what particularly distinguishes religion, what displays its di- vine energy, is the power which it has to regenerate the heart. The pardon upon which faith dares to calculate, is the only source of hope which reanimates the soul, borne down under the weight of its transgressions ; and as a tender conscience incessantly loads itself with re- proaches, the benefit of this pardon extends to every one. A way always open, an object always in view, and yet never attained ; this is what Christianity presents. Among those who embrace other doctrines, there are doubtless moral men ; but are there any but Christians who labor seriously for their own spiritual improvement?

Whatever path the teacher pursues, he is constantly brought to the point where all paths meet. God, the first cause in the universe, the focus from whence the soul ema- nates: C4od is the object towards whom education, which includes all the relations of man, ought to be directed. Yet, in referring things connected with our earthly rela- tions to this centre, education would by no means leave them to be neglected. Its ultimate end is the life to come; but its proximate object, that which it seeks immediately to attain, is the happy conduct of the present life. The order of the universe is the object of its instruction; and it not only teaches a knowledge of the world, but admira- tion of it, in showing that all it contains, which is grand and pure, is of divine institution. It encourages innocent en- joyments, knowledge, the general elevation of the faculties ; and would repress such emotions as are dangerous, and unsuited to the nature of infancy. 10*

114 INFLUENCE OF THE RELIGIOUS SENTIMENT.

Eager to discover the indications of Providence, judi- cious teachers respect and cherish the peculiar spirit of each age ; they know how to take advantage of it and to give it the proper direction. We would not view with a gloomy mistrust the various influences to which the pupil must be exposed in order to acquire knowledge, when we consider the present world as the school where the soul is to be formed, where it is to learn to fill hereafter a su- perior destiny. In the hope that ' all things shall work together for good to them that love God,'* we would not be immoderately disquieted to see commence in youth those struggles and trials, which give firmness to the character, and test the value of principles. At this period mingled sentiments of good and evil, passing emotions oft- en excited by frivolous causes, are occasions of the devel- opment of the mind, like the vicissitudes of temperature on vegetation, which nourish the precious germs, and give motion to the sap. Then the infinite variety of things in the world, so many objects at the same time innocent and full of interest, seem designed to excite Avith- in us an equal variety of impressions, to wake those chords destined by their Creator to vibrate : should but one of these chords remain silent, the soul, like an untuned lyre, may be unable to unite its strains to the celestial harmony of eternity.

To sanctify human life, to discover and put in action the treasures which) the Divine hand has deposited in the heart of man, seems to be the part of education.

* Romans viii. 28.

BOOK SECOND,

CHAPTER I.

THE MEANS OF PERFECTING THE ART OF EDUCATION.

' When one perfect being shall have taught another, then shall we know what are the limits of the power of education.' — KANT.

EDUCATION, says a celebrated philosopher, is an art, since nature has not in respect to it given instinct that could serve to guide us. That instinct has been refused to us in relation to this subject does not admit of a doubt. While the brute creation have always the same manner of bringing up their young, man alone is destitute of any peculiar method. How many different customs do we find existing among savage people ! Some plunge their children, as soon as they are born, in cold water ; others press the head between boards : others suspend them in their cradles to the branches of trees, and thus abandon them ; and others bind them tightly in narrow bandages. The most universal sentiment of nature, that of mothers for their offspring, has been permitted to introduce and sustain a multiplicity of barbarous customs, and even love itself has sanctioned them.

116 MEANS OF PERFECTING EDUCATION.

Civilized people have reflected more, and nothing so revolting is found among them. They have not succeed- ed, however, in reducing the theory of education to any fixed principles. Towards the middle of the past century attention to this subject very rapidly increased, and the extreme importance of it began to be felt. The best minds, as well as the most eloquent writers, have become interested in it ; but the more they have reasoned, the less it would seem they have been listened to. In Ger- many, where under the name of Pedagogy, the learned have wished to make education a true science, teachers are all at war among themselves. Each one has a sys- tem differing from that of his fellow — each method has in turn been blamed and justified. Authority, emulation, punishment, and reward — severity and indulgence, rigid rules, and the absence of rule, have each had their parti- zans and detractors. What shall I say then of public and private education ; of methods of teaching ; of the distri- bution of studies ; and of their principal object ? Almost all these are yet questions of debate. The paternal feeling has certainly always existed in the human race, and there is much reasoning about it at the present day. What is then wanting for the advancement of the art of Education? It needs that experience should be much more consulted ; it needs those numerous and minute observations which alone can give to it a solid and reasonable foundation.

In works of the first distinction, where what is express- ed makes us regret still more that which is passed in si- lence— Mr. Edgeworth and his daughter have already said that education was an experimental science. Nev- ertheless, they have published the result of their observa- tions, rather than the observations themselves. Who does not know, however, that we may draw different con- clusions from the same facts ? Who does not know that when one labors for science, he should exhibit the basis

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upon which he founds his results ? And, indeed, what is the experience of one family, even though it be a family of such rare endowments ?

It seems to me astonishing that, while the science of Astronomy has been cultivated with a perseverance so admirable, mankind have never studied infancy methodi- cally. The most important of all problems, is perhaps that which has been least regarded with constant and rigorous attention. How many men are there who, with their telescopes, night and day, confirm the predictions of astronomers ! How many others who keep an exact register of the wind, of the heat, and of the rain ! How many indefatigable commentators ! And in this number there is not found one father who has thought it worth his while carefully to note the progress of his own child ! Even in the physical part, which it seems must needs fall more immediately under the inspection of the learned, how much uncertainty exists ! Some practices, evidently pernicious, have been excluded, and this is undoubtedly a first step. They know better what it is necessary to avoid — but are they sure what they ought to do? Have they ever determined precisely the influence of the first nourishment which is given to children ? Do they know if there is any reason in the prejudice which declares the mingling of different kinds of milk to be pernicious1? Do they know even the effect of these kinds of milk, taken separately ? Aulu-Gelle has said that kids nourished by sheep, have the softest hair ; and that lambs nursed by goats, have the harshest wool : but has this fact been as- certained 1

After such indifference, we ought not to be astonished, that more complicated questions have not been resolved by means of observation. It may be asked if it is expedi- ent to subject children to the empire of physical habits, or if, on the contrary, we ought to free them from it?

118 MEANS OF PERFECTING EDUCATION.

Shall we brave their prolonged cries in submitting them to a certain regimen, such as the use of a cold bath, for exam- ple ; or is their aversion an intimation'to which we should always yield 1 Is it best to choose their food, or endeavor to acustom the stomach to all kinds of nourishment? Ought we 'to proscribe all mechanical means to protect the head from blows, and to prevent other accidents of a similar nature ? What are the influences from which it is decidedly necessary to preserve children; and what, on the contrary, are those, of which we should make them endure the inconveniences in order to harden them ? In- numerable doubts on the best manner of preserving health, present themselves to the mind of mothers, which succeed in distracting more easily than in deciding them ; and for want of knowing how to transmit their experience, successive generations transmit their perplexities.

If we approach the moral domain, every thing becomes more uncertain, and still more critical ; but, with discern- ment, what inexhaustible sources of knowledge might not be found in the study of little children ! what a multitude of doubts might not be resolved, or at least enlightened by careful observation ! It might be ascertained if exercises that strengthen the body, have a favorable effect upon the mind also ; if the increase of corporeal vigor corresponds in general with that of moral energy, we might learn what are the agents which develop both, or cause a mutu- al paralysis. That dependence on our senses, to which authors have endeavored to subject the human intelligence, would be either acknowledged or controverted with more justice ; and if the origin of ideas remained obscure, the first sign of their birth would be at least discovered. Bon- net and Condillac, in a very different spirit, but by means of the same fiction, have sought to explain the mysteries of the intellect in animating a statue. How much more would they really have advanced science, if they had

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studied a new-born infant ! What curious discoveries on the existence of instinct among men, on the formation of language ; in a word, on the whole history of the human mind, would these young beings furnish !

It is \ undoubtedly necessary to beware of precipitate conclusions, and we can prove nothing from solitary ex- amples. But as every body knows, that in multiplying observations abundantly, accidental differences become ob- literated ; and that the peculiar qualities of the individual disappear before the attributes of the species, experience on a great scale would be one of the most efficient means of instruction.

It is necessary to make our observations systematically : we should have, in the immense multitude that we know, that which would furnish most valuable data. The re- sults of different educations are every where found in the spirit so strongly characterized in religious sects, in that which determines the several professions, notwithstanding the late period at which men ordinarily embrace them. It is also right to suppose that if we better knew the gen- eral customs among all nations, cf raising children from the earliest age, we should find in a great measure the diversity of national character explained, and that the ef- fects justly attributed to the differences of climate and of race, would appear of small importance compared to those of education. The misfortune is, that they tell us always of the methods, and never of the good or bad success of their experiments. They tell us very eloquently what they have done, but not whether they had reason to do it ; and among all who have arrived at the age of manhood, we forever remain ignorant, which have been systematically educated.

It is true that we judge of the education by its results : it is necessary, however, to take into the account the influ- ence of political institutions, and those of various causes,

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that act so powerfully on the young man at his entrance into life. The question in this respect becomes much more complicated, since none can entirely escape the pre- dominant spirit of his age and country. But as the first impulse may be strong enough to modify all the others, and to impress on them a salutary tendency, there always remains in the domain of religion, of morality, and of knowledge, something that may be attributed to early ed- ucation. Among all the varieties of opinions, and cus- toms, good and judicious instructors generally form en- lightened and honest pupils. If adults in any considera- ble number fail in qualities essential to the happiness of society, and of man, \ve can boldly pronounce that there has been some secret defect in the manner in which their infancy was governed ; and on this subject there remains a vast field for observation.

The uniformity of the products of civilization, actually cause us to forget two important things — that people less enlightened than we are, differ infinitely among themselves in character — the other, that the child has an almost equal aptitude to clothe itself in the character of each of these peo- ple. I do not certainly pretend to deny that there is a dif- ference among the various races, even in a moral respect. Tacitus, who agrees on this point with our modern literati, believed that these differences were accidental, and that they almost disappeared after a few generations, when the cause which produced them ceased to act. But supposing them to be more permanent, it is nevertheless certain that the same education will establish a thorough conformity in a thousand respects between children of all countries, who are trained together. With regard to habits and manners, each new-born child might become with equal facility a Chinese, a Laplander, or an Englishman — such is the great flexibility of our nature ! Past ages are as nothing to the child. If he is not a stranger to evil, he is to the

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progress of corruption in the world ; and he might be formed for the golden age, (such, at least, as men have represented it,) perhaps more easily than for the age in which we live.

It would seem, then, that among this multiplicity of possible methods of education we should have only to make our choice — that in taking from each method what is best in it, we might gather together in the person of the child, all that the flowers of the human race offer to our admiration. This hope is undoubtedly chimerical — but notwithstanding an attentive examination of the means employed to obtain every desirable result, would be more useful than it is believed to be. If for each and all, moral evil is inevitable, the quantity of it may be infinitely di- minished. When we consider that the Quakers among their numerous population seem almost to have annihila- ted even a passion so natural as anger, how does it in- crease the idea of our power over children!*

Can we ever elevate education to the rank of science? can we bring it to sure and certain results, by classing and arranging facts concerning children according to select and fixed principles ? I know not ; but the limits of un- certainty will become much circumscribed and contract- ed. I believe education will remain an art — that is to say — an assemblage of means, in which a certain skill,

* Let each mother ask herself whether she has never by word, look or action, exhibited before her child emotions which she would be sorry to see reflected from its own mind — whether she has nev- er in its presence appeared gloomy, fretful, angry, or impatient ? Alas ! we are never so completely humiliated as when we feel that with all our efforts to render our children perfect, our very example stamps upon them the imperfections of our fallen nature ! But if those who do strive to teach virtue both by precept and example, sometimes fail, what can we expect from such as never reflect at all upon their duty to their offspring 1 [Eo.] 11

122 MEANS OF PERFECTING EDUCATION.

a certain adroitness, will succeed. The art will never be thoroughly taught in books — and the influence of man with man, the talent to make themselves beloved and obeyed, and to subjugate the will, must always distinguish some from others. But even an art has fixed principles, and public education might become something more cer- tain than an art. Methods are more likely to succeed, in which individual differences lose themselves in the mass ; and the play of this great machine does not depend en- tirely, either on the pupils over whom it acts, nor on the masters that move it. But how much is yet to be done for the perfection of such an instrument by comparing experiments and proofs !

These two kinds of education call for two different studies — that of children considered separately, and that of children collected in sufficient numbers to exert a strong influence upon each other — and that by an effect similar to that of fermentation — the elements of their moral na- ture combining in each of them in a new and peculiar form.

The study of children, considered separately, should begin with birth. It is clear that mothers alone can give themselves to this with success. Their relation, and the peculiar gifts which distinguish them, alike fit them to observe infants. It is necessary that a woman should have a pliant spirit to follow these changeable beings in their perpetual variations — every thing with them is so fugitive and vague, that a sort of vertigo would soon seize upon the observer Avho should endeavor to portray all their varying features. This study does not consist in a simple examination. If one has not that flexibility of imagi- nation which can clothe itself with a foreign nature, be himself and another .at the same time, he can never be- come acquainted with these young beings. It is still more necessary to love them, in order to comprehend

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them, and they may be known much more readily through the avenues of the heart, than of the understanding. But when we do nothing else hut follow the current of their feelings, and, if I may so speak, live in them ; all the im- pressions that we have in a measure received, are too ea- sily effaced. We become, from sympathy, light as they, and the task which we had prescribed to ourselves, is soon lost in forgetfulness.

To succeed in fulfilling it, I earnestly exhort young mothers to keep an exact journal of the development of their children. When they have not more extended views, they will always find one great advantage in this em- ployment. It will give collectedness to their ideas, and fixedness to their projects. It will accustom them to ob- serve attentively, and to explain what they discover.

In a very distinguished work, the ' Annals of Education by M. Guizot,' there are fragments which exhibit a true example of the art of penetrating into the nature of chil- dren, and of assigning to their conduct its true cause. These fragments, which bear the title of the journal, offer to view the result of much valuable observation.* As to talent, it is much more than I demand ; but with respect to its nature, it is not exactly what I have in view. I would have an accurate journal, where the gradual progress is noted down, as well as all the vicissitudes of physical and moral health, and where we might find, by regular dates, the advancement of a child in all its faculties. The words

* Most of these observations have been laid down anew in ' Let- ters on Domestic Education,' which obtained the prize awarded by the Academy. This work, to which Madame Guizot has put her name, manifests in the highest degree that penetration of mind, that talent at discussion, and that noble elevation of moral sentiment, which characterize the productions of the same author, and render her premature death an event so deplorable. [En.]

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ideas, perceptions, feelings — all that is acquired or de- veloped, should be noted in this journal — we should then discover the first trace either of virtues or defects, and could thus be able to judge of their origin. In order to represent children, it would be necessary to relate their history.* The history