PROGRESSIVE EDUCATION

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y So; ~e

PROGRESSIVE

EDUCATION,

COMMENCING WITH THE INFANT

BY MADAME NECKER DE SAUSSURE.

TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH :

WITH

NOTES AND AN APPENDIX

BY

MRS. WILLARD AND MRS. PHELPS.

BOSTON:

WILLIAM D. TICKNOR.
1835.

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

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

BOSTON:

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

CONTENTS

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

Page

13
23

BOOK I.

Chapter I. The Design of Education, - 43

" II. Perfection should be aimed at, 58

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

IV. Influence of character in strengthening the will, 81

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

VI. Influence of religious character in strengthening

the will, 102

BOOK II.

Chapter I. Means of perfecting Education, - 115

II. Birth, and the first months, 129

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

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

VI. Means by which children acquire language, 183

CONTENTS.

BOOK III.

Page

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

II. Habit of obedience, - - ' . 207

III. Third year Activity, . . 221

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

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

VII. Advantages of early development of religious

character, .... 269

VIII. Religious education of young children, - 282

" IX. Religious worship, - ... 295

APPENDIX.

Observations upon an infant during its first year. By a

mother, . . 323

The first three months, ----- 324

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

The child at nine months, ... 335

From nine to twelve months, - . - 340

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

PREFACE.

BY MRS. WILLARJ).

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

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

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

O PREFACE.

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

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

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

PREFACE. y

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

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

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

10 PREFACE.

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

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

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

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

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

PREFACE. 11

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

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

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

12 PREFACE.

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

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

PREFACE.

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

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

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

14 PREFACE.

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

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

PREFACE. 15

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

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

16 PREFACE.

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

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

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

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

PREFACE. 17

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

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

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

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

18 PREFACE.

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

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

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

PREFACE. 19

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

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

20 PREFACE.

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

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

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

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

PREFACE. 21

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

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

22 PREFACE.

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

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

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

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

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

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

24 INTRODUCTION.

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

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

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

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

INTRODUCTION. 25

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

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

All the power given to man in education, depends
3

26 INTRODUCTION.

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

After having described the first years of life, when

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

INTRODUCTION. 27

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

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

28 INTRODUCTION.

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

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

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

INTRODUCTION. 29

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

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

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

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

3*

30 INTRODUCTION.

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

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

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

INTRODUCTION. 31

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

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

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

32 INTRODUCTION.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The first of these divisions of human life, is that

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

INTRODUCTION. 33

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

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

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

34 INTRODUCTION.

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

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

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

INTRODUCTION. 35

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

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

36 INTRODUCTION.

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

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

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

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

INTRODUCTION. 37

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

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

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

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

38 INTRODUCTION.

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

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

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

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

INTRODUCTION. 39

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

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

But the pious soul, possesses more than the compen-
sation for the loss of the fascinating charms and illu-
sions of youth. In such an one, the great sense of duty
survives ah 1 , and gives its possessor an enjoyment and
activity independent of worldly thoughts and objects.
The invisible world appears, in proportion as the visi-
ble world vanishes from his sight, and his hopes rest
upon the only Being who can never deceive him. A
greater degree of elevation and of tranquillity, and a
more just appreciation of objects, communicate to him
a new and entirely different species of greatness. He
now understands why he was sent into this earth, and
the plan of human life is unfolded to his understanding.

40 INTRODUCTION.

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

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

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

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

INTRODUCTION. 41

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

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

4*

PROGRESSIVE EDUCATION.

CHAPTER I.

THE DESIGN OF EDUCATION.

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

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

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

44 THE DESIGN OF EDUCATION.

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

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

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

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

THE DESIGN OF EDUCATION. 45

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

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

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

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

46 THE DESIGN OF EDUCATION.

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

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

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

THE DESIGN OF EDTTCATION. 47

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

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

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

J

48 THE DESIGN OF EDUCATION.

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

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

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

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

THE DESIGN OF EDVCATION. 49

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

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

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

50 THE DESIGN OF EDUCATION.

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

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

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

THE DESIGN OF EDUCATION. 51

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

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

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

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

52 THE DESIGN OF EDUCATION.

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

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

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

THE DESIGN OF EDUCATION. 53

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

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

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

* Romans vi. 23.
5*

54 THE DESIGN OF EDUCATION.

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

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

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

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

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

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

THE DESIGN OF EDUCATION. 55

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

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

56 THE DESIGN OF EDUCATION.

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

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

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

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

THE DESIGN OF EDUCATION'. 57

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

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

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

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

CHAPTER II.

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

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

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

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

PERFECTION" SHOULD BE AIMED AT. 59

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

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

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

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

60 PERFECTION SHOULD BE AIMED AT.

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

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

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

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

PERFECTION SHOULD BE AIMED AT. 61

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

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

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

62 PERFECTION SHOULD BE AIMED AT.

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

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

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

PERFECTION SHOULD BE AIMED AT. 63

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

In order to distinguish ideas often confused, we observe
that regularity is not a condition necessary to beauty. It
becomes such if we require perfect beauty; but then the
idea is not the most simple, and we form perfection by
combining the two elements which constitute it. But if
we seek to separate them, in taking for the sole character
of beauty, the power of exciting admiration, we see that
the sentiment can be more easily inspired. A child is
presented to our view, and we are charmed with its dazzling 1
complexion, and the brilliancy of its eyes, while perhaps
its features will not sustain examination. The finest points
of view in nature present nothing regular. And in the
moral world, where order is represented by duty, how
many actions which are not conformed to this rule excite
our approbation ! A mother precipitates herself into the
waves to perish with her drowning child : such a devo-
tion appears to us noble ; our feeelings compel us to say it,
and yet if she was the only support of an aged parent, she
has done wrong. An heroic courage, the generous exal-
tation of the most tender affections, have often produced
sacrifices, which, though an austere morality would con-
demn, yet to which an ideaof beauty is invincibly attached.
From this fruitful source, spring the arts ; and when they
add their enchanting illusions to a charm already too pow-
erful, they raise to enthusiasm the admiration which cer-
tain acts excite in us. Self-devotion is a principle common
to all dazzling actions.

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

64 PERFECTION SHOULD BE AIMED AT.

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

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

PERFECTION SHOULD BE AIMED AT. 65

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

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

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

66 PERFECTION SHOULD BE AIMED AT.

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

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

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

PERFECTION SHOULD BE AIMED AT. 67

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

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

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

68 PERFECTION SHOULD BE AIMED AT.

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

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

(69 )

CHAPTER III.

OF PERFECTION CONSIDERED WITH RELATION TO
NATURAL AND SOCIAL INEQUALITIES.

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

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

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

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

70 THE PERFECTION OF OUR NATURE CONSIDERED.

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

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

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

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

THE PERFECTION OF OUR NATURE CONSIDERED. 71

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

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

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

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

72 THE PERFECTION OF OUR NATURE CONSIDERED.

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

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

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

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

THE PERFECTION OF OUR NATURE CONSIDERED. 73

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

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

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

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

74 THE PERFECTION OF OUR NATURE CONSIDERED.

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

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

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

THE PERFECTION OF OUR NATURE CONSIDERED. 75

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

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

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

76 THE PERFECTION OF OUR NATURE CONSIDERED.

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

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

THE PERFECTION OF OUR NATURE CONSIDERED. 77

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

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

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

7*

78 THE PERFECTION OF OUR NATURE CONSIDERED.

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

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

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

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

THE PERFECTION OF OTTR NATURE CONSIDERED. 79

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

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

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