HINTS 
 
 ADDRESSED TO 
 
 THE PATRONS AND DIRECTORS 
 
 OF 
 
 SCHOOLS; 
 
 PRINCIPALLY INTENDED TO SHEW, 
 
 THAT THE BENEFITS DERIVED FROM THE NEW 
 
 MODES OF TEACHING MAY BE INCREASED 
 
 BY A PARTIAL ADOPTION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 PLAN OF PEST\r,O7?I; 
 
 TO WHICH ARS ,I'JOiNR] 
 
 EXAMPLES 
 
 OF 
 
 QUESTIONS 
 
 CALCULATED TO EXCITE, AND EXERCISE 
 THE INFANT MIND. 
 
 BY 
 
 MRS ELIZABETH HAMILTON, 
 
 AUTHOR OF LETTERS ON THE ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF 
 EDUCATION, &.C. &CC. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, AND 
 BROWN, PATERNOSTER-ROW. 
 
 1815. 
 
Walker and Greig, Printers, 
 Edinburgh. 
 
TO THE 
 
 EDINBURGH EDUCATION SOCIETY, 
 
 AS 
 
 LIBERAL AND ENLIGHTENED BENEFACTORS 
 OF THEIR COUNTRY, 
 
 THE FOLLOWING PAGES 
 
 ARE, 
 
 IN TESTIMONY OF A SINCERE INTEREST IN 
 THE SUCCESS OF THEIR PATRIOTIC 
 
 EXERTIONS, 
 
 MOST HUMBLY AND RESPECTFULLY 
 INSCRIBED. 
 
 974460 
 
REMARKS 
 
 ON 
 
 SCHOOLS 
 
 THE question concerning .the \vicciom 
 and eligibility of teaching the children 
 of the poor to read and write, seems by 
 general consent determined in the affir- 
 mative. A generous solicitude to extend 
 the benefits of education to all ranks in 
 the community, has become so univer- 
 sally prevalent, that considering the fa- 
 cilities afforded by the late improve- 
 ments, it appears highly probable that, 
 before the middle of the present cen- 
 tury, the gates of knowledge will have 
 
been opened to every individual in the 
 United Kingdoms of Great-Britain and 
 Ireland. 
 
 The spirit that now worketh is the 
 spirit of charity, of whose divine origin 
 no Christian entertains a doubt. In the 
 attention that has of late been paid to 
 the mental as well as to the physical 
 wants of the poor, its operations have 
 been conspicuous ; and as the pleasure 
 *of daingjgoQci is not like other pleasures 
 ; attended by. satiety, there is little rea- 
 soVto 'apprehend that benevolence will 
 speedily relax in its efforts. 
 
 Of the happy consequences that will 
 result to society from these labours of 
 love, the most sanguine expectations 
 may reasonably be indulged ; but it is 
 necessary to keep in our remembrance, 
 that the fruits will not be in proportion 
 to the fervour of our zeal, but in propor- 
 tion to the wisdom with which that zeal 
 is directed. 
 
In the country in which I now write, 
 the benefits of education have so long 
 been enjoyed by the labouring classes, 
 as to be considered in the light of a 
 birth-right. Of the moral effects pro- 
 duced by this general dissemination of 
 the means of instruction, it is needless to 
 speak, as they have been exhibited in 
 the conduct of our countrymen in every 
 quarter of the globe ; bearing ample tes- 
 timony to the wisdom, that, by provid- 
 ing for the education of all, enabled the 
 mass of the people to participate in the 
 bjessings of intellect, and in the light of 
 truth. What a glorious monument has 
 thus been raised to the wisdom of our 
 ancestors ! To their descendants it only 
 now remains to watch with vigilance, 
 lest the light which they took so much 
 pains to diffuse, should, in consequence 
 of circumstances that may obstruct its 
 course, appear to be shorn of its beams. 
 
4 
 
 If we admit, that the system of edu- 
 cation adopted in the parochial schools 
 at the period of their establishment, was 
 suited to the then state of society, we 
 must also allow, that in so far as it was 
 calculated for the state of society at that 
 particular period, it can only be adopted 
 with propriety under similar circumstan- 
 ces. Owing to the little attention that 
 is usually paid to the minds of children, 
 it is very commonly, but very errone- 
 ously supposed, that the impressions 
 made during the first seven or eight 
 years of life, are too slight to be worthy 
 of notice ; and that, consequently, chil- 
 dren of that age are, in every stage of 
 society, and in every situation of life, so 
 nearly the same, as to derive in all cases 
 equal benefit from the same mode of in- 
 struction. By those who take the trou- 
 ble to examine more closely into the 
 subject it will be clearly seen, that, long 
 before the age above-mentioned, nume- 
 
rous associations of good and evil have 
 been strongly rivetted in the infant 
 mind, deriving their form and colouring 
 from the prevailing habits of those 
 among whom they have lived. Thus, in 
 a country where the poor have the gos- 
 pel preached to them in language level 
 to their comprehension, we may observe 
 that impressions of reverence for religion, 
 and for religious instruction, take place 
 in the children of a virtuous peasantry at 
 a very early age. With these impressions 
 upon their minds, they are sent to school ; 
 and while they consider it as the most 
 glorious privilege to be able to read the 
 word of God, though the worst possible 
 method of teaching should be employed, 
 they will not fail to reap the benefit of 
 instruction. Their intellectual faculties 
 may not seem to have been much im- 
 proved, if tried on other subjects ; but 
 their notions of piety and integrity will 
 be found sufficiently clear and accurate 
 
6 
 
 to serve as a lamp to guide their feet in 
 the paths of peace, remote from the in- 
 fluence of a corrupting world. 
 
 But though it will readily be acknow- 
 ledged, that there yet remains among 
 the lower orders of society in this king- 
 dom, even in her most populous cities, 
 more of the spirit of religion, and a 
 stricter observance of its moral precepts, 
 than is to be found among the same des- 
 cription of persons, in perhaps any part of 
 the world, we have, alas ! had fatal proofs, 
 with what destructive rapidity the con- 
 tagion of vice has spread. On a strict 
 inquiry it will probably be found, that 
 the increase of vice in the inferior classes, 
 has borne a very near proportion to the 
 degree in which the increase of popula- 
 tion in the larger towns has exceeded 
 the provision made for public instruc- 
 tion. So wisely have the institutions of 
 religion been framed, that a neglect of 
 its ordinances proves not only subversive 
 
of the spirit of piety, but of the feelings 
 of moral rectitude : But in what great 
 town has any suitable provision been 
 made for the religious instruction of the 
 multitude? When the word of God is 
 not to be heard without the purchase of 
 a passport, it is only by those who, from 
 early impressions, have a notion of its 
 value, that the price will be paid. But 
 even when, from a sense of duty, the 
 parents willingly part with the sum 
 necessary to procure for themselves a 
 seat in some of the churches ; the 
 poor cannot afford to extend the be- 
 nefit to their children, to whom the 
 Sabbath is consequently a day of idle- 
 ness, frequently spent in the society of 
 those who are less advanced in years 
 than in profligacy. The habits of this 
 second generation must be progressively 
 deteriorated. Unaccustomed to have 
 their passions controlled by the restraints 
 
8 
 
 of religion, it cannot be supposed that 
 they will set before their children an ex- 
 ample of good conduct. In such circum- 
 stances, every impression made upon the 
 infant mind will tend to connect the idea 
 of the chief good with the indulgence 
 of pride, or covetousness, or sensuality. 
 Under the influence of such impres- 
 sions, children may be impelled to learn 
 to read and write, as instrumental to the 
 acquirement of that worldly gain, which 
 they have been early taught to view as 
 the one thing needful, and which they 
 know to be essential towards procuring 
 the only gratifications for which they 
 entertain a relish. But unless these im- 
 pressions be removed, or effectually coun- 
 teracted, all the instruction that can be 
 conveyed by lessons, though aided by 
 the restraints which school discipline im- 
 poses on the behaviour, will profit them 
 nothing. 
 
I have said nothing of the injury to 
 which the minds and dispositions of chil- 
 dren, in everysituation, are liable to he 
 exposed, through foolish fondness or ca- 
 pricious severity. But if, even in a so- 
 ciety in which simplicity, industry, and 
 piety, are the distinguishing character- 
 istics, the faculties of children may he 
 rendered obtuse through neglect, and 
 their tempers and dispositions spoiled by 
 indulgence; where the manners of the 
 lower orders are depraved, and their mo- 
 rals vitiated, we may expect to find, 
 that, in addition to the corruptions in- 
 herited from nature, and in addition to 
 the mental disorders contracted through 
 injudicious management, children will- 
 bring with them to school the embryo 
 of a thousand follies and vices, which, if 
 not nipped in the bud, will produce a 
 fruitful harvest of sin and misery. 
 
10 
 
 They surely must have paid little at- 
 tention to those circumstances who sup- 
 pose, that by teaching children to read 
 and write we apply a specific remedy, 
 of power at once to rectify the depraved 
 will, and to enlighten the darkened in- 
 tellect. But we shall be told, that at 
 school they likewise have the benefit of 
 religious instruction ; that, at every ele- 
 mentary school, the Bible, or passages 
 selected from the Bible, are read, and 
 catechisms, or other summaries of faith, 
 committed to memory; and that, more- 
 over, a due regard to morality is incul- 
 cated and produced by appropriate re- 
 wards and punishments ; and that chil- 
 dren, in whatever state their minds may 
 be, will inevitably under such discipline 
 be formed to virtue. 
 
 To obscure by clouds of doubt those 
 sanguine expectations, is by no means a 
 pleasing task. But if, in dispelling hopes 
 that are illusory, we lay a foundation for 
 
11 
 
 hopes of a more solid nature, the pain it 
 costs will be amply recompensed ; and it 
 therefore appears to me, that, on a subject 
 of such importance, none ought to be 
 withheld, by the fear of giving offence 
 or uneasiness, from expressing with sin- 
 cerity their convictions. 
 
 Great as are the improvements that 
 have recently been made in the methods 
 of instruction, it will perhaps be found 
 to demand greater attention than has 
 hitherto been thought necessary, in or- 
 der to render those improvements essen- 
 tially beneficial to the community. If 
 it be the great end of early education, 
 to develope the moral and intellectual 
 faculties, it is obvious that the means 
 ought to be adapted to the end propos- 
 ed, and that the instruments to which 
 we have recourse can only be deemed 
 valuable, in proportion as they are cal- 
 culated to operate on the faculties which 
 it is, our purpose to improve, Ifris not 
 
enough to know, that the means of 
 which we have made choice are intrin- 
 sically excellent, as, however good in 
 the abstract, they can to us be of no 
 further use, than as they apply to the 
 mental and moral faculties of our pupils. 
 If we admit that these are not in every 
 situation of life, and in every stage of 
 civilization, in an exactly similar state 
 of advancement, we must perceive the 
 futility of expecting, that under every 
 variety of circumstance the same routine 
 of instruction will be productive of the 
 same results. And, first, with regard to 
 intellect. 
 
 How much the development of the 
 first faculties of the mind is under cer- 
 tain circumstances retarded, I have else- 
 where endeavoured to show.* When 
 circumstances have been particularly un- 
 
 * See Popular Essays, Essay I, p. 2. 
 
IS 
 
 favourable, even the use of the external 
 senses will be in a great degree circum- 
 scribed. Neither the eye nor the ear 
 will be found accurately discriminative, 
 nor will the understanding be capable of 
 discernment, as in children of the same 
 age it is frequently observed to- be. 
 Wherever this obtuseness is prevalent 
 and habitual, it is not merely by forcing 
 the dormant faculties to the degree of 
 exertion necessary towards acquiring the 
 arts of reading and writing* that the 
 mental defect will be removed. If other 
 means are not resorted to for remedy- 
 ing the evil, the arts acquired will never 
 be applied to any useful purpose. The 
 children may indeed be, through perse- 
 verance, taught to read and write, but 
 they will remain destitute of capacity 
 and intelligence. A tribute is justly due 
 to the merits of Dr Bell and Mr Lancas- 
 ter, for having introduced methods of in- 
 struction so admirably calculated for im- 
 
14 
 
 proving the primary faculties by perpe- 
 tual exercise, that, if applied with pro- 
 per attention by the teacher, they can 
 hardly in any instance fail of success. 
 But so little is the nature of the advan- 
 tages understood ; so frequently is the 
 utility of either of the plans appreciated 
 merely by the facilities it offers of in- 
 creasing the number of pupils without 
 an increase of expense, that in many 
 schools in which the methods of Bell or 
 Lancaster have been ostensibly adopted, 
 those minute particulars, which are of 
 the utmost importance as being instru- 
 mental in the development of the facul- 
 ties, have already sunk into disuse. In- 
 stead of dismissing as useless the forms 
 and practices which tend to rouse the 
 perceptions of the dull, and to produce 
 accuracy of discernment in the giddy, 
 they might with great propriety be in 
 many instances extended; and in every in- 
 
15 
 
 stance ought to be modified so as to meet 
 the prevailing- wants. 
 
 Every large school presenting an epi- 
 tome of that class of society to which the 
 pupils belong, whatever be the virtues or 
 vices, the peculiar modes of thinking and 
 acting, by which that description of per- 
 sons is characterized, the same will be seen 
 in embryo in ,the assemblage of infants. 
 
 When there exists a general love of 
 order and respect for the authority of the 
 laws, and quick perception of the value 
 of neatness and regularity, as conducive 
 to domestic comfort, children will come 
 to school prepared to obey with alacrity, 
 and to receive instruction with thank- 
 fulness. When the opposite to this des- 
 cription is generally prevalent, we may 
 be prepared to find, even in the infant 
 state, the pride that revolts from autho- 
 rity and abhors subordination ; an obsti- 
 nate self-will creating a sullen opposition 
 to all rules and regulations, and a perfect 
 
16 
 
 indifference to the voice of praise or cen- 
 sure. Again, 
 
 When, with a general decency of de- 
 portment, and much shrewdness and sa- 
 gacity, there at the same time prevails a 
 certain slovenliness and want of atten- 
 tion to minutia, the perceptions of chil- 
 dren, with regard to external objects, 
 will be found dull and languid ; but in 
 regard to what is addressed to the judg- 
 ment or imagination, not by any means 
 equally deficient. Very opposite in this 
 respect to the children of banditti, who 
 live by committing depredations, and de- 
 pend on adroitness and address for escap- 
 ing detection. To such objects Christian 
 philanthropy has extended its generous 
 cares ; and in the institutions which 
 have been founded for the purpose of re- 
 claiming and instructing those infant 
 outcasts, abundant proof might be found 
 of the effect produced by the original 
 habits, in quickening the powers of ob- 
 
17 
 
 servation, while the judgment and the 
 moral sense remained dormant or obtuse. 
 But, without resorting to extreme cases 
 for an illustration of our argument, we 
 may, in the difference of national cha- 
 racter, find ample reason to doubt, whe- 
 ther the same means of instruction, 
 and the same mode of discipline, can 
 apply with equal effect to all. Why 
 pride should in some communities be the 
 predominating principle, and vanity in 
 others, it is no part of our business 
 to inquire ; but it is our business to 
 notice, that where the former prevails, 
 there will be more steadiness than alac- 
 rity, a greater dread of incurring punish- 
 ment or disgrace, than a solicitude to 
 obtain favour and approbation ; and that 
 where the latter predominates, there will 
 be an avidity to learn, attended by a vo- 
 latility destructive of application, an in- 
 difference to threats, but an ardent thirst 
 for praise, acting occasionally as a stimu- 
 
18 
 
 lus to exertion. If, without any regard 
 to these characteristic differences, we 
 construct every elementary school upon 
 a given model, and confine ourselves 
 exclusively to the use of such means of 
 instruction as have in some instances 
 proved efficacious, the utility of such 
 foundations will be limited within narrow 
 compass. 
 
 What has been said of the benefits 
 that have resulted to Scotland, from the 
 establishment of parochial schools, may, 
 at first view, appear to clash with this 
 observation ; but, on closer inspection, 
 the seeming inconsistency will be done 
 away.- The method of instruction adop- 
 ted at the parochial schools was suited 
 to the state and condition of society at 
 that particular period, and therefore the 
 most eligible that could then have been 
 chosen ; and if we consider the nature 
 of the impulse given to the mind in this 
 country, by the zeal of our first refor- 
 
19 
 
 mers, in whom, to their everlasting ho- 
 nour, the idea of instituting a system of 
 national education originated,* we shall 
 easily account for the success with which 
 it was attended. The knowledge of let- 
 ters, at first highly prized, as leading to 
 the enjoyment of that right of reading 
 the Scriptures which the reformation had 
 established, came by degrees to be va- 
 lued on account of secular advantages. 
 To those advantages the attention of 
 boys was henceforth, from infancy, di- 
 rected. Taught to consider school ac- 
 quirements as the means of advancing 
 their condition in life, and of promoting 
 their worldly prosperity, they derived 
 from hardships and poverty incentives to 
 assiduity. The consequences are well 
 known ; nor will it be disputed, that 
 they have been highly favourable to in- 
 dustry and morals. 
 
 * See M'CREE'S Life of Knox. 
 
20 
 
 In the case alluded to it ought how- 
 ever to be observed, that as the benefit 
 derived from the parochial seminaries is 
 in great measure to be ascribed to the 
 force of those associations which had 
 taken place in the minds of the scholars, 
 we have hence no right to infer any 
 thing in favour of the method of instruc- 
 tion. Tbe parochial schools were not 
 open exclusively to one sex. As far as 
 learning to read and write by the same 
 masters, girls have in Scotland enjoyed 
 the benefits of instruction on a footing 
 of equality with boys. But while in the 
 labouring classes we have innumerable 
 instances of men advancing, in conse- 
 quence of their better education, to a 
 manifest superiority over the unlettered 
 peasantry of a richer and more fertile 
 region ; in their school associates of the 
 female sex, no such consequences are 
 discernible. Destitute of the same pro- 
 pitious impulse, they have neither made 
 
21 
 
 the same acquirements, nor have they 
 in many instances been found able to 
 turn to any account the little they have 
 learned. So seldom, indeed, does this 
 happen, that to meet with a woman ca- 
 pable of communicating to her children a 
 knowledge of those elementary branches 
 of learning, in which she was herself in- 
 structed at school, is a matter of rare 
 occurrence. May we not consider these 
 facts as affording ample proof, that the 
 advantages derived from school educa- 
 tion depend on the mental habits and 
 dispositions that have been previously in- 
 troduced; and that, consequently, where 
 these happen to be unfavourable, if means 
 are not employed to bring the mind into 
 a state susceptible of instruction, no per- 
 manent or substantial benefil will be con- 
 ferred. The same observations will be 
 found to apply to the subject of religious 
 instruction, and to the mode in which it 
 has, by long established custom, been 
 
conveyed. That mode is still averred 
 to be infallible and all sufficient, by those 
 who only take into consideration the re- 
 ligious knowledge evinced, and the re- 
 ligious character displayed by the Scot- 
 tish peasantry, when no other method 
 of instruction was known or practised. 
 What better proof, say they, could we 
 desire of the propriety of putting the 
 Bible into the hands of children, as soori 
 as they have learned their letters, and 
 teaching them to spell and put together 
 word by word, verse after verse, and 
 chapter after chapter of the sacred vo- 
 lume ? What better proof of the benefit 
 derived from committing to memory 
 truths too deep for comprehension, -and 
 propositions too abstruse to be clearly 
 understood by many who have attained 
 maturity ; than that to this mode of in- 
 struction the poor of Scotland have been 
 indebted for the piety and morality by 
 which they have been eminently distin- 
 
guished? But under what circumstan- 
 ces did this mode of instruction prove 
 effectual? Was it on those who had from 
 their cradles learned to connect the idea 
 of religious knowledge with notions of 
 honour, and happiness, and respectabili- 
 ty, that its influence proved salutary? If 
 so, the only inference that can reasonably 
 be made is, that where the mind has 
 from infancy been imbued with venera- 
 tion for religion, the impression will very 
 easily be rendered permanent. 
 
 In a state of society such as has been 
 described, even the routine of school in- 
 struction, little as it is calculated to en- 
 lighten the understanding, or to excite 
 the feelings of piety in the heart, will 
 serve to strengthen the associations that 
 have already taken place in the children 
 of pious parents. Taught to consider 
 the Bible as the word of God, and to 
 connect the idea of God with their ear- 
 liest notions of a Judge and Lawgiver, 
 
24 
 
 they, even without understanding what 
 they read, are easily impressed with awe 
 and respect for the divine command- 
 ments ; and, irksome as they find the 
 task, of committing to memory incom- 
 prehensible explanations of what is to 
 them incomprehensible doctrines, they, 
 in performing the taskj consider them- 
 selves to be performing a religious duty. 
 In the bosom of a religious family, these 
 mental habits are strengthened by the 
 principle of imitation. The zeal thus 
 engendered is indeed too often a zeal 
 without knowledge; but still the fear 
 of God is rooted in the heart; and while 
 these wholesome impressions are not pe- 
 culiar to a few individuals of that class 
 in which the lot of life is cast, but are 
 common to all who have any claim to 
 respectability, they will, instead of being- 
 weakened as life advances, be increased 
 by sympathy with the feelings and sen- 
 timents of others. Nor is this an imagi- 
 
nary picture. It is drawn from actual 
 observation, made at a time when, among 
 those destined to rural labour, piety and 
 virtue were the constant inhabitants of 
 the poor man's cottage. 
 
 But if we would truly ascertain whe- 
 ther it is by putting the Bible into the 
 hands of children as a spelling-book, and 
 the catechism as an exercise of memory, 
 that impressions are inevitably to be 
 made on the mind and heart of impor- 
 tance to the future conduct, we had bet- 
 ter have recourse to observation. If, 
 even amid the corruptions of society, 
 this mode of instruction is still supposed 
 completely efficacious, whence comes it, 
 that in honesty, sobriety, truthfulness, 
 diligent discharge of duty, gentleness, 
 and humility, virtues acknowledged to 
 belong to the Christian character, there 
 should now be so very little difference be- 
 tween those who have thus been instruct- 
 ed in religion, and those who have remain- 
 
26 
 
 cd destitute of all religious instruction, 
 that as servants, and in all places of trust 
 and confidence, the balance is frequent- 
 ly in favour of those whose habits of 
 moral rectitude and propriety of beha- 
 viour have been established in no higher 
 motives than a regard to character, as 
 essential to worldly interests r Are we 
 then to consider religious instruction of 
 no avail ? God forbid ! The facts to 
 which I have alluded ought, on the con- 
 trary, to lead to a serious investigation 
 of the circumstances by which it may 
 be rendered more effectual, and produce 
 more extensive and more lasting influ- 
 ence on the moral character. 
 
 If, without regarding the change that 
 has taken place in the habits of the peo- 
 ple, a change which has perceptibly com- 
 municated its impulse even to the infant 
 mind, we content ourselves with adopt- 
 ing that mode of instruction which was 
 in former times attended with success, we 
 
. 27 
 
 have no right to expect a satisfactory 
 result from our labours. Let us then, 
 seeing that we can no longer depend on 
 the co-operation arising from the exam- 
 ple of parents, and of society, make it 
 our first endeavour to compensate, as far 
 as possible, to the children of the poor 
 for their increased disadvantages. Let 
 us endeavour to supply to them the want 
 of those early associations, by which the 
 understanding is opened to perceive the 
 path of duty, and the heart inclined to 
 walk in the ways of truth and righteous- 
 ness. 
 
 It is much to be regretted, that of the 
 wise few have qualified themselves, by 
 observation, to form an estimate of the 
 deficiencies under which the children of 
 the ignorant are doomed to labour. Men 
 who rarely attend to the minds of chil- 
 dren, are apt to forget by what a slow 
 and gradual process the faculties of the 
 understanding are opened, and therefore, 
 
28 
 
 in their schemes for education, take not 
 into consideration the circumstances 
 which may have impeded the process, 
 and prevented even the first power of 
 intellect from coining into action. 
 
 Had it not heen for this unfortunate 
 oversight, men of true piety would never 
 have authorized the practice of commenc- 
 ing religious instruction by abstract pro- 
 positions addressed to the reasoning fa- 
 culty, while that faculty was yet dor- 
 mant and without perceptible existence. 
 And as it is not only with the under- 
 standing, but with the heart, that man 
 believeth unto righteousness, they would 
 clearly have perceived, that unless both 
 the heart and understanding be prepar- 
 ed for receiving the instruction to be 
 given, it will be given in vain, 
 
 To render elementary education tho- 
 roughly and extensively beneficial, it 
 must be made to influence the affec- 
 tions ; to reclaim them when they have 
 
529 
 
 been directed to improper objects ; and 
 to elevate them to embrace tbe pure 
 spirit of the gospel. From the prevail- 
 ing habits of society this becomes every 
 day more necessary. The improvement 
 of the dispositions in infancy is, by the 
 vulgar of all ranks, utterly disregard- 
 ed ; but, in the inferior walks of life, the 
 heart and temper do not only suffer from 
 neglect ; they are generally, from the 
 mode of treatment pursued, essentially, 
 nay, sometimes irremediably, injured. 
 Whether senseless indulgence or brutal 
 severity be most injurious, I shall not 
 now inquire, as every person who has 
 thought upon the subject will readily 
 admit, that both are adverse to the de- 
 velopment of the affections of the heart; 
 and that when the moral principles of our 
 nature are permitted to remain dormant, 
 while its worst passions are brought per- 
 petually into exercise, much must be 
 undone before any effectual improve- 
 
30 
 
 ment can be produced. That it is not 
 by the restraints of school discipline, that 
 the tempers and dispositions which have 
 been wrought into habit by previous in- 
 dulgence will be completely changed, is 
 sufficiently obvious. So seldom has this 
 important point met with the attention 
 it deserves, that at no school is it thought 
 necessary to bestow any pains, in remov- 
 ing those obstacles which the indulgence 
 of the vindictive passions opposes to 
 whatever has a decided tendency to cul- 
 tivate and improve the affections of the 
 heart. Rarely has any provision been 
 directly made for this species of improve- 
 ment. It is therefore, as was above ob- 
 served, only incidentally that the tem- 
 per and dispositions are benefited in the 
 course of school education : Nay, so far 
 are they from being benefited, that, if 
 we consider the precepts of our religion 
 as authoritative, we must pronounce 
 them the very reverse ; the passions of 
 
31 
 
 pride and vanity, to which these precepts 
 are most adverse, being in many instances 
 rather stimulated than subdued by the 
 mode of discipline introduced. 
 
 But little as may hitherto have been 
 done to promote the improvement of the 
 heart, and the regulation of its desires 
 and affections, a great step has been 
 made towards effecting a more general 
 development of the intellectual powers, 
 by the methods of teaching introduced 
 by Dr Bell and Mr Lancaster. 
 
 Their systems have this property in 
 common, that, by awakening attention, 
 they compel the infant mind to the un- 
 ceasing exercise of faculties, which, in 
 the former method, were only occa- 
 sionally exerted, and were, therefore, 
 never thoroughly developed. Whether 
 the system of Bell or Lancaster be adopt- 
 ed, either will be found, when put fully 
 and properly into execution, to promote 
 such habits of quick and accurate obser- 
 
32 
 
 vation, as must prove essentially benefi- 
 cial to the pupils in after life. But it 
 is with systems of education as with 
 Systems of government, much of their 
 utility will still depend on their due ad- 
 ministration. Here, as in matters of 
 higher concern, it will soon be discover- 
 ed, that if the spirit be wanting, " mere 
 bodily exercise profiteth nothing." 
 
 Let any intelligent person, who, from 
 being deeply interested in the subject of 
 education, takes the trouble, during a 
 pleasurable excursion of any extent, to 
 visit all the schools that fall in his way, 
 declare the fruits of his observations. 
 He will, in every part of the three king- 
 doms, meet with schools conducted on one 
 or other of the above mentioned plans ; 
 and by the time he has visited six or 
 eight of those seminaries, will be compe- 
 tent to form a judgment on their compa- 
 rative merits. If he views them with un- 
 prejudiced eyes he will perceive, that in 
 
33 
 
 some instances, where the method of Dr 
 Bell has been adhered to, the pupils evince 
 such intelligence as to prove that their 
 minds have made rapid progress in im- 
 provement, and that in other instances, 
 where the same plan is to all appearance 
 strictly followed, the listless eye and va- 
 cant countenance give certain indication 
 of intellectual torpidity. On visiting a 
 number of schools conducted on the Lan- 
 castrian plan, the same observations will 
 occur; the non-effect, not ascribable in 
 either instance to any defect in the sys- 
 tem, but to a defective administration of 
 it ; or what is no less fatal, to its not 
 having been adapted to the state and 
 circumstances of 'the pupils. If, from 
 the slothful habits, or the ignorance or 
 negligence of the parents, the mental de- 
 ficiencies in the children are greater than 
 has been provided for in the method of 
 instruction used, the remedy will fall 
 short of the disorder. But if the deve- 
 B 3 
 
34 
 
 iopmenl and improvement of the mental 
 faculties have never entered into the 
 teacher's views, it cannot be supposed 
 that he will of himself set about contriv- 
 ing means more effectual: Hence arises 
 the necessity of committing those semi- 
 naries to the superintendence of judicious 
 and reflecting minds. It is on the man- 
 ner in which this important office, of 
 directing the efforts of the teacher, is 
 discharged, more than on the choice of 
 system, that the benefit to the pupils 
 \vill be found ultimately to depend. 
 
 The comparative excellence of the me- 
 thods of Bell and Lancaster has been 
 long and eagerly contested ; nor has the 
 contest here, as in other cases, been pro- 
 ductive of e\ 7 il. It has, on the contrary, 
 by exciting the attention of the public, 
 and directing it to an examination of the 
 arguments offered by each party in sup- 
 port of its favourite system, been emi- 
 nently useful. And as there are persons 
 
35 
 
 in the world on whom the spirit of oppo- 
 sition has greater influence than the spi- 
 rit of charity, the zeal of party has, in 
 this particular instance, proved an active 
 and useful auxiliary to the zeal of bene- 
 volence. A vast increase of the means 
 of education has been the happy result ; 
 and, as the great object of education 
 comes to be more fully examined, and 
 more clearly understood, it will not be 
 the comparative, but the real value of 
 those systems, that will any longer seem 
 worthy of attention. If either may be 
 so administered as to facilitate the ex- 
 pansion of the infant mind, and to im- 
 prove the understanding, by a judicious 
 exercise of its early powers, it is evident 
 that either method may be adopted with 
 advantage. It is, on the other hand, 
 equally clear, that if each of the two 
 systems are liable to failure, we may 
 make choice of either, and, after taking 
 much pains to set the machine in motion, 
 
36 
 
 may, through the negligence or unskil- 
 fulness of those to whose hands we en- 
 trust its management, be disappointed in 
 our expectations of success. 
 
 When expectations have been sanguine, 
 people are in general very unwilling to 
 be undeceived. Having seen evident 
 proofs, in some instances, of the good 
 effects produced by the system they have 
 adopted, they cannot conceive how, or 
 why, it should fail to be productive of 
 the same effects in every instance; and, 
 provided they see all the wheels of the 
 machinery moving with apparent veloci- 
 ty, persuade themselves that all is well. 
 
 It is thus that, by a voluntary delu- 
 sion on the parts of the patrons and ma- 
 nagers of those useful establishments, 
 their beneficial consequences are liable 
 to be abridged or lost to the community. 
 Inspection will, in such cases, be found 
 to degenerate into a mere formal cere- 
 mony, attended with no other advantage 
 
37 
 
 besides that of impressing the scholars 
 with certain vague notions, of the impor- 
 tance derived to themselves and to their 
 masters, from being thus made objects 
 of attention to their superiors in rank. 
 But if the cultivation and improvement 
 of the moral and intellectual faculties be 
 really the end in view, it is not surely at 
 a glance that the progress to that desir- 
 able object can be ascertained. What- 
 ever confusion may at other times pre- 
 vail, it may be presumed that no symp- 
 toms of disorder will, during the pre- 
 sence of the visitor, be manifested. At 
 his approach all will fall into their ranks; 
 every babbling tongue will become si- 
 lent, and every restless limb be still. 
 The master is perhaps applied to for in- 
 formation respecting the behaviour of 
 his pupils, and their progress in improve- 
 ment. Can it be expected, that, how- 
 ever incompetent he may be, he will, in 
 the report he makes, suffer his incompe' 
 
38 
 
 tency to appear ? But an examination 
 of the pupils likewise, at stated periods, 
 takes place. And how is this examina- 
 tion conducted? It may be, that a certain 
 number of pupils from each class are call- 
 ed up to exhibit specimens of their pro- 
 ficiency in reading, writing, spelling, and 
 cyphering ; and as these are selected by 
 the master, it rarely happens that they 
 fail to acquit themselves to satisfaction. 
 When, indeed, did we ever hear of any 
 school-examination of which unbounded 
 satisfaction was not the result? Applause 
 is sure to follow. And the astonishing 
 advantages attending the Bell, or the 
 Lancastrian method of teaching, (which- 
 ever happens to have been adopted), is 
 echoed, and re-echoed, by all the active 
 members of the establishment, as afford- 
 ing indubitable proof of the superiority 
 of that particular system. 
 
 All this while it may happen, and it 
 frequently does happen, that of the many 
 hundred children in constant attendance 
 
at the school, none have been materially 
 benefited by the education they have 
 there received, except the few whose 
 mental faculties had been previously 
 opened by circumstances favourable to 
 their development and exercise. If we 
 examine into the state of the remainder 
 we shall find, that, though compelled to 
 give the degree of attention necessary 
 to enable them to imitate what they saw 
 done by others, and to repeat what they 
 heard repeated by those around them, 
 they neither comprehended the use of 
 what was done, nor the meaning of what 
 was repeated. Without comprehending 
 either, they have, from the principle of 
 imitation, and from the exertion of me- 
 mory, been able to perform their tasks so 
 as to have got on, step by step, through 
 every class. But what advantage will 
 they reap from being capable of perform- 
 ing mechanically all that they have at 
 school been taught? Without mind, or 
 
40 
 
 the capacity of exerting any mental 
 energy, can it be expected that they will 
 employ the arts of reading and writing 
 to any useful purpose ? Admitting that 
 their minds have been by collision some- 
 what brightened, if on leaving school 
 they are doomed to associate with the 
 depraved and ignorant, their increased 
 facility of imitation may prove to them 
 a dangerous and fatal acquirement. 
 
 It may as yet be only in a very few 
 instances that schools upon the modern 
 improved plans are so ill conducted, as to 
 render it possible that the mind of any 
 child of tolerable capacity can be left in 
 the hopeless state I have described. But 
 if it be possible, that, notwithstanding 
 the manifest tendency of the new sys- 
 tems to bring the moral and intellectual 
 faculties into action, the conductor of 
 the machinery may, by directing it 
 solely to the accomplishment of his own 
 particular purpose, render it abortive in 
 
41 
 
 regard to the higher and more impor- 
 tant purposes of improvement ; it is evi- 
 dent, that in establishing schools we do 
 not to a certainty provide for the in- 
 struction of the lower classes, unless we 
 at the same time secure to them the bene- 
 fit of being always conducted under the 
 controlling eye of intelligent managers. 
 If a watchful and minute attention to 
 the manner in which the machinery is 
 applied, be necessary in schools for boys, 
 it becomes still more necessary in regard 
 to schools where girls only are admitted. 
 And happily, such are the blessed effects 
 of an increase of intellectual cultivation 
 in giving energy to benevolence, that 
 wherever schools are established, they 
 find in the sex their most zealous sup- 
 porters, and their most active and judi- 
 cious friends. In alluding to this fact, 
 I do not mean to pay a compliment to 
 my sex, but merely to show, that the 
 consequences which naturally result from 
 
42 
 
 enlightening the understanding, so as to 
 enable it to walk steadily in the path of 
 principle, are in all respects beneficial to 
 the individuals and to society. As an. 
 illustration of this useful truth I may be 
 permitted to observe, that in proportion 
 as the female mind has been emancipat- 
 ed from the fetters of ignorance, the 
 female character has risen in respecta- 
 bility. Wherever religious principle has 
 been made the basis, it has been seen 
 that a liberal system of education, instead 
 of producing a dislike to, or dereliction 
 of peculiar and appropriate duties, has 
 enabled women, without infringing on 
 any duty, to enlarge their sphere of use- 
 fulness, and to extend, beyond the nar- 
 row precincts of the domestic roof, the 
 beneficial influence of maternal solicitude 
 and maternal tenderness. Of the nume- 
 rous charity-schools on a small scale esta- 
 blished throughout England and Ireland, 
 more than three-fourths have been in- 
 
43 
 
 stituted and endowed by ladies ; and of 
 the larger schools that have been erected 
 since the introduction of the improved 
 methods of teaching, those appropriated 
 to girls are, almost without exception, 
 superintended by ladies only. 
 
 Where the attention thus bestowed 
 has in any instance failed of success, it 
 is not to want of solicitude or of vigi- 
 lance that the failure is to be ascribed. 
 It may in a great plurality of instances 
 be traced to far other sources, and will 
 be found to originate in dispositions that 
 do honour to the individual character, or 
 in deficiencies naturally resulting from 
 limited opportunities of observation. 
 
 Of the schools that have been esta- 
 blished by ladies of fortune, under their 
 own immediate eye, and conducted under 
 their immediate inspection upon a given 
 plan, few have failed to prosper. To the 
 benevolence which prompted to the exe* 
 cation of the scheme, is in such cases 
 
44 
 
 added the anxious feelings of responsi- 
 bility, exciting to a careful application 
 of the means to be employed, and to the 
 exercise of a wholesome controul over the 
 subordinate agents, who are considered 
 but as instruments used for effecting 
 with greater facility the designs contem- 
 plated by the directing mind. Where, 
 on the other hand, the direction and su- 
 perintendence of a school devolves on a 
 certain number of ladies, though all may 
 be inspired by an equal portion of zeal 
 and of benevolence, it is only in the ge- 
 neral wish of doing good that unity of 
 design can be expected to take place. 
 Restrained by timidity, and by habits of 
 reserve, from openly declaring their indi- 
 vidual opinions, when not certain that 
 they will be received with approbation, 
 or meet with sympathy from all their 
 coadjutors ; and having the weight of 
 responsibility lightened, from being shar- 
 ed with numbers, they are, in such cir- 
 
45 
 
 cuinstances, apt to content themselves 
 with an exact observance of certain pre- 
 scribed rules. Instead, then, of exerting 
 over the teacher, (who ought to be con- 
 sidered in no other light than as an in- 
 strument to be guided by their conduct- 
 ing hand), the wholesome influence of a 
 wise and judicious controul, they permit 
 the teacher to assume the sole govern- 
 ment and direction ; and, in inquiring 
 into the progress of her pupils, restrict 
 themselves to examining them on those 
 points to which she directs their atten- 
 tion. 
 
 Now it is, as I think, obvious, that a 
 schoolmistress may be extremely well 
 qualified for initiating in the arts of read- 
 ing, writing, and needle-work, without 
 having in her mind an idea beyond what 
 is necessary to the performance of these 
 operations. It is in the due perfor- 
 mance of them that her notions of edu- 
 cation are comprised. Her mind may 
 
46 
 
 have been so far stretched, as to have 
 gained a knowledge of Bell's method, or 
 Lancaster's method of instruction, with- 
 out having heen enabled to perceive any 
 other advantage accruing from either, 
 besides that of diminishing the labour 
 of the teacher, and multiplying the num- 
 ber of the scholars. 
 
 By a person of this description, a 
 school on either of the plans may be so 
 far organized, as to exhibit all the appa- 
 ratus of monitors or sub-teachers, with 
 their appropriate decorations; and, from 
 the little dabblers in sand to the perfor- 
 mers in needle-work, all may, to the eye 
 of an unexperienced observer, appear to 
 be conducted with admirable skill. Of 
 three or four hundred children, it cannot 
 be supposed that all have come to school 
 with minds equally torpid, and equally 
 destitute of instruction ; some, therefore, 
 of the number will be qualified to exhi- 
 bit such specimens of their performance, 
 
47 
 
 as will be sufficient to satisfy the casual 
 visitor of the effectual success of the 
 method that has been adopted. But by 
 those who have better and more frequent 
 opportunities of observing, it will soon 
 be discovered, that the rapid progress in 
 improvement is limited to the few, who, 
 from habits previously acquired, were dis- 
 posed to application ; and that those 
 alone seem to understand what they are 
 about. Even in the manner of practis- 
 ing the evolutions, (which form a part, 
 and no unimportant part of the Lancas- 
 trian system), the inertness and stupidity 
 arising from defective perception and 
 discernment, will be apparent in every 
 tardy and sluggish movement. A cer- 
 tain degree of confusion will of course 
 take place, though, by the constant inter- 
 ference and authority of the mistress, it 
 may be kept within such bounds, as not 
 utterly to destroy all the distinguishing 
 features of the organization she boasts of 
 
48 
 
 as complete. In a case such as I have 
 described, it will soon be perceived that 
 something is wrong; but what, or where 
 the fault lies, may not be so easily dis- 
 covered. The mistress cannot be accus- 
 ed of negligence, for she labours with 
 unwearied diligence in exhorting the 
 idle, and punishing the refractory, and 
 keeping all to their respective tasks. 
 But if, in the performance of these tasks, 
 no other faculties have been brought 
 into exercise but those of imitation and 
 memory, though by the exertion of those 
 many may have learned to read, and 
 write, and sew, and to repeat catechisms 
 and chapters off book with tolerable cor- 
 rectness, there will not among the whole 
 be found one fully competent to act with 
 propriety as monitor or teacher to others. 
 The schoolmistress may, perhaps, per- 
 ceive with astonishment their incapa- 
 city, and, on comparing them with chil- 
 dren whom she has seen acting as moni- 
 
49 
 
 tors in other schools, deplore her unhap- 
 py lot, in having to deal with children 
 more incorrigible in stupidity than any 
 children in the world. If the visitors 
 enter into her feelings, they will perhaps 
 be induced to subscribe to her opinion 
 with regard to the existence of some ra- 
 dical defect in the faculties of the poor 
 girls, who are so obviously unqualified 
 for teaching to others what they them- 
 selves have learned, and who, alike des- 
 titute of judgment and discernment, nei- 
 ther perceive nor understand the nature 
 of the duty they are called on to per- 
 form. 
 
 In schools organized according to what 
 is now called the national system, the 
 same thing may, and doubtless in many 
 instances does occur, though it will on that 
 system, for reasons hereafter to be men- 
 tioned, be less immediately obvious. On 
 both systems instruction is conveyed 
 from child to child, and will be convey- 
 c 
 
50 
 
 ed more or less effectually, according as 
 the child who acts as teacher is qualified 
 to communicate to another what she has 
 herself acquired. On either system a 
 child may he qualified to imitate what 
 she sees done, and yet remain unquali- 
 fied to proceed one step of herself when 
 the model is removed. 
 
 The tenacity of memory at an early 
 age, by enabling children to repeat words 
 by rote, without the exertion of any 
 power of intellect, is an ample source of 
 deception and delusion; as it not unfre- 
 quently happens, that when a class is 
 called up to repeat what they have com- 
 mitted to memory, the most stupid are 
 found to excel. When the words are 
 accurately remembered, and distinctly 
 repeated, how natural is it for those who 
 listen, to persuade themselves, that what 
 has been thus remembered and repeated 
 has been at the same time thoroughly 
 understood. Believing that all the ideas 
 
61 
 
 of which the words are properly signifi- 
 cant, have been communicated to the 
 minds of the children as to their own 
 minds, they look forward with joy to the 
 happy consequences which must ensue; 
 and, whatever defects they may have ob- 
 served in the faculties and dispositions, 
 console themselves with an assurance, 
 that, in the end, both heart and mind 
 must be effectually improved by such an 
 accession of religious knowledge. 
 
 At such a moment of joyful anticipa- 
 tion, it would be but an ungrateful task 
 to point out the delusive nature of expec- 
 tations so sanguine ; yet, surely, a little 
 consideration would show their fallacy. 
 When the degree of observation and 
 judgment, requisite to the performance 
 of the duties of a monitor, is so far from 
 having been obtained as to be manifestly 
 defective, can it with any plausibility 
 be concluded, that minds so deficient 
 are nevertheless, on subjects demanding 
 
a much higher exercise of those powers, 
 fully competent to act ? Even in giving 
 oral instruction, it is very necessary to 
 be upon our guard against self-deception, 
 as, if we believe that all we say to chil- 
 dren necessarily conveys to their minds 
 our own ideas upon the subject we wish 
 to impress, we shall be apt frequently to 
 waste our breath in vain. It is therefore 
 necessary to keep perpetually in our re- 
 membrance, that all we say beyond what 
 is clearly understood, is to them as if it 
 were spoken in a foreign language; and 
 that, of all we teach them to repeat, it 
 is only that portion of it to which dis- 
 tinct ideas are attached, that can make 
 any useful impression on their minds or 
 hearts. 
 
 On the utility of religious instruction 
 we may rely with confidence ; but, un- 
 less the mind be rendered capable of 
 comprehending, and the heart be dispos- 
 ed to apply the instruction given, it will 
 
53 
 
 prove fruitless. In the present state of 
 society, it is not a vague notion of Deity, 
 nor momentary feelings of reverence, 
 but that species of conviction which at 
 once operates on the heart and under- 
 standing, that can alone prove effectual; 
 and if, in the exercise of that faith which 
 influences the conduct, the intellect and 
 the affections are in happy combination, 
 it follows, that when the intellect is per- 
 mitted to remain dormant, and the affec- 
 tions obtuse, true and effectual belief 
 will never be produced. In this point 
 of view, the method of instruction em- 
 ployed in the national schools is highly 
 deserving of commendation. When that 
 method is adopted and duly put in prac- 
 tice, it will always be ascertained, that 
 one child at least, in every class, tho- 
 roughly understands what he reads. 
 From him, indeed, the remainder of the 
 class may repeat, without having any 
 accurate notion of the subject, though,- 
 
54 
 
 from the admirable promptitude with 
 which the reply is often given, this may 
 very easily escape observation. 
 
 Far, however, from undervaluing this 
 part of the system introduced by Dr 
 Bell, it is my earnest wish to see it gene- 
 rally adopted ; and hoping and believing, 
 that as just and accurate notions of the 
 ends and purposes of education come to 
 be more widely disseminated, the pro- 
 priety of neither rejecting nor adopting 
 the whole of any particular system, on 
 account of preference or objection to any 
 of its component parts, will be univer- 
 sally acknowledged ; I cannot doubt, 
 that whatever in any plan presents 
 greatest facilities for promoting the end 
 we have in view, will without hesitation 
 be laid hold on, by whatever party it has 
 been sanctioned, or by whomsoever it 
 may at first have been introduced. Lit- 
 tle would it redound to the honour of 
 this enlightened age, were those pos- 
 
55 
 
 sessed of power and influence to act, as 
 if they viewed particular systems of edu- 
 cation as nostrums, deriving all their 
 virtue from certain combinations known 
 only to those by whom they were pre- 
 pared, and which, therefore, to have any 
 effect, must be swallowed in the lump. 
 Infinitely more consonant to the good 
 sense by which our country is distin- 
 guished, would be the cautious analyza- 
 tion of every system proposed; as, with- 
 out such analysis, it is not possible to es- 
 tablish in what proportions its nutritive 
 or healing qualities are dispensed. Nor 
 is it enough simply to ascertain the 
 wholesomeness of all, the ingredients in 
 the composition. The state of the pa- 
 tients in whom they are to operate must 
 be taken into the account. Remedies, 
 however innocent, however salutary, if 
 not adapted to the constitution, will be 
 applied in vain. 
 
50 
 
 Not only with regard to the means 
 employed for improving the intellect, 
 and imparting the rudiments of know- 
 ledge, but in regard to the discipline 
 which is intended to rectify the will and 
 improve the dispositions, is precaution 
 necessary. All inherit from nature a 
 similar portion of infirmity. But who 
 will venture to assert, that to the chil- 
 dren of simple and industrious peasants, 
 who never saw an example of vice, and 
 never heard crime mentioned without 
 symptoms of abhorrence; and to the lit- 
 tle swarms of infant vagabonds, born and 
 bred in the loathsome habitations of po- 
 verty, in a great city, amid scenes of pro- 
 fligacy and disorder, the same remedies 
 are strictly applicable ? When the pre- 
 vious circumstances have been thus op- 
 posite, can it be supposed that one inva- 
 riable method of instruction will be ap- 
 plied in every instance with like effect? 
 It is not improbable, that the situation 
 
5? 
 
 least propitious to virtue may have pre- 
 sented superior opportunities for the 
 early exercise of the perceptions, which 
 will be evinced in a more quick discern- 
 ment, and greater promptitude in imitat- 
 ing. Of the imposing smartness which 
 is thus produced the teacher will readily 
 avail himself, as it will doubtless be 
 found greatly to abridge his labour. 
 But if the means employed for develop- 
 ing and expanding these early powers 
 be calculated to apply only to cases of 
 this description, we need not be surpris- 
 ed, that when applied to cases of ano- 
 ther description they are found inade- 
 quate. When all the habits acquired in 
 infancy have been unfavourable to the 
 exercise of perception and observation, 
 instead of the smartness that is so often 
 mistaken for intelligence, and the promp- 
 titude which embraces new objects with 
 facility, there; will often appear a clulness, 
 
 amounting almost to stupidity, and a 
 c3 
 
58 
 
 sluggish indifference to every object that 
 does not promise immediate gratification 
 to the senses. Can we believe that these 
 children, if they had from their birth 
 been placed in circumstances similar to 
 the others, would, at the present period, 
 have been in all respects as forward, and 
 not at the same time perceive the neces- 
 sity of endeavouring to adapt the rudi- 
 ments of instruction to the peculiar state 
 of their minds ? So indispensable is it, 
 as a preliminary to all improvement, to 
 awaken the dormant faculties, that where- 
 ever this is neglected no considerable im- 
 provement will take place. 
 
 It may happen, that in situations most 
 favourable to the development of some 
 of the mental powers, the moral feelings 
 and affections may not only have re- 
 mained uncultivated, but destroyed by 
 the indulgence of vicious propensities. 
 To restrain those propensities, it may be 
 also necessary to resort to modes of pu- 
 
nishment, which, on minds of another 
 description, might be productive of the 
 most injurious effects. 
 
 Hence appears the absurdity of form- 
 ing every school, in whatever part of the 
 empire it may be established, exactly 
 upon one or other of the models con- 
 cerning whose comparative excellence 
 so much has been unnecessarily said. 
 To the young persons, however, who 
 have been instructed in the art of teach- 
 ing, as practised at the Lancastrian 
 schools, every part of the system will 
 probably appear of equal importance; 
 and even with regard to the administra- 
 tion of rewards and punishments, equally 
 applicable to children of every rank and 
 description. By those, on the other 
 hand, who have been instructed in the 
 plan of Dr Bell, every idea of improving 
 on that plan will be rejected as heretical. 
 But though masters and mistresses may 
 be expected strenuously to oppose every 
 
60 
 
 attempt that may be made to unite the 
 two systems, by selecting from each 
 whatever appears to be best adapted to 
 the peculiar circumstances and habits of 
 those whose education is in view, it is 
 to be hoped, that by the firmness and 
 good sense of more enlightened minds, 
 such opposition will be rendered ineffec- 
 tual . 
 
 There are few things which ought to 
 be regarded with greater dread, than the 
 paralyzing influence of that species of 
 bigotry, which eagerly attaches to the 
 objects of preference notions of perfec- 
 tion. To believe that any of the me- 
 thods of instruction now in use, are so 
 perfect as to be insusceptible of improve- 
 ment, would be absurd in those who do 
 not claim for their authors any title to 
 infallibility. If therefore we find, that 
 in any part of the world discoveries have 
 been made of methods still more effec- 
 tual, we will surely not scorn to avail 
 
61 
 
 ourselves of them, merely on account of 
 their having first been introduced into a 
 distant region. It is long since the 
 fame of Pestalozzi first attracted the at- 
 tention of British travellers towards the 
 school in Switzerland, to which he has 
 given celebrity. But of those cursory 
 visitors, though all saw with astonish- 
 ment the effects produced by his mode 
 of communicating the knowledge of geo- 
 metry tu little childicu, who, on the 
 strictest examination, were found tho- 
 roughly and completely to comprehend 
 the nature of the science, and the 
 meaning of all they had been taught, 
 few thought of inquiring, whether the 
 principle upon which Pestalozzi had pro- 
 ceeded, might not be capable of more ex- 
 tensive application. 
 
 Upon farther investigation it however 
 appears, that the principle adopted and 
 adhered to by Pestalozzi is in its nature 
 universal, and may be universally ap- 
 
plied. It is neither deep nor intricate, 
 nor beyond the comprehension of the 
 most ordinary capacity. In few words, it 
 is simply attending to the laws of nature. 
 By these it has been ordained, that the 
 human understanding, though it may be 
 gradually opened, and enabled to em- 
 brace a vast extent of knowledge, can 
 only be opened gradually, and by a regu- 
 lar series of efforts. Pestalozzi perceiv- 
 ing, that when one idea upon any subject 
 had been acquired by a child, the idea 
 next in succession was no sooner pre- 
 sented than imbibed ; and also observing, 
 that when it was attempted to force up- 
 on children ideas having no connexion 
 with any that had previously entered 
 their minds, the attempt proved fruitless, 
 took the hint from nature, and wisely 
 formed his plan in conformity to hers. 
 Instead of making children repeat words 
 that suggested ideas to his own mind, he 
 set himself to observe what were the 
 
63 
 
 ideas that actually existed in theirs. He 
 then, by questions adapted to their capa- 
 city, induced them to make such fur- 
 ther exertion of their powers, as enabled 
 them to add new ideas to their slender 
 stock; and, by persevering in the pro* 
 cess, expanded their faculties to a degree, 
 which, to those best qualified to judge of 
 the difficulties of the abstruse science he 
 professed to teach, seemed little short of 
 miraculous. 
 
 But though it was the proficiency 
 made by his little pupils in geometry 
 that chiefly excited the admiration of the 
 public, the success with which he ap- 
 plied the same principle to the more im- 
 portant purposes of communicating mo- 
 ral and religious instruction, is yet more 
 worthy of our notice and applause. 
 
 Pestaiozzi dismissed from his service 
 all the excitements of punishment and 
 reward. The habits of the Swiss pea- 
 santry doubtless contributed to the sue- 
 
cess of the experiment, as it cannot be 
 supposed that the children of those sim- 
 ple villagers stood equally in need of 
 strong excitement, as children, who, 
 from their situation, are compelled to 
 associate with depravity in an over- 
 grown metropolis. But making every 
 allowance for the favourable nature of 
 the circumstances, still it must be ac- 
 knowledged, that such nice notions and 
 constant, prar.t.ire. of moral rectitude ; 
 such a complete subjugation of every 
 turbulent and selfish passion ; and such 
 cordial harmony and fraternal love, as 
 is asserted to have been exemplified 
 in the school of Pestalozzi, have been 
 rarely exhibited even in situations the 
 most favourable, The means employed by 
 Pestalozzi to improve the heart and dis- 
 positions, as they have been described to 
 me by those who have made inquiries 
 upon the spot, seems to be extremely 
 simple, and extremely obvious; yet, sim- 
 
65 
 
 pie as they are, and infallible as is their 
 operation, many and obstinate are the 
 prejudices that must be surmounted, ere 
 we can expect to see them generally 
 adopted. The effect resulting from them, 
 as exemplified in this school of morality, 
 is what has been termed by our old di- 
 vines, the practice of the presence of God. 
 Other children are taught to say, that 
 God is ever present ; but the pupils of 
 Pestalozzi are taught to know and to feel 
 in their hearts, that in God they live and 
 move and have their being. The convic- 
 tion is impressed and rivetted in their 
 minds, so as never to be for a single mo- 
 ment obscured. Nor does this belief 
 produce in them the slavish fear which 
 so naturally leads to a gloomy supersti- 
 tion; neither does it produce any ten- 
 dency to that enthusiasm which expends 
 its fires in the fervid and useless blaze of 
 ecstacy ; it is productive simply of the 
 feelings of reverence, and gratitude, and 
 
66 
 
 love, accompanied by that sense of the 
 divine protection which inspires courage 
 and confidence, and that ardent desire 
 of the divine approbation which leads 
 to the practice of every virtue. 
 
 But has not the knowledge of God, 
 which is the first principle of all religion, 
 been elsewhere as carefully taught? 
 Does it not form the chief object in 
 every lesson of elementary instruction ? 
 What then does Pestalozzi more than 
 others ? He does no more than others 
 intend and desire to do ; his instructions 
 are only rendered more certainly effica- 
 cious, from his mode of applying them. 
 According to his method, the mind of 
 the pupil cannot be passive in receiving 
 instruction. It is compelled to work its 
 way to knowledge ; and, having its ac- 
 tivity properly directed, is led step by 
 step to the perception of truth. Instead 
 of repeating words on subjects so impor- 
 tant as to demand the most serious con- 
 
67 
 
 sideration, but too far removed from the 
 ideas which occupy the minds of chil- 
 dren, to admit a possibility of their being 
 easily understood, his pupils are made to 
 proceed by a regular process from one 
 idea to another, until the same proposi- 
 tion, which was in the former instance 
 repeated by rote, seems to them the evi- 
 dent deduction of reason. While the 
 stock of ideas is yet extremely limited, 
 it is only to propositions of the simplest 
 nature that he directs the attention. He 
 knows, that nothing short of a miracu- 
 lous interposition of divine power would 
 enable the mind, in such a state, to reach 
 to those which are abstruse and abstract; 
 and, happily, an understanding of these 
 is not absolutely essential towards prepar- 
 ing an intelligent being for duly fulfill- 
 ing every religious and social duty. 
 
 To every child born in a Christian coun- 
 try, some notion of the existence of a su- 
 perior but invisible Being, is communicat- 
 
68 
 
 ed. This notion, vague as it may often 
 be, forms a ground-work, whence the 
 mind may be led, by a gradual process, 
 till it arrives at clear and accurate con- 
 ceptions concerning the power, wisdom, 
 goodness, and other attributes of Deity. 
 Each of the divine attributes which are 
 thus successively discovered, soon come 
 to be contemplated with correspondent 
 emotions of love, reverence, and adora- 
 tion. An idea of the continual presence 
 of Him with whom every idea of purity 
 and holiness is inseparably united, must 
 inevitably prove a sure foundation where- 
 on to build just and accurate notions of 
 moral rectitude. Nor is it on the mind 
 alone that such impressions will operate; 
 their influence cannot fail to reach the 
 heart. Wherever the ideas of God are 
 of a nature calculated to excite the emo- 
 tions of love and gratitude, they will in- 
 evitably produce in the disposition a ten^ 
 dency to benevolence. Here, then, we 
 
69 
 
 have an explanation of the extraordina- 
 ry phenomena exhibited in the school of 
 Pestalozzi, where, as we are credibly in- 
 formed, children of every age seem to be 
 inspired by one spirit of piety to God, 
 and tender affection towards each other, 
 and unparalelled diligence in their pur- 
 suits. That these effects are produced 
 without the stimulus of rewards or pu- 
 nishments, will not appear surprising, 
 w^en we consider the higher nature of 
 the motives excited by those objects to 
 which the attention was constantly di- 
 rected. But, however sanguine might 
 reasonably be our expectations of similar 
 success, from pursuing a similar me- 
 thod of instruction, we have, I fear, but 
 little reason to hope that it will ever be 
 generally adopted. Even were persons 
 sent to the school of Pestalozzi to learn 
 from him the art of teaching, unless their 
 minds were capable of taking a compre- 
 hensive view of the principles on which 
 
70 
 
 he proceeds, they would, on their return, 
 be found only to have acquired a new 
 mode of teaching geometry. Like ma- 
 ny of those who have been instructed in 
 Bell's method, or Lancaster's method, 
 they would pique themselves on having 
 obtained a competent knowledge of the 
 theory, while yet so completely ignorant 
 of its essential principles, as only to be 
 able to practise what they have learned, 
 under the concurrence of circumstances 
 in all respects exactly similar to those 
 which prevailed in the seminary in which 
 their little knowledge was acquired. 
 
 In regard, therefore, to schools which 
 are to be left solely to the management 
 of persons, who consider the benefits of 
 education to be all comprised in the ac- 
 quirement of certain arts, or accomplish- 
 ments, all that can be done is, at their 
 institution to make choice of such me- 
 thods of teaching as are most obviously 
 calculated to produce some improvement 
 i 
 
71 
 
 on the faculties of the pupils, and such 
 methods of instruction in religion as of- 
 fer the greatest probability of making an 
 impression on the understanding and the 
 heart. If the school is to be formed on 
 the Lancastrian plan, difficult as it may 
 be to persuade the teacher, that any ad- 
 vantage can result from ingrafting Bell's 
 method of reading the Scriptures on Lan- 
 caster's method of teaching to read and 
 write, the patrons of the school, if that 
 advantage is obvious to them, ought to 
 insist on the adoption of the mode which 
 seems to them preferable. But in every 
 case where the inspection is only to be 
 cursory and superficial, the rules and 
 regulations ought to be absolute. 
 
 In regard to schools which, instead of 
 being thus left to the sole direction of 
 a teacher, are conducted under the vigi- 
 lant inspection of intelligent managers, 
 the case is widely different. To those 
 active and enlightened benefactors of 
 
72 
 
 the human race, every proposal for im- 
 proving the plan of education ought to 
 be addressed; for by them whatever has 
 an apparent tendency to render instruc- 
 tion more easy -or more effectual, will be 
 deemed deserving of consideration. In 
 estimating its value, their judgment will 
 not be warped by any preconceived pre- 
 judices, neither will they be excited nor 
 intimidated by the authority of names; 
 but, regarding all else as matters of indif- 
 ference, will be guided in their rejection 
 or adoption of the plan proposed, by their 
 unbiassed opinion of its utility ; and if 
 it promises to be truly useful, they will 
 not be withheld, by the vulgar dread of 
 innovation, from submitting it to the test 
 of experience. 
 
 The methods employed in the educa- 
 tion of boys, though always thought 
 worthy of attention, are found to be still 
 susceptible of improvement. How much 
 more so must be the case with regard to 
 
73 
 
 the methods that have been hitherto 
 practised in schools for girls, considering 
 the little importance formerly attached 
 to the education of the sex in any sta- 
 tion, and how utterly it has, with respect 
 to those of lower rank, been disregarded. 
 As much more, therefore, remains to be 
 done in the latter case than in the for- 
 mer, it is on the patronesses of the 
 schools for girls that the heavier task de- 
 volves; but it is a task neither too com- 
 prehensive for their understanding, nor 
 too arduous for their zeal. 
 
 Of the ladies that take an active part 
 in the superintendence and management 
 of girls' schools, there are seldom any 
 who, if a school were left to her single 
 management, would not in a very short 
 time overcome every obstacle to its tho- 
 rough and perfect organization ; but 
 suth are the effects of habitual diffi- 
 dence and extreme delicacy of feeling, 
 it may happen, when there is a necessity 
 D 
 
74 
 
 of acting in concert with others, that 
 improvements, of which all may perceive 
 the utility, none will have courage to 
 propose. Wherever this species of re- 
 serve predominates, it will be found by 
 all who have candour to acknowledge 
 the fact, that the meeting of a commit- 
 tee of managers is seldom productive of 
 any real benefits to the interests of the 
 institution, whose interests all are never- 
 theless equally zealous to promote. 
 
 If these habits of diffidence operate 
 in communicating with each other, it 
 may easily be imagined, that where gen- 
 tlemen are ostensibly at the head of the 
 institution, and therefore necessarily to 
 be consulted at every step, they will 
 operate yet more powerfully. The be- 
 nefit of superintendence will therefore, 
 in such cases, be completely lost. But 
 is the interference and sanction of the 
 patrons necessary ? Is it in these enlight- 
 ened times to be supposed, that women of 
 
75 
 
 good sense and good education are so 
 incompetent to judge or to act, that the 
 choice and application of proper means 
 for the education of their own sex can- 
 not properly be committed to them ? 
 But the ladies will have it so. They 
 are anxious to be disburdened of the 
 weight of responsibility. And do they 
 actually become less responsible, from 
 being thus furnished with an apology 
 for leaving undone the things which 
 they ought to have done, and which 
 they perceived it absolutely necessary 
 for the good of the establishment to do? 
 If the benefits which would otherwise 
 arise from the active exertions of the pa- 
 tronesses are liable to be circumscrib- 
 ed, by the timidity which imposes a 
 restraint on the expression of senti- 
 ment and the freedom of action, it is 
 surely unwise to subject them to addi- 
 tional restraints, as from the respect 
 habitually entertained for the opinions 
 
76 
 
 of their superiors in knowledge, interfe- 
 rence will, in this instance, be equivalent 
 to complete controul. 
 
 Supposing, then, that in the choice of 
 means the ladies are left to the free exercise 
 of their own judgment, the first thing that 
 will naturally occur to their consideration 
 is the nature of the object which they are 
 to endeavour by their united efforts to ac- 
 complish. It is no other than to effect 
 such a radical improvement in the intel- 
 lect, temper, and dispositions of the hun- 
 dreds of children who may be assembled 
 under the same roof, as will, when con- 
 verted into habits, render them good and 
 useful members of society, promote their 
 interests in this world, and lead to the 
 attainment of everlasting happiness in 
 the world to come. No one can sup- 
 pose, that it is by teaching them to read, 
 and write, and work with their needles, 
 that this is to be accomplished, though, 
 in the course of teaching these arts. 
 
77 
 
 much towards its accomplishment may 
 be done. But, before we inquire how 
 this may be effected, it is necessary, after 
 having agreed on what ought, if possi- 
 ble, to be accomplished, to take a view 
 of the obstacles to be encountered, not 
 only as they exist generally in human 
 nature, but as they have been increased 
 and modified by impressions to which 
 the pupils have in general been ex- 
 posed. Let it then be asked, what is the 
 nature of those impressions ? Are they 
 favourable to quickness of apprehension ; 
 to docility ; to accuracy, attended by 
 the love of order and regularity ; to 
 cheerful activity in the performance of 
 duty ; to complacency of temper, and 
 kindness of heart? Or is there any rea- 
 son to believe, that the impressions they 
 have previously received are in their na- 
 ture highly unfavourable to the produc- 
 tion of these qualities ? These questions 
 will be easily answered by any one fa- 
 
78 
 
 miliarly acquainted with the manners and 
 habits that generally prevail among that 
 description of persons of whose children 
 the pupils are mostly composed. 
 
 Are these characterized by the accu- 
 racy which evinces quickness of percep- 
 tion, or by the inaccurate and imperfect 
 observation displayed in an utter disregard 
 to cleanliness and order? If in the latter, 
 we may depend upon it, that the female 
 offspring of such mothers have had but 
 little chance of acquiring that quick dis- 
 cernment, which can only be produced 
 by an early exercise of the powers of 
 perception. Again, 
 
 The mothers may be chaste, sober, and 
 industrious, but are they in general pos- 
 sessed of any just notions of their mater- 
 nal duties ? Do they inculcate on their 
 children, from the first dawn of life, the 
 necessity of implicit obedience ; thus 
 teaching them by times to curb the im- 
 petuosity of self-will, and laying the 
 
79 
 
 foundation for that precious docility 
 which converts the labour of instruction 
 into pleasure ? If, in place of this, they 
 in general pursue the very opposite plan, 
 of fostering every embryo passion by 
 complete indulgence, and then souring 
 and irritating the tempers they have 
 thus spoiled, till the dispositions are ren- 
 dered ungracious and ungrateful, the ob- 
 stacles to that improvement of the intel- 
 lectual and moral powers which it has 
 been proposed to accomplish, will be in- 
 deed extremely serious. 
 
 But, though serious, they are not in- 
 surmountable. Even if, in addition to 
 the obstacles created by injudicious 
 management, we were to find that im- 
 moral habits had been contracted, such 
 as falsehood, very commonly connected 
 with sloth and disobedience, still there is 
 no just reason for despair. If we have 
 but courage to persevere in the applica- 
 tion of the proper remedies, we shall 
 
80 
 
 soon restore what is wanting, and cor- 
 rect what is amiss. 
 
 The improvement of the heart and un- 
 derstanding, though spoken of separate- 
 ly, must in practice go hand in hand. 
 While, therefore, we willingly subscribe 
 to all the praise betowed on the utility 
 of the methods of teaching introduced 
 by Dr Bell and Mr Lancaster, as tending 
 to produce an increase of intelligence, 
 we must carefully examine how far either 
 of these methods tend to develop and 
 improve the affections of the heart, be- 
 fore we can with propriety place on 
 either of them our sole dependence for 
 the production of all possible good. 
 
 I have attempted to show, that schools 
 upon either plan, if they happen to be 
 imperfectly organized, or negligently 
 conducted, will fail of producing those 
 effects for which they are chiefly calcu- 
 lated. To this it may be added, that 
 as the education of boys may be supposed 
 
SI 
 
 to have been principally in contemplation 
 with those by whom these systems were 
 introduced, we must not be surprised if we 
 find, that, in applying them to the edu- 
 cation of girls, they must be in some de- 
 gree modified before they can to them 
 be productive of much advantage. In 
 proof of this, at some schools for girls, 
 conducted on the Lancastrian model, it 
 has been found necessary to procure mo- 
 nitors from the boys' schools established 
 in the same place, no girl in the school 
 appearing to be endowed with the re- 
 quisite qualities. Whence this incapaci- 
 ty ? From nature ? No ; merely from 
 the operation of previous circumstances, 
 which had been more favourable to the 
 exercise of the faculties in one sex than 
 in the other. 
 
 Is it not obvious, that in such cases 
 the first thing to be done is to endeavour 
 to rouse those dormant faculties, and 
 bring them gradually into exercise? 
 D 3 
 
82 
 
 And here the assistance to be derived, 
 ven from a partial adoption of Pesta- 
 lozzi's plan, becomes apparent. Stupid 
 as those little girls may appear, they are 
 not altogether destitute of ideas. It is 
 possible, that of the few ideas they pos- 
 sess, none may be at all connected with 
 those presented in their first school 
 exercise ; but if they have learned to 
 speak, and know the names of the com- 
 mon objects around them, they may, by 
 an attentive observation of these objects, 
 be led to the acquirement of new ideas, 
 till, step by step, they arrive at those in 
 the want of which their apparent stupi- 
 dity originated. A schoolmistress who 
 would willingly act upon this princi- 
 ple, would be an invaluable acquisition. 
 But considering the confined education 
 usually received by those who have been 
 brought up to the business of tuition, 
 and the pride and pedantry which are so 
 apt to encrust the narrow mind, from the 
 
83 
 
 exercise of a " little brief authority," it 
 would be unwise to expect from persons 
 in that situation any thing beyond com- 
 mon attention to prescribed forms. On 
 a knowledge of these forms, and a punc- 
 tual observance of the customary cere- 
 monies, they may safely be allowed to 
 pique themselves ; but when additional 
 means are to be resorted to, it is not to 
 persons incapable of comprehending their 
 aim, or of perceiving their utility, that 
 the application of them can with pro- 
 priety be entrusted. 
 
 Supposing the adoption of Pestalozzi's 
 method of improving intellect to be 
 deemed desirable. As of the managers 
 of the institution none may have it in 
 their power to devote the requisite por- 
 tion of time and attention to the experi- 
 ment, it at first view seems impossible, 
 that independently of the schoolmistress 
 the design can be effected. But let us 
 , 
 
84 
 
 not too hastily conclude on its impossi- 
 bility. 
 
 Wherever the population is such as to 
 render the establishment of schools on 
 an extended scale necessary or practica- 
 ble, the number of genteel families must 
 bear a certain proportion to the number 
 of the poor; and, happily, the contagion 
 of frivolity and dissipation has not as 
 yet been permitted to extend so far its 
 baleful influence, as to preclude all hope 
 of finding, in the younger branches of 
 the families of condition, able and useful 
 auxiliaries, by whose assistance the plan 
 may be completely executed in all its 
 parts. 
 
 Notwithstanding the incessant de- 
 mands made on their time and attention, 
 in the acquirement of accomplishments 
 on which fashion has set an imaginary 
 value, the young ladies of the present 
 age are not so entirely engrossed by 
 'hat can only serve the purposes of tem- 
 
85 
 
 porary embellishment, as to have neither 
 time nor attention to bestow on higher 
 objects. Never at any period were the 
 hearts of the young more prompt to feel; 
 and never, surely, were their benevolent 
 impulses more frequently or more effec- 
 tually directed into the channel of real 
 usefulness. 
 
 On a consideration of these facts it 
 will appear, that the superior mana- 
 gers may without difficulty find, among 
 the young ladies of their acquaintance, a 
 sufficient number of assistants, on whom 
 the introduction of Pestalozzi's method 
 of instruction may with propriety de- 
 volve. Nor let the latter imagine, that 
 they are by youth and inexperience dis- 
 qualified for the task. The obstacle aris- 
 ing from inexperience is in its nature 
 temporary : and their extreme youth, 
 instead of presenting an obstacle, will be 
 found highly propitious to their success. 
 It is indeed the very circumstance on 
 
86 
 
 which the hopes of success are chiefly 
 grounded ; for it has been clearly proved 
 from experience, that to the minds of 
 the young it is the young alone who 
 have free and ready access; and that 
 hearts which were apparently callous 
 have been spontaneously opened by sym- 
 pathy. From my own knowledge I can 
 aver, that where very young ladies have 
 been induced to lend their assistance to 
 the teacher of a charity-school, it has 
 been seen, that the rudeness which had 
 heretofore resisted all attempts at polish, 
 the obstinacy which persuasion could not 
 move, nor punishment subdue, and the 
 habits of idleness and inattention, which 
 had been rendered inveterate by early 
 indulgence, have, without much effort 
 on the part of the youthful instructors, 
 so quickly yielded, as to afford convinc- 
 ing proof of the ease with which the 
 young and amiable can mould the cha* 
 
87 
 
 racter and dispositions of those who are 
 but a little younger than themselves. 
 
 The efficacy of Pestalozzi's method of 
 instruction is here at once explained and 
 illustrated. Whence came it to pass, 
 that the young, on the example given 
 above, were enabled so readily to mould 
 the dispositions and affections of their 
 little pupils ? Was it by cogent arguments 
 or lessons fraught with peculiar wisdom ? 
 No. It is simply to their having uncon- 
 sciously acted upon the principle adopt- 
 ed by Pestalozzi, that their success is to 
 be ascribed. If their lessons produced 
 any manifest improvement on the tem- 
 per and dispositions of the heart, it was 
 because they applied directly to the 
 heart, to whose sympathy their youth 
 and endearing gentleness gave ready 
 access. To a similar cause the effectual 
 development of the mental faculties in 
 their pupils may be fairly traced. They 
 spoke not., even to the most ignorant or 
 
88 
 
 stupid, in language above their compre- 
 hension ; but, conforming to the state of 
 their minds, laid hold on what they 
 knew, as a foundation whence each was 
 made to start in the progress to farther 
 acquisitions, until the powers of the un- 
 derstanding were, step by step, unfolded 
 and strengthened. All this was done 
 without attention to any plan or theory, 
 but it was (though unwittingly) clone 
 upon that principle on which every plan 
 or theory of education ought to be found- 
 ed an adherence to the laws of nature. 
 As in the material world we find it im- 
 possible to change the form of any ob- 
 ject, without coming in direct contact 
 with the object on which we wish to 
 effect an alteration ; so, in the intellec- 
 tual world, is it impossible to produce 
 improvement, but by a direct applica- 
 tion to the powers which are to be im- 
 proved. Hence the advantage of apply- 
 ing to the minds of the young, through 
 
89 
 
 the medium of minds to which theirs 
 can most easily assimilate. In Bell's 
 and Lancaster's systems this advantage 
 is, or at least may be, in some degree ob- 
 tained. But where the instruction com- 
 municated from child to child extends 
 only to the method of performing cer- 
 tain external acts, and where a facility 
 in such performance is deemed the 
 primary or sole object of education, 
 this mode of teaching may be attended 
 with serious evil, operating in one party 
 as an excitement to the feelings of arro- 
 gance and self-conceit, and producing in 
 the other the feelings of envy, mortifica- 
 tion, or resentment. The monitor whose 
 zeal has been stimulated by vanity, in- 
 stead of kindly assisting his school- 
 fellows in getting over the steps he has 
 himself so lately passed^ will be seen im- 
 mediately to ape the master, and assum- 
 ing all the airs, and practising all the 
 grimaces which he conceives to be ex* 
 
90 
 
 pressive of the dignity of command, will 
 issue his orders in a tone of authority, 
 and express his displeasure with asperity 
 and contempt. 
 
 Children may thus teach children the 
 method of performing a given task, to the 
 great ease and satisfaction of the teacher, 
 whose labour is, by the employment of 
 subalterns, so much abridged ; but by 
 those who appreciate the benefits of in- 
 struction by its tendency to improve the 
 mind and heart, it will appear, that the 
 most important of the advantages that 
 might be derived from making the young- 
 instruct the young are in such cases 
 nearly lost. Heartily as we concur in 
 the generous wish expressed by our re- 
 vered Monarch, and ardently as we may 
 desire to see the gates of knowledge 
 opened to all without reserve, we cannot 
 but think that it is of still greater impor- 
 tance to the community, that that part 
 of the population for whose use the 
 
91 
 
 schools in question have been establish- 
 ed, should derive from them the benefit 
 arising from an improvement of the ra- 
 tional faculties, and a cultivation of the 
 moral principles of our nature, than that 
 they should acquire in them the elements 
 of learning, and be left to the guidance 
 of chance or circumstances, under whose 
 blind direction their acquirements may 
 be converted into instruments of good 
 or evil. 
 
 It is admitted on all hands, that even 
 in the ordinary routine of school tuition, 
 the mental faculties are in some degree 
 improved ; but there is good reason to be- 
 lieve, that the improvement is far more 
 limited than it would be, if the cultiva- 
 tion of the powers of the understanding 
 were made an object of attention. The 
 progress of children would not then be 
 estimated by their ability to perform 
 what they have seen performed by 
 others, but by the clearness and accu- 
 
racy of their ideas on all they have been 
 taught. The competence of teachers of 
 either sex would not then be estimat- 
 ed according to their knowledge of the 
 methods practised in this or that school, 
 but according as they were found more 
 or less capable of communicating clear 
 ideas to the minds of their pupils; and, 
 of all methods of teaching, that by which 
 such accurate notions were most certain- 
 ly to be obtained, would, in every in- 
 stance, be preferred. That this has not 
 always been the case, will I presume 
 be acknowledged. Great improvements 
 have certainly been made, but we have 
 not yet reached the point beyond which 
 improvement is impossible. 
 
 In order to give a just notion of the 
 different effects which are produced up- 
 on the mind by different modes of in- 
 struction in any given branch of educa- 
 tion, it will be sufficient to place before 
 the reader a view of some of the different 
 
93 
 
 methods that have been adopted in teach* 
 ing the first rules of arithmetic. 
 
 According to the notions that long and 
 generally prevailed, it was deemed a suffi- 
 cient foundation for knowledge in the 
 science, to teach children to repeat by 
 rote the names or signs of numbers from 
 one to one thousand, or upwards. They 
 were then, though with some difficulty, 
 taught to distinguish and to name the 
 corresponding figures, and to divide them 
 into units, tens, hundreds, &c. This last 
 was the only part of the process in which 
 clear ideas were necessarily communicat- 
 ed to the pupil's mind. He was made 
 to perceive and understand 3 that a figure 
 placed singly was denominated an unit, 
 that a figure added to the left was a ten, 
 and so forth ; but though, by practice, 
 he was enabled quickly to pronounce to 
 what class any figure in the line belong-' 
 ed, it was the words which he had 
 named by rote that afforded him the 
 
key, and to these he was obliged con- 
 stantly to have recourse. The rules 
 which he was compelled to commit to me- 
 mory successively at every step as he ad- 
 vanced, were composed in terms utterly 
 beyond his comprehension ; and as they 
 were never explained to him, he gained 
 nothing by repeating them but an exercise 
 of memory. Ideas upon the subject might 
 be accidentally acquired, and where a 
 notion of the advantages to be derived 
 from a knowledge of arithmetic had 
 been early impressed upon the mind, 
 they would be sought for and obtained. 
 But where there was no such stimulus 
 to exertion, all must have been perform- 
 ed mechanically ; and as whatever is 
 not clearly understood is soon forgotten, 
 we need not be surprised, that of the 
 numbers who have thus been taught the 
 art of cyphering, without any clear no- 
 tions respecting the principles on which 
 they worked, so few should have retain- 
 
95 
 
 ed any of the little they at school ac- 
 quired. 
 
 Let us now proceed to examine ano- 
 ther and better method. According to 
 this improved method, the novices ac- 
 quire at once a knowledge of the names 
 and forms of the numerical signs, by 
 tracing the figures in sand. Supposing 
 the class to consist of twelve children, 
 the first lesson in addition is given as 
 follows. The child at the head is asked 
 by the teacher, what are two and two ? 
 1C he professes ignorance, the question 
 is put to the next, and repeated to each 
 in his turn, till one, more knowing than 
 his fellows, gives the proper answer. 
 He is of course promoted, and from the 
 place of dignity at the head of the class 
 proclaims, that two and two are Jour ; 
 which words are repeated aloud by every 
 individual in the little group. The teach- 
 er then proceeds to another question, 
 which is in like manner solved by some 
 
96 
 
 one of the circle, and the discovery in 
 like manner repeated as an axiom by 
 the others. 
 
 Now here it may be observed, that 
 though the child who has promptly told 
 that two and two are four, or that two 
 and three are five, has evinced that he 
 possessed a clear and accurate notion of 
 the relative powers of those numbers, it 
 is to be questioned, whether, of the eleven 
 who repeated his words, there be one to 
 whose mind any idea was conveyed by 
 the words repeated. In the instance ad- 
 duced, it may perhaps be deemed of little 
 consequence* But when we consider, 
 that the same method is applied to the 
 greater purposes of religious instruction, 
 and that that knowledge of the meaning 
 of all that is read in every Bible-lesson, 
 extraordinary as it in some instances 
 appears, must, in fact, (when this me- 
 thod prevails), be limited to certain indi- 
 viduals, its importance will wear a more 
 
97 
 
 serious aspect. But to proceed to a third 
 method of teaching arithmetic, the me- 
 thod employed hy Pestalozzi. 
 
 Knowing that the first notion of num- 
 bers must necessarily be obtained through 
 the medium of the external senses, it is 
 by objects adapted to the senses of sight 
 and touch, and not by words alone, 
 that he gives the first ideas upon the 
 subject to the infant mind. The teach- 
 er, taking a handful of beans, (or what 
 else he chuses to use as counters), gives 
 one to each of the little pupils placed 
 round his table. This each lays before 
 him, and pronounces to be one bean. 
 Another one is then given, and the first 
 and second one are placed together, and, 
 when thus united, assume the name of 
 two. Another one bean is added, and 
 the whole put together become three. 
 This process is continued until all are 
 capable of distinctly counting to the 
 number ten. Each is then desired to 
 E 
 
08 
 
 take from his heap two beans, and hav- 
 ing placed them together on the table, 
 puts then other two down at a small dis- 
 tance, and having named the separate 
 quantities, two and two, is made to join 
 them together ; and if his notion of num- 
 bers obtained in the former part of the 
 exercise has been sufficiently accurate, 
 he will easily, by the exertion of his own 
 perceptions, be enabled to give to the 
 number its appropriate term. In this 
 way a distinct notion of all the combi- 
 nations of which the units are suscepti- 
 ble is introduced. A knowledge of the 
 
 o 
 
 figures which are the signs of numbers 
 is next given. And then, again, by 
 means of counters, which answer for 
 tens, and the beans, which have repre- 
 sented units, the process is carried for- 
 ward as far as may be found necessary. 
 All the rules of arithmetic are taught by 
 Pestalozzi on the same principle. I say 
 nothing of his tables, and other contriv- 
 
99 
 
 atices for facilitating his purpose, as such 
 apparatus, however useful, are by no 
 means essential to the communication of 
 clear ideas, which is the primary object 
 in view. 
 
 So seldom, however, does this object 
 enter into the contemplation of teach- 
 ers, it would not occasion me any sur- 
 prise to find, that among the numbers 
 who, at the schools established on the 
 new systems, seem in this branch of 
 education to have made astonishing 
 progress, there were nevertheless many, 
 who, notwithstanding their adroitness 
 in working questions in arithmetic, 
 would, from want of clear ideas upon 
 the subject, be extremely puzzled by the 
 simplest proposition, if put in a form dif- 
 fering from that to which they had been 
 accustomed. I know- this to have been 
 the case in one instance; the amiable 
 and excellent young men, to whose be- 
 nevolence the school owed its existence, 
 
100 
 
 having given it as a reason for discon- 
 tinuing the Lancastrian method of teach- 
 ing multiplication. 
 
 But where no clear ideas have been 
 given at the commencement, it is impos- 
 sible that any method which the art of 
 man can devise should be attended with 
 complete success. A child may be taught 
 to climb a ladder, and when he has reached 
 the top, he will see the objects that are 
 there presented to his view ; but if you take 
 away the intermediate steps, can you 
 suppose, because of his having learned 
 glibly to repeat after you the names of 
 objects seen from such a height, that he 
 has actually made a leap from the bot- 
 tom of the ladder to the top, from which 
 alone the objects are distinctly visible? 
 This, however, absurd as it may appear, 
 has frequently been practised in educa- 
 tion. 
 
 To this practice the universal adop- 
 tion of Pestalozzi's principle would put 
 
101 
 
 a final period. In girls' schools' it-would/ 
 for reasons before state'd, be highly ;&% 
 visable in the application of that prin- 
 ciple, to employ those of the same sex, 
 not yet so far advanced in years as to 
 lose the advantage derived from sympa- 
 thy, but so much superior in rank and 
 education to the little pupils, as to ex- 
 cite respect. 
 
 Let us now, anticipating the adoption 
 of the plan, suppose a sufficient number 
 of young ladies ready to co-operate with 
 their more experienced friends in the 
 work of charity ; whether the school 
 be divided into four classes, or into six 
 or eight, it makes little difference as to 
 the number requisite, provided there be 
 enough to secure the regular attendance 
 of two for one hour of every school day. 
 If ten or twelve young ladies are appoint- 
 ed, it will indeed be highly advisable, 
 that besides the two who are to act for 
 the week or month, the two next in sue- 
 
102 
 
 - 1 iihould attend as spectators of 
 : \v r hat jsigoing forward, that they may be 
 able to begin where the others leave off, 
 and thus, while all will be in turn initi- 
 ated into the duties of their office, a pro- 
 vision will be made for supplying the 
 place of either of the officiating visitors, 
 if accidentally absent. 
 
 The first week may with great pro- 
 priety be devoted to observing the 
 manner in which the school is conduct- 
 ed, and the behaviour of the children 
 generally, and in each particular class. 
 All the young ladies may, during this 
 period of observation, attend together, 
 and communicate to each other the re- 
 sult of their remarks on the proofs of at- 
 tention exhibited by the monitors, and 
 of docility and intelligence in the scho- 
 lars. As they will probably view with 
 feelings of compassion the little creatures 
 whose languid looks offer certain indica- 
 tion of weariness and disgust, it ia in 
 
103 
 
 the first class that they will -.naturally. 
 desire to commence their operation, j, 
 With the consent of the mistress, (to 
 whom due respect ought ever to be paid), 
 the two acting visitors will then proceed 
 to release the little ones from the confine- 
 ment of the form, and, in kindly terms, 
 propose to them a round of questions. 
 Of this it must, in order to overcome a 
 formidable obstacle, be made a primary 
 condition, that whoever refuses to an- 
 swer, or speaks too low to be heard, shall 
 be subjected to some of the forfeits in use 
 among children when at play with each 
 other. All this will, of course, be done in 
 playfulness and good humour. The exer- 
 cise being intended for the improvement 
 of the power of observation, it is to the 
 shape and structure of objects of sight 
 that the questions will of course refer. 
 Of such questions examples are given 
 HI NOs. 1st, 2d, and 3d, of the Appen- 
 
104 
 
 ijix. r T.ficie:fnjiy be increased and am- 
 1 1\ j fted,at; ; pleasing to any extent. And 
 as' quickness and ' accuracy of perception 
 cannot be too sedulously cultivated, no- 
 thing that can tend to its cultivation 
 is to be rejected. The child who, before 
 it has been taught to form a letter, has 
 been rendered capable of instantly dis- 
 cerning the difference between a straight 
 and an oblique line, will certainly pos- 
 sess an advantage over her who is inca- 
 pable of such discrimination. And here 
 the use of a writing slate and pencil 
 may be brought into play with great ad- 
 vantage. Of two lines drawn across, 
 the one straight, the other diverging, 
 though in a slight degree, it may be 
 proposed as a question, Who shall first 
 observe and describe the difference?* 
 
 * As an early attention to personal cleanliness may 
 justly be considered among the lower orders as a desi- 
 deratum, it would, perhaps, at some schools, be very 
 
105 
 
 As soon as the children have com*- 
 pletely entered into the spirit of the 
 thing, the quickest will he able to put 
 new questions to the less observant, and 
 when they return to their task of form- 
 ing letters in sand, the effects of having 
 had their observation thus excited will 
 soon be discernible. If the mode in 
 which the class is taught be not (as it 
 often is) unfavourable to all mental ex- 
 citement, they will not so speedily arrive 
 at the point of weariness, as they may 
 hitherto have been accustomed to do. 
 
 The children in the next immediate 
 classes, though respectively advanced 
 in what is called their education, may 
 possibly be found little superior to in- 
 fants in observation and discernment. 
 The questions put to them will quickly 
 
 eligible to commence every exercise by a show of 
 bands, and the question, Whose is cleanest ? 
 E3 
 
106 
 
 lead to a discovery of their usual habits 
 of attention, and consequent state of 
 their minds. Obtuse as many may ap- 
 pear to be, a great inequality will soon 
 be perceptible. Those who can sponta- 
 neously answer every question, may with 
 propriety be made to lend assistance, 
 and encouraged to exercise their memory 
 and judgment in contriving queries, res- 
 pecting the shape, colour, situation, and 
 appearance of objects which all have had 
 equal opportunity to see, but which few 
 may have observed with sufficient at- 
 tention to be able to describe. Accuracy 
 in the description of objects, ought 
 never to be dispensed with, nor ought 
 extreme accuracy ever to pass without 
 notice, and proofs of high approbation. 
 It ought to be set forth, not merely as 
 the servant, but the parent and compa- 
 nion of truth ; and habitual inaccuracy, 
 on the other hand, held up to contempt 
 and detestation, as the prolific source of 
 
107 
 
 falsehood. This may, however, be done 
 accidentally, and without the formality 
 of set speeches ; for in the course of these 
 preliminary exercises,, many opportuni- 
 ties must occur for placing the value of 
 accuracy in a proper point of view. 
 
 How long these exercises are to be 
 continued, or how frequently repeated^ 
 must be left to the judgment of the 
 young officiators, who, as they become 
 more intimately acquainted with the 
 minds of the pupils, will be able dis- 
 tinctly to perceive the nature of the de- 
 fects under which they labour. In 
 forming a judgment upon this point, 
 they will derive much assistance from 
 an attentive observation of the conduct 
 of the monitors^ or sub-teachers, whose 
 incompetence, whenever they appear in- 
 competent, will be found to arise from 
 slowness and inaccuracy of perception. 
 The only remedy for this disorder is, to 
 direct the attention to external objects 
 
108 
 
 until habits of quick discernment are ac- 
 quired. If, without having had any op- 
 portunity of improving in observation, 
 they have been compelled exclusively to 
 direct their attention to the forms of let- 
 ters and the sounds of syllables, we may 
 reasonably expect, that the defect in 
 their powers of perception will have 
 thereby been increased, instead of hav- 
 ing been diminished. Hence it appears 
 to be a great error in chusing moni- 
 tors, to consider those as most eligible 
 to the office, who have made greatest 
 progress in what is taught in the class 
 in which they are to act as sub-teachers. 
 It is not the girl who is the best reader 
 or best speller of the class, but she who 
 evinces quickest discernment, and whose 
 eye and ear are most capable of nice dis- 
 crimination, and whose attention is most 
 exertive, that will be found most compe- 
 tent to the office. She who is thus en- 
 dowed, will, in teaching others, make 
 
109 
 
 rapid advances in improving herself. The 
 girl of sluggish perceptions will, on the 
 contrary, prove useless to others, and at 
 the same time, from want of practice, lose 
 the facility which practice had produc- 
 ed. 
 
 It will therefore be attended with 
 manifest benefit to the institution, if the 
 young ladies, after having obtained, from 
 the observations made in the course of 
 these preliminary exercises, some know- 
 ledge of the talents and capacities of the 
 children in each class, make out a list of 
 the most intelligent, from which the 
 managers may select sub-teachers for the 
 ensuing month. In a school organized 
 upon the Lancastrian system, it is to the 
 conduct of the monitors that the atten- 
 tion of the mistress is chiefly directed. 
 If they perform their duty, instruction 
 must be communicated to all without 
 any interference on her part. But be- 
 fore they can act with propriety, they 
 
110 
 
 must have a clear notion of what they 
 are to do ; and if the number be consi- 
 derable, it will be difficult for one person 
 to set all the wheels in motion. In ini- 
 tiating these new monitors into the 
 duties of office, the mistress will derive 
 great assistance from the young ladies, 
 provided she has the wisdom to avail 
 herself of that assistance. 
 
 The method originally practised in the 
 Borough school, of making the children 
 work, and exhibit their performances in 
 pairs, seemed admirably calculated for 
 giving activity to emulation, by concen- 
 trating its energy ; while, at the same 
 time, by the sudden transitions from 
 the joy of success to the mortification of 
 failure, and the good humour, and even 
 playfulness, which accompanied the tran- 
 sient rivalship, no opportunity was af- 
 forded to the indulgence of envy. 
 
 Let us suppose that the method allud- 
 ed to is adopted, and that the young 
 
Ill 
 
 f 
 
 ladies are to lend their assistance to the 
 mistress in initiating the new monitors 
 in the duties of office. Beginning with 
 her who is to preside over the little ones 
 in the first class, they will inform her, 
 that she will now have an opportunity 
 to show, whether she is indeed capable 
 of taking notice of what is before her; 
 for that her duty is not comprised in 
 loudly vociferating the word prepare ! 
 nor in smoothing down the sand with 
 energetic risk, services which may be 
 performed by her deputy, but that, as 
 monitor of the class, she is, when the 
 signal has been given, to observe that 
 all attend to the note of preparation; 
 and when she sees that every little hand 
 is put into the proper posture, she is then 
 with audible voice to pronounce the let- 
 ter of the alphabet hung out for a copy ; 
 and as soon as the first pair have an- 
 nounced, by a distinct repetition of the 
 sound of the letter, that they have traced 
 
its form on the sand, she will look at the 
 performance of the rival candidates, and 
 place her finger on that which she deems 
 to be the best. Thus going from pair 
 to pair, she will quickly pronounce on 
 the performances of all. But as, at the 
 conclusion of every exercise, she will be 
 liable to have her judgments examined 
 by the mistress or visitors, she must al- 
 ways be prepared to give a reason for her 
 decisions. 
 
 This will suffice as a specimen of the 
 manner in which the ceremony is to be 
 conducted, and which, if properly con- 
 ducted, will afford to the monitor such 
 increased opportunity of exercising her 
 powers of discernment and discrimination 
 as will prove to her a very solid and per- 
 manent advantage. 
 
 It must however be remembered, that 
 the monitor is herself a child, and that 
 nature, whose laws we profess to observe, 
 has not seen fit to bestow on little chil- 
 
113 
 
 tlren the power of giving attention for 
 any length of time to the same object. 
 It is in vain that we attempt to oppose 
 this decree of nature; yet fruitless as 
 the opposition has ever proved to be, it 
 has been carried on from generation to 
 generation, by the race of pedagogues, 
 who see no reason why infants should 
 not be compelled to fret whole hours 
 upon the form, even at that early period, 
 when to give attention beyond a few 
 minutes is perhaps impossible. Would 
 it not be better to watch the moment in 
 which all seem to arrive at that point 
 when weariness commences; and be it 
 sooner or later than the usual hour of 
 breaking up, consider it as a signal for 
 setting the little prisoners free ? After 
 a few minutes relaxation, they will begin 
 with avidity to something new. Pesta- 
 lozzi's method of teaching the rudiments 
 of the art of calculation, may here be 
 with great advantage introduced in alter- 
 
114 
 
 nation ; and they will thus, instead of 
 spending half their school hours in list- 
 less inactivity, be gaming in every mo- 
 ment some addition to their little stock 
 of ideas. 
 
 It may be thought that I have dwelt 
 too long on this first class, which is ge- 
 nerally considered as of least importance. 
 To me, however, it appears in a very dif- 
 ferent light, and seems to demand the 
 greatest attention. In proportion to the 
 pains bestowed in giving to these tender 
 sapplings their proper bent, will the 
 school, in process of time, be distinguishr 
 ed as a nursery of virtue. 
 
 Much, however, of what has been said 
 with regard to the duties of the monitor 
 in the first class, will apply with little 
 variation to the monitors of the other 
 classes. They who severally superintend 
 the classes employed in writing, or cy- 
 phering on slates, must learn, that they 
 have something to do besides ordering 
 
115 
 
 the slates to be raised or lowered, and 
 listening to the long protracted clatter. 
 It is indeed their business to see that the 
 order is obeyed with prompt celerity x for 
 it is on its tendency to give habits of 
 prompt obedience (these again depend- 
 ing on habits of attention) that the uti- 
 lity of the noisy ceremony alluded to 
 solely rests. Those, therefore, who do 
 not make the required movement with 
 promptitude, ought to be detained after 
 the others on breaking up the class, not 
 as a punishment, but in order to acquire 
 by practice the habit in which they are 
 deficient. As, according to the system 
 adopted, progress in the arts of reading 
 and writing go hand in hand, the mo- 
 nitor ought, of course, in chusing the 
 words to be written, to restrict herself 
 to words of one, two, or three syllables, 
 in conformity to the nature of the attain- 
 ment of the class in reading. Nor 
 should any one be permitted to write a 
 
116 
 
 word which she cannot at first sight pro- 
 nounce. To this the monitor ought very 
 particularly to attend, as nothing can be 
 more absurd than to see children scrawl- 
 ing long words, which they neither un- 
 derstand nor can articulate. 
 
 When the children exhibit what they 
 have written, the monitor will begin by 
 examining the writing of the senior pair, 
 and, awarding the mark of approbation 
 to the best of those two competitors, 
 will proceed in like manner to examine 
 the performance of the remainder of the 
 class, which she will soon, from custom, 
 be enabled to accomplish without loss of 
 time. When of two competitors one 
 very evidently excels the other, a sepa- 
 ration should take place, that each may 
 be matched with an equal, in order to 
 keep up that moderate spirit of emula- 
 tion which it is of so much consequence 
 to preserve. And as the diligent, even 
 when their efforts are not immediately 
 
117 
 
 successful, are by no means to be dis- 
 heartened, the change of partners should 
 never be held up in the light of a dis- 
 grace, but as an encouragement to fresh 
 exertion. Thus the slow will again 
 enter the lists with the alacrity of reviv- 
 ed hope, and finally obtain the reward of 
 their perseverance. 
 
 It is not enough that the decisions of 
 the monitor be just ; their justice must 
 be rendered apparent to the whole class, 
 by her readiness to explain the reasons 
 on which they are founded. Why do 
 you think my partner's word better writ- 
 ten than mine ?" may a little girl ask her 
 monitor; " Because," it may be replied, 
 " your letters, though equally well formed, 
 are placed at more unequal distances. 
 Correct that fault, and yours may per- 
 haps next time be the best." All this 
 may be said with gentle voice and friend- 
 ly accent, very different from that bold 
 and brawling manner, so frequently as- 
 
118 
 
 sumed by monitors as belonging to their 
 office. 
 
 As, in the process of acquiring the art 
 of writing, the perceptions, with regard 
 to objects of sight in general, may be 
 considerably improved, the best method 
 of teaching the art is evidently that 
 which more effectually conduces to this 
 most desirable end. Hence a decided 
 preference becomes due to the mode 
 first introduced to practice by Lancaster. 
 The great economy of using slates ra- 
 ther than paper is but a secondary con- 
 sideration. It is in being calculated to 
 increase, in the proportion of ten to one, 
 the exercise which, in the acquirement 
 of the art of writing, is given to the per- 
 ceptions, that it becomes most truly va- 
 luable. But if these advantages never 
 enter into the mind of those by whom 
 the school is conducted, they will in all 
 probability be lost. 
 
119 
 
 The exercise which writing affords 
 to the eye, reading gives to the power 
 of hearing. Those who have never 
 learned to read, cannot easily discrimi- 
 nate the different sounds of words, 
 to which their ears have not been long 
 familiar. Those who, in learning to 
 read, have never been taught to pay any 
 attention to this difference, are near- 
 ly in the same predicament. Hence the 
 false tones, the sing-song, the intolerable 
 monotony with which good sense is 
 sometimes disgraced in the delivery. 
 " But we do not wish to make fine 
 readers of our school girls." No, we do 
 not wish them to read fine ; but as they 
 are to be taught to read, there seems no 
 good reason why they should not be 
 taught to read well. To read well, they 
 must be taught to give to every letter, 
 and to every word, its proper sound; 
 which they cannot do until their ear has 
 been enabled to discriminate -between 
 
120 
 
 sound and sound, however slight the 
 variation. Here Bell's method of in- 
 struction seems to possess, in some res- 
 pects, an advantage over Lancaster's; 
 and as its advantages consist simply in 
 more carefully exercising the attention 
 on the various sounds of which the let- 
 ters are susceptible, when combined in 
 -syllables, it may be adopted in Lancas- 
 trian schools without any change of ap- 
 paratus. As soon as children are ac- 
 quainted with the alphabet, and capable 
 of tracing all the letters upon sand, they 
 may proceed in like manner to trace 
 syllables of two letters. But here the 
 monitor will have a new call on her at- 
 tention. She must observe that every 
 syllable, before it is written, be accurate- 
 ly and distinctly pronounced: The same 
 after it is written ; and as soon as the 
 first column of the first syllable card has 
 thus been gone over, the children should 
 i 
 
"bfe re-examined by the monitor of a su- 
 perior class. 
 
 In spelling and reading words con- 
 sisting of one syllable, they should for 
 some time be confined, in practice, to 
 lessons presenting words unconnected 
 with each other in sense. Nor until 
 they have by reiterated practice obtain- 
 ed the power of pronouncing all mono- 
 syllable words at sight, should they be 
 permitted to read any composition which 
 (in words of that class) is intended either 
 to amuse the fancy or convey instruction 
 to the mind. Even when they advance 
 to polysyllable exercises, it will be found 
 of great importance to accuracy, to con- 
 tinue the same mode of practice, until 
 they are so familiarized with words of 
 that length, as to be able at once to 
 resolve them into the syllables of which 
 they are composed. Those who are pro- 
 moted, from reading words, without con- 
 nexion, to reading monosyllable lessons, 
 
ought, at the commencement, to be ad- 
 monished by the monitor to give their 
 attention to the sense ; and, in order to 
 enforce attention, at every full stop, 
 some ought to be questioned on the 
 meaning of the sentence last read. Ha- 
 bits of attention will thus be impercepti- 
 bly acquired, and the reading lesson be 
 made of real use in affording some degree 
 of exercise to the understanding. While 
 one part of the day is destined to read- 
 ing lessons of instruction, an equal por- 
 tion of time may be devoted to reading 
 and spelling unconnected words of two 
 or three syllables in length. This will 
 prevent the weariness arising from con- 
 tinued application to the same object ; 
 and if we exact at one time attention to 
 the combinations of letters forming sylla- 
 bles, and to the combination of syllables 
 in words; and at another, and after some 
 interval, direct attention to the sense 
 and purport of what they have thus been 
 
123 
 
 enabled to read without hesitation, we 
 shall soon find the advantage in the in- 
 creased rapidity of their progress. 
 
 Let any of us who are not familiar 
 with the Roman character, take up a 
 book printed in what is called black letter, 
 and we shall soon be convinced of the 
 consequence of having our attention dis- 
 tracted between two objects, namely, 
 the alphabetical character, and the sense 
 of the author. 
 
 What a black letter book would be to 
 most of us, such is every book to chil- 
 dren, until they have by practice been 
 rendered familiar with the characters, 
 and have acquired such knowledge of 
 the combination of letters, as is essential 
 to enable them to read with ease. How 
 limited, how very superficial, then, must 
 that instruction be, which is picked up 
 in the course of decyphering, and spell- 
 ing, and pronouncing certain lessons se- 
 lected from the sacred volume, 
 
124 
 
 Is it on the efficacy of such lessons 
 that we rely for the cultivation of piety 
 and benevolence? or do we imagine that 
 any knowledge of the doctrines or duties 
 of Christianity will be thus obtained, to 
 serve as a guide to the conduct in future 
 life ? 
 
 But admitting that farther instruction 
 is to be afterwards given, there are other 
 and potent objections to the too common 
 practice of teaching children to speak 
 and read on passages selected from holy 
 writ, containing maxims of piety and 
 wisdom. How painful is the effect pro- 
 duced upon the listener, who must in this 
 case be doomed to hear the sense fre- 
 quently perverted, to a degree that almost 
 amounts to blasphemy. The effect upon 
 the hearer is only transient, and may 
 therefore be disregarded. But of the 
 effect of the distorted images that may 
 then be presented to the infant mind, no 
 
125 
 one capable of reflection can think light- 
 
 Jy- 
 
 Fables and little stories made for chil- 
 dren may, as first lessons, be deemed less 
 objectionable. But when the attention 
 is thus early directed to the meaning, 
 before the eye and ear have been prac- 
 tised on the combinations of letters 
 composing words, the pupil will acquire 
 the habit of pronouncing from analogy, 
 and then, in whatever he afterwards 
 reads, trusting to his own notion of the 
 sense, he will be liable to perpetual 
 blunders. In persons to whom the at- 
 tainment of the art of reading is but the 
 commencement of education, this error 
 will soon be corrected, but when educa- 
 tion goes no farther, it is of the highest 
 importance to guard against it, as other- 
 wise, little profit will be made of the 
 little all of instruction, in after life. 
 
 From first to last, then, throughout 
 every stage of the progressive lessons, a 
 
126 
 
 thorough acquaintance with the words 
 of each respective description should in- 
 variably precede the lesson whose mean- 
 ing is intended to convey instruction. 
 A strict examination concerning the 
 clearness and accuracy of the ideas that 
 have thus been conveyed, ought as inva- 
 riably to follow; and in conducting this 
 examination, those who- are advanced 
 some steps beyond the class examined, 
 may with great advantage be employed. 
 A sedulous attention to the conduct 
 of the monitors, in their several depart- 
 ments, will for some time be indispen- 
 sable. But if some pains have been 
 taken to awaken and exercise the per- 
 ceptions, it will soon be seen, that an 
 increased activity and quickness of dis- 
 cernment has been the happy conse- 
 quence, and that the monitors, when pro- 
 perly instructed in their duty, will no 
 longer appear vacant and unconcerned 
 
127 
 
 spectators of what is going forward in 
 their respective classes. 
 
 I say nothing of needle-work, for to 
 that branch of education the schoolmis- 
 tress seldom fails to give the requisite 
 
 ^ 
 
 attention : And though I consider it as 
 necessary to women in every station, 
 and more particularly essential to the 
 middling and lower classes, to be able to 
 work quickly and neatly with the needle, 
 the knowledge of any art appears to iny 
 mind a secondary consideration, when 
 placed in comparison with that cultiva- 
 tion of the moral and intellectual facul- 
 ties, which is essential to the perform- 
 ance of every duty. The art of sewing 
 may indeed be rendered conducive to the 
 cultivation of that accuracy of observa- 
 tion, of which I have endeavoured to 
 show the benefit. But as it is an imita- 
 tive art, it is only while attention to the 
 thing to be imitated is requisite, that it 
 affords any sensible exercise to the per- 
 
128 
 
 ceptions. The art, once acquired, may 
 be performed almost mechanically; and 
 on this very account is frequently resort- 
 ed to by persons whose minds are inca- 
 pable of exertion, and who, while thus 
 apparently busied, are in fact only indulg- 
 ing their natural indolence. 
 
 The indolence which arises, and is in- 
 separable from slowness of perception, is 
 to females in the inferior walks of life 
 the most fruitful source of calamity and 
 vice. As all effort is painful, the woman 
 who does not habitually notice what is 
 before her eyes, will never be active but 
 when excited to exertion, either by the 
 fear of suffering, or by some other power- 
 ful impulse. While the excitement lasts 
 she may show herself capable of a quick 
 performance of every active duty; but 
 no sooner is it withdrawn than she will 
 sink into wonted torpor. If it is from the 
 gratification of any of the selfish pas- 
 sions, as pride,. or vanity, that she has 
 
129 
 
 been accustomed to derive the impulse 
 to exertion, that passion will, by induK 
 gence, gain the ascendency in her breast, 
 and render her less and less inclined to 
 pay attention to those minute, but to her 
 uninteresting matters, which constitute 
 in detail the sum of domestic occupation. 
 Perpetual neglect and perpetual forget- 
 fulness will be the never-failing conse- 
 quence. If employed to work for others, 
 she will have recourse to invention, to 
 excuse, or account for, the negligence of 
 which she has been guilty, and thus be- 
 come habituated to falsehood. If mis- 
 tress of a family, her house will be a 
 scene of dirtiness and confusion ; nor 
 will she compensate by the most intense 
 application to her needle, for the waste 
 and discomfort occasioned by habitual 
 inattention to other objects. Without 
 undervaluing instruction in needle-work, 
 we may safely consider it as a secondary 
 object, while \ve bend our endeavour to- 
 
 F3 
 
130 
 
 wards producing that improvement on 
 the mind and heart, which are truly es- 
 sential to the future well-being. 
 
 If experience has proved, that the 
 means usually resorted to, for effecting a 
 radical improvement on the affections 
 and dispositions of the heart, have not 
 fully answered the end proposed ; it will 
 be proper to examine the nature of the 
 means employed, in .order to discover the 
 cause of failure. These generally con- 
 sist of certain restrictions and injunc- 
 tions, enforced, like other laws, by the 
 sanction of rewards and punishments. 
 Such reliance is in some instances plac- 
 ed ou the influence of bribes and penal- 
 ties, that they are made use of at every 
 step, and are avowedly the prime agents 
 of government. Of their effects in ex- 
 citing attention, and in producing an 
 external conformity to all the laws of 
 discipline, we have, in some of the 
 ,-chools alluded to, most ample proof: 
 
131 
 
 and, were elementary schools intended 
 for no other purpose than that of diffus- 
 ing a knowledge of the arts of reading 
 and writing, all objection must be si- 
 lenced. When the wills of many are to 
 be controlled, and governed, and taught 
 implicit subjection to the will of a supe- 
 rior, in order to unite the efforts of num- 
 bers to a given purpose, every rule must 
 necessarily be absolute, and its authority 
 supported by the dread of corporal pu- 
 nishment, or the no less appalling terror 
 of disgrace. Thus it is in the navy and 
 army. But there a punctual perform- 
 ance of the prescribed duty is all that 
 the most rigid disciplinarian requires. 
 His views extend not beyond the exter- 
 nal action. If he succeeds in securing 
 implicit obedience to his commands, he 
 cares not though the powers of hell were 
 to revel in the heart. 
 
 But at schools, where the improvement 
 not only of the mental faculties, but of 
 
132 
 
 the dispositions and affections of the 
 heart, are objects of prime consideration, 
 the case is widely different. Here the 
 effects produced by the terrors of punish- 
 ment will not be estimated by the degree 
 in which they produce external confor- 
 mity, but as they are productive of radi- 
 cal improvement on the dispositions. 
 That it ought in no ease to be resorted 
 to, I will not take upon me to aver; but 
 in a well regulated school, as in a well 
 regulated family, I am persuaded, that 
 the necessity of resorting to punishment 
 will very rarely occur, and that, when 
 it does occur, if the punishment be not 
 modified so as to influence the motives 
 by which the offender has been actuat- 
 ed, it will produce no permanent effect. 
 A profuse distribution of rewards may, 
 at first view, appear less objectionable, 
 but, on closer examination, it will per- 
 haps be seen, that, as means of effecting 
 a radical improvement on the mind and 
 
133 
 
 dispositions, the system of rewards is 
 little better adapted to our purpose than 
 the system of punishments. 
 
 That premiums operate as an excite- 
 ment to the performance of tasks, will not 
 be denied. But whether this excitement 
 be of a wholesome nature, or whether it 
 be in fact injurious, may still be ques- 
 tioned* Before deciding pro or con, it 
 will be necessary to ascertain on which 
 of the active powers the excitement ope- 
 rates. Is it pride, or vanity, or ambition, 
 or any other of the selfish passions, that 
 are thus roused into action ? If it is from 
 the increased activity of these passions 
 that we derive the fruits of increased ex- 
 ertion, we cannot surely hesitate to pro- 
 nounce, that they have been too dearly 
 purchased. 
 
 It will, moreover, be observed, that 
 the exertion which is prompted by the 
 desire of procuring gratification to any 
 of the passions, is desultory and transient; 
 
134 
 
 very opposite in its nature to that quiet 
 and persevering spirit of industry, which, 
 especially to those who are destined to 
 live by the labour of their hands, is of 
 the last importance. But farther, 
 
 Considering that the beings in whom 
 we are interested may never, through life, 
 have such an opportunity of acquiring 
 just notions and solid principles as that 
 which they at school enjoy, it is of great 
 consequence that we should not, by our 
 conduct, tend to mislead their minds, by 
 embuing them with false notions, and 
 false expectations. Where rewards are 
 prodigally bestowed, this cannot fail to 
 be the case. Children who are taught 
 to look to an immediate recompense for 
 every common exertion, will naturally 
 learn to expect, that reward should al- 
 ways attend the performance of duty, 
 and will despise the virtue whose hands 
 are not loaded with bribes. Little need 
 is there, in the present state of things, 
 
of giving an increased activity to the 
 spirit of selfishness ! Better and wiser 
 would it be to endeavour, by every 
 means in our power, to impress the minds 
 of the young with just notions of the 
 value of character, as ensuring the just 
 and appropriate rewards of esteem and 
 approbation. None can shut their eyes 
 to the deplorable consequences result- 
 ing to our sex, in the inferior walks of 
 life, from the want of an early and habi- 
 tual regard to reputation; or from an in- 
 difference to the opinion entertained of 
 their dispositions and conduct, in every 
 instance where self-interest is not imme- 
 diately concerned ; and were it certain 
 that, by a liberal distribution of premi- 
 ums, we were exciting in their minds 
 such a desire of praise- worthiness, as 
 might in time produce in that order, ge- 
 nerally, a more delicate sense of charac- 
 ter, we should be justified in carrying 
 the system, to extremes. But if, as there 
 
136 
 
 is much reason to apprehend, it be only 
 the love of praise that at the very best is 
 thus produced, we must remember, that 
 the passion to which we thus give ac- 
 tivity, may seek its gratification in the 
 praise of the worthless, as well as in the 
 praise of the worthy. 
 
 That those who have by their good 
 conduct recommended themselves to 
 esteem, should, before leaving school, re- 
 ceive some substantial mark of approba- 
 tion, is highly proper, and may be at- 
 tended with the best effects. The cha- 
 racter of the young person will then be 
 in some degree established, and the re- 
 ward sanctioned by general consent, for 
 all will perceive that it is bestowed ac- 
 cording to justice. Very different is the 
 case when premiums are awarded on the 
 report of monitors and teachers, whose 
 verdict is frequently rash, and liable to 
 be perverted by partiality or prejudice. 
 Should it, though even groundlessly, be 
 
137 
 
 suspected of being so by the children of 
 the class, the consequences of such sus- 
 picion will to them be injurious, for it 
 will excite in their breasts the feelings 
 of jealousy and discontent. From these 
 considerations we must infer, that re- 
 wards, as well as punishments, should be 
 sparingly and cautiously administered. 
 
 Without having recourse either to pu>- 
 nishment or rewards, Pestalozzi has found 
 it possible to introduce into his school 
 a more perfect discipline, greater order 
 and regularity, than has been produced 
 on any other system. It were rash to 
 conclude, that it is to the mild and ami- 
 able character of the Swiss peasantry 
 that he has solely been indebted for suc- 
 cess. No. His success may with great- 
 er propriety be ascribed to his having 
 taken extraordinary pains to bring the 
 minds of his pupils into a state of activi- 
 ty, while he, at the same time, by awak- 
 
138 
 
 en'mg the affections, sedulously applied 
 to the cultivation of the heart. 
 
 To all who believe in God, and in di- 
 vine revelation, the religious instruction 
 of children must appear in the light of 
 a duty indispensable. Even those who 
 look not beyond the present life perceive 
 the utility of religion, as imposing a sa- 
 lutary restraint on the selfish passions in 
 the lower orders of society. But if we 
 acknowledge the gospel, we must also 
 acknowledge, that from the discovery 
 therein made of the relation in which 
 we stand to the Author and Finisher of 
 our redemption, there springs a class of 
 duties no less incumbent on us, than are 
 the duties which spring from our rela- 
 tion to our fellow-creatures, whether as 
 superiors, inferiors, or equals ; and that 
 therefore we are -no less bound to in- 
 struct children in the faith which the 
 gospel enjoins, than to instruct them in 
 the nature of their other moral obliga- 
 
139 
 
 tions. This will not, as I apprehend, be 
 denied hy any thinking Christian. It 
 is then only concerning the method to 
 be observed in conveying this essential 
 instruction, that a difference of opinion 
 can be supposed to exist. Some imagine, 
 that it may be effectually conveyed by 
 imposing on the memory a form of 
 words and terms, so far beyond the com- 
 prehension of the infant mind, as not to 
 be rendered intelligible by any explana- 
 tion ; while others think, that the truths 
 of religion ought to be gradually unfold- 
 ed as the mind and heart are prepared 
 for their reception ; and that, as instruc- 
 tion, to be effectual, must be apportioned 
 to the state of the faculties, it is neces- 
 sary to lay a foundation for religious 
 principle, by endeavouring to expand 
 the intellect, and to excite and exercise 
 the moral feelings. The arguments of 
 the latter appear to me incontrovertible. 
 We do not expect miracles to be 
 
140 
 
 wrought in our favour ; and without a 
 miracle it is impossible, that, when all 
 the intermediate ideas are wanting, any 
 abstract proposition can be clearly or 
 thoroughly understood. 
 
 Highly as any sect may think of its 
 own peculiar dogmas, none will aver, 
 that in the knowledge of these dogmas 
 the sum and substance of ail the Chris- 
 tian duties are comprised. Religion de- 
 mands not only the assent of the under- 
 standing, it requires of us the perpetual 
 exercise of all the pure and amiable af- 
 fections of the Ireart, and presents to 
 those affections appropriate objects in 
 the display of the divine perfections. 
 No system of religious instruction can 
 then be complete which does not apply 
 to the heart as much as to the under- 
 standing ; nor can any be said to apply 
 to the understanding, which involves 
 ideas remote from all with which the 
 mind has been familiar. 
 
141 
 
 If we are in any doubt, let us look to 
 the example of HIM " who taught as 
 never man taught." Let us recollect, 
 that in teaching the gospel to the poor 
 and ignorant, he never failed to conde- 
 scend to the capacity of his humble audi- 
 ence, and that, while he adapted his in- 
 structions to the intellect of those whose 
 mental faculties were capable of only 
 partial exertion, he made every instruc- 
 tion a means of awakening and excit- 
 ing the best affections of the heart. Be- 
 tween the authority of custom, and the 
 authority of divine example, we cannot 
 (shoukl these be at variance) be at a loss 
 to chuse. Instead of wasting our efforts 
 in vain attempts to make children com- 
 prehend what is beyond their faculties, 
 we shall then be at pains to model our 
 instruction to the present state of the 
 infant mind, that we may gradually 
 strengthen and expand its powers ; and 
 while we thus prepare it for receiving 
 
142 
 
 the seeds of knowledge, endeavour, by 
 every means in our power, to awaken 
 the sensibilities of the heart; that when 
 the understanding is ripened, the doc- 
 trines which will then be unfolded to its 
 view, may excite the affections which 
 they are calculated to exercise and im- 
 prove. 
 
 Concerning the beneficial tendency of 
 this attention to the foundation on 
 which the superstructure of moral and 
 religious principle is to be reared, there 
 will, I trust, be little difference of opi- 
 nion ; as, far from presenting any obsta- 
 cle to the reception of the important 
 doctrines which are in due time to be 
 communicated, it will only render the 
 reception of them more certainly effica- 
 cious. It is in the integrity of moral 
 principle, and in the due regulation of 
 the affections and desires of the heart, 
 that the efficacy of religious principle is 
 most fully displayed. And as it seems 
 I 
 
14S 
 
 not to admit of dispute, that he whose 
 infant heart has been habitually excited 
 by gratitude to God, will be better pre- 
 pared for making a moral improvement 
 of every religious doctrine, than he whose 
 affections have never been called forth by 
 attention to the proofs of divine good- 
 ness ; it 'follows, that we cannot more 
 effectually promote the moral efficacy of 
 the doctrines we wish to inculcate, than 
 by directing the infant mind to objects 
 propitious to the exercise of the feelings 
 of gratitude and love. We must how- 
 ever remember, that it is not from the 
 transient, but from tbe habitual exercise 
 of the benevolent affections, that any 
 good can spring. In order, therefore, to 
 render school education substantially 
 and permanently beneficial, every school- 
 ought to be so modelled and conducted 
 as to become instrumental in the culti- 
 vation of those tempers and dispositions 
 
144 
 
 which accord with a pure and holy faith.* 
 To this object every part of the disci- 
 pline and administration should be made 
 
 * To those who take no farther interest in the edu- 
 cation of the lower orders than as it affords additional 
 security to property, it is of importance to shew, that 
 the same arguments by which they have been induced 
 to become friendly to an extension of the knowledge 
 of letters, will be found to apply with yet greater 
 force in favour of the mode of instruction above re- 
 commended. 
 
 If, in a country where all in the lower classes were 
 equally illiterate, it appeared, that out of a popula- 
 tion consisting of two millions, two thousand were 
 annually convicted of crimes against the lives and pro- 
 perties of their fellow-subjects, every thousandth per- 
 son would, according to the principles on which chan- 
 ces are calculated, be born to the gallows. But as all 
 probabilities are more or less affected by circumstances, 
 it would become necessary to inquire, by what circum- 
 stances these chances were increased or diminished ; 
 and if it were upon strict investigation to appear, that 
 of the persons convicted of felony, six out of seven 
 could neither read nor write, it would immediately 
 1 
 
145 
 
 subservient. And if, in any of the me- 
 thods usually resorted to for promoting 
 diligence and application, aught is, from 
 experience, found to have a tendency to 
 inflame and bring into activity the pas- 
 sions, which, as subversive of piety and 
 
 be concluded, that, by teaching the poor to read and 
 write, the number of felons would be thereby di- 
 minished, and property be hi an equal proportion 
 rendered more secure. On this view of the subject, 
 many on whom higher motives would have little 
 influence have become friendly to the education of 
 the poor. But when it is considered, that though 
 the greater number of thieves and robbers are 
 confessedly illiterate, education, by enabling men 
 to commit frauds and forgeries, increases the chances 
 against the security of property in one way, as 
 much as it diminishes it in another, there is some 
 reason to fear, that those recent converts to the 
 benefits of education may relapse into scepticism. 
 But let them carry their inquiries a little farther. Let 
 them endeavour to ascertain how many out of every 
 hundred of the unhappy criminals who are doomed 
 to suffer for their offences, have been instructed in the 
 G 
 
146 
 
 benevolence, are inimical to the spirit of 
 religion, it will be obvious, that every 
 such practice, however endeared by cus- 
 tom, ought without hesitation to be dis- 
 missed. Nor will it be enough to fore- 
 go what is injurious ; we must endea- 
 
 doctrines and duties of Christianity, and then, mak- 
 ing the proportionate deduction, fairly strike the ba- 
 lance. Again, Of those who have been instructed 
 in the doctrines of religion, let them determine in how 
 many instances that instruction has been calculated to 
 influence the heart; how many had in infancy been 
 impressed with a sense of the goodness, wisdom, power, 
 and holiness of the Supreme Being, and taught to 
 consider themselves as living continually in the pre- 
 sence of God, and as accountable to him for all their 
 actions. If they find, that of those who have yielded 
 to the force of temptation, not one in a thousand have 
 spent the first years of life under the habitual influ- 
 ence of such impressions, they must, upon their own 
 principles, acknowledge, that if it be possible, by any 
 method of instruction, to produce such impressions, 
 the security and happiness of society would be there- 
 by augmented a thousand fold. 
 
147 
 
 vour to discover, and to apply such in- 
 centives to exertion, as may at once sti- 
 mulate the mind, and tend to exercise 
 and improve the moral feelings and af- 
 fections. And here much assistance may 
 be derived from the hints afforded by the 
 conduct of Pestalozzi. 
 
 Whatever is eminently useful or bene- 
 ficial in his system, may indeed be traced 
 to a higher source. By attending to the 
 most perfect model, he observed the pro- 
 priety of applying directly to the mind 
 and heart, in laying the foundation of re- 
 ligious faith and religious practice. In 
 other respects a servile imitation of Pes- 
 talozzi's method of tuition may neither 
 he always practicable nor perhaps advis- 
 able. But in every imaginable situation, 
 and under every variety of circumstance, 
 the same principles may be adopted with 
 the same success. 
 
 On whatever plan a school may have 
 been organized, whatever the station of 
 
148 
 
 the scholars, or the nature of their stu- 
 dies, or the method of teaching, there 
 cannot in any instance be an objection 
 to introduce, as an auxiliary, that which 
 proposes to excite in the minds of chil- 
 dren the affections and dispositions of 
 which religion commands the perpetual 
 exercise. 
 
 Let us now take a nearer view of the 
 means which Pestalozzi resorted to for 
 effecting this important purpose. He, 
 in the first place, by questions adapted 
 to the tender age of the pupil, endea- 
 voured to ascertain whether any idea 
 existed in his mind upon the subject to 
 which he wished to direct his attention; 
 and from any one clear idea of which he 
 found the child in possession, he led him 
 on, by a series of questions, to the acquire- 
 ment of such other ideas as were most 
 intimately connected with that primary 
 conception. Thus, for example, suppose 
 that he found in the child an idea of the 
 
149 
 
 existence of a being whom he called 
 God. He, instead of teaching him to 
 repeat by rote the notions communicated 
 by divine revelation on what constitutes 
 the basis of all religious principle, pro- 
 ceeded, by questioning him, to direct his 
 attention to such of the evidences of the 
 divine power, wisdom, and goodness, as 
 were immediately within reach of his 
 perceptions. Concerning the unbounded 
 love and all-directing providence of the 
 Supreme Being, clear ideas were in like 
 manner obtained; and thus the infant 
 mind was led, at an early period, to ob- 
 jects which cannot at any period of life 
 be contemplated without producing cor- 
 respondent emotions of reverence, grati- 
 tude, love, and veneration. 
 
 Having thus prepared the heart for 
 obeying " the first and great command- 
 ment," he, by leading to a consideration 
 of the omnipresence of Deity, rendered 
 the impression deep and permanent It 
 
150 
 
 was thus that Pestalozzi laid a founda- 
 tion for the belief and practice of the 
 doctrines and duties of Christianity, when 
 the faculties of the understanding should 
 be sufficiently ripened for comprehend- 
 ing the importance of the truths that 
 have in mercy been revealed. It was 
 on the same principle, and by the same 
 method of instruction, that Pestalozzi 
 inspired his pupils with correct notions 
 of justice, probity, and benevolence. 
 The duty of doing to others as they 
 would have others in like case do to 
 them, appeared as it were a discovery of 
 their own. A truth demonstrated and 
 unquestionable. Led also in the same 
 manner to a perception of the utility 
 of order, they became conscious of the 
 necessity of adhering strictly to the 
 rules and forms of discipline, essentiaj. 
 to the preservation of that order, of 
 which they felt the benefit and advan- 
 tage. Instructed, and in a manner com- 
 
151 
 
 pelled to think, and to examine the mo- 
 tives of their conduct, they learned to 
 set a value on self-approbation, confirmed 
 by the approbation of those in whose 
 wisdom they placed confidence. 
 
 We may easily believe, that where the 
 moral feelings have been rendered thus 
 susceptible, the dread of losing the 
 esteem of a reverenced instructor would 
 impose a restraint more powerful than 
 is imposed by the terror of punishment. 
 But whether it be really possible to pro- 
 duce such a delicate sense of rectitude, 
 such moral sensibility, in a mixed multi- 
 tude of little beings, whose previous ha- 
 bits have probably been of a nature di- 
 rectly adverse to moral discipline, will 
 to some, perhaps, seem more than doubt- 
 ful. Let us not, however, prejudge the 
 question. 
 
 Concerning the possibility or impossi- 
 bility, none have a right to aver with 
 certainty, until the experiment has been 
 
152 
 
 actually and fairly made. No better op- 
 portunity for making it can be desired, 
 than that which is presented to the ma- 
 nagers of a school for girls, conducted 
 under the immediate auspices and super- 
 intendence of ladies, whose zeal to pro- 
 mote the interests of the institution is 
 kindled at the pure fountain of piety 
 and benevolence, and who, superior to 
 the vulgar passions of vanity and ambi- 
 tion, seek, in doing good, for no other 
 gratification than the happiness of con- 
 tributing to the welfare of their fellow- 
 creatures. Having no petty interests to 
 serve, no pre-conceived prejudices to 
 overcome, their judgment will be unfet- 
 tered in its operation; and knowing that 
 the improvement of the mind and heart 
 can only be effected by a gradual pro- 
 cess, they will not be discouraged by a 
 slowness of progress, but, provided they 
 perceive that improvement be indeed 
 progressive, will persevere until it is 
 
complete. Should they see fit to call 
 to their assistance those who are as yet 
 unincumbered with cares, and unemploy- 
 ed by the duties which devolve on per- 
 sons more advanced in years^ they will 
 find, even in the circles of rank and 
 fashion, those who, amid the allurements 
 of gaiety, have in the bloom of youth 
 acquired a relish for the more exalted 
 pleasures of benevolence, and who, from 
 the time devoted to the acquirement of 
 accomplishments, will willingly extract 
 a portion for a work of charity, 
 
 It must however be confessed, that it 
 is not so much from an idea of its being 
 neces-sary to seek the aid of such auxili- 
 aries, as from a conviction of the advan- 
 tages that would result to the young 
 from such a salutary employment of their 
 time and thoughts, that the suggestion 
 lias originated. 
 
 If the hints which I have taken the 
 liberty to suggest be found worthy of 
 
 G3 
 
154 
 
 attention, the adoption, (in any one 
 school,) of the principles recommended, 
 will put their utility to proof, and, if the 
 result is favourable, may lead to their 
 being generally adopted in every semi- 
 nary of education; especially in such as 
 are established for the benefit of those 
 whose minds have no chance of receiv- 
 ing improvement under the domestic 
 roof. There is particularly one descrip- 
 tion of charitable institutions to which 
 Pestalozzi's plan of ^instruction, as far as 
 it offers means of exercising the faculties 
 and affections, appears peculiarly appli- 
 cable. I allude to the numerous estab- 
 lishments which have been endowed for 
 the laudable purpose of supplying to the 
 orphan and the destitute the blessings 
 of maintenance and education. 
 
 In those seminaries of youth and inno- 
 cence benevolence has made ample pro- 
 vision, not only for the physical wants 
 of the objects of her solicitude, but for 
 
their instruction in useful arts, and in 
 moral and religious principles. When 
 we behold an assemblage of innocents 
 thus enjoying the advantages of being 
 entirely secluded from a world in which 
 they would have been exposed to the 
 contagion of vice, our hearts rejoice in 
 the anticipation of the consequences. 
 But, alas, on inquiring into the conduct 
 of the female eleves, how miserably are 
 we disappointed ! Though their educa- 
 tion has been more liberal, more exten- 
 sive, and carried on more regularly, and 
 for a greater length of time than the 
 education of girls in the same rank of life 
 in other situations, they are found not 
 only to be less qualified for the employ- 
 ments to which they are destined, but 
 less capable of acquiring the necessary 
 qualifications than others of their sex. 
 To the indolence which is the never- 
 failing concomitant of sluggish percep- 
 tion, they are generally so prone, that I 
 
156 
 
 have never yet heard of an instance of 
 the contrary. But this is not all. Of 
 the unhappy females who become victims 
 to vice it is confidently reported, that 
 a vast proportion have been brought up 
 in charitable institutions, endowed and 
 supported for the very purpose of pre- 
 serving them in virtue. 
 
 Concerning some of the many causes 
 which have contributed to render abor- 
 tive all the pains bestowed in their in- 
 struction, such convincing arguments 
 liave been offered by Mrs Cappe of York, 
 in her excellent Treatise on Charitable 
 Institutions, as cannot fail to meet with 
 merited attention from all who are in 
 anywise concerned in the management 
 of such establishments. But their suc- 
 cessful management is not merely the 
 concern of individuals, it concerns the 
 interests of society ; and to society the 
 governors are in some degree responsible 
 for the principles and conduct of the be- 
 
157 
 
 ings over whose minds, during the most 
 important period of life, they have un- 
 limited controul. Seldom, however, can 
 they be accused of negligence, or even 
 of a careless discharge of the duties of 
 their important, but very troublesome 
 office. In their anxiety to promote the 
 future well-being of the girls who have 
 in childhood innocence been received into 
 the asylums over which they preside, the 
 directors are frequently seen to take much 
 pains in the appointment of teachers, and 
 conscientiously bestow a certain portion 
 of their time on the stated days of exa- 
 mination. Obliged to commit the care 
 of all minute particulars in the manage- 
 ment of the establishment to some ma- 
 tron of approved experience, their far- 
 ther interference would not only be un- 
 necessary, but urnvise. Nor have they, 
 in all probability, any reason to complain 
 of negligence on the part of the matron, 
 or of the schoolmistress, of whose con- 
 
158 
 
 duct she has the superintendence. The 
 former maintains her authority with vi- 
 gilance and circumspection ; exacts a 
 strict compliance with every prescribed 
 regulation ; compels a punctual observ- 
 ance of every form, and a due attention 
 to every task. The latter, regardless of 
 the weariness produced by monotony, ob- 
 stinately perseveres, until by languid, but 
 reiterated attempts at imitation, the pupils 
 have at length so far obtained the power, 
 of imitating what they see done by others, 
 as to be able to perform the stated task 
 with tolerable facility. This is the work 
 of years, but is generally in the end ac^ 
 complished; and then, without an idea 
 beyond what they have acquired in the 
 course of these performances, amounting 
 perhaps to some distinct notion of the 
 difference between stitching and hem- 
 ming, and between the shapes of written 
 and printed letters, they are sent forth 
 into the world to earn their bread in ser- 
 
159 
 
 vice. If they are upon trial found des- 
 titute of observation and intelligence, 
 and appear more stupid and more indo- 
 lent than girls of the same age, educated 
 under the humble roof of parents strug- 
 gling with the hardships of poverty, it 
 is obvious, that much of the pains and 
 trouble bestowed on their superior edu- 
 cation has been lost. The cause of this 
 failure is not however so immediately 
 obvious. But is the circumstance of so 
 trivial a nature as not to be worthy of 
 investigation? Are not these girls des- 
 tined to fill a place in society, in which 
 they may either augment or detract from 
 the peace and comfort of families? Are 
 they not in themselves objects of inte- 
 rest to every benevolent mind? Young 
 and friendless, without a home to which 
 they may return for shelter, perhaps 
 without a single relative in whose hearts 
 their good or bad conduct will cause the 
 slightest emotion of joy or sorrow, they 
 
160 
 
 seem to have a peculiar claim to sympa- 
 thy antf protection. They are in fact 
 the children of the public, and it is the 
 duty of the public to pay attention to 
 the circumstances which tend either to 
 render them less useful in society, or 
 more liable to yield to the temptations 
 of vice. 
 
 In her " Thoughts on Charitable Insti- 
 tutions,"* Mrs Cappe well observes, " that 
 the great advantage over day-schools, of 
 keeping the children more ignorant of the 
 vices which too commonly affect the 
 lower orders of society, is not wholly 
 without its disadvantages. If, indeed, 
 the poor girls so carefully educated could 
 generally be placed in religious worthy 
 families, the result might be very diffe- 
 rent; and yet, even if this were possible, 
 as ignorance of vice is not the dread and 
 
 Printed at York, 1814. 
 
161 
 
 abhorrence essential to the preservation 
 of virtue ; and as these poor girls must 
 sooner or later mix in a world full of 
 temptation, even that very simplicity of 
 character, in itself so amiable, renders 
 them an easier prey to the arts of the 
 seducer, and has really a tendency to 
 accelerate their fall." 
 
 In respect to ignorance of the miseries 
 which attach to vice, the children of the 
 peasantry in remote districts are on a par 
 with girls brought up in the seclusion of 
 an Orphan Hospital ; but on entering 
 the busy scenes of life, the former, if "to- 
 lerably well educated, and accustomed 
 to the exertion of industry, will be found 
 to possess over the latter considerable 
 advantages. Both have lived in retire- 
 ment ; but how different in kind and in 
 variety have been the objects on which 
 their attention has been exercised ! Both 
 have experienced the blessings of pro- 
 tection ; but on quitting the roofs under 
 
which they have respectively been edu- 
 cated, while the simple cottager carries 
 with her the endearing recollections of 
 parental tenderness, and the assurance 
 of being still an object of interest to 
 those she loves, the eleve of charity bears 
 with her no recollections that excite the 
 glow of affection, no hope of dwelling 
 in the memory of those she leaves be- 
 hind, but a conviction that the gates of 
 the mansion in which she has been im- 
 mured, are now shut against her for 
 ever. Feeling as if alone in the world, 
 she arms herself with obstinate indiffe- 
 rence to a destiny, in which, whether 
 good or evil, she believes that none will 
 sympathize. These, it must be confess- 
 ed, are heavy disadvantages ; but they 
 are, as I apprehend, by no means irreme- 
 diable. 
 
 Though girls in every branch of life 
 are, with regard to the opportunities for 
 acquiring ideas from external objects, 
 
163 
 
 less favourably situated than boys; yet 
 as, even to the former, a great variety of 
 objects arc generally, in the common 
 course of things, presented to the exami- 
 nation of the senses, the impulse given 
 by natural curiosity seldom fails to awa- 
 ken the power of observation ; and it is 
 of consequence but very rarely that we> 
 in ordinary life, meet with any who 
 seem destitute of ideas relating to the 
 common objects of perception. We are 
 therefore apt to conclude, that the facul- 
 ties exercised in the acquirement of those 
 ideas improve spontaneously, and that it 
 is not in human power, either to retard 
 or facilitate their progress. Full of this 
 erroneous notion, when we place chil- 
 dren in situations where they are always 
 surrounded with the same objects, where 
 there is no change of circumstance, no 
 variety of aspect, nothing in short to 
 excite curiosity, or awaken attention ; 
 it is with no small surprise that we find 
 
164 
 
 them to increase in growth without in- 
 creasing in capacity or intelligence. But 
 ought not this to convince us that the 
 deficiency, if common to all in such cir- 
 cumstances, must originate in somewhat 
 peculiar to the situation? The faculties 
 of the girls of whose stupidity we con> 
 plain have never been exercised, save by 
 the dull round of daily tasks; attention 
 to other objects has never been excited, 
 nor required, and consequently the power 
 of attention has been impaired. If then 
 we perceive that their minds are unusu- 
 ally torpid, do we not also perceive am- 
 ple cause for that torpidity? As a salvo 
 to our conscience we may perhaps be sa- 
 tisfied with proofs of their being able to 
 perform the arts in which they have 
 been instructed by their teachers : But 
 though they may, by reiterated imita- 
 tion, have learned to read and write, and 
 sew and spin after the exam pie of others; 
 if incapable of the discernment essential 
 
165 
 
 towards the acquirement of ideas, on 
 what grounds do we expect that they 
 will be capable of doing aught beyond 
 what they have been taught, or even of 
 doing the same things under the slight- 
 est alteration of circumstances ? Incapa- 
 ble of receiving clear ideas from the view 
 or description of objects, they can only 
 work from a pattern, and are at best but 
 copying machines, which are at a stand 
 the moment the hand which directs their 
 movement is withdrawn. It has before 
 been observed, that indolence is the ne- 
 ver-failing concomitant of slow percep- 
 tion ; and that, in order to excuse the 
 neglect of duty which indolence has oc- 
 casioned, recourse is frequently had to 
 falsehood. It is unnecessary to add, 
 that by habitual falsehood, the mind 
 must soon be so far contaminated as to 
 be rendered liable to the contagion of 
 vice in other forms. And let it be re- 
 membered, that though the mental fa- 
 
166 
 
 culties are never thoroughly developed 
 without attention to their appropriate 
 objects, and, when not developed in in- 
 fancy, are apt to become torpid and in- 
 capable of acting, the passions require 
 no such helpful care to bring them forth, 
 but " grow with the growth, and strdng- 
 then with the strength." Where neither 
 the understanding nor the affections are 
 cultivated, the passions would reign 
 without controul, were it not that they 
 keep each other in some measure in 
 check. In the lower orders of society, 
 fear of punishment, or the dread of in- 
 curring the evils arising from loss of re- 
 putation, lay a wholesome restraint on 
 their impetuosity. But when the evil 
 seems at a distance, and when there ap- 
 pears withal to be a chance of escaping 
 it by an artful concealment of the crime, 
 its terrors will seldom be sufficiently 
 strong to cope with the greater strength 
 of present temptation. 
 
167 
 
 And how can these poor girls appre- 
 ciate the evils consequent on loss of re- 
 putation ? If their instruction in reli- 
 gion has consisted of a repetition of 
 forms of words beyond their compre- 
 hension, neither calculated to convey 
 distinct ideas to their minds, nor to ex- 
 cite any pious emotions in their hearts^ 
 can it be supposed, that the fear of in- 
 curring the divine displeasure will be 
 likely to dwell on their imagination ? 
 To whom on earth are they accountable 
 for their conduct ? Isolated, unconnect- 
 ed, and unknown, save to the few with 
 whom they have by chance associated, 
 the seducer is perhaps the only person 
 on earth from whom they expect ever 
 to hear words of kindness. Unqualified 
 to render themselves serviceable or high- 
 ly useful in society, yet anxious to ob- 
 tain notice, if ever they calculate so far 
 as to place the gratification offered to 
 vanity and indolence, against the evils at- 
 
168 
 
 tending loss of character, it is easy to 
 foresee on which side the balance will 
 preponderate. 
 
 True it is, that after they have run 
 the short career of vice and misery they 
 may find shelter in the asylums which 
 charity has opened to the penitent. I 
 should be sorry to be so far misunder- 
 stood as to be supposed inimical to such 
 works of mercy. That they have in many 
 instances been the means of saving- 
 souls from destruction, does not admit of 
 doubt ; but when rendered conspicuous 
 objects of public attention ; when their 
 claims for support from public generosity 
 are not only put in competition with the 
 claims of virtuous indigence, but held 
 forth as preferable ; and when, from the 
 sums thus collected, the soi-disant peni- 
 tents are enabled to live in greater ease 
 and luxury than is enjoyed by those of 
 lowly station who depend ou their own 
 industry for subsistence, there is some 
 
169 
 
 reason to apprehend, that pernicious ef- 
 fects may be produced from the exam- 
 ple. If, where principle is feeble, virtue 
 frequently derives its chief support from 
 the dread of incurring poverty and con- 
 tempt, whatever tends to lessen that 
 dread must also tend to lessen the reluc- 
 tance to vice, by removing a primary ob- 
 stacle. In this point of view, the pro- 
 vision made for the recovery of the lost 
 may, if ostentatiously displayed, become 
 a snare to the innocent. But does it 
 therefore follow, that we ought to shut 
 our hearts against the penitent, and doom 
 all who fall to perish in promiscuous and 
 irremediable misery! No. It only fol- 
 lows, that we ought to open our hearts 
 and understandings to a consideration of 
 the means, by which we may increase 
 the power of virtuous principle in the 
 minds of those of the sex who, of all 
 others, are most liable to be exposed 
 to the snares of seduction. " Offences 
 H 
 
170 
 
 must come, but woe to him through 
 whom the offence cometh." 
 
 The first thing to be done, is to remove 
 that obstruction to the operations of the 
 mental faculties, which arises from oppos- 
 ing the laws of nature. To the eleves of 
 charity, precluded as they are by the situ- 
 ation in which they are placed from com- 
 mon opportunities of observation, and thus 
 deprived of the natural means of exercis- 
 ing their faculties, it is the duty of those 
 on whom they are dependent to make 
 some compensation for the heavy loss they 
 thus sustain. By a few simple contrivan- 
 ces, judiciously planned, and carefully 
 practised, they may be made habitually to 
 exert their minds in the acquirement of 
 clear and accurate notions, concerning 
 all the objects of perception which can 
 be brought within reach of their obser- 
 vation ; and thus their mental powers, 
 instead of being suffered to remain dor- 
 mant, will be gradually ^developed and 
 
171 
 
 improved, and rendered capable of being- 
 exerted on other objects. 
 
 By farther care, the affections of the 
 heart may be effectually roused from 
 that state of torpor into which, where 
 there are none of the mutual endear- 
 ments of domestic life, they are so apt 
 to fall. In this respect, where the go- 
 vernment of such establishments devolves 
 on mercenaries of mean endowments, 
 a great deficiency will, I believe, be very 
 generally observable. In care of the 
 health, and in occasional indulgences of 
 the palate, such persons comprise all 
 their notions of tenderness. Nor does 
 the possibility of awakening any of the 
 finer emotions of the heart ever occur to 
 them ; nor, if it did occur, would the 
 propriety of making the attempt be evi- 
 dent to their understandings. There is 
 little chance, that in the routine of re- 
 ligious instruction, when conducted by 
 persons of confined intellect, any very 
 
172 
 
 salutary impression should be made upon 
 the heart; for seldom, in such cases, are 
 the objects of religious faith placed be- 
 fore the mind in a manner calculated to 
 excite an emotion of love, gratitude, or 
 veneration. And as to those tempers 
 and dispositions inculcated by the apos- 
 tle in that divine exhortation, " Little 
 children, love one another," it is not, 
 alas ! by the restraints of rigid discipline 
 that they can be effectually improved. 
 
 The feelings which lead to mutual love, 
 and mutual forbearance, must be culti- 
 vated by other means ; and never, not 
 even under the domestic roof, is more 
 ample opportunity presented for culti- 
 vating them than such institutions as 
 we now speak of obviously afford. The 
 mother's milk is not more necessary for 
 the sustenance of her infant offspring, 
 than is maternal tenderness for preserv- 
 ing the vital flow of affection. When, 
 therefore, children are deprived of a mo- 
 
173 
 
 ther's care, it is incumbent on us to make 
 for them, equally in both instances, sucli 
 a provision as may compensate for the 
 deprivation. But however kindly dis- 
 posed may be the feelings of the matron 
 who presides over the establishment, it 
 is impossible that each of the little beings 
 placed beneath her care can be made to 
 feel herself the peculiar object of her 
 tenderness. Fixed in her orbit, she, like 
 a distant planet, dispenses on all an equal 
 portion of light ; but none are warmed 
 by its beams. But may not the children 
 be made to stand to each other in those 
 endearing relations from which all the 
 charities of life are ordained to emanate? 
 May not all the elder girls be to each 
 other as sisters, and each of these, again, 
 stand in the relation of mother to a cer- 
 tain number of those of more tender 
 age ? It will not surely be averred, that 
 the most careful instruction in any art 
 or science could, by any possibility, be- 
 H 3 
 
174 
 
 come to them more beneficial than in- 
 struction in the art of managing the tem- 
 pers, sweetening the dispositions, and 
 awakening the intellects of their infant 
 charge. By one law, indeed, all must 
 be governed to produce any permanently 
 good effect, the law of kindness. Nei- 
 ther in word nor in deed must this Jaw 
 be ever broken. By it not only every 
 act of severity, but every act of injudi- 
 cious indulgence, must be tried. Thus 
 would the mind be gradually habituated 
 to look forward to the future conse- 
 quences of the present conduct, and both 
 mind and heart, gratified by the success 
 which had attended the vigilant dis- 
 charge of duty, would, on entering the 
 world, be prepared to apply with dili- 
 gence to the discharge of new and more 
 extensive duties. 
 
 I forbear to speak of the advantages 
 that would result to society, from con- 
 verting the institutions alluded to into 
 
175 
 
 seminaries for training girls for becom- 
 ing expert and judicious in the manage- 
 ment and early education of infants of a 
 superior class. In the treatise to which 
 I have had occasion to allude, all that I 
 could urge on that subject has been an- 
 ticipated by one whose remarks bear the 
 authority of wisdom and experience. 
 But whatever situations the objects of 
 such institutions are destined to fill, the 
 benefit that will result to them, from the 
 previous habitual exercise of their facul- 
 ties and affections, appears unquestion- 
 able. 
 
 The only thing, then, that remains to 
 be offered to consideration, is the medium 
 through which this object is to be effect- 
 ed. Can it be supposed, that the gentle- 
 men (whether lay or ecclesiastic), who 
 are governors of such establishments, will 
 devote their time and attention to form- 
 ing the mind and habits of little girls? 
 Is it to be presumed, that the matron on 
 
176 
 
 whom the task devolves, is always com- 
 petent to the task ? If she is not, ho\r 
 is her incompetency to be discovered? 
 To whom is the state of intellect, the 
 temper, the dispositions, and the conduct 
 of those secluded beings known ? But 
 why are they thus sequestered from 
 needful observation ? Instead of being- 
 left solely dependent on the wisdom of 
 a governess or matron, why are they not 
 placed under the inspection and direction 
 of a select number of persons of their 
 own sex filling respectable situations in 
 society ? 
 
 It would, I grant, be sufficient in reply 
 to shew, that the few institutions of an- 
 cient or modern foundation, which have 
 of late years been entrusted solely to the 
 care and management of ladies, have ma- 
 terially suffered by the innovation ; and 
 that the girls sent from them into the 
 world, are even worse qualified than they 
 used formerly to be. The very reverse, 
 
177 
 
 however, is a fact which I believe to he 
 incontrovertihly established. Whence 
 then the jealousy of interference ? Alas ! 
 from patronage, the root of many evils. 
 Wherever party is permitted to exert its 
 pernicious influence, even the paltry 
 place of teacher or matron of an hospi- 
 tal becomes an object whereon to exer- 
 cise its baleful spirit; and whoever owes 
 advancement to patronage, and not to 
 merit, must at all events be tenaciously 
 supported ; nor can such an one be found 
 fault with, or even supposed to be falli- 
 ble, without wounding the pride of the 
 patron in the tenderest point. 
 
 These are however extreme cases ; and I 
 am convinced that a reluctance to depart 
 from ancient practices may, in general, be 
 more justly ascribed to respect for what- 
 ever has long been sanctioned by the au- 
 thority of custom. But it should be recol- 
 lected, that though the mode of preparing 
 any description of beings for performing 
 
178 
 
 the duties to which they are destined, may 
 remain unaltered, the habits and manners 
 of society must meanwhile be undergo- 
 ing material alteration. Can it then be 
 imagined, that the same education which 
 was an hundred years ago deemed eligi- 
 ble and sufficient, will at the present day 
 suffice to shield them from temptation, 
 or to enable them to discharge with pro- 
 priety the duties attached to various si- 
 tuations, to which the changes that have 
 taken place in the manners of society 
 have given birth? In order to meet this 
 change, it were in vain- to endeavour to 
 accomplish the pupils in every art that 
 happens to come in vogue ; for soon, by 
 the fluctuations of fashion, might that 
 knowledge be rendered useless. But 
 never can our endeavours to improve the 
 moral and intellectual faculties of ra- 
 tional agents be thus abortive. Never 
 can the pains that are taken to awaken 
 the pious and benevolent affections be- 
 
179 
 
 come altogether nugatory, provided 
 those affections are allowed such oppor- 
 tunities of perpetual exercise as to ren- 
 der them, during the important period of 
 youth, habitual inmates of the breast. 
 
EXAMPLES 
 o* 
 
 QUESTIONS 
 
 CALCULATED TO 
 
 DEVELOP THE FACULTIES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 INFANT MIND. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 THE method of instructing by interro- 
 gation is not an invention of modern 
 date ; it is, on the contrary, known to 
 have been practised by some of the wisest 
 and most revered of the ancient philoso- 
 phers ; nor has it, indeed, at any period 
 fallen totally into disuse ; but, though 
 retained in form, it has been so perverted 
 from its original purpose, that instead of 
 being regarded as a mode of exciting the 
 mind to an exertion of its powers, it is 
 only resorted to as an expedient for as- 
 sisting the memory, when it is our wish 
 to impress it with axioms which the in- 
 tellect is not prepared to receive, or com- 
 prehend. The pupil, in this case, does 
 
184 
 
 not refer the question to his understand- 
 ing, but finds it connected with the an- 
 swer in his mind by an arbitrary associ- 
 ation ; and should he at an after period 
 be led to reconsider the important truths 
 which he thus learns to repeat by rote, 
 as it is in the answers that he will find 
 them to be contained, he will set aside 
 the questions as superfluous. 
 
 But though the questions, in such in- 
 stances, contribute little to instruction, 
 when propositions are to be commit- 
 ted to memory, of a nature far remote 
 from every idea with which the mind of 
 the pupil is familiar, their use as a me- 
 moria technica is sufficiently obvious. 
 Wherever, therefore, it is deemed neces- 
 sary to impress upon the memory words 
 and terms of mighty import, while the 
 mind is yet incapable of attaching to 
 them any corresponding idea, the form 
 of question and answer will justly obtain 
 a preference. Concerning the benefits 
 
185 
 
 to be derived from the exercise, opinions 
 may differ, but it must be admitted by 
 all, that when a child is to be made to 
 repeat answers to propositions beyond 
 his comprehension, the words must ne- 
 cessarily be put into his mouth, for by 
 his own mind they could not possibly 
 be suggested. 
 
 What is thus learned may, at a future 
 period, be recollected with advantage ; 
 but if the instruction contained in those 
 propositions be of the utmost impor- 
 tance to his soul ; if it be of a nature 
 that nearly concerns his eternal welfare ; 
 can it be deemed safe or prudent to cast 
 our sole depenclance on the strength of 
 his memory, which may, perchance, as 
 the understanding opens, recal the truths 
 we have impressed upon it to his consi- 
 deration ? Would it not be a safer and a 
 better course, to endeavour to prepare 
 his mind for comprehending the doc- 
 trines we so justly value, by enabling 
 
186 
 
 him, through the exercise of his faculties, 
 to acquire the intermediate ideas ? 
 
 For the accomplishment of this high 
 ohject the mode of instructing by interro- 
 gation appears well adapted. But when 
 it is to be thus applied, we must carefully 
 abstain from helping the pupil to the pro- 
 per answer, as otherwise we shall be de- 
 feating our purpose ; nor will such as- 
 sistance be necessary, for questions that 
 are calculated to excite to the acquire- 
 ment of new ideas must be so adapted 
 to the present state of the mind as to be 
 easily understood ; in which case the re- 
 ply will be given spontaneously. 
 
 As questions are on this system resort- 
 ed to, not as expedients to assist the 
 memory, but as means of suggesting 
 new ideas to the mind, and thereby 
 preparing it for comprehending the im- 
 portant truths of religion, every ques- 
 tion found beyond the comprehension of 
 the pupil must be put aside as useless, 
 
187 
 
 until, by suggesting ideas more nearly 
 connected with those he is possessed of, 
 the mind has been gradually expanded 
 to the degree necessary for comprehend- 
 ing them, 
 
 In the following pages an attempt has 
 been made to form a series of questions 
 on this model. The examples given are, 
 however, by no means presented as being- 
 adequate or complete, but merely as af- 
 fording hints to the instructor concerning 
 the mode of bringing the powers of the 
 infant mind into action, and of exercising 
 those powers. In each description of 
 questions, as they severally apply to the 
 understanding or the heart, much must 
 necessarily be left to the discretion of the 
 instructor, who may omit or enlarge at 
 pleasure; taking care, in every instance, 
 to modify the question so as it may be 
 thoroughly understood. With this pre- 
 caution, teachers in private families, by 
 selecting such parts of the work as ap- 
 
188 
 
 pear to them best adapted to the minds 
 of their pupils, may avail themselves of 
 whatever assistance it is calculated to 
 afford in developing the faculties. It 
 may thus, though composed chiefly with 
 a view to the instruction of children in 
 the lower stations, become in some de- 
 gree useful in every station. 
 
 As, happily, in this part of the king- 
 dom, a notion of the existence of a 
 Supreme Being is in every situation in 
 life one of the first ideas communicat- 
 ed to th$ infant mind, I have proceed- 
 ed on the supposition, that some no- 
 tion of Deity has been received. And 
 as the questions intended to lead to a 
 consideration of the attributes of the 
 divine nature have been found perfect- 
 ly intelligible to little girls of seven 
 and eight years of age, recently ad- 
 mitted into a charity-school, it is to be 
 hoped they will not be found beyond 
 ihc capacity of any children of the same 
 
189 
 
 age. To some they may perhaps appear 
 objectionable, as being too simple and 
 obvious. But if we wish to apply to 
 the minds of children, we must not dis- 
 dain to stoop to them. It is by taking 
 hold of what they know, that we can 
 alone lead them to greater knowledge, 
 and only by awakening the affections 
 that we can hope to raise the heart to 
 God. 
 
 i 3 
 
EXAMPLES, &e. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 Examples of Questions intended to exercise 
 the Perceptions by attention to external 
 objects. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 Questioner. Do you know the mean- 
 ing of the words upright and across, and 
 flat and crooked ? 
 
 Answer 
 
 Q. Let all hold the first finger of their 
 right hands pointing upwards, and then 
 do you tell me wtych is most truly and 
 exactly upright. 
 
A 
 
 Q. Now let all hold the same finger 
 straight across, or horizontal, as it is pro- 
 perly termed. Very well ; next shew me 
 what crooked means, by holding your 
 finger crooked. 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do you know what is meant by 
 slanting, or oblique ? If you do, explain, 
 by holding your ringer in an oblique di- 
 rection. 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Let us now examine the tables 
 and desks in the room : Is any part of 
 that before us what you call flat ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Are any parts of the table upright? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Are any of its parts horizontal or 
 straight across ? 
 
 A. ... 
 
 Q. Is the surface of that desk flat like 
 the table, or is it slanting? 
 
193 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Can you now describe to me the 
 form of the table ? 
 
 A . . 
 
 Q. Are all tables made exactly of the 
 same form ? Describe then the form 
 of any other table that you have seen. 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do you know the difference be- 
 twixt square and round ? Here are two 
 bits of paper, one square and one round; 
 tell me which is square and which round? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Are all sides of a square of equal 
 length ? Fold that piece of paper from 
 corner to corner, and you will discover 
 whether they are exactly equal. 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Can you now describe the nature 
 of a square ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Examine this round or circular pa- 
 per ; fold and refold it, now open it, and 
 
194 
 
 observe whether all the folds do not meet 
 in the middle, or what is more properly 
 called the centre. Next, look and tell 
 me whether the outward edge be more 
 distant from the middle in one part than 
 in another ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. A circle is always perfectly round, 
 and the middle point of the circle is call- 
 ed the centre : Now give me an accu- 
 rate description of a circle. 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Can you describe to me the form 
 of a cart-wheel? Is it square or circular ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Where do the spokes of the wheel 
 meet? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Are all the spokes of a wheel of 
 equal length ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Why are wheels made of a circu- 
 lar form, instead of being made square ? 
 
195 
 
 A 
 
 Q. How many corners has a square ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is every thing which has four cor- 
 ners exactly square ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Observe the shape of the door: 
 Has it not four corners ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. And is it exactly square ? Is it equal 
 in length and breadth ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. When a thing is made longer than 
 it is broad, it is called oblong : Now tell 
 me the form of the door. 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Repeat to me the meaning of the 
 word circular. 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is a circle long or broad, or is it 
 quite round ? 
 
 A. 
 
196' 
 
 Q. Whereabouts is the centre of a 
 circle ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Where is the centre of a square ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Are all the windows of this room 
 of the same size and form ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. In what form are they made ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Of what shape is this room ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Of what shape is the poker that 
 stirs the fire ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Of what shape are the tongs and 
 the shovel ? 
 
 A 
 
197 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 Questioner. Let us now examine the 
 forms of the capital letters of the alpha* 
 bet. What letter is formed by two ob- 
 lique lines meeting at top, and slanting 
 opposite ways, and joined about half way 
 down by a short line across ? ( A ) 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Describe to me how this next let- 
 ter is formed.* 
 
 A. 
 
 * The same mode of interrogation may be pursued 
 with regard to the other letters of the alphabet, as a 
 means of producing habits of observation and accu- 
 racy. Nor should any means which can contribute 
 to the formation of such habits be rejected on account 
 of their simplicity. It is by attending to the objects 
 with which they are surrounded, that children gradu- 
 ally acquire the use of their external senses ; and in 
 proportion as we can increase that attention, we in- 
 
198 
 
 SECTION III. 
 On different Substances. 
 
 Questioner. Saw the air in this man- 
 ner, back and forwards, with your hand : 
 Does the air make any resistance ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Strike the table with your hand : 
 Does it yield to you as the air did? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. The table is a substance, and is 
 therefore seen and felt. In this respect 
 all substances are alike. What then is 
 the nature of a substance ? 
 
 crease in them the quickness of discernment. The 
 exercises, of which examples have been given in the 
 two preceding sections, may be extended at pleasure, 
 until accurate notions concerning the forms and ap- 
 pearances of all objects within reach of observation has 
 been obtained. 
 
199 
 
 A 
 
 Q. But are all substances of the same 
 sort or class ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. You are to be seen and felt", your 
 body is therefore a substance, so is a 
 cabbage, for it also is a thing that we 
 can both see and feel ; but there is surely 
 some difference between you and a cab- 
 bage-stock. 
 
 A 
 
 Q. True, a cabbage grows in the ground, 
 and you are a living creature : What 
 grows in the earth is called vegetable, 
 what lives is called animal, because it is 
 animated. Now tell me whether you 
 are an animal or a vegetable ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is the hair of your head a substance ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is hair an animal or vegetable sub- 
 stance ? 
 
 A. 
 
200 
 
 Q. Of what is that table made ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. But what is wood ? Did it ever 
 grow in the earth ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Of what substance then is the 
 table ? Is it animal or vegetable ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Of what are those shoes made ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Of what is leather made ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Of what substance then is leather ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Are there any other sorts of sub^ 
 stances besides animal or vegetable ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Look at the grate and fire-irons : 
 are they either animal or vegetable? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. They are made of iron, which is a 
 metal, and all metals are mineral substan* 
 
201 
 
 ces. Is this penny-piece made of cop- 
 per? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is copper a metal ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Of what substance then is the 
 penny-piece? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Here is a pin. Of what substance 
 is the pin ? Is it mineral or vegetable ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Your memory may perhaps be as^ 
 sisted by a rhyme ; learn to repeat, 
 
 In earth the vegetables grow, 
 
 Fast rooted in the soil, 
 And minerals lie deep below, 
 
 Dug thertcewith care and toil. 
 
 But animals have power of motiou, 
 
 For life to them is given ; 
 On earth, or in the air or ocean, 
 
 Each kind's preserved by heaven. 
 
202 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 Same Subject continued. 
 
 Questioner. Can you point out to me 
 any thing of mineral substance ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Can you show me a vegetable pro- 
 duction ; for you know that whatever 
 has been once a vegetable is of vegeta- 
 ble substance ? 
 
 A. ...... 
 
 Q. Can you show me any thing of 
 animal substance? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. But there is another class of which 
 we have not yet spoken ; I mean earthy 
 substances, or substances belonging to 
 the earth, being neither mineral nor ve- 
 getable. Did you ever see clay dug from 
 the earth? Of what substance is the 
 clay ? 
 
203 
 
 A. ..... . 
 
 Q. Does stone belong to the earth ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Of what substance is stone ? 
 
 A. ...... 
 
 Q. Yes, it is a hard earthy substance. 
 Now examine that framed writing-slate : 
 Are the slate and frame of the same sub- 
 stance ? 
 
 A. ...... 
 
 Q. Of what substance is the slate ? 
 
 A . 
 
 Q. Of what substance is the frame ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Of what substance is the pencil ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is this pen of the same substance 
 as the pencil? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Of what substance is the pen ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. I shall now name things with 
 which you are familiar, and expect who- 
 i 
 
204 
 
 ever I point to, or look at, to answer me, 
 by saying of what substance the thing is 
 of. To begin, then, I say, the floor ? 
 
 A. ...... 
 
 Q. The nails by which the boards are 
 fastened ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. The hearth ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. A paper book ? 
 
 A k . 
 
 Q. The binding of a bound book' 
 
 A. ..... . 
 
 Q. A golden guinea ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. The gold leaf with which bound 
 books and other things are gilded ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. A hair-brush ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. A birch or broom besom ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. A spinning-wheel ? 
 
 3 
 
205 
 
 4 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Woollen yarn ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Lint or flax ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Linen yarn ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Cotton? 
 
 A 
 
 &c. &c. * 
 
 * Children will soon learn to proceed of themselves 
 in this exercise. Nor let it be supposed, that in 
 being thus converted into an agreeable recreation, its 
 utility in promoting the ends of education will be 
 diminished. Between children who have spent their 
 play hours in listless indolence, and those who, 
 during the intervals devoted to relaxation, have been 
 actively engaged in amusements which afford exercise, 
 either to body or mind, a radical difference will be 
 
 K 
 
206 
 
 PART II. 
 
 Examples of Questions calculated to lead 
 the mind to such a consideration of the 
 Divine Attributes as may tend to im- 
 press the heart. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 Questioner. You are a living being ; 
 Who gave you life ? 
 
 Answer 
 
 Q. Did not your parents live before 
 you were born ? Who gave life to them ? 
 
 A. 
 
 discernible. Much therefore does it concern every 
 teacher to encourage such recreations as may tend 
 to invigorate the faculties of his pupils. 
 
207 
 
 Q. And who gave life to the parents 
 of your parents ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do you suppose, that in time to 
 come God will give life to creatures yet 
 unborn ? 
 
 A. 
 
 Q. God has then existed in times that 
 are past, and shall continue to exist in 
 times that are to come ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do you think that the earth, and 
 the seas, and the skies, have been lately 
 made ; or that they were made a great 
 great many ages ago ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q, By whom were they made ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. God must then have lived before 
 all worlds. Are there many sorts of liv- 
 ing creatures in the earth ? 
 
 A. . ' 
 
208 
 
 Q. Who made all those living creatures 
 to exist ? 
 
 A. ...... 
 
 Q. Does the earth produce what is 
 needful for the support of all who live 
 in it? 
 
 A . 
 
 Q. Is it from the earth alone that we 
 derive all that is necessary for our com- 
 fort ? or has God been pleased that we 
 should receive benefit from things plac- 
 ed at a distance from the earth ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. What is it that gives us light by 
 day? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is not the sun at a great distance 
 from the earth ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Yet, are we not cheered by its 
 light, and wanned by its heat? 
 
 A. ....... 
 
 Q. Does the sun shine on us because 
 
5209 
 
 it loves us ; or is it the love and mercy 
 of God that makes it continue to en- 
 lighten us day by day ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is it not in the power of God to 
 extinguish (or put out) the light of the 
 sun, and thence to leave us in perpetual 
 darkness ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is it not in the power of the Ma- 
 ker of all things to destroy the earth 
 and all the worlds that he has made ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. But do you not trust and expect 
 that God will continue to permit the sun 
 to shine in its season? 
 
 A . 
 
 Q. Do you not hope and trust that 
 the earth will continue to produce food 
 to supply the wants of living creatures ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Why do you thus expect the con- 
 tinuance of these mercies? Is it because 
 
210 
 
 you believe that God is as good as he 
 is powerful ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Where is God ? Is he in heaven ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Are we then far removed from his 
 sight? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Does he behold us continually ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Can we with our bodily eyes see 
 God? 
 
 A . 
 
 Q. You see me and hear my voice ; 
 but do you see the spirit within me ? Do 
 you see the thoughts which stir my 
 heart? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. My spirit is confined within this 
 body ; but do you think that the spirit 
 of the great and. incomprehensible Fa- 
 ther of our spirits is confined in the man- 
 ner that ours are ? 
 
211 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is then the Almighty, by whose 
 power the heavens and the earth were 
 made, now, at this moment, near us ? Do 
 we stand in his sight ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. When shall we be out of his sight ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. At whatever time we pray to God, 
 we are certain then of his being present 
 to hear us ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. When any one gives you what is 
 good, do you feel glad and thankful ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. If you were in danger of being 
 killed, would you not be very grateful 
 to any one who rescued you from the 
 danger ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Would you strive on such occa- 
 sions to show your gratitude ? 
 
 A. 
 
12 
 
 Q. Who gave you life and every bless- 
 ing that you enjoy ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Who has by night and by day pre- 
 served your life ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. And ought you not then to feel 
 very thankful to Gocl ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. But if you really feel thankful, will 
 you not express your thanks ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. When you awake to the light of a 
 new day, ought you not to thank him 
 who has preserved you through the dark 
 hours of night ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. When you go to your bed at night, 
 ought you not to express your gratitude 
 to him who has protected you through 
 the day from numerous clangers ? 
 
 A. 
 
213 
 
 SECTION II. 
 Experience of Personal Mercies. 
 
 Questioner. Can you walk and run ? 
 
 Ansicer 
 
 Q. Could you walk as soon as you 
 were born ? 
 
 A . 
 
 Q. Who taught you to walk t or do 
 you think that you would have learned 
 to walk without being taught ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. No. If you had been left in a 
 wood as soon as you were able to creep 
 upon the ground, you would not have 
 learned to walk, but have run upon your 
 hands and feet all your life. Some poor 
 unfortunate children, who, when desert- 
 ed by their parents, have been found in 
 different parts of the world ; and these, 
 even at the age of fourteen and fifteen, 
 K 3 
 
214 
 
 did not walk as we do, but on their 
 hands and feet; for they, poor things, 
 had no example before them but the 
 beasts of the field ? Can you put on 
 your own clothes ? Can you dress your- 
 self? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Who taught you thus to use your 
 hands ? 
 
 A . . 
 
 Q. Do you think if you had been left 
 in a forest, like the poor deserted chil- 
 dren I have mentioned, that you could 
 have dressed yourself if clothes had been 
 given you ? 
 
 A . 
 
 Q. Who carried you until you were 
 able to walk ? 
 
 A. ...... 
 
 Q. Who cherished you in her bosom, 
 and fed you and took care of you when 
 you could not take care of yourself ? 
 
 A. 
 
215 
 
 Q. Were you ever sick ? 
 A 
 
 Q. When you were sick, did your mo- 
 ther then watch over you, wishing all 
 the time that you might recover ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. But had she it in her power by 
 her wishes to preserve your life ? 
 
 A. ...... 
 
 Q. By whose power then were you 
 restored to health ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Was it by God's blessing on your 
 mother's care that you were restored ? 
 
 A. 
 
 Q. God then heard your mother when 
 she prayed for you ; she asked for your 
 recovery, and God granted what she 
 asked. 
 
 A. ...... 
 
 Q. You are much indebted to your 
 mother; is she not still anxious that you 
 should be preserved from every danger ? 
 
216 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Can she save you from danger 
 when you are out of her sight ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. But does she not think of you, and 
 love you, when you are absent from her? 
 
 A. 
 
 Q. Her mind can then be with you, 
 though her body is at home : But can 
 she, by thinking of you, prevent your 
 being exposed to any injury ? 
 
 A 
 
 . Q. It is then only while she is present 
 with you that the strength of her arm 
 lias power to help you ?* 
 
 * It will be perceived, that where children have 
 been early deprived of parental care, by death or de- 
 sertion, the form of the questions must be altered to 
 suit their peculiar circumstances ; and framed in such 
 terms as may lead to a consideration of the goodness 
 of God, in raising up to them the benefactors who 
 have supplied to them the place of parents. 
 
217 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is God Almighty confined to one 
 place as we his creatures are ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is God equally present, and always 
 present, in heaven and earth, and in all 
 places ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Can we ever, for a single moment 
 of our existence, be out of his sight ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Can we speak so low as that God 
 cannot hear what we say ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Can we think without his know- 
 ing the thoughts of our hearts ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is God, who is thus all-seeing and 
 all- wise, visible in our eyes ? Can we see 
 him as we see one another ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. You believe that your mother 
 thinks of you and loves you; but do you 
 
18 
 
 see the thoughts of her heart? Do you 
 see that within her which thinks and 
 loves ? 
 
 A. ....... 
 
 Q. You feel the effects of her kind- 
 ness, and therefore believe that she loves 
 you in her heart, do you not ? 
 
 A . 
 
 Q. And do you not feel the effects of 
 the kindness and goodness of God, who 
 has given you eyes to see, and ears to 
 hear, and a mind capable of receiving in- 
 struction ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Who gave your mother the heart 
 to love you ? Who inspires every mother 
 with fondness for the child of her bo- 
 som ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Who has given you the friends who 
 have taken care of you when too young 
 to take care of yourself? 
 
 A 
 
219 
 
 , 
 
 Q. By whom has your life been pre- , 
 served to this present moment? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is God still able to protect you ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is it only in day-light, and while 
 you are in company of your friends, that 
 God is able to preserve you ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. If God can preserve you by night 
 as well as by day, would it not be very 
 foolish to fear to be alone ? 
 
 A. 
 
 Q. Have you ever heard of silly chil* 
 clren who were afraid of being in the 
 dark ? 
 
 A. ..!.',.. 
 
 Q. But can those who know and are 
 assured that God surrounds them, and 
 that his presence is on every side, be ever 
 thus afraid ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do you think yourself safe when 
 
220 
 
 under the immediate care and protection 
 of your mother ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. But by whom has your mother 
 been so long protected and preserved ? 
 
 A. ...... 
 
 Q. Has she from the first moment of 
 her existence been in the presence of 
 God, and fed by his bounty, and cherish- 
 ed by his goodness, and preserved by his 
 mercy ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Has God, in giving life to you, be- 
 stowed a blessing on your parents ? 
 
 A. 
 
 Q. Do we call that which makes us 
 happy, or that which makes us unhappy, 
 a blessing? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do naughty and disobedient chil- 
 dren make their parents happy ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. But do not good and obedient chil- 
 
221 
 
 dren gladden the hearts of their parents, 
 and make them very happy indeed ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Would you like to be looked upon 
 as a blessing by your parents and friends? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. By what sort of behaviour will you 
 give them most reason to rejoice in you? 
 
 A. ...... 
 
 Q. Think then often of all that they 
 have done for you.; and, when you think 
 of it, be thankful ? 
 
 A. 
 
 SECTION. III. 
 
 Relating to the Provision made for our 
 Sustenance. 
 
 Questioner. Are you glad to have 
 bread to eat when you are hungry ? 
 
A 
 
 Q. Where does the bread come from ? 
 
 A . 
 
 Q. But of what does your mother or 
 the baker make the bread ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Who makes the flour or the meal ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Of what does the miller make the 
 meal ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Meal or flour may be made of 
 many different kinds of grain; but of 
 whatever sort it is made, whether of 
 wheat, or oats, or barley, it is still made 
 of grain. Now, of what is the flour that 
 makes white bread or wheaten bread 
 made ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Of what is oat-meal made ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Of what is barley-meal made ? 
 
 A. ... 
 
223 
 
 Q. Well, you see, they are all made 
 of grain. But where does the wheat, 
 and oats, and barley come from ? Does 
 corn fall in showers from the skies, like 
 hail or snow? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. True : it does grow in the fields. 
 But does the corn grow without having 
 been sown ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Well, it is, as you say, sown bv the 
 farmer; but, after it is sown, can the far- 
 mer make it grow? Can the fanner 
 nourish it with dews from heaven, and 
 make the sun shine to ripen it ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. You answer well ; he cannot. The 
 farmer tills the ground and sows the 
 grain, but he can do no more. Who 
 then is it that sends the rain in its sea- 
 son, and makes the summer's sun to 
 shine, that it may ripen the fruits of the 
 
earth, to fill our mouths with food, and 
 our hearts with gladness ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. It is to God then that we are in- 
 debted for the bread we eat ; and do you 
 not ask him for your daily bread ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Repeat the Lord's Prayer. 
 
 A 
 
 Q. In what part of this prayer do you 
 ask of God the food of which we have 
 been speaking ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Are all sorts of food equally from 
 God? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Have you not been fed every day 
 of your life with food necessary to your 
 support ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Has not God then been very good 
 to you ? 
 
 A. 
 
225 
 
 Q. And do you not love God for his 
 goodness ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Ought you not to thank him for 
 having been so good to you ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. But how can you show that you 
 are grateful to God ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. When your parents or friends are 
 very kind to you, do you not feel a de- 
 sire to please them ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Then, if you believe that God has 
 been very good to you, will you not de- 
 sire to please him ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do you think that God, who is all 
 goodness, can be pleased with you if you 
 are naughty, and obstinate, and disobe- 
 dient? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is it then only by being a good 
 
226 
 
 child that you can show your sense of 
 God's goodness to you ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. If you really wish to show your 
 gratitude to God, you will endeavour to 
 please him, by being a good child. All 
 who hear me will remember this ; If we 
 love God for his goodness, our love to 
 him will make us strive to be good, that 
 we may please him. 
 
 A. 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 Clothing. 
 
 Questioner. Of what is that linen made ? 
 
 Answer 
 
 Q. Of yarn, spun by the wheel : but 
 of what was the yarn made ? 
 A. 
 
227 
 
 Q. Do you know whether lint or flax 
 (for it is the same thing) be a production 
 of the earth, or an animal substance ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Very well. It does grow in the 
 earth, and is beat out and combed by the 
 lint-dressers, so as to be made fit for 
 being spun upon the wheel. Can you 
 now tell me if that stuff is made of lint ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Of what is it then made ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Of what is worsted yarn composed? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. What is wool ? Does wool grow 
 in the earth like lint? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. You have told me what wool is, and 
 what lint is ; now tell me distinctly 
 which is the animal production, and 
 which the vegetable production ? 
 
 A. . . 
 
 CJ. Of what is that calico made ? 
 
 3 
 
228 
 
 A. ...... 
 
 Q. Is cotton an animal or vegetable 
 production ? If you do not know I will 
 tell you. 
 
 A. ...... 
 
 Q. Who buys the clothes you wear? 
 
 who gives them to you ? 
 
 A. ...... 
 
 Q. Are you not very thankful to your 
 friends for giving you clothes to keep 
 you warm ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. You ought indeed to be very grate- 
 ful to the friends who take such kind 
 care of you ? But where do they get 
 the clothing with which they provide 
 you? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. And who blesses them with the 
 means ? Would they have money to buy 
 clothes' for you were it not by the good 
 providence of God ? 
 
Q. You have told me that that stuff 
 is made of worsted, spun from wool, 
 and that wool grows on the backs of 
 sheep : How do the sheep live ? what is 
 their food ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Who makes the grass to spring 
 upon the mountains, for the subsistence 
 of the flocks ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Have you ever seen the young 
 lambs sporting by the side of their dams, 
 and looking so happy, though so help- 
 less ? 
 
 A. ...... 
 
 Q. Do you think that the little lamb- 
 kins, when they first begin to eat, re- 
 quire young and tender grass ? 
 
 A . 
 
 Q. What then do you think of the 
 goodness of God, who ordains, that at 
 the very season when the little lambs 
 L 
 
230 
 
 come forth, the young grass should shoot 
 its tender sprouts that they may feed.? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Have you ever heard the bleating 
 of a flock of sheep ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do you think you could know the 
 voice of one sheep from that of another ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Who then teaches the mother to 
 know the bleat of her own lamb, and the 
 lamb to know its own mother ? 
 
 A. ...... 
 
 Q. It is God then that preserves the 
 flocks from perishing : and is it not then 
 to God that we are indebted for all that 
 the flocks produce ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. The flax and the cotton grow in 
 the fields, and are cultivated by the 
 hands of man : but who made the earth 
 in which they grow r 
 
 A. 
 
231 
 
 Q. Does the lint, when it grows up 
 and ripens, produce seed ? and is that 
 seed fit to be again sown to produce ano- 
 ther crop of lint ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Suppose that the farmer, after he 
 lias dressed his ground, were to sow it 
 with sand or pebbles instead of lint-seed, 
 do you think that the pebbles and the 
 sand would spring up and grow like corn 
 or lint? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Can you tell me why we expect 
 that the seeds should spring, and that 
 the pebbles should not ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. It is the nature of the seed to 
 sprout on being placed in the earth ; but 
 who gave to the seed this nature ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Nature is then but another name 
 for what is wrought and designed by 
 Almighty God. 
 
232 
 
 A. ...... 
 
 Q. When you then hear it said that 
 such and such things are the works of 
 nature, do you clearly perceive and un- 
 derstand -that the things spoken of are 
 the works of God ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Has God in mercy made such pro- 
 vision for our food and clothing ; and 
 can any one deserve to be called good 
 who is unthankful for his mercies ? 
 
 A. 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 Difference between Understanding and 
 Instinct. 
 
 Questioner. Are you an animal ; that is 
 to say, a living creature r 
 Answer. . . . 
 
233 
 
 Q. Are birds and fishes, and cats and 
 dogs, also living creatures ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Birds can fly in the air, and fish 
 swim in the sea, but dogs and cats live 
 on the earth as you do : In what then 
 do you differ from a cat or dog ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. But in what respect, besides shape, 
 do you differ from them ? Do they not 
 eat, and drink, and sleep, as well as you 
 do? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do dogs and cats like to be kind- 
 ly treated, and love those who treat them 
 kindly ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do you not likewise like to be 
 kindly treated, and love those who are 
 good to you ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. So far then, it seems, there is no 
 difference between you and them. But 
 
can dogs and cats speak? Have they 
 the use of language ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Though they cannot speak as we 
 do, they make sounds to be understood 
 by one another ; and can plainly signify 
 when they are angry or pleased. What 
 can you do more ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do the grown up people who are 
 now your teachers know more than you 
 do ? Are they wiser than you are at pre- 
 sent ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Were they not once little children 
 like you? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. When they were children, did they 
 know as much as they know now ; or 
 were they then like you, ignorant of al- 
 most every thing ? 
 
 A. ....... 
 
 Q. Was it merely by growing big 
 
235 
 
 that they became wise ? or was it by at- 
 tending to instruction ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Though only a little child, you can 
 understand what I say to you : do you 
 think a kitten could thus understand 
 me ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Besides the gift of speech, you 
 have then another gift bestowed on you 
 above what is enjoyed by other sorts of 
 animals; for have you not the gift of 
 understanding ? 
 
 A. ...... 
 
 Q. That you may perceive this point 
 distinctly, tell me, if you were very cold 
 and saw the fire likely to go out, and 
 that pieces of coal, or turf, or of wood fit 
 for burning, were within reach, could 
 you not contrive to keep in the fire r 
 
 A. ....... 
 
 Q, How would you effect your pur- 
 pose? 
 
236 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do not dogs seem in cold weather 
 to like the warmth of a good fire ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Large dogs can carry very heavy 
 things in their mouths; but could the 
 wisest of dogs contrive to mend the fire 
 by adding fuel to it ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. To contrive requires thought. You 
 then have a degree of thought which the 
 wisest of dogs have not; but if you were 
 left by a friend in a strange place, when 
 you lost sight of that friend could you 
 trace him out by smelling his footsteps, 
 following his course, and turning where 
 he had turned, until you discovered 
 where he was ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. When a dog loses his master he 
 can do all this ; and though he were to 
 be blindfolded and led to a great dis- 
 tance, could return on his own steps, 
 
237 
 
 though he never saw the road ; in this a 
 dog can do more than any of us can do. 
 Did he learn to do this (as we learn to 
 do things) by attending to instruction ; 
 or did he do it from nature ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Did you ever see a bird's nest ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Would iUnot be a long time before 
 you could learn to form such a nest ; 
 even though all the materials were plac- 
 ed within your reach ? 
 
 A , 
 
 Q. Who taught the little bird to make 
 its nest so neatly ? Did it learn at a 
 school ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Every kind of bird builds its nest 
 in the way that is common to its kint). 
 A sparrow does not make its nest like the 
 nest of a swallow, nor does the swallow 
 build hers in the manner of the sparrow. 
 Do you think that either of them could 
 
 L3 
 
238 
 
 learn to imitate what is done by the 
 other ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. But though you perhaps might never 
 be able to build a nest so neatly as a 
 little bird, are you not in many instances 
 able to do what you see done by others ? 
 
 A. ...:../ 
 
 Q. Do you wish and expect to be able 
 in a little time to do more than you yet 
 can do ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do you think that any bird or 
 beast has the wish or expectation to be 
 able to do more than it can do at pre- 
 sent? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Does not this show that your na- 
 ture is superior to theirs ? 
 
 A . 
 
 Q. If you had no wish or desire to 
 learn more than you have yet learned, 
 do you think that by such indifference 
 
239 
 
 you would give proof of the superiority 
 of your nature ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. It is the nature of cats to catcli 
 mice. When you see a little kitten at 
 play, and observe how quickly it springs 
 on whatever it can lay hold of, and toss 
 it in its paws, do you think it is acting 
 contrary to nature ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. If you, who are by nature capable 
 of improvement, do not wish and endea- 
 vour to improve, whether will the kitten 
 or you be acting most agreeably to your 
 respective natures ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. You think you have more under- 
 standing than a kitten ? 
 
 A . 
 
 Q. How do you show or prove that 
 you have more understanding ? 
 
 A. 
 
240 
 
 Q. Can you learn much in a single 
 day ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. What is twice one?* 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Monday and Tuesday make two 
 days: If you learn, then, something on 
 Monday, and as much on Tuesday, how 
 much wiser will you be on Tuesday night 
 than you were on Monday morning ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Go on to learn as much more on 
 Wednesday, which will make three days; 
 how much wiser will you then be ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Add a fourth day, Thursday, and 
 will j'ou not then be four times as wise 
 as you were on Monday morning ? 
 
 A. 
 
 * In what follows, the pupils are supposed to have 
 obtained some knowledge of numbers. 
 
241 
 
 Q. Friday will make a fifth, Saturday 
 a sixth day ; so that by Saturday you will 
 have advanced six degrees in learning. 
 But will you not still have much to 
 learn ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. If you spend one whole day with- 
 out learning any thing, will you then, 
 on Saturday night, know six times more 
 than you did on Monday morning? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. See then the value of a single day. 
 You have told me that human beings 
 are distinguished from brutes, by having 
 minds capable of improvement : Will any 
 who desire to improve be happy at the 
 end of a week to think that they have 
 lost a day ? 
 
 A. 
 
SECTION VI. 
 
 Observation directed to Objects of 
 Nature. 
 
 Questioner. You have discovered that 
 corn, when sown in the ground, springs 
 up and produces more corn ; now, tell 
 me, if you were to put a single grain (or 
 pickle) of barley in the ground, what 
 would you expect to spring from it ? 
 
 Answer. .... 
 
 Q. You then expect that it would 
 produce corn of its own kind, and not of 
 any other kind ? 
 
 A. 
 
 Q. Do shrubs and trees produce seed, 
 each of its own kind ? 
 
 A. 
 
 Q. Yes. The largest tree that you 
 ever saw in all your life was once wrap- 
 
243 
 
 ped up in a seed very little larger than 
 the tip of your linger. From the seed 
 it sprouted up, like the buds of a small 
 flower ; then it grew to the size of a 
 small twig; and, year after year, continu- 
 ed growing and growing, till it raised its 
 stately head to meet the skies, and spread 
 its mighty branches on every side. Who 
 formed it of a nature thus to grow, and 
 to increase in bulk from year to year ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Are all trees of one kind, or have 
 you ever observed any difference in their 
 forms, and in the shape and colour of 
 their leaves ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do you know at sight the diffe- 
 rence between a fir-tree, an oak-tree, and 
 an apple-tree ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Trees which, when cut down, sup- 
 ply the carpenter with wood, are called 
 forest-trees, Trees which produce fruit 
 
244 
 
 are called fruit-trees. The floor of the 
 room is made of fir- wood : Whether is fir 
 a forest-tree or a fruit-tree ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Of what kind is the apple-tree ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is there any seed in the heart of 
 an apple ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Has every seed in the apple a nice 
 little chamber to itself, covered with a 
 thin substance, which serves as a wall to 
 separate the apartments, so as that one 
 seed may not be injured by another?* 
 
 A 
 
 Q. It seems, then, that nature has pro- 
 vided for the preservation of the seed of 
 the apple ? 
 
 * It will here be expedient to have an apple or 
 orange to cut up before the pupils, in order to con- 
 vince them of the truth of these remarks. 
 
245 
 
 A 
 
 Q. But does the part of the apple 
 which we eat, and which we find so very 
 good, tend also to protect the seed, and 
 to afford it nourishment? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Yes. If the seeds were to be taken 
 from the apple, and exposed to the air 
 and to the cold, before they were quite 
 ripe, they would be entirely spoiled. But 
 might not the seeds have been preserved 
 equally well in a substance not fit for 
 eating ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Did God, in making every tree to 
 bear seed after its kind, provide in his 
 wisdom for the continuance of every 
 sort of tree ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Did God in his goodness make the 
 fruit which nourishes the seed afford, 
 in many instances, a supply of whole- 
 some and delicious food ? 
 
246 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Have we not, then, even in the 
 common productions of the earth, proofs 
 of the wisdom and goodness of the Crea- 
 tor of all things? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do you know that in some parts 
 of the world the weather is always very 
 warm, much warmer than on the hottest 
 of our summer days ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Don't you think that people in 
 such climates, oppressed as they must be 
 by excessive heat, stand still in more 
 need than we do of an abundant supply 
 of refreshing fruit? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. In our country, where it is never 
 very warm, it requires care and pains to 
 bring any fruit to perfection : But have 
 you ever seen lemons and oranges, and 
 other foreign fruits, which are sold in 
 the shops? 
 
247 
 
 A 
 
 Q. In warmer climates, these, and va- 
 rious other fruits, grow naturally in the 
 fields. Is it not happy for the inhabi- 
 tants that they are there so plentiful ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Did the Creator of the world know 
 that the people who were to live in such 
 warm climates would stand particularly 
 in need of fruit to quench their thirst 
 and revive their spirits? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. If, therefore, God ordained, that 
 in those countries fruits of all kinds 
 should grow in greater abundance than 
 with us, what does it teach us to think 
 of the wisdom and goodness of God, in 
 having thus provided beforehand for the 
 wants of his creatures? 
 
 A. ,' 
 
 Q. But is it for human beings only 
 that God has provided a supply of food 
 and clothing? 
 
248 
 
 A 
 
 Q. In what manner are the birds of 
 the air clothed? How are their bodies 
 covered from the cold? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. What clothing have the beasts ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Can animals of any kind live with- 
 out food? 
 
 A. . 
 
 Q. Are the birds and wild animals that 
 live in the fields fed by the hands of men, 
 or do they gather food for themselves? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Who directs them to chuse the sort 
 of food that is most proper for them? 
 Who informs each little bird what seed 
 or berry is fit for its nourishment, and 
 what is not? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Who provides for every species 
 what is necessary for its existence ? 
 
 A. 
 
249 
 
 Q. But has God enabled you to know 
 what is good for you ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Birds and beasts are directed by the 
 nature which God has given them. What 
 name do we usually give to the sagacity 
 which enables them to chuse what is 
 good for them ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. If God has not given you an equal 
 portion of instinctive sagacity, has he be- 
 stowed on you nothing in its stead? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Are ripe cherries very good to eat? 
 
 A . 
 
 Q. Birds are as fond of cherries as any 
 of us can be : But can a bird, after hav- 
 ing pecked the pulp of a cherry, be 
 made to observe the stone in which the 
 kernel is enclosed, so as to perceive in it 
 the means taken by the wisdom of Pro- 
 vidence for securing the safety of the 
 
250 
 
 kernel, which may afterwards become a 
 cherry-tree ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Which, then, is best, to have in- 
 stinct to direct to food fit for the support 
 of the body, or to have understanding 
 capable of perceiving, in the works of 
 God, the wisdom and goodness of the 
 great Creator? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. From the time that a little bird is 
 able to use its wings, and to fly from the 
 nest, it never improves in knowledge : 
 But have not you learned much since 
 you first began to walk ? 
 
 A . 
 
 Q. How have you learned all that you 
 already know? Was it by observing and 
 listening to others? 
 
 A. ...... 
 
 Q. Who provided for you such oppor- 
 tunities of instruction ? 
 
 A. 
 
251 
 
 Q. God has then not only given you 
 understanding, but supplied you with the 
 means of improving it : Does it stand 
 still in need of farther improvement? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. You have not, then, as yet acquir- 
 ed all the sense and all the knowledge 
 which you think it will be necessary for 
 you to have? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Suppose that you were to be now 
 shut up apart from all society ; do you 
 think, that as you grew big your under- 
 standing would improve without farther 
 instruction? 
 
 A ' . 
 
 Q. Do you then still stand in need of 
 continued opportunities of improvement ? 
 
 A. ...... 
 
 Q. Who is alone able to provide for 
 you the continuance of such opportuni- 
 ties? 
 
 A. 
 
252 
 
 Q. Is it to the goodness and mercy of 
 your heavenly Father that you are in- 
 debted for the friends and benefactors 
 that have taught you all you know? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Are you thankful for his goodness ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. How may you best shew your gra- 
 titude? 
 
 A. 
 
 SECTION VIL 
 
 Farther Consideration of Personal 
 Endowments. 
 
 Questioner. Can you tell me how many 
 fingers you have upon each hand? 
 Answer 
 
 3 
 
Q. What is this hard substance that I 
 feel within? Is it bone? 
 
 A . 
 
 Q. How many pieces of bone are there 
 in this thumb? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. How many in each of these fingers ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. By what means are these three 
 pieces of bone in each finger so firmly 
 joined one to the other ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Bend your fingers, and try whether 
 these joints or hinges are not very firm. 
 
 A 
 
 Q. With what are the bones immedi- 
 ately covered ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Can you see in some places the 
 veins that carry the blood down to the 
 very finger ends ? 
 
 A 
 
 M 
 
254 
 
 Q. Would it give you pain to have 
 these small veins laid open ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. By what means are the flesh and 
 blood covered and protected ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. What is it that gives firmness to 
 the ends of your fingers, and protects 
 the skin from injury ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Can you turn the middle joint of 
 your finger as you turn the joint of your 
 wrist ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Had the joint of your wrist been 
 made exactly like- the joints of your 
 fingers, would you ever have been able 
 
 to play at ball ? 
 jf^ 
 
 Q. Do you see any other advantage 
 in being able to turn the hand upon the 
 wrist ? 
 
255 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Your hand seems then to have 
 been formed for some particular purpose : 
 What do you think it was intended for ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Did you ever take notice of the 
 paw of a cat ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. In what does the cat's paw differ 
 from your hand ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. The hones and joints of the cat's 
 paw are formed as nicely as the bones 
 and joints of your fingers. The cat has 
 as much the use of its joints as you have 
 of yours : But can it use them to the 
 same purpose ; or do they seem formed 
 for a different purpose ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is it the nature of cats to catch 
 mice ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q, If, instead of being armed with 
 
256 
 
 sharp claws, they had only nails such as 
 we have, would it be an advantage to 
 them, or otherwise ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Think again of the difference be- 
 tween the form of your hand and the 
 paw of a cat ; then tell me whether each 
 were fitted for the same purpose, or for 
 different purposes? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Were both formed by one wise and 
 great Creator ? 
 
 A , . 
 
 Q. Does it then appear to you that 
 God gave to every living creature the 
 form best suited or adapted to its parti- 
 cular nature ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Our hands are evidently fitted for 
 performing various sorts of work : Do 
 those who employ their hands usefully, 
 or those who never do any thing, best 
 answer the design of their Creator, who 
 
257 
 
 bestowed on them hands formed for 
 use ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Have you ever known or heard of 
 children who employed their hands in 
 doing mischief or injury to others ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Was it, think you, to enable us 
 to hurt or molest our fellow-creatures, 
 that God bestowed upon us hands so ad- 
 mirably formed ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. But perhaps the great and wise 
 Creator of all things no longer sees or 
 knows what is done in the world which 
 he made : What is your notion of this ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. If God sees us always, during 
 every moment of our lives, he must see 
 when we make an ill use of any of his 
 gifts : Are our hands the gift of God ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do you think that God can ap- 
 
258 
 
 prove of our making an ill use of the 
 hands which he has given us ? 
 
 A. ...... 
 
 Q. Can you now do much that is use- 
 ful ? 
 
 A. . 
 
 Q. You have not then as yet attained 
 the full use of your hands ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Though you were never to do any 
 thing your hands would in time grow 
 large and strong ; but, though increased 
 in strength and size, if not accustomed 
 to work, they would not be serviceable : 
 What then must you now do, in order to 
 prepare your hands for being fully ser- 
 viceable to yourself and others ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Describe to me the shape of your 
 foot. 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Have the animals that go on four 
 legs feet of the same form as yours ? 
 
259 
 
 A . 
 
 Q. What posture does the form of 
 your feet enable you to assume? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Would such a form of foot be of 
 any use to horses and cows ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. But by the form of your feet you 
 are not only enabled to stand erect, but 
 to walk and run : Rise on tiptoe, and ob- 
 serve whether there be any joint in your 
 foot that assists you in running and in 
 walking. 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Can you turn out your toes ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. How are you enabled to do this? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Can your leg turn in the same 
 manner on the knee-joint ? 
 
 A i . 
 
 Q. The joint at ihe knee and the joint 
 at the ancle must then, it seems, be 
 
260 
 
 somewhat different in their form or con- 
 struction ? 
 A. 
 
 Q. It is but little that any of you can 
 at present comprehend of the nature of 
 your frame ; but, even in the few par- 
 ticulars that you are able to notice, you 
 may see enough to give you some dis- 
 tant notion of the wisdom of Him who 
 formed you : Do you know how many 
 senses you have ? . 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Can you see ? 
 
 A. ...... 
 
 Q. Well, you have then seeing; that 
 is one sense. Can you hear ? 
 
 A. 
 
261 
 
 Q. Hearing is another sense. Can you 
 feel what you touch ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Feeling or touch is a third sense. 
 If you can smell, and taste, these are 
 two other senses. Reckon them dis- 
 tinctly, and tell me how many there are 
 in all ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Have you ever seen the inside of a 
 watch or clock, with all its wheels in 
 motion ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. You are not yet wise enough to be 
 made to understand the nature of such 
 curious machinery, hut you understand 
 the effects : You know that these wheels 
 are contrived so as to make the hands 
 upon the dial-plate move, and point ex- 
 actly to the hour of the day ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. When you observe how punctually 
 the hand of the clock points to the hour, 
 M 3 
 
262 
 
 you are not so foolish as to suppose 
 that it would thus go, if the workman- 
 ship within were destroyed or taken 
 away ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do the movements of the clock 
 depend on the nature of the workman- 
 ship? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. You are not yet capable of com- 
 prehending the wonderful and admira- 
 ble structure or formation of the eye; 
 but do you not think that it must be in- 
 finitely more nice and curious than that 
 of the inside of a watch or clock ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Look straight forward, then up, 
 and down, to the right, and to the 
 left; and then tell me whether your 
 eyes are fixed so as to see only in one 
 direction ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do you derive great advantage 
 
263 
 
 from this power of looking round you in 
 all directions ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Did the great Creator provide for 
 you this advantage when he ordained the 
 form of the eye ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Are your eyes dry like the skin, or 
 have they over them a certain portion of 
 moisture ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Are your eyes ever filled with wa- 
 ter, so as to overflow in drops ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. What do you call those drops of 
 water which fall from your eyes when 
 you cry ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do you see very clearly when your 
 eyes are thus filled with water ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Neither could you see if your eyes 
 were quite dry. It seems then neces- 
 
264 
 
 sary that there should be some contriv- 
 ance for wiping the eye, to disperse the 
 tears, and keep it in a proper state of 
 moisture : What is there about your eye 
 that seems intended to answer this use- 
 ful purpose of wiping it? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Have you ever had a mote in your 
 eye.? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Would the smallest grain of sand 
 blown into the eye, not only hinder one 
 to see, but occasion great pain ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Are your eyes, like the rest of your 
 face, exposed to every shower of dust; 
 or are you provided with the means, of 
 protecting them ? 
 
 A. . . . . . , 
 
 Q. You wink hard when aware of the 
 danger; but, were your eyelids not fur- 
 nished with that little fringe at the edge, 
 they could not afford to your eyes con- 
 
slant and complete protection as they 
 now do : What do you call that fringe 
 which is so ornamental and so useful to 
 the eyelid ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is the ear the organ of hearing ? 
 
 A '. 
 
 Q. Do you suppose the frame or con- 
 struction of the ear to be less wonderful 
 than that of the eye ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. But do you see so much of the 
 construction of the ear, as to enable you 
 to form a notion of the parts within that 
 are concealed from our observation ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Why is the machinery of a watch 
 enclosed within a case? Is it because 
 it is coarse and ugly, or because it is so 
 very nice and delicate that it would suf- 
 fer from exposure ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Now, tell me why the machinery 
 
266 
 
 of the ear is, in your opinion, concealed 
 from our view? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. True; it is indeed admirably fine 
 and delicate. Nor are the organs by 
 which you are enabled to feel, and to 
 taste, and to smell, less wonderfully 
 formed. Would you greatly feel the 
 want of any of these senses ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. They then contribute greatly to 
 your happiness? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Who bestowed on you the bless- 
 ings of sight and hearing, and the other 
 senses? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. But if the organs of all your five 
 senses be very nicely and delicately 
 formed, may they not be very easily in- 
 jured ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. You have lived some time, and yet 
 
267 
 
 they seem to be all safe : by whom have 
 they been preserved? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. It seems then that you have, ever 
 since you came into the world, been 
 under the care and protection of God? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Does God, even to the present 
 moment, still continue to protect you? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do you naturally love them who 
 are good to you ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. When you walk upon your feet, 
 when you use your hands and arms, is 
 it from the goodness of God that you 
 are thus happy in the enjoyment of such 
 powers of motion ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is God good to you, in enabling 
 you to see and hear? 
 
 A. 
 
Q. And do you love the Being who is 
 so very good to you? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Will you think more of his good- 
 ness than you have ever thought of it 
 before? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. The more you think of it will you 
 not love him the more? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do children feel very joyful when 
 running and skipping at their sports? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. But does not a little kitten, when 
 it frolics about at play, seem also to be 
 very happy ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Does the kitten know to whose 
 goodness it owes the power of being 
 happy ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. The kitten enjoys itself as much as 
 
269 
 
 you do; in what then are you happier 
 than the kitten? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do birds and beasts see, and hear, 
 and touch, and taste, and smell, as well 
 as you? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. The great Creator of all things has 
 then, it seems, given to other animals 
 beside man the nice and delicately form- 
 ed organs of those different senses. But 
 when birds and beasts open their eyes 
 on the light of day, do they know who 
 gave them the power of seeing what the 
 light of day displays- to- view? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. A dog is very grateful to the mas- 
 ter who feeds him, and even cats, though 
 not so sensible as dogs, shew a sense of 
 gratitude to those who are kind to them. 
 Were those thankful creatures capable 
 of being made to understand that all 
 they enjoy is from God, would they, do 
 
270 
 
 you think, be grateful to him for his 
 gifts? 
 
 A .. 
 
 Q. Are you less capable of thankful- 
 ness than a cat or dog ? 
 
 A. ...... 
 
 Q. And do you know that it is from 
 God you have received all that you have 
 and enjoy? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. What use do you make of this 
 knowledge ? 
 
 A. 
 
 SECTION VIII. 
 
 On the necessity of Notice or Observation. 
 
 Questioner. Has God, in giving you 
 sight, bestowed on you a great blessing? 
 Answer. 
 
271 
 
 Q. Are you very thankful to God for 
 being able to see? 
 
 A . 
 
 Q. Do you think that God gave you 
 sight in order that you might always 
 see what was before your eyes? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. But do you really always see all 
 that is within reach of your sight? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Does it never happen, that though 
 sitting within sight of the door, you do 
 not perceive whether it is shut or open? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Does it never happen, that though 
 sitting by the fire-side, you do not ob- 
 serve whether the hearth be clean or 
 dirty; or whether the fire-irons be in 
 their proper places ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do you always, without being de- 
 sired to notice, observe whether things 
 
272 
 
 that ought to be laid in a straight line 
 are so or not? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. When you do not perceive these 
 tilings, is it because they are not within 
 reach of your sight ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q* Do you at such times make use of 
 your eyes, or do you not? 
 
 A. ...... 
 
 Q. If any of your companions were 
 to come before you with a fool's cap on 
 her head, do you think that you would 
 not immediately observe her dress? 
 
 A. ...... 
 
 Q> It seems, then, that you do not 
 fail to see whatever by its strange ap- 
 pearance attracts your notice? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. But did God bestow on you the 
 blessing of sight, for no other purpose 
 but that you might see such things as 
 strike your fancy ? 
 
273 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Have you the power to see what- 
 ever you chuse to notice ? 
 
 A ... 
 
 Q. Is it by noticing useful things, or 
 by noticing foolish things, that you will 
 be most likely to improve in knowledge 
 and in usefulness? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Have we in the glorious works of 
 creation, in the sun, and moon, and stars, 
 and in the earth and all that it produces, 
 proofs of the wisdom, and goodness, and 
 power of the great Creator? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Ought we then, or ought we not, 
 to take notice of every object of nature 
 which comes within reach of our obser- 
 vation ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. When you take notice of the beauty 
 of the sky above, or of ought that springs 
 in the earth, and at the same time raise 
 
274 
 
 your heart in thankfulness to the Cre- 
 ator, are you then making a good use of 
 the blessing of sight? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. But were you to take notice only 
 of sucii things, would you ever learn to 
 become useful to others ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is it then necessary for you to learn 
 to observe things of a lower order, the 
 things that are commonly around you ? 
 
 A. 
 
 Q. Of two threads, one person sees 
 at a glance which is the finest, while 
 another, with sight equally good, sees no 
 difference between them. Now, tell me 
 to which of these two persons the bless- 
 ing of sight is most truly useful? 
 
 A * 
 
 Q. Of two servants employed in such 
 household work as necessarily soils- the 
 hands, one sees not that her hands are 
 dirty, and even sees not the dirty marks 
 
275 
 
 they make on the walls or doors, or what- 
 ever they touch, while the other no sooner 
 soils her hands than she observes the 
 circumstance, and touches nothing until 
 they are restored to cleanness. Now, 
 tell me the cause of this difference be- 
 tween them; does one see better than 
 the other? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Of two girls walking in the street, 
 one shall see a horse or carriage coming 
 up, and, while it is yet at a distance, 
 shall move deliberately out of its way, 
 while the other, not seeing its approach, 
 walks on till it is quite close to her, and 
 then, in fright, knows not which way to 
 run, and is perhaps run over at the peril 
 of her life : Is it not then happy for her 
 who had acquired the habit of taking 
 notice ? 
 
 A. 
 
276' 
 
 Q. Do you hear my voice ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do you hear the people who are 
 talking in the next street as distinctly as 
 you hear me r 
 
 A 
 
 Q. You can then only hear at a cer- 
 tain distance ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do you always notice what is said 
 when those who speak are within reach 
 of your hearing? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. I believe so; you do not always 
 notice. Now tell me, when it so hap- 
 pens that you do not notice what is said, 
 is your hearing at such times of any use 
 to you ? 
 
277 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Have you it always in your power 
 to notice ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. It is then in your power to hear, or 
 not to hear, as you give your mind to 
 it? 
 
 A . 
 
 Q. If you only hear when you attend 
 to what is said, to what sort of discourse 
 ought you to attend or listen ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do those who never willingly lis- 
 ten to any thing but nonsense, make a 
 proper use of the gift of hearing ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do those who willingly listen to 
 bad words, or bad advice, show that they 
 are thankful to God, who gave them ears 
 to hear? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. When you listen to the instructions 
 of your parents and teachers, do you then 
 
 N 
 
278 
 
 make that use of your hearing which is 
 pleasing to God ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. And ought you not to endeavour 
 to please him, who, in his goodness, has 
 endowed you with so many precious 
 gifts ? 
 
 A . 
 
 Q. Some of the little birds that fly in 
 the air, and some of the four-footed ani- 
 mals that walk the earth, are more quick 
 sighted than any of us ; but can they so 
 take notice of what they see as to im- 
 prove in usefulness ? 
 
 A. ...... 
 
 Q. How are you in this respect supe- 
 rior to them ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. To take notice of what one sees, in 
 order to become useful, is then a proof 
 of understanding ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. If two branches of berries, one 
 
279 
 
 white, the other black, were placed be- 
 fore you, and you were told that the 
 white berries were poisonous, and the 
 black ones wholesome, which would you 
 chuse to eat ? 
 
 A. 
 
 Q. But if the white berries looked very 
 rich and ripe, might you not be tempted 
 to taste them, though you were told that 
 they would make you sick, and even make 
 you die ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. You have then, as you think, sense 
 enough to chuse between good and evil? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. But if you had not been told which 
 of the sorts of berries was wholesome and 
 which was poisonous, would vou, of your 
 own self, have known which to chuse ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Young beasts that graze in the 
 fields learn from nature to avoid what is 
 poisonous; but you, it seems, do not 
 
280 
 
 learn this from nature ; you have to learn 
 it in another way : In what way, then, 
 are you to ohtain a knowledge of what 
 is good for you ? . 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Whether will he who carefully lis- 
 tens to advice and instruction, or he who 
 never minds or notices what is said to 
 him, be most apt to profit by the advice 
 or admonition of his friends ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Were you ever warned of the dan- 
 ger of going too near the fire ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Have you ever heard of any child 
 who, after having been instructed in the 
 nature of the danger, has, nevertheless, 
 gone so near the fire as to have its clothes 
 set on blaze, by which it has been dread- 
 fully burned ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. When a child suffers great pain 
 from such an accident, whether will it 
 
281 
 
 be glad or sorry for not having minded 
 or attended to the warning? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Children are always told, that it 
 is dangerous to go very near the fire; 
 but do those who do not attend to this 
 admonition always suffer? Do they not 
 sometimes go very near the fire, and 
 escape unhurt .? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Have those who do not suffer for 
 their disobedience any reason to think 
 themselves very wise for having disobey- 
 ed ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. It is not then a proof of under- 
 standing, but of folly, in children to do 
 what they are forbidden to do ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Are dogs and cats fond of being 
 near the fire ? 
 
 A. 
 
Q. A well trained dog will not, how- 
 ever, venture in his master's presence to 
 go upon the hearth : How is a dog thus 
 trained to keep from that which he likes? 
 Is it by instructing him in the conse- 
 quences ? 
 
 A. ...... 
 
 Q. The poor dog could not understand 
 his master's reasons, and therefore he is 
 beat and threatened into obedience ; 
 while his master's eye is upon him he 
 obeys through fear, but, when no one is 
 in the room to see him, will he still keep 
 away from the fire if he has a great in- 
 clination to go near it ? 
 
 A. 
 
 Q. The dog, poor creature, is not to 
 blame, for he could not understand why 
 he was forbid : but is this the case with 
 children ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Are children always able to under- 
 
283 
 
 stand the reasons why they are desired 
 to do this, or forbid to do that ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. But are not children able to un- 
 derstand, that those who are better in- 
 structed than themselves must know 
 many things of which they are as yet 
 ignorant ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Are not children able to understand, 
 that they depend upon instruction ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Whether then is it proper for chil- 
 dren to do what they are forbid to do, 
 because of not being able to understand 
 why they are forbid ; or is it right and 
 proper that they should obey without 
 murmuring, and attend to the instruc- 
 tion that is to make them wise here- 
 after ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. If you make a good use of the un- 
 derstanding with which God has endow- 
 
284 
 
 ed you, will you not then carefully avoid 
 what you are desired to avoid as dange- 
 rous ? 
 A. 
 
 SECTION IX. 
 
 On Labour and Design, shewing the ne- 
 cessity of Mental and Physical Exer- 
 tions. 
 
 Questioner. Of what are the walls of 
 this house, (or the walls of the church), 
 built? 
 
 Answer 
 
 Q. Of what are the partitions which 
 separate one room from another com- 
 monly made ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is there any difference between 
 stone and brick? 
 
 A. 
 
285 
 
 Q. Where do stones come from ? How 
 are they obtained ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Are bricks likewise quarried from 
 the rock? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. True: Bricks are made of earth 
 hardened in the fire; but how is the 
 earth dug up? is it by means of an im- 
 plement called a spade? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Of what is the spade made ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Of what are the instruments made 
 by which the stones are hewn from the 
 rock, and cut and chiselled by the ma- 
 son? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Trees are cut down by an axe : Of 
 what are such axes made? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Are the saws by which the wood 
 is cut into boards, and the other tools by 
 N 3 
 
286 
 
 which it is formed to the carpenter's 
 purposes, all likewise from iron? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is iron a metal, or is it an earthy 
 or a vegetable substance? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is iron fit for being used, as stone 
 is, on being taken out of the earth; or 
 must it be prepared for use by the smith ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is it always, for whatever purpose 
 it is intended, equally well polished? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Of what is the fire-shovel made? 
 And the fine needles used in nice needle- 
 work, of what are they made? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. You perceive then that iron may 
 be wrought to an extraordinary degree 
 of perfection. Is it by the labour of 
 men's hands that it is made to answer so 
 many useful purposes? 
 
 A. 
 
287 
 
 Q. Have the materials of which our 
 houses are built been laid up, as if in 
 stores, for us from the foundation of the 
 world ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. But can the metals be taken from 
 the mine, or the trees be cut down for 
 wood, or the stones be quarried from the 
 rock, or the bricks be prepared for use, 
 without much labour? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Was it not in the power of him 
 who made the world and all that it con- 
 tains, to have formed the rocks into 
 houses and comfortable dwellings? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. If God had thought it good for 
 man to live in idleness, would he thus 
 have made him to depend for every com- 
 fort on his own exertions ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. It seems then that idleness is not 
 good for us in the sight of God, and that 
 
288 
 
 be has in his wisdom ordained that we 
 should depend for all our earthly com- 
 forts on the exertion of skill and indus- 
 try? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is skill in any art to be obtained 
 at once, or is it acquired gradually by 
 attending to instruction ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do you see any proofs of contri- 
 vance, or design, in the building we are 
 now in ; or do you see only proof of the 
 labour of men's hands ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Does contriving require thought? 
 Could any thing useful be contrived 
 without thinking? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Thinking is the labour of the mind : 
 When a man sits down to contrive such 
 a house as this, is it his body or his mind 
 that labours ? 
 
 A. 
 
289 
 
 Q. Has God then intended and ren- 
 dered it necessary for us that we should 
 labour with the mind as well as with the 
 body ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Brutes are strong, and many of 
 them can be made to work ; but can they 
 be made to labour with their minds ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. When you repeat words with your 
 lips, without any attention to the mean- 
 ing or sense of what you say, is it a part 
 of your bodily frame, or is it your mind 
 that is then at work? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Monkeys can chatter with their 
 lips, and parrots can repeat words very 
 distinctly ; but' has not God given you 
 ability to do more than monkeys and 
 parrots ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. When you repeat what you have 
 got by heart, without knowing or attend- 
 
290 
 
 ing to the meaning, do you at that time 
 make any use of the understanding in 
 which you are superior to parrots and 
 monkeys? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. When you endeavour to under- 
 stand, is it your mind that then labours? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Can you understand a lesson with- 
 out attention? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. But do you not find it necessary 
 to pay attention to other things besides 
 lessons? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. When girls are very dirty and slo- 
 venly in their persons, is it because they 
 have not hands to make themselves clean 
 and neat? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Can the slovenly make use of their 
 hands when they please? 
 
291 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Are those who are very dirty often 
 found ready enough to use their hands 
 in doing mischief? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. But do neatness and cleanliness 
 require attention? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is attention a labour of the mind? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Have you now discovered the rea- 
 son why some who have hands do never- 
 theless remain dirty and slovenly in their 
 persons ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Of two women equally strong, one 
 shall carry a bason full of water from one 
 end of the house to the other without 
 spilling a drop, while the other woman 
 cannot carry the same bason full of water 
 without spilling at every step: What is 
 the reason of this difference? 
 
 A. 
 
1392 
 
 Q. Yes : One had been accustomed to 
 pay attention to what she was doing, and 
 the other had not. That is to say, one 
 had learned to use her mind when she 
 used her hands, while the other had only 
 learned to use her hands and not her 
 mind. Which of these two persons would 
 first observe that the water had been 
 spilled upon the floor? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Can then a house be kept neat 
 and orderly without some labour of the 
 mind? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is it by practice and habit that we 
 become able to make good use of our 
 hands in various sorts of work ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. How are we to render ourselves 
 able to make constant use of our minds? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. In learning to perform any sort of 
 handy-work, are those who have beeu 
 
early accustomed to employ their hands, 
 or those whose hands have been seldom 
 or never employed in work, most likely 
 to succeed ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. In order to be neat-handed, is it 
 then necessary to begin to use one's hands 
 as soon as possible? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. But will those who can only work 
 with their hands, without being able to 
 observe, or to know whether they are 
 working to any purpose, be as useful to 
 themselves and others as those who are 
 able both to contrive and to execute? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Are those then best off who can 
 use their hands and their minds at the 
 same time? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do you think that this can easily 
 be done by those who have never been 
 
294 
 
 accustomed to pay attention to what 
 they were doing? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. It is then as necessary to begin by 
 times to use the mind as to begin by 
 times to use the hands. Those who have 
 never learned to use their minds, will 
 never do any sort of work thoroughly 
 nor properly. Even in such trifling 
 things as washing one's hands and sweep- 
 ing the hearth, those who have never 
 been accustomed to observe will be found 
 deficient. Learn, therefore, whatever you 
 do, to give attention to what you are 
 about. 
 
PART III. 
 
 Examples of Questions calculated to lead 
 the Mind to form just Notions of the 
 Religious and Social Duties. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 Treatment of the Inferior Animals. 
 
 Questioner. Do you like to feel happy ? 
 
 Answer 
 
 Q. Who has given you the spirit of 
 enjoyment? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Yes : When you feel glad and 
 happy it is God who gives you gladness. 
 He delights to see all creatures happy, 
 and if you are good will make you happy 
 
296 
 
 forever. If God who makes you happy 
 has given you power to make other crea- 
 tures happy or miserable, how ought you 
 to use that power? 
 
 A. . 
 
 Q. Are you happy when in pain ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do you think that birds and beasts 
 feel pain as much as you do? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Can they be happy while in pain? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. God has made happiness for every 
 creature that lives. The very flies, who 
 buzz about and sport in the sun-beam, 
 enjoy themselves as you do in the hours 
 of play : But if you torture them by tear- 
 ing off their wings, will they then be 
 happy ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Has God given them the power of 
 enjoyment, in order to give you an op- 
 portunity of making them miserable? 
 
297 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do not the birds in the air seem 
 very happy creatures ? How joyfully 
 do they sing among the branches of the 
 green trees ! With what pleasure do 
 they skim through the air, as they carry 
 home the food they have gathered for 
 their tender young ! As they approach 
 the nest, and hear the chirps of the 
 little brood, their hearts beat with joy, 
 and their little wings flutter 'with delight. 
 But if, instead of hearing the voices of 
 their little ones, they should, on return- 
 ing to the nest, hear the loud clamours 
 of wicked children, and behold their nest 
 torn down, and their darling young ex- 
 piring in the grasp of some mischievous 
 boy, would they be any longer happy ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Who gave to little boys and girls 
 the power of making those innocent crea- 
 tures miserable? , 
 
 A. 
 
298 
 
 Q. But will God approve of their mak- 
 ing such a use of the power he permits 
 them to have over the weaker than them- 
 selves? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Are dogs and cats God's creatures ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do they feel pleasure and pain? 
 
 A. ...... 
 
 Q. Are they like you glad to eat when 
 they are hungry, and to drink when they 
 are thirsty; and are they grateful to those 
 who treat them kindly? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. But have not those who keep 
 dogs power to Starve, and kick, and beat 
 them ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Does God, who is everywhere pre- 
 sent, observe such conduct with pleasure 
 or with displeasure? 
 
 A. 
 
299 
 
 Q. Would the man who starves his 
 dog like to be starved himself? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. From whose bountiful goodness is 
 it that he himself has bread to eat? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. And is it a proper return that he 
 makes to the goodness of God, when he 
 starves or ill uses the creature over whom 
 God has given him power? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Are not cats likewise God's crea- 
 tures ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. And are they not very useful to 
 man? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Are the shape and motions of a 
 cat ugly and disagreeable? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is not the soft fur with which the 
 cat is clothed very beautiful, stained, as 
 it often is, with various dyes? 
 
300 
 
 A 
 
 Q. What sort of sound does a cat 
 make when it is happy ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. And is the purring of a cat disa- 
 greeable ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Does a good mind like, or dislike 
 the sight of happiness ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is it good, or is it wicked, to take 
 pleasure in the misery of any living crea- 
 ture ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Can they then be good boys who 
 take pleasure in chasing, and hurting, 
 and killing cats ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Has not every creature the power 
 of giving pain to those who are weaker 
 than itself? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. A dog can kill a cat; a cat can 
 
301 
 
 kill rats and mice. The larger beasts of 
 prey, such as lions and tigers, kill and 
 devour all weaker animals that come 
 within their reach ; for God has been 
 pleased to make this their nature : But 
 has God given to these animals instinct, 
 or has he given them understanding for 
 the guide of their actions ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. When a cat sees a little mouse, is 
 it capable of thinking of the goodness 
 of the Creator, in conferring, even on 
 such little animals, the power of enjoy- 
 
 * 
 
 ment ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. When the cat pounces on its little 
 prey, is it capable of reflecting on the 
 pain it gives ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. But are boys, like cats and tigers, 
 guided by instinct, or has God endowed 
 them with understanding? 
 
 A 
 
 o 
 
302 
 
 Q. Are they capable of perceiving the 
 goodness of God, in having given to all 
 living creatures the power of enjoyment? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Are they capable of forming a no- 
 tion of the sufferings occasioned by the 
 pain of blows and wounds; also of the 
 sufferings of terror ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. When they then, without any pro- 
 vocation, torture and destroy cats, or 
 other animals, by what spirit are they 
 impelled ? Is it by the spirit of cruelty ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. It is certainly cruel to take plea- 
 sure in inflicting pain. But it is from 
 being vain of the power they have to 
 frighten and molest such creatures, that 
 boys are often led thoughtlessly to acts 
 of cruelty : Now, has any one reason to 
 be vain of the power he derives from his 
 size or strength'? 
 A. 
 
303 
 
 Q. On whom does every human being 
 depend for the preservation of activity, 
 and strength, and every personal advan- 
 tage ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is it in gratitude to God, that those 
 who are strong and active employ the 
 power he has given them, in maiming, 
 or hurting the creatures to whom he has 
 given life and happiness ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. But has not God given us power 
 over the lives of the inferior animals ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Does this give us any right to tor- 
 ture them ? Ought we not rather, in 
 thankfulness to God, to be at great pains, 
 when it is necessary to take life, to make 
 the death of the animal as easy as possi- 
 ble ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. God has given his permission that 
 
304 
 
 animals may be killed for the use of man ; 
 but then their lives must be taken from 
 them without putting them to unneces- 
 sary torture. The butcher, whose trade 
 it is to kill sheep and oxen, is not cruel, 
 unless he takes pleasure in making them 
 suffer pain : Now, tell me what it is to 
 be cruel ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is it likely that any one would, at 
 the very moment he was thinking of 
 God's goodness to himself, be cruel to 
 other creatures ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. In order then to avoid all cruelty, 
 we must often think of the goodness of 
 God to us, and to all other creatures : 
 we must remember, that his mercies are 
 over all his works, and that, as he has 
 made every living creature to be happy 
 while it lives, though he has given us 
 power over the lives of the inferior ani- 
 
305 
 
 mals, he has given us no right to make 
 them miserable. 
 
 SECTION VII. 
 
 / 
 
 Social Affections. 
 
 Questioner. Has God Almighty shewn 
 great goodness and mercy towards you, 
 in blessing you with the friends by whom 
 you have been cherished and protected? 
 
 Answer 
 
 Q. Have not your friends been made 
 the instruments of good to you ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Would you think it a great happi- 
 ness if God should permit you to become 
 the instrument of good to others ? 
 
 A . 
 
 Q. To whom would you, in that case, 
 
306 
 
 think yourself bound to do good? Would 
 it not be to the friends with whom God 
 has blessed you ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Are you sure that you would thank- 
 fully receive from God the power of do- 
 ing good to them ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do you think that any one does 
 good to you who takes pains to contri- 
 bute to your happiness ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Can a child, by constant obedience, 
 and affectionate attention to those by 
 whom it is cherished and protected, con- 
 tribute to their happiness ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. And has God not put it in your 
 power to be obedient, and to be atten- 
 tive, and affectionate ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. You perceive then that God Al- 
 mighty has already enabled you to be 
 
307 
 
 the instrument of good to those who 
 have done good to you : Do you ever 
 rejoice to think of the power that has 
 thus been given you ? 
 
 A, 
 
 Q. But power has also been given you 
 to become the instrument of evil to those 
 who have done you good : Do you feel 
 any wish to exercise that power ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. You do not then desire to make 
 your friends unhappy? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Are people made unhappy by vex- 
 ation ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Are people made unhappy by dis- 
 appointment ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Are people made unhappy by see- 
 ing their trouble and labour thrown 
 away ? 
 
 A. 
 
308 
 
 Q. Do not children, by perverseness, 
 and obstinacy, and ill temper, cause vex- 
 ation to those who have the care of 
 them ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. As often then as you are perverse, 
 or obstinate, or ill-humoured, you make 
 use of the power with which you are en- 
 trusted ; but do you not at such times 
 make use of it to do evil ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do not children, by not making 
 use of their opportunities of improve- 
 ment, occasion the unhappiness of disap- 
 pointment to their friends ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. As often then as you are idle or 
 inattentive, do you not make use of your 
 power to make your friends unhappy ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do you consider those who labour 
 for your improvement as your friends ? 
 
 A. 
 
309 
 
 Q. When you do not apply to learn 
 what they are at pains to teach, do you 
 not make them feel that their pains have 
 been thrown away ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. In all such instances, if such ever 
 occur, do you not make yourself the in- 
 strument of evil to those whom God has 
 made the instruments of good to you? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. As God is ever present with us, 
 must he not know in what manner we 
 use the power he has given us? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do the good approve of what is 
 good, or do they approve of what is 
 evil ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. God is infinitely good. If he, 
 therefore, has blessed us with friends and 
 protectors, and put it in our power to 
 take from their happiness, or to add to 
 it, by our conduct, do you think he will 
 o 3 
 
310 
 
 approve of our making an ill use of that 
 power? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. It is then the will of God that 
 children should be always dutiful and 
 affectionate to those whom he lias made 
 the instruments of good to them ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. But have you no connexion in this 
 life with any besides your parents and 
 instructors? Have you neither brothers, 
 nor sisters, nor companions, nor school- 
 fellows? 
 
 A . 
 
 Q. Has God given you the power to 
 increase or diminish their happiness? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Have they not the power to in- 
 crease or diminish yours? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. If any of them are quarrelsome and 
 contentious, do they at such times make 
 you happy r 
 
311 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do those who quarrel and contend 
 with you, make a good, or an ill use, of 
 the power they possess? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. In doing so they do very ill. But 
 will their doing ill appear in the sight of 
 God a sufficient excuse for you, if you 
 keep up the quarrel? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do you think that any one feels 
 happy when ill-humoured? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Those who are cross with you are 
 not then happy in being cross : But do 
 you think that hy being cross to them 
 in return, you will restore to them the 
 feeling of happiness ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. If it is your duty to use your power 
 to increase the happiness of those around 
 you, ought you not to endeavour to re- 
 
312 
 
 store them to the enjoyment of good 
 temper and good will? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is it likely, that by answering in 
 anger you will restore them to temper? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. If you kept in mind that God is 
 ever present, would you then answer 
 cross or peevish words with words equal- 
 ly cross and peevish ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. But is God the less present with 
 you for your being forgetful of his pre- 
 sence ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do you not often do wrong? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do you not often do what you 
 ought not to do, and often leave undone 
 what you ought to have done? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. You have then, in the short course 
 of your life, often offended God : But 
 
313 
 
 has God therefore withdrawn his mercies 
 from you ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do you not feel and enjoy the con- 
 tinuance of his goodness? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. It seems then, that notwithstand- 
 ing your undeservings, God is still good 
 and gracious to you : How does this 
 teach you to act with regard to your 
 fellow-creatures ? Does it teach you to 
 resent every little injury they may do to 
 you ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. If God is ever ready to grant for- 
 giveness to us, do you think he will ap- 
 prove of our expressing great displea- 
 sure against such of our companions as 
 offend us? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. When any one behaves ill to us, 
 will God approve of our behaving ill to 
 them in return? 
 
314 
 
 A 
 
 Q. When we behave well to them 
 who have behaved ill to us, do we then 
 act agreeably to the will of God ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Has God put it in our power to 
 behave well or ill as we please? 
 
 A. ...... 
 
 Q. When do we make the proper use 
 of this power? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Ought we not constantly to en- 
 deavour to behave to others in the man- 
 ner which we believe will be approved 
 by the God of mercy? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do you think that God, who sees 
 our hearts, will approve of our doing to 
 others what we do not like that others 
 should do to us ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do you like to be treated rudely 
 and unkindly by your companions? 
 
315 
 
 A 
 
 Q. If ever then you are rude or un- 
 kind to them, do you not then do what 
 you do not like them to do to you? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do you like any one to be nig- 
 gardly, and selfish, and ungenerous in 
 their dealings with you? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. If ever you are selfish or ungene- 
 rous in dealing with others, do you in 
 such instances do as you would be done 
 by? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do you like any one to judge 
 harshly of your conduct, and to think 
 worse of you than you deserve? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. When you judge harshly of others 
 is it not very possible that you may think 
 worse of them than they deserve ? 
 
 A. 
 
316 
 
 Q. Do you in this instance do as you 
 like others should do to you? 
 
 A. 
 
 Q. Do you like to have your faults 
 spoken of, and dwelt upon by your com- 
 panions in their conversation ? 
 
 A. ....... 
 
 Q. As often then as you speak of the 
 faults of your companions, ought not 
 your conscience to accuse you of then 
 doing what you would by no means 
 chuse others to do to you ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is it possible that God, who knows 
 all things, does not know when we do to 
 others what we do not like that any 
 should do to us? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is it possible that our conduct 
 in such instances can be approved by 
 God? 
 
 A. 
 
317 
 
 Q. Do you like to be treated with 
 gentleness and good-nature ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. When you are good-natured and 
 gentle you then do as you would be done 
 by, do you not? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. When you stand in need of help 
 do you like to be readily assisted? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. When you readily and cheerfully 
 lend your assistance to others, what do 
 you then do? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. When you happen to disoblige or 
 offend any one, do you like to be fully 
 and generously forgiven? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. How then ought you to act when 
 any one happens to offend or disoblige 
 you ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do you like to experience kind- 
 
318 
 
 ness and good-will from all with whom 
 you associate? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. How then ought your heart to be 
 disposed towards others? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Will not God, who sees the heart, 
 approve of those who endeavour to cul- 
 tivate in themselves the spirit of kind- 
 ness and good-will? 
 
 A. 
 
 SECTION III. 
 Social Affections continued. 
 
 Questioner. Have your brothers, and 
 sisters, and companions, and school-fel- 
 lows, derived their being from Almighty 
 God? 
 
 Answer. 
 
319 
 
 Q. Have they all from their birth been 
 objects of his goodness and mercy ? 
 
 A. 
 
 Q. Does God continue to bless them 
 by his heavenly kindness and protection? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Does the love of God extend to 
 all his creatures? 
 
 A *. 
 
 Q. Your companions then are objects 
 of God's love? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Are you and they equally the chil- 
 dren of one heavenly Father ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is God equally good and merciful 
 to all the children of his love? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Are not then all bound alike in 
 gratitude to him who is the bountiful 
 Giver of all good? 
 
 A. ...... 
 
 Q. Can we better shew our gratitude 
 
320 
 
 ' 
 to God than by studying to obey his 
 
 will ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Now, call to mind the goodness of 
 God, and then tell me whether it can in 
 your opinion be his will that we should 
 hate or despise any who are the objects 
 of his love and mercy ? 
 
 A. ...... 
 
 Q. If we hate any of our fellow-crea- 
 tures, what conduct do we then pursue? 
 Do we then pay respect to the will of 
 God, and shew gratitude for his good- 
 ness? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. If we despise and look down with 
 contempt on any being who shares in 
 the mercies, and is under the protection 
 of God, can we expect to be approved 
 by him who knows what passes in our 
 hearts ? 
 
 A. 
 
321 
 
 Q. Do you think that you have any 
 faults? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. When you commit a fault, do you 
 not hope, and wish, and pray to be for- 
 given by God for the fault which you 
 have committed? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Would you not think it good and 
 kind of a companion earnestly to desire 
 that God would forgive you? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Does this teach you how you, on 
 your part, ought to act with regard to a 
 companion who is faulty? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. When you do well, and are con- 
 scious of acting properly, do you like 
 that your companions should give you 
 credit for all the good you do? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Ought you not then to observe 
 and acknowledge what is right and good 
 
in the conduct of any of your compa- 
 nions? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. When you obtain commendation 
 or reward from your superiors, do you 
 feel most obliged to the companions 
 who rejoice with you, or to those who 
 seem to begrudge your happiness ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. What dispositions then ought you 
 to have towards such of your companions 
 as are preferred to honour? Ought you 
 to rejoice in their success, or to begrudge 
 it them ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Would you like to live in the world 
 alone? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. You then think it a great blessing 
 to live in a world so full of people that 
 you can never he out of the reach of 
 society ? 
 
 A. 
 
323 
 
 Q. But would not this blessing be in- 
 creased, by the certainty that all you 
 meet will be well-disposed towards you ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Even while yet a child, would you 
 not feel it a happiness to be certain that 
 all your companions regarded you with 
 kindness and affection ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Can you be certain of this ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. But do not you know to a certainty 
 what sort of disposition you cherish to- 
 war^s them ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do you feel kind and affectionate 
 to those who always treat you with af- 
 fection and kindness ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Are your companions in this re- 
 spect, think you, different from you ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. In order to know how they feel in 
 
324 
 
 general towards you, what then have you 
 to do but to ask your own heart how you 
 feel disposed generally to them ? 
 
 A. 
 
 Q. Ought brothers and sisters to love 
 each other, and to live together in con- 
 stant harmony ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do good parents approve of this 
 affectionate conduct in their children to- 
 wards each other ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Who is the Father of us all ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. You, and your companions and 
 school-fellows, are then members of the 
 family of God ; and, as such, are you not 
 bound to love each other, and to live in 
 constant harmony ? 
 
 A 
 
 3 
 
325 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 Use and Abuse of the Gifts of God. 
 
 Questioner. Can you tell me the num- 
 ber of your senses ? 
 
 Answer 
 
 Q. Have you all those senses in per- 
 fection ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do you acknowledge the goodness 
 of God in having conferred on you such 
 precious benefits ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is the wisdom, and power, and 
 goodness of the Creator, manifested in 
 the formation of your body? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Are your hands formed to be use- 
 ful ? 
 
 p 
 
326 
 
 A 
 
 Q. But is it not by their hands that 
 the wicked accomplish their wicked 
 deeds ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. We have it then in our power to 
 employ our hands ill or well : But does 
 not the Almighty see and observe our 
 actions ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do you think it possible that God 
 can approve of our making a bad use of 
 any of his gifts ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Can we do any thing bad without 
 an abuse of the power which God has 
 given us ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Are health and strength the gifts 
 of God ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Have we it in our power to destroy 
 
327 
 
 our health by carelessness, or by doing 
 foolish things to please our fancy? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. If we thus destroy our health, do 
 we not in this instance abuse the gift of 
 God? 
 
 A 
 
 Q, May strength be usefully employ- 
 ed ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. But does not great bodily strength 
 put it in one's power to hurt, and harm, 
 the weak and defenceless ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Has any one reason to boast of 
 possessing strength ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is it a proper use, or is it an abuse 
 of the gift of strength, to employ it in 
 vain and foolish feats, for the silly pur- 
 pose of exciting wonder? 
 
 A. 
 
328 
 
 Q. Do you consider sight as a very 
 precious blessing ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Have you any power to improve 
 the gift of sight to useful purposes ? 
 
 A. . 
 
 Q. May you not, by acquiring the ha- 
 bit of noticing and observing, render the 
 gift of sight always useful ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. But may you not, by only noticing 
 such things as strike your fancy, or ex- 
 cite your admiration, become habitually 
 unobserving of other things ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do you use the gift of sight to 
 good purpose, when you do not observe 
 the things which it is your duty to ob- 
 serve ? 
 
 A. 
 
 Q. Can such an abuse of the gift of 
 sight be pleasing to your Creator ? 
 
 A, 
 
329 
 
 Q. Is not hearing the gift of God ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do we hear to any purpose that 
 to which we do not listen with atten- 
 tion ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is it then in your power to abuse 
 the gift of hearing, by listening with at- 
 tention only to what is wicked or unpro- 
 fitable ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Have you it not also in your power 
 to improve the gift of hearing to good 
 purpose, by listening with attention to 
 what is profitable and instructive ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Whether do those who lend a will- 
 ing ear to good advice, or those who lend 
 a willing ear-to nonsense, give best proof 
 of their being mindful that hearing is the 
 gift of God ? 
 
 A. 
 
330 
 
 Q. Has God bestowed on brute ani- 
 mals the power of speech ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Ought not then the gift of speech, 
 which God has bestowed on us, to be 
 considered as a distinguished blessing ? 
 
 A. ..;... 
 
 Q. Did God bestow on us the gift of 
 speech that we might be enabled to com- 
 municate our thoughts to each other ? 
 
 A . 
 
 Q. Did God, by endowing us with 
 speech, enable us to be useful to others, 
 by giving them true and satisfactory in- 
 formation concerning what we know? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. But have we not, by possessing 
 speech, the power of deceiving others, 
 by telling them we think what we do 
 not think ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. When any one asks us concerning 
 what we have done, or said, or seen, or 
 
331 
 
 heard, or known, have we it not in our 
 power to conceal the truth, and to an- 
 swer falsely ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Does God know all our thoughts 
 and observe all our actions ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do you think that God, in whom 
 is the perfection of all truth and holiness, 
 will approve of our making use, in any 
 instance, of the gift of speech to deceive 
 others ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is it very grievous to be severely 
 reprimanded or punished by those who 
 are over us ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. But is it not infinitely more griev- 
 ous and terrible to be exposed to the 
 wrath of God ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is it not then great folly to incur 
 
332 
 
 the anger of God, in order to escape the 
 anger of man ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Are those who tell lies in excuse 
 for their faults guilty of this folly? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Would it be absurd and ridiculous 
 in you to tell me that your little arm is 
 two yards long, while, by a glance of my 
 eye, I must perceive its length ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. And does not God see the thoughts 
 of your heart as plainly as I see the length 
 of your arm ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is it not then an insult on the ma- 
 jesty of God to speak with an intention 
 to deceive ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do you truly think that you are 
 bound in duty to shew gratitude to God 
 for his goodness ? 
 
 A. 
 
333 
 
 Q. Has he put it in our power to ma- 
 nifest our dispositions by the use we make 
 of his gifts ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Have we it in our power to use our 
 speech in praising God for his mercies ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is it not in our power by speech to 
 entreat the continuance of his goodness, 
 to implore his pardon for our sins, and to 
 recommend ourselves and our friends to 
 his divine protection? 
 
 A. 
 
 Q. But is it not in the power of wick- 
 ed men to employ speech in uttering blas- 
 phemies against God, and in expressing 
 contempt for his commandments ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do not bad men often use the gift 
 of speech to take the name of God in 
 vain ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is it not in our power, by speech, 
 
334 
 
 to express gratitude to our benefactors, 
 and thankfulness to our instructors ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Have we it not also in our power 
 to speak impertinently and uncivilly to 
 those to whom we owe duty and respect? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. May we not, by speaking words of 
 kindness, and by expressions full of gen- 
 tleness and good- will, contribute to the 
 preservation of peace and harmony among 
 those with whom we live ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Have we it not also in our power, 
 by speech, to annoy, and vex, and tor- 
 ment those we live with ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Can we by our tongues spread evil 
 reports of our neighbours, to the injury 
 of their characters ? 
 
 A '. . 
 
 Q. Can we, by speaking ill of one 
 
335 
 
 neighbour to another, spread discord, 
 and destroy peace ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. There is yet another view of the 
 uses of the gift of speech, which it is 
 very proper for you to consider. Let me 
 ask, then, whether we have it not in our 
 power, by giving utterance to lively and 
 cheerful thoughts, to increase the inno- 
 cent pleasures of life ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. When we feel animated by the 
 spirit of joy, may we not by speech ani- 
 mate the spirits of others to equal cheer- 
 fulness ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do we feel happy in the enjoyment 
 of good spirits ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. To whom are we indebted for the 
 happiness we enjoy, in being thus formed 
 capable of delight ? 
 
 A. 
 
336 
 
 Q. Can we better shew our gratitude 
 for this blessing than in endeavouring to 
 promote the happiness and enjoyment of 
 others ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. But can there be any happiness in- 
 dependent of the favour of God ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. When we in our mirth annoy and 
 disturb others, do we then make use of 
 the blessing of good spirits in the way 
 of which God approves? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is it then necessary, in order to 
 be truly happy, that our mirth should 
 always be in its nature innocent and free 
 of offence ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Are you now sensible that God 
 has committed to you the power of mak- 
 ing a good and proper use of the gifts he 
 lias so mercifully bestowed upon you ? 
 
 A. 
 
337 
 
 Q. Are you likewise sensible that he 
 has given you power to make a bad use 
 of them ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do you believe that God will call 
 you to account for the use you make of 
 them, whether good or bad ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do you think that any one, while 
 bearing in mind that God knows their 
 thoughts and beholds their actions, would 
 at that very moment do or say what they 
 knew to be wrong in his sight? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. What is then the best preservative 
 against doing wrong? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Whether will he who is thankful 
 to God for all his gifts, or he who is not 
 thankful, be most apt to make a proper 
 use of those gifts ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Whether will the person who never 
 
338 
 
 thinks of God's goodness, or him who 
 thinks of it often, and almost continually, 
 be most inclined to thankfulness? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. What then ought you to do in 
 order to incline your heart to thankful- 
 ness? 
 
 A. 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 Of the Use and Abuse of the Capacity for 
 receiving Instruction. 
 
 Questioner. Are you learning to read? 
 
 Answer 
 
 Q. What is the good of learning to 
 read? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. What is the use of books? 
 A. 
 
339 
 
 Q. You must think farther upon this 
 subject: You hear what is said to you 
 by those who instruct you and give you 
 good advice? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. But do you always remember every 
 word you hear? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Should you not wish to remember 
 it? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. If every word of that which you 
 wish to remember had been printed in a 
 book, would they have been preserved 
 in the book better than in your memory? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. May there not be a great many 
 copies of the same book ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is it possible that a great number 
 of people, in different parts of the world, 
 may at this present moment be reading 
 those numerous copies of the same book ? 
 
340 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Could those people hear, from dif- 
 ferent parts of the world, the same voice? 
 Do they now hear me speak? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do books then extend to many 
 those instructions which the voice could 
 only convey to few? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Can those who have learned to read, 
 read the instructions that are printed in 
 a book over and over again ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. If those who cannot read happen 
 to forget what has been told them, so as 
 not to be able to think of it, is not what 
 has been told them the same as lost? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. When those who can read happen 
 to forget what they have read, have they 
 a certain means of recalling it to their 
 mind? 
 
 A. 
 
341 
 
 Q. Do not all of us, and especially 
 young people, stand in need of instruc- 
 tion? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. But are people always beside those 
 who are capable of instructing them ? 
 
 A . . 
 
 Q. When those who cannot read are 
 alone, or have none near them that are 
 capable of giving them instruction and 
 advice, must they not be at a great loss? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Can those who have learned to 
 read, and have good books to read, be 
 ever thus destitute of advice and instruc- 
 tion? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is it not then a great happiness to 
 be able to read ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. But were you to read the words of 
 an unknown tongue, would you be the 
 better or the wiser for reading them ? 
 
342 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is reading then of any farther use, 
 than as you understand what you read? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. It is then a si ill greater happiness 
 to be able to understand than to be able 
 to read ? Who gave you a mind capable 
 of understanding? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. For what purpose did God bestow 
 on you the gift of understanding? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. When you learn any thing of which 
 you were ignorant, are you then sensible 
 of the blessing you enjoy in being able 
 to understand? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. And ought you not to be grateful 
 to God for that great blessing? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. You acknowledge that your reason 
 is the gift of God ? 
 
 A. 
 
343 
 
 Q. Did God, in endowing you with 
 understanding, intend that it should be 
 useful to you ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. When you speak or act without 
 thinking, is your understanding at such 
 times useful? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. You have then power to use your 
 understanding, and you have power not 
 to use it? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. If God designed that your under- 
 standing should be usefully employed, 
 can he approve of your letting it remain 
 useless? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is it in your power to make such 
 bad use of your understanding, as only 
 to employ it in learning what is wicked 
 and pernicious? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. But would not this be a most glar- 
 
I 
 
 344 
 
 ing abuse of reason, which is one of the 
 prime gifts of God ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do you imagine that you could 
 escape punishment, were you thus to 
 abuse the blessing of reason? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Has God endowed you with such 
 capacity as enables you to learn to read 
 and write ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Has God given you such power to 
 learn, that you may every day of your 
 life learn something which you did not 
 know the day before ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is it in your power every day to 
 learn something that is good and useful; 
 and is it likewise in your power every 
 day to learn something that is bad or 
 useless? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Whether is' it when you learn 
 
345 
 
 what is good, or when you learn what 
 is bad, that you best employ the power 
 to learn which God has given you? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. When you learn to read you learn 
 what is good : But when you are able 
 to read, will you not then have it in your 
 power to read what books you please? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. What use ought you then to make 
 of the power you have thus acquired? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Wise men have written many good 
 books, full of useful knowledge, and these 
 you may always read with advantage : 
 But bad books and silly books have like- 
 wise been written. Now tell me, whe- 
 ther it is for the purpose of reading such 
 bad and foolish books that you have been 
 enabled to read? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Were you to read such books ; 
 
346 
 
 would you, in reading them, make a bad 
 or a good use of the power of reading? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. If you believe that God will pu- 
 nish those who abuse the gift of speech, 
 do you think that he will permit those 
 who abuse the higher gift of reason to 
 go unpunished r 
 
 A 
 
 Q. By making use of your understand- 
 ing you have been able to form a proper 
 answer to my last question : But how did 
 you arrive at the notions you possess of 
 the nature of God ? Was it from your 
 own mind, or was it from instruction? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Can any one, without instruction, 
 arrive at the knowledge of what has 
 happened in times past? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Could a child, merely by the use 
 of his understanding, and without being 
 informed or instructed, obtain a just no- 
 
347 
 
 tion of the laws of the kingdom in which 
 he lives? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Could a child who never heard of 
 a king, form any just notion of the king's 
 power and government? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. How then, without instruction, 
 could we form any just notion of the 
 nature of God, or of our own nature? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. The wisest of men could not, from 
 his own understanding, form juster no- 
 tions of Almighty God, than an infant 
 forms of the king, and his laws and go- 
 vernment. How then does it come to 
 pass that so much knowledge of the na- 
 ture of God has been obtained? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. True : It is, as you say, from in- 
 struction. Have you been so well in- 
 structed as to know that God has given 
 you all that you enjoy? 
 
348 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do you believe that it is through 
 the mercy of your heavenly Father that 
 you have hitherto been provided with 
 food and raiment, and all the necessaries 
 of life ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do you believe that it is God who 
 has raised up for you the friends by 
 whom you have been tenderly cherished 
 and protected ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do you believe that it is God who 
 has put it in the hearts of your instruc- 
 tors to take an interest in your improve- 
 ment? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. And do you believe that God ? who 
 has been so good and gracious to you, 
 is ever present with you? 
 
 A. 
 
 Q. If God were to send a messenger 
 from heaven to tell you what you must 
 
349 
 
 do to please him, would you not earnest- 
 ly listen to his voice? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. If this heavenly messenger were 
 to inform you of things concerning which 
 no human being could give you infor- 
 mation, would you not attend to him 
 with thankfulness? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. If he were to instruct you in the 
 weakness of your own sinful nature, 
 would you not be glad to learn of him 
 how you might obtain strength ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Suppose farther, that this divine 
 instructor were to shew you the path 
 that leads to everlasting life, and to bring 
 you the certain assurance, that by keep- 
 ing in it you would be made happy for 
 ever and ever, would it not make your 
 heart bound with joy and gratitude? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Now think a little while, and then 
 Q 
 
350 
 
 tell me, whether God has not done this 
 for you and for us all ? 
 
 A. ...... 
 
 Q. If God had not vouchsafed to re- 
 veal these things to us by his holy Word, 
 we should all have been ignorant of them 
 as the day we were born. These divine 
 instructions have been recorded for our 
 use: In what book have they been re- 
 corded or written ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do you now perceive the great 
 advantage of being able to read ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Can we make a better use of our 
 understandings than in applying with 
 diligence to study the truths which God 
 has been graciously pleased to reveal ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Does it not increase your gratitude 
 for having been taught to read, to think 
 that you have thereby the power of read- 
 
, 351 
 
 ing again and again, from day to day, 
 the instructions of divine wisdom ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Do you consider it a great bless- 
 ing to have it thus in your power to be- 
 come acquainted with the will of God ? 
 
 A. ..".... 
 
 Q. But though you gain a knowledge 
 of all that God has revealed and com- 
 manded, will that knowledge be of any 
 use to you unless you believe in his pro- 
 mises and obey his commands ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. If, after knowing the will of God, 
 you do what he has forbidden, or leave 
 undone what he has commanded you to 
 do, will you not be guilty of an abuse of 
 knowledge? 
 
 A. ...... 
 
 Q. Is it then necessary, in order to 
 profit by divine instruction, that you 
 cherish in your heart a disposition to 
 obey the will of God in all things? 
 
352 
 
 A. ...... 
 
 Q. If you find it to be the will of God 
 that you should not only abstain from 
 injuring others by word or deed, but 
 that you should be humble and meek, 
 kind and gentle, full of tenderness, and 
 ever ready to do good; will you not be 
 bound to keep your heart and mind thus 
 disposed ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. If you find that hatred, and malice, 
 and pride, and vanity, and hypocrisy, 
 and falsehood, and selfishness, are all 
 directly contrary to the will of God, to 
 what ought the knowledge of his will, 
 with regard to those bad dispositions, to 
 lead? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. But you will probably never be 
 competent to understand of yourself all 
 that is written in the Bible for your in- 
 struction : Will you not then be thank- 
 ful to have the parts which you cannot 
 
353 
 
 understand explained to you by those 
 who are wiser than yourself? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Are not the learned and pious men 
 whom the good providence of God has 
 raised up in his church as our teachers 
 and instructors in religion, capable of 
 explaining what you do not understand? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Ought you not then to listen to 
 their instructions with thankfulness, and 
 to apply with diligence to learn your 
 catechism, and such other books as they 
 may think proper for you to learn ? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. Is wisdom a grace or favour of 
 which God has the disposal? 
 
 A 
 
 Q. If God has promised to give grace 
 to those who ask it, what ought you to 
 do in order to obtain an increase of true 
 wisdom ? 
 
 A. 
 
354 
 
 Q, Pray then sincerely with your whole 
 heart to God, and beseech him to bless 
 you with wisdom to learn, and with 
 strength to obey his holy will, and God 
 will bless you; and in thus blessing you, 
 will rejoice the hearts of those who are 
 interested in your happiness. Perform 
 your duty in all things, and God will 
 perform his promises to you, and make 
 you happy for ever. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 Walker and Greig, Printers, 
 Edinburgh. 
 
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