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^ • 


Southern  Branch 
of  the 

University  of  California 

Los  Angeles 

Form  L    I 

Library 

LB 
19 


CCT221 


[  4  1948 
'0 

AUG  1  2  1950 


THE 


SCIENCE  OF  EDUCATION; 


OR  THE 


PHILOSOPHY  OF  HUMAN  CULTURE. 


BY 

JOHN   OGDEN,  A.M. 

AUTHOR  OF  "ART  OF  TEACHING,"  "OUTLINES  OF  PEDAGOGICAL,  SCIENCE,"  ETC, 


VAN  ANTWERP,  BRAGG  &  CO. 

CINCINNATI  AND  NEW  YOKK. 


COPYRIGHT, 

1879, 
By  VAN  ANTWERP,  BRAGG  &  CO. 


Library 


PREFACE. 


THE  only  apology  we  make,  in  offering  to  the  public  text- 
books on  Education  and  Teaching,  is,  that  necessity  has  driven 
us  to  it.  A  combination  of  unforeseen  events  and  circum- 
stances, over  which  we  could  have  but  little  control,  and  from 
whose  pressure  it  was  almost  impossible  to  escape,  has,  as  it 
were,  forced  the  publication  of  these  works.  On  the  one  hand, 
the  entire  absence  of  a  text-book  of  the  kind  these  profess  to 
be,  and  the  universal  conviction  of  the  necessity  and  practica- 
bility of  such  works;  and  on  the  other,  the  importunities  and 

encouragements  of  Teachers,  and  of  friends  of  Education,  have 
^ 
^    led  us  to  undertake  a  work  which,  under  other  circumstances, 

'  would  have  been  regarded  as  the  hight  of  presumption.  Under 
these  circumstances,  we  have  written ;  but  it  has  been  with  a 

*J  conscious  sense  of  insufficiency.  What  has  been  written,  must, 
therefore,  be  very  imperfect;  but  we  have  simply  done  our  duty, 
as  we  best  could. 

But  we  beg  leave  to  say  here,  that  we  have  not  written  for 
those  who  know  a  great  deal  more  than  we  do  on  these  sub 
jects;  nor  for  those  who  may  feel  they  have  no  need  of  help; 
but  for  those  who  are  struggling  into  the  light,  and  for  those 
who  may  never,  as  yet,  have  felt  the  responsibilities  of  their 
labors.  There  are  thousands  of  such  teachers;  and  for  these, 
and  also  for  parents  (for  without  their  cooperation  no  ade- 


IV  PREFACE. 

quate  reform  can  be  effected),  we,  with  the  dangers  and  diffi- 
culties, to  which  they  are  exposed,  constantly  before  our  eyes, 
have  prepared  the  following  pages.  To  awaken  a  proper  sense 
of  responsibility  and  duty  in  such,  and  to  give  them  a  knowl- 
edge of  those  technical  details  so  necessary  to  their  success  and 
usefulness,  are  the  specific  objects  of  this  book. 

We  have  not  the  vanity  to  suppose,  however,  that  we  are  an 
oracle  to  the  profession;  nor  have  we  the  ambition  to  become 
one;  neither  have  we  the  presumption  to  dictate  special  modes, 
nor  to  offer  our  plans  to  the  exclusion  of  all  others.  This  would 
be  traveling  out  of  the  line  of  policy,  as  well  as  of  good  sense. 
It  would  be  downright  empiricism.  But  we  have  endeavored 
so  to  present  the  whole  subject  of  HUMAN  CULTURE,  and  so  to 
lay  open  and  enforce  the  principles  of  right  Education  and 
Teaching,  that  the  humblest  may  understand;  so  that  by  a 
careful  study  of  these  principles,  every  teacher  and  parent  may 
be  able  rather  to  build  up  his  own  system,  and  exercise  his  own 
judgment  in  the  special  application  of  them,  than  to  adopt, 
entirely,  the  measures  of  another;  for  any  one  can  see  that  to 
attempt  to  develop  the  Teaching  Talent  by  cumbering  it  with 
the  real  or  supposed  excellencies  of  special  methods  exclu- 
sively, would  be  like  prescribing  special  modes  of  treatment  for 
the  cure  of  all  diseases,  irrespective  of  their  character  or  the 
constitutional  peculiarities  of  the  patient.  This  would  be  em- 
piricism indeed;  since  it  would  deny  the  privilege  of  individ- 
ual judgment,  investigation  and  discovery.  So,  to  palm  off 
upon  teachers  as  qualifications,  the  plans  and  specialities  (and 
too  frequently  the  errors  and  whims)  that  may  have  been  suc- 
cessful in  the  hands  of  others/without  developing  native  ability, 


PREFACE.  V 

would  tend  only  to  circumscribe  the  limits  of  improvement,  and 
to  cripple  individual  talent  and  enterprise.  And  on  the  other 
hand,  to  discuss  general  theories,  and  to  enlarge  upon  the  im- 
portance and  advantage  of  Education,  without  reducing  the 
theories  to  practice,  would  be  equally  objectionable. 

We  have  tried  to  guard  carefully  against  these  two  extremes; 
and  we  entertain  the  hope  that  the  merits  of  the  subjects  pre- 
sented, aside  from  the  manner  in  which  they  are  treated,  will 
be  a  sufficient  passport  to  public  favor.  With  this  hope,  and 
claiming  only  that  indulgence  which  is  the  common  right  of 
mortals,  and  which  we  know  a  courteous  public  will  grant,  we 
present  this  book  to  the  candid  consideration  of  Teachers  and 
friends  of  Education. 

CINCINNATI,  July,  1879. 


CONTENTS. 


Page, 
CHAPTER  FIRST— INTRODUCTION 9 

Nature  and  Design  of  the  Plan 9 


CHAPTER  SECOND— EDUCATIONAL  CAPACITY 27 

ARTICLE      I.  Objective  Period 27 

ARTICLE    II.  Transition  Period , 37 

ARTICLE  III.  Subjective  Period 43 

CHAPTER  THIRD— EDUCATIONAL  FORCES 49 

ARTICLE     I.  Objective  Period 51 

ARTICLE   II.  Transition  Period 67 

ARTICLE  III.  Subjective  Period 80 

CHAPTER  FOURTH— EDUCATIONAL  PROCESSES 87 

ARTICLE      I.  Objective  Period 88 

ARTICLE    II.  Transition  Period 97 

ARTICLE  III.  Subjective  Period 106 

CHAPTER  FIFTH— PHYSICAL  EDUCATION 117 

ARTICLE      I.  Hand  Culture 122 

ARTICLE    II.  Excursion  and  Labor 133 

ARTICLE  III.  Gymnastics 141 

(vi) 


CONTENTS.  Vll 

Page. 

CHAPTER  SIXTH— INTELLECTUAL  EDUCATION 155 

ARTICLE      I.  Observation  and  Experiment 159 

ARTICLE    II.  Language  and  Description 163 

ARTICLE  III.  Investigation  and  Generalization 172 

CHAPTER  SEVENTH— MORALAND  RELIGIOUS  EDU- 
CATION   183 

ARTICLE      I.  The  Affections 188 

ARTICLE    II.  The  Conscience 221 

ARTICLE  III.  The  Will...  ..  228 


THE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 


SYKTOFSIS     I. 

f         Objective. 

(      Physical. 
-       Intellectual. 
(     Moral. 

'     CAPACITY  AND 
SUSCEPTIBILITY.  * 

Transition. 

(      Physical. 
-       Intellectual. 
(      Moral. 

Subjective. 

("      Physical. 
•J       Intellectual. 
(      Moral. 

r         Objective. 

f      Physical. 
•J       Intellectual. 
(      Moral. 

f  DISCURSIVE. 
THEORETICAL.   • 
A  SCIENCE. 

FORCES    AND    IN- 
STRUMENTALITIES ' 

Transition. 

(      Physical. 
i       Intellectual. 
(      Moral. 

i 

• 

p 

E* 
P 

Subjective. 
Objective. 

C      Physical. 
J       Intellectual 
(      Moral 

f      Physical. 
1       Intellectual. 
(      Moral. 

H 

P  J 

8  • 

PROCESSES     AND  . 

v                MODES. 

Transition. 

(      Physical. 
1       Intellectual. 
(      Moral 

§ 

*.        SubjectiM. 

f      Physical. 
J       Intellectual. 
1       Moral. 

H 
••                                        f      HOME  DUTIES. 

g                                       ' 

{ 

Labor. 
Recreation. 
Best. 

Q 

• 

( 

Study. 

DIDACTIC. 
PRACTICAL. 
AN   ART. 

SCHOOL-ROOM 

DUTIES. 

j 

Recitation. 

Jtiitini'M. 
Recreation. 

MISCELLANEOUS 

| 

^           Di'Tiea. 

1 

SCIENCE  OF  EDUCATION. 


CHAPTER  I. 

INTRODUCTION. 

THE  SCIENCE  OF  EDUCATION  is  based  upon  immutable 
principles ;  and,  so  far  as  these  principles  relate  to  hu- 
man beings,  they  are  no  less  established  than  when  they 
relate  to  other  beings.  They  exist  in  the  very  nature 
of  things,  and  are  co-extensive  with  man's  existence. 

The  Philosophy  of  Education  is  therefore  the  philos- 
ophy of  man.  The  Science  of  Human  Culture  is 
that  which  relates  to  his  nature,  laws  of  growth,  and 
modes  of  treatment. 

Man  is  created  with  Educational  Susceptibility,  with 
the  undeveloped  or  latent  capacity  to  know  and  to  do. 
His  powers  of  feeling  and  motion,  at  birth,  though  in 
a  feeble  state,  are,  nevertheless,  more  perfect  than  those 
of  knowing,  willing  and  doing.  His  sentient  organism 
constitutes  the  medium  through  which,  in  their  nascent 
state,  these  faculties  of  the  mind  are  reached. 

Now,  these  knowing  and  doing  capacities — for  they 
can  scarcely  be  called  powers  at  this  stag*  of  their 
growth — would  for  ever  remain  in  an  undeveloped 
state,  were  either  the  avenues  leading  to  them  closed, 
or  were  there  no  instrumentalities  employed  to  reach 
down  to  them,  to  excite  them  to  activity,  and  to  bring 
them  out. 


10  THE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

This  presupposes  Educational  Instrumentalities  or 
Forces,  as  well  as  educational  capacity,  which,  in 
their  nature  and  constitution,  must  be  adapted  to  the 
educational  susceptibility,  or  want.  These,  again,  must 
be  brought  in  contact  with  the  faculties,  in  order  to 
excite  them  to  activity  and  develop  them.  For,  if  man 
possess,  originally,  educational  capacity  undeveloped, 
it  would  be  unwise,  if  not  wicked,  to  suppose  there 
are  no  instrumentalities  or  forces  suited  to  these  wants. 
But  on  the  contrary,  for  every  educational  want  there 
is  an  educational  supply  precisely  suited  to  that  want. 
To  argue  the  opposite  of  this  proposition,  would  not 
only  lead  to  infidelity,  but  would  charge  God  with 
folly  in  bringing  human  beings  into  the  world,  with 
educational  wants  to  torment  them,  and  a  capacity  to 
mock  them. 

The  bringing  out,  the  developing  and  cultivation 
of  these  faculties,  presuppose  Modes  or  Processes ;  for 
it  would  be  equally  unwise  to  suppose — there  being 
latent  capacity,  and  forces  suited  to  its  development — 
that  there  were  no  right  and  certain  modes,  or  proc- 
esses, by  which  these  educational  instrumentalities 
could  be  applied  to  the  educational  susceptibilities.  It 
would  be  just  as  unwise  as  to  suppose  that  God  had 
created  seeds  for  growth,  and  a  soil  every  way  suited 
to  nourish  them,  and  yet  had  made  it  impossible  that 
the  two  should  be  brought  in  contact. 

There  are,  therefore,  educational  susceptibilities  or 
capacities^  and  suited  to  the  exact  nature  of  these,  there 
are  educational  instrumentalities  or  forces ;  and  super- 
added  to  these,  there  are  certain  and  right  modes  or 
processes  of  applying  these  forces  to  the  capacities:  and 
these,  plain  truths  shall  constitute  the  basis  of  the 
theoretical  part  of  this  work. 


INTRODUCTION.  11 

To  render  this  matter  plain,  we  assume  the  following 
propositions :  1.  That  there  is  no  necessary  antagonism 
existing  between  the  educational  capacities  and  their  appro- 
priate forces  or  supplies,  judiciously  administered — except 
that  induced  by  disease  or  disordered  growth.  2.  That 
all  true  modes  of  education  proceed  in  exact  harmony  with 
the  nature,  design  and  growth  of  man's  faculties,  intellect- 
ual, physical  and  moral.  3.  That  God  has  not  only  made 
it  possible  for  us  to  understand  the  true  modes  of  educa- 
tion, but  that  he  has  made  it  necessary,  and  absolutely  im- 
perative. He  requires  this  at  our  hands. 

In  reference  to  the  first  we  remark,  that  this  is  true 
in  an  intellectual  and  moral  sense,  no  less  than  in  a 
physical.  The  hungry  body  does  not  loathe  the  food 
that  nourishes  it :  neither  does  the  hungry  mind  loathe 
knowledge,  or  the  food  that  nourishes  it :  nor  yet  does 
the  soul  abhor  the  love,  the  sympathy,  the  sweet  affec- 
tions that  cherish  the  moral  and  religious  nature;  un- 
less one  or  all  of  those  departments  of  our  being  are 
laboring  under  the  influence  of  disease.  And  here  we 
wish  to  be  understood  that  diseases  exist  every-where 
within  the  dominion  of  sin  ;  and  that  it  is  the  duty  and 
peculiar  province  of  education  to  alleviate  and  remove 
them.  There  are,  therefore,  intellectual  and  moral  dis- 
eases, as  well  as  those  of  a  purely  physical  character. 
The  disordered  state  of  one  department  of  our  being 
often  induces  disorder  in  the  others.  And,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  healthy  condition  of  the  one  promotes  the 
health  and  growth  of  all  the  others.  These  diseases 
may  be  considered  either  as  constitutional,  chronic, 
acute  or  recent  in  their  origin  and  formation.  Indeed, 
we  may  conclude  that  they  are  all,  to  a  great  extent, 
of  the  first  class ;  since  sin  has  so  corrupted  our  entire 
race,  that  the  whole  being,  physical,  intellectual  and 


12  THE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

moral,  is  tainted,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  with  the 
corruptions  peculiar  to  each ;  and  so  deep-seated  have 
become  these  complaints,  that  nothing  short  of  Divine 
agencies,  co-operating,  it  may  be,  with  the  human,  can 
avail  for  their  removal.  What  we  mean,  therefore,  is 
that  this  depravity — for  by  this  name  it  is  best  known 
— or  this  disease, is  either  aggravated  or  abated  accord - 
i.  g  as  the  causes  or  influences  operating  have  been  bad 
or  good, — whether  we  consider  these  as  having  oper- 
ated in  the  past,  or  as  still  operating  in  the  present, 
generations  of  men.  And  now  it  becomes  a  matter  of 
the  gravest  importance,  a  question  of  most  startling 
significance :  can  these  diseases  be  removed  or  allevi- 
ated by  any  means,  human  or  Divine,  or  by  both  of 
these  agencies  combined  ?  We  infer,  as  before  inti- 
mated, that  they  can,  since  they  admit  of  increase  and 
decrease.  The  causes  of  difficulty  removed,  and  a 
class  of  opposite  influences  at  work,  would  surely  pro- 
duce opposite  results.  The  steps  by  which  we  have 
descended  to  our  present  depth,  retraced,  would  surely 
bring  us  back  to  the  point  whence  we  started,  provided 
the  nature  of  our  offense  did  not  render  it  impossible. 
This,  we  apprehend,  is  the  case,  so  far,  at  least,  as  ab- 
solute perfection  is  concerned.  But  we  have  un- 
bounded faith  in  the  efficacy  of  the  remedial  agents, 
provided  by  the  merciful  Being  who  first  gave  us  our 
powers,  and  commanded  us  to  keep  and  perpetuate 
them.  But  since  man  failed  to  do  this,  through  a 
greater  than  creative  kindness,  the  same  Being  has 
provided  a  ransom  in  the  atonement,  so  ample  as  to 
reach  to  the  lowest  depths  of  his  depravity,  renovating 
his  moral  nature,  healing  his  moral  disease,  and  there- 
by rendering  it  possible,  at  least,  by  a  course  of  edu- 
cation and  discipline,  by  obedience  to  the  laws  of  his 


INTRODUCTION.  13 

being,  and  a  strict  observance  of  the  laws  of  God,  to 
retrace  those  steps,  and  regain,  if  not  a  primitive  and 
absolute  state  of  perfection,  at  least,  to  attain  to  the 
sublimest  hights  of  human  excellence. 

Education,  therefore,  in  its  largest  sense,  proposes, 
the  alleviation  and  removal  of  those  diseases,  so  far,  at 
least,  as  human  instrumentality  can  be  efficient  in  so 
diflicult  a  case.  And  while  we  claim  for  it,  only  that 
it  is  human,  and  therefore  subject  to  error,  neverthe- 
less, it  should  always  so  co-operate  with  Diviue  agen- 
cies as  to  produce  the  results  anticipated.  To  inquire 
earnestly  after  this  way,  to  learn  the  real  nature  and 
importance  of  a  true  education,  and  to  enforce  its  claims 
to  the  highest  possible  place  in  human  consideration, 
shall  be  our  present  object. 

Our  second  proposition  is,  that  all  true  modes  of  edu- 
cation proceed  in  exact  harmony  with  the  nature,  design  and 
growth  of  man's  faculties,  etc.  The  correctness  of  this 
position  will  at  once  be  admitted;  for,  to  admit  its 
opposite,  would  be  to  admit  the  establishment  of  dis- 
cord instead  of  harmony  in  the  works  of  the  Creator. 
At  no  stage  of  growth,  should  the  educational  forces 
and  processes  interfere  with  the  natural  order  of  de- 
velopment. This  would  be  no  less  disastrous  here  than 
would  any  interference  with  the  natural  conditions, 
supplies,  and  laws  of  growth,  in  the  vegetable  world. 
All  true  methods  of  educating  man,  therefore,  must  be 
based  upon  sound  philosophy;  for  if  education,  as 
such,  has  any  claims  to  the  dignified  title  of  Science,  its 
operations  must  proceed  in  harmony  with  the  nature, 
design,and  laws  of  growth  pertaining  to  the  subject  of 
such  education,  and  in  accordance  with  the  principles 
involved  in  such  science.  And  then  it  follows,  as  a 
matter  of  necessity,  that  those  principles  and  processes 


14  THE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

are  susceptible  of  classification  and  arrangement,  or 
else  education  is  no  science :  for  without  these  condi- 
tions no  science  can  exist.  And  then  again,  if  these 
principles  and  processes  can  be  thus  classified  and  ar- 
ranged, they  can  be  studied  and  mastered ;  and  if  they 
can  be  classified,  arranged,  studied  and  mastered,  they 
can  be  applied  in  the  education  of  every  human  being — 
not  beyond  the  reach  of  education — just  as  definitely, 
though,  perhaps,  not  with  as  certain  results,  as  the 
principles  and  processes  of  chemistry  and  mathematics 
are  studied  and  applied  in  agriculture  and  the  arts. 
And,  surely,  the  claims  of  this  science  upon  our  con- 
sideration are  as  urgent  as  any  other,  if  we  consider 
the  character,  the  value  of  the  materials,  and  the 
agents  with  which  it  proposes  to  operate. 

The  agriculturist,  for  instance,  can  afford  to  make  a 
mistake  in  raising  a  crop;  so  can  the  mechanic,  in 
building  a  ship  or  a  house;  for  these  appertain  only 
to  the  grosser  interests  and  perishable  substances. 
The  painter  can  afford  to  make  a  mistake  in  mingling 
his  colors,  or  in  giving  form  and  expression  to  the 
features  of  his  picture ;  or  he  can  afford  to  see  it  blur- 
red and  marred,  and  even  rent  asunder  by  unskilled 
or  wicked  hands ;  for,  in  such  case,  the  only  loss  is  the 
waste  of  material  and  labor,  and,  perchance,  his  hopes 
of  gain.  The  sculptor  can  afford  to  see  his  beautiful 
figure,  upon  which  he  has  spent  years  of  anxious  toil, 
shattered  to  atoms  in  his  presence,  or  sunk  to  the  bottom 
of  the  ocean.  The  loss  might  be  more  than  compen- 
sated by  reproduction.  But  who  will  undertake  to 
compensate  for  the  loss  of  a  human  being,  freighted 
with  a  deathless  cargo  of  eternal  interests?  Who  will 
undertake  to  repair  the  damages  done  to  an  immortal 
spirit?  Who  will  undertake  to  remove  the  blurs  and 


INTRODUCTION.  1 5 

etains  from  the  face  of  human  character,  or  to  stop  the 
influences  involved  in  error?  The  agriculturist,  the 
artist,  and  all  material  workers  can  well  afford  to  make 
mistakes;  but  in  educating  boys  and  girls,  in  forming 
habits  and  molding  character,  in  giving  direction  to 
the  energies  of  immortal  minds,  in  rearing  and  train- 
ing human  beings  for  their  duties  and  responsibilities 
here,  and  their  destiny  hereafter,  we  can  not  afford  to 
make  mistakes.  These  are  more  costly  and  enduring 
than  the  senseless  stone,  or  the  inanimate  clod.  The 
influences  evolved,  too,  are  of  a  more  enduring  nature; 
for  the  mistakes  or  the  master-strokes  here,  unlike 
those  upon  the  canvas  or  the  marble,  perpetuate  them- 
selves, and  operate  on  other  beings  to  all  eternity.  If 
then  it  becomes  necessary  that  the  agriculturist  and 
the  artist  have  knowledge  of  the  character  of  their 
materials,  and  skill  to  manage  them  ;  if  it  becomes 
necessary  that  they  have  rules  and  definite  methods  by 
which  to  make  application  of  the  principles  of  their 
peculiar  sciences;  much  more  does  this  necessity 
increase,  when  we  come  to  apply  the  same  principle  to 
that  most  difficult  and  enduring,  that  most  artistic  of 
all  arts,  the  art  of  educating  human  beings. 

The  question  seems  to  be  settled  therefore,  as  to  the 
importance  and  necessity  both  of  accurate  and  exten- 
sive knowledge  upon  these  subjects,  and  of  rules  by 
which  to  be  guided  in  the  applications.  The  possibil- 
ity of  such  rules  seems  the  only  point  now. 

Our  third  proposition  reads  as  follows:  That  God 
has  n  ot  only  made  it  possible  for  us  to  understand  the  true 
modes  of  education,  but  that  he  has  made  it  necessary,  ab- 
solutely imperative. 

We  are  at  liberty, here,  to  draw  the  following  con- 
clusions: 1.  That  God  requires  us  to  do  nothing  but 


16  THE    SCIENCB   OF   EDUCATION. 

what  is  right.  Wrong  is  opposed  to  right,  is  the  off- 
shoot of  evil,  and  therefore  can  not  be  included.  He  has 
commanded  us  further,  or  at  least  given  us  as  a  sacred 
precept,  "  To  train  up  a  child  in  the  way  he  should  go." 
This  is  right,  and, because  it  is  thus  given,  it  is  obliga- 
tory. It,  of  course,  presupposes  knowledge  of  that 
way,  and  skill  to  direct  others  in  it.  2.  He  does  not 
require  of  us  any  impossibilities ;  or,  in  general,  what 
is  necessary  for  the  accomplishment  of  any  good  pur- 
pose's possible.  Right  modes  of  education  are  neces- 
sary, and  therefore  possible.  This  is  conclusive.  God 
has  not  created  a  single  necessity,  in  all  his  dominions, 
without,  at  least,  indicating  the  mode  of  supply;  and 
we  go  still  further  and  say, that  there  is  not  a  single 
evil  existing  under  the  sun  but  what  has  its  appropri- 
ate remedy,  though  it  may  possibly  be  beyond  the 
reach  of  man.  To  suppose  the  contrary  would  be  to 
admit  that  God  has  been  defeated  in  establishing  the 
order  of  creation  and  providence.  So  that  we  shall  be 
safe  in  concluding  that  whatever  is  right  or  necessary, 
is  possible;  and  further,  that  there  is  both  a  necessity 
here  and  a  possibility  of  supplying  it. 

The  investigation  now  turns  upon  the  nature  and 
extent  of  our  knowledge,  and  the  characteristics  of 
those  principles,  rules  and  modes  of  application  best 
adapted  to  produce  the  required  results. 

It  will  be  readily  granted,  we  think,  that  this  knowl- 
edge must  be  peculiar;  that  it  must  reach  beyond  the 
mere  range  of  scholastic  attainments ;  that  no  knowl- 
edge, however  perfect,  relating  to  mere  common  sub- 
jects, will  be  of  any  further  utility  here  than  as  a  mere 
instrument  by  which  the  education  of  the  individual 
may  be  promoted.  Hence,  the  popular  idea  of  educa- 
tion appears  to  be  erroneous,  so  far,  at  least,  as  it  makea 


INTRODUCTION.  17 

education  consistin  the  mere  acquisition  of  knowledge, 
without  any  reference  to  its  uses  as  a  means  of  accom- 
plishing the  end ;  for  a  man  is  not  thoroughly  edu- 
cated until  he  knows  how  to  educate  other  men. 

Man's  education,  therefore,  consists  in  the  ability  he 
acquires  to  use  his  powers  of  thinking,  willing^  and 
doing ;  and  the  chief  uses  of  knowledge,  aside  from  the 
enlarged  scope  it  gives  to  these  powers,  is  so  to  disci- 
pline, subdue  and  strengthen  them,  as  that  they  may  be 
able,  both  to  control  their  own  energies,  and  to  operate 
with  due  force  upon  surrounding  objects.  !N"o  mere 
amount  of  knowledge,  therefore,  can  compensate  for 
the  want  of  discipline  and  vigor, which  constitute  the 
sole  object  and  the  end  of  education.  But  the  mere 
acquisition  is  best  accomplished  at  the  same  time,  and 
in  connection  with  the  best  discipline ;  so  that  in  true 
education,  the  two  processes  mutually  aid  each  other. 

"  The  proper  study  of  mankind  is  man."  To  the 
educator,  no  knowledge  is  so  important  as  self-knowl- 
edge, or  that  which  relates  to  man  and  his  education. 
It  ranks  highest,  both  as  it  relates  to  discipline  and  to 
its  utility  in  the  education  of  others.  Indeed  it  is  the 
"  Scientia  Scientiarum"  since  it  relates  to  all  sciences, 
and  teaches  their  proper  uses.  In  this  sense,  it  is  to 
him,  though  more  general  in  its  character,  and  intrin- 
sic in  its  merits,  what  diagnostics  and  therapeutics  are 
to  the  physician.  Without  this  knowledge,  the  teach- 
er would  be  fitly  represented  by  an  individual  having 
a  large  collection  of  drugs  and  medicines,  yet  ignorant 
of  their  effect  upon  the  human  system.  He  would  be 
unable  to  wield  his  instrumentalities  skillfully  in  the 
accomplishment  of  the  purposes  for  which  they  were 
intended. 

But  the  educator  should,  above  all  other  artists,  know 
2 


18  THE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

the  nature  and  capacity  of  the  powers,  intellectual, 
physical,  and  moral,  with  which  he  proposes  to  oper- 
ate. He  should  acquaint  himself  with  this  wonder- 
working machine,  whose  secret  springs  of  thought 
and  motion  lie  hidden  from  the  eye  of  the  casual 
observer;  and  whose  products  outvie  the  costliest  fab- 
rics of  human  art.  He  should  not  only  familiarize 
himself  with  their  nature,  capacity,  and  laws  of  growth, 
but,  as  far  as  possible,  with  their  antecedent  influences; 
that  he  may  judge  with  greater  clearness  and  accuracy 
in  the  selection  of  means  and  modes  to  be  employed 
in  their  subsequent  treatment.  But  here,  as  in  every 
other  case  where  great  interests  are  involved,  however 
certain  and  reliable  the  means  in  themselves  may  be, 
such  is  the  imperfection  of  human  knowledge  and 
experience,  that  there  is  a  constant  demand  for  Divine 
aid, to  give  potency  to  the  means  employed.  The  edu- 
cator is,  at  best,  but  the  weak  instrument  in  the  hands 
of  the  wise  Disposer  of  events ;  and  his  strength  for 
good  or  for  evil,  is  usually  measured  by  the  presence 
or  absence  of  this  Divine  guidance;  and  it  is  safe  to 
say  further,  that  his  moral  force  is  regulated  by  his 
ideas  of  God,  and  the  estimate  he  places  upon  the 
observance  of  his  precepts. 

Again  :  so  intricate  and  multiform  are  the  shades  of 
distinctions  in  the  intellectual,  moral  and  physical  fab- 
ric ;  and  such  a  diversity  obtains  in  the  capacities,  both 
with  respect  to  the  natural  endowment  of  children  and 
to  the  influences  that  have  been  brought  to  bear  upon 
them,  that  no  two  results,  precisely  similar,  can  safely 
be  predicated  of  the  same  forces  operating.  The  forces, 
therefore,  must  be  varied  to  suit  every  individual  case. 
And  here  it  is  proper  to  remark, that  the  forces  them- 
selves are  as  various  as  the  individual  wants  for  whose 


INTRODUCTION.  19 

supply  they  were  evidently  intended  ;  and  it  is  because 
educators  do  not  seek  out  and  observe  this  harmony 
and  adaptation,  that  so  many  errors  are  committed  in 
the  education  of  the  young. 

To  adopt  a  particular  course  of  treatment,  and  to 
insist  upon  its  observance  in  all  cases,  irrespective  of 
constitutional  and  acquired  differences,  argue  a  dogma- 
tism and  dullness  almost  unpardonable.  It  would  sure- 
ly be  regarded  in  this  light,  in  every  other  profession. 
It  would  be  substantially  to  adopt  the  theory,  that  all 
minds  and  bodies  are  of  the  same  type,  have  the  same 
constitutional  peculiarities  and  educational  capacities, 
and  have  been  exposed  to  the  same  antecedent  causes. 

No  human  being,  therefore,  possesses  the  wisdom, 
foresight  or  authority  to  legislate  for  the  particular 
cases  that  arise  in  a  course  of  education  or  teaching. 
Neither  was  it  designed  that  such  should  be  the  case, 
even  to  a  limited  extent.  Its  effects  would  be  to  de- 
prive both  teacher  and  pupil  of  their  appropriate  indi- 
viduality, and  to  circumscribe  the  limits  of  thought 
and  human  development. 

Hence,  many  of  the  improved  (?)  methods,  which 
have  become  the  particular  hobbies  of  some  particular 
teachers,  amount  to  but  little  more  than  an  exposition 
of  this  error;  save  so  far  as  these  particular  methods 
can  be  generalized,aud  referred  to  a  philosophic  system 
of  education. 

Hence,  likewise,  those  particular  plans  for  teaching 
the  particular  branches  of  science,  however  excellent 
in  themselves,  become  useless  when  put  into  the  hands 
of  one  unskilled  in  the  sciences  themselves,  or  ignorant 
of  the  nature  and  capacity  of  the  mind,  and  of  the  uses 
of  knowledge.  It  is  like  placing  a  sharp  sword  in  the 


20  THE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

hands  of  a  child,  that  is  liable  not  only  to  injure  oth- 
ers, but  to  destroy  its  own  life. 

Precisely  similar  effects  are  produced  by  attempting 
to  educate  teachers  by  tilling  their  heads  (more  fre- 
quently, however,  their  hats)  with  diagrams  and  plans 
forgiving  instruction,  while  they  are  profoundly  igno- 
rant, both  of  the  nature  and  treatment  of  mind  and 
body,  and  of  the  branches  to  be  taught,  as  well  as  the 
objects  to  be  attained  in  teaching  them.  What  can  be 
expected  from  such  a  course,  but  failure  and  disgrace? 
And  the  results  show  that  the  law  of  cause  and  effect 
has  not  yet  been  abolished. 

But  all  sound  rJ  heory  and  Practice  are  based  upon 
the  immutable  laws  of  Truth.  They  must  arise  out  of 
the  fundamental  principles  lying  at  the  foundation  of 
this  science  of  human  culture,  and  be  regulated  by  the 
laws  adopted  for  their  governance.  These  principles 
and  these  laws,  in  their  essential  nature,  are  logically 
aud  chronologically  antecedent  to  all  experience,  and  all 
theory,  and  all  practice.  Experience  may  develop  them, 
but  it  does  not  constitute  any  essential  part  of  them, 
any  more  than  the  experiments  in  chemistry  and  nat- 
ural philosophy  constitute  parts  of  these  sciences.  The 
experience  is  all  well,  so  far  as  it  goes  to  establish  any 
general  principle,  or  so  far  as  it  conforms  to  any;  and 
it  may  be  useful  in  the  discovery  of  new  principles. 
In  this  last  case,  it  should  be  placed  to  the  credit  of 
the  discoverer:  but  who  would  think  of  incorporating 
the  mere  experiment  or  the  experience  of  the  author, 
as  a  fundamental  principle  in  the  science,  instead  of 
the  fact  or  principle  discovered? 

Hence  the  inadequacy,  so  far  as  the  purposes  of  a 
text-book  are  concerned,  of  any  treatise  on  modes,  that 


INTRODUCTION.  21 

deals  thus  exclusively  with  experience,  or  with  meth- 
ods which  have  been  successful,  perchance,  in  the  hands 
of  particular  teachers.  When,  therefore,  these  things 
are  put  forth  in  the  shape  of  a  science,  to  be  learned 
and  practiced  by  others,  as  such,  the  unwarrantable 
assumption  is  made,  that  all  children  require  the  same 
treatment;  and  that  all  teachers  will  be  equally  suc- 
cessful with  the  same  methods,  regardless  of  constitu- 
tional and  acquired  differences. 

This  would  be  as  unreasonable  as  to  suppose  that  all 
plants  would  grow  equally  well  in  the  same  soil ;  that 
all  animals  could  subsist  on  the  same  food;  that  all 
men  would  succeed  equally  well  in  the  same  employ- 
ment; or  that  all  kinds  of  labor  could  be  carried  on 
with  the  same  tools. 

Therefore,  we  find  that  when  mere  experience  is 
exhausted,  the  light  of  the  so-called  science  expires, 
and  leaves  us,  too  often,  to  grope  our  way  in  darkness, 
or  to  lean  upon  a  broken  reed.  No  text-book,  there- 
fore, is  worthy  of  confidence,  that  embodies  nothing 
more  than  mere  experience.  The  science  of  education 
is  as  different  from  all  this,  as  the  sun  himself  is  differ- 
ent from  his  own  rays;  and  the  attempt  to  embody  these 
things  into  a  science,  is  not  unlike  an  attempt  would 
be  to  collect  the  sun's  rays,  and  retain  them  in  his 
absence.  The  nature  and  capacity  of  the  subject  to  be 
operated  upon,  must  be  studied  and  understood,  no 
less  than  the  character  of  the  forces  employed,  and  the 
modes  of  application. 

Hence  again  we  infer,  that  all  true  Theory  and 
Practice  must  be,  to  a  very  great  extent,  the  product  of  the 
teacher's  own  originality. 

No  teacher  can  be  eminently  successful  by  adopting 
the  entire  plans  of  andther.  He  should  not — nay,  he 


22  THE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

can  not  wholly  divest  himself  of  his  individuality.  To 
whatever  extent  he  does,  he  becomes  a  parasite.  David 
could  not  fight  in  Saul's  armor,  for  very  cogent  reasons. 
The  teacher  must,  therefore,  with  the  same  originality 
and  the  same  kind  of  dependence  that  characterized 
this  great  warrior,  choose  his  own  instruments ;  and 
in  most  cases,  the  simpler  the  better.  He  must  fight 
in  his  own  armor,  if  he  expect  to  win.  The  thoughts 
and  feelings  he  brings  forth,  must  be  coined  in  his 
own  mint,  though  the  ore  may  be  brought  from  a 
foreign  mine.  His  own  native  energies  must  stamp 
them,  and  set  the  seal  upon  them,  and  give  the 
impress  of  originality  to  them ;  must  breathe  into  them 
the  breath  of  life,  and  inspire  them  with  the  living, 
acting,  energizing  spirit,  if  he  would  plant  these 
thoughts  deep  in  the  sanctuary  of  the  soul.  He  must 
shine  with  his  own,  and  not  with  a  reflected  light. 
He  must  warm  and  invigorate  with  his  own,  not  with 
a  borrowed  heat ;  or  he  becomes  the  mere  reflector 
of  the  rays  of  some  superior  orb.  Unless  he  thus 
vitalizes  his  teachings,  all  his  supposed  excellence  will 
become  useless  in  his  hands  ;  and,  instead  of  hiding, 
will  only  serve  to  expose  his  deficiencies. 

Hence  all  the  modern  improvements  and  plans  for 
the  education  of  children,  however  excellent  in  them- 
selves, will  be  of  little  service  unless  they  are  warmed 
into  life  by  the  invigorating  influence  of  intelligence. 
The  teacher  should, therefore,know  the  hidden  springs 
of  thought,  of  feeling  and  of  will.  He  should  under- 
stand the  structure  and  organism  of  the  machinery 
through  which  these  act.  He  should  acquaint  him- 
self intimately  with  the  nature  and  value  of  the 
educational  forces,  their  influence  upon  the  subject 
educated;  and  witli  the  modes  or  processes  of  control- 


INTRODUCTION.  23 

ling  and  applying  these  forces.  He  thus  becomes 
master  of  them,  and,  consequently,  of  his  profession. 
He  wields  them  in  his  own  peculiar  way,  as  this,  to 
him,  is  the  only  right  way. 

The  whole  Science  of  Human  Culture,  or  of  man 
and  his  education,  therefore,  admits  of  the  following 
classification,  and  assumes  the  following  character- 
istics. 

First :  it  is  both  Discursive  and  Didactic  in  its  nature 
and  its  application.  Discursive,  in  that  it  discusses 
the  general  principles  which  lie  at  the  foundation  of  all 
human  growth  and  development.  Didactic,  in  that  it 
teaches  the  proper  application  of  these  principles  in 
the  actual  education  of  man. 

Second:  it  is  both  Theoretical  and  Practical.  The- 
oretical, in  that  it  treats  of  theories  in  reference  to 
capacity,  forces,  and  modes  of  culture.  Practical,  in 
that  it  puts  these  theories  into  actual  operation. 

Third :  it  is  both  a  Science  and  an  Art.  A  Science, 
in  that  it  deals  in  scientific  principles,  classifying  and 
arranging  them  in  systematic  order.  It  investigates 
the  elements  and  principles  of  education,  as  well  as 
the  modes  of  treatment  involved  in  it.  An  Art,  in 
that  it  applies  these  to  the  actual  production  of  the 
results  anticipated. 

Viewed  in  this  light,  as  a  Discursive  Science,  it  treats, 
first,  of  the  Educational  Capacities,  or  susceptibilities 
of  man :  Secondly,  of  the  nature  and  characteristics 
of  the  Educational  forces,  or  instrumentalities  em- 
ployed in  his  education :  and  thirdly,  of  the  processes 
or  modes  of  applying  these  forces  to  produce  the 
required  results. 

As  a  Didactic  Art,  it  treats  of  the  duties  and  em 


24  THE    SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

ployments,  as  well  as  the  modes  of  treatment  and  meth- 
ods of  teaching,  concerned  in  the  education  of  man. 

These  again  are  classified  under  the  following 
heads;  viz.,  HOME  DUTIES,  or  employment;  SCHOOL- 
ROOM DUTIES;  and  MISCELLANEOUS  DUTIES.  The  first 
have  reference  to  the  early  treatment  and  training  of 
children,  while  under  the  parental  roof;  the  influence 
this  treatment  has  upon  the  education  of  the  child  at 
school ;  and  indeed  of  all  the  Home  influences  and 
employments,  under  the  following  heads,  viz. :  Labor, 
in  its  numerous  departments,  physical,  intellectual 
arid  moral :  Recreation,  in  its  various  forms ;  and 
Eest,  in  its  conditions  and  uses. 

The  second,  or  SCHOOL-ROOM  DUTIES  and  exercises, 
are  those  in  which  everything  relating  to  school-teach- 
ing, as  a  profession,  will  be  examined  under  the  fol- 
lowing heads : 

1.  Preliminaries,  including  the  organization  of  Schools, 
The  opening  exercises,  and  the  assigning  of  lessons, 
with  the  various  subdivisions  which  arise  from  the 
consideration  of  those  topics. 

2.  Study,  its  objects  and  uses,  its  requisites  and  modes, 
and  the  means  of  securing  study. 

3.  Recitation,  its  objects  and  motives,  its  conditions  and 
requisites,  and  the  methods  of  conducting  recitations. 

4.  Business,  its  objects  and  designs,  its  necessity  and 
requisites,  and  the  manner  of  conducting  it. 

5.  Recreation,  its  objects  and  ends,  its  requisites  as  to 
time,  place  and  manner,  and  the  methods  or  kinds 
best  suited  to  the  purposes. 

6.  Government,  as  it  relates  to  the  family,  the  school 
and  the  community;  its  objects  and  aims,  its  qualifica- 
tions and  requisites,  and  the  means  and  methods  of 
securing  good  government. 


THE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 


SYISTOIPSIS    II. 


OBJECTIVE. 


r  PHYSICAL. 


INTELLECTUAL. 


-  MOEAL. 


r  PHYSICAL. 


TBANSITION.  < 


r  Plastic.  Secretory.  Alimentive.  Dealrom 
-I  of  motion.  Eager.  Playful.  Desirous  of 
I  variety.  Wanting.  Restless. 

•  External  perception.  Sensuous.  Pleased  with 
glitter.  Rudimental.  Inquisitive.  Curiosity 
combined  with  instinct.  Communicative. 

.  Without  depth  of  thought. 

f  Affectionate.  Innocent.  Unsuspecting.  Oon- 
j  scientious.  A  sense  of  right,  but  feeble  to  act. 
1  Passionate,  often  perverse.  Dependent.  Trust- 

I  ing.    Easily  incited  to  good  or  evil. 


Immature.  Unripe  strength.  Awkward.  Li- 
able to  over-exertion,  etc.  Disposed  to  indulge 
the  appetite.  Imaginary  wants.  Liable  to 
contract  bad  habits  or  disease. 


(Desirous  of  concrete  or  tangible  knowledge. 
Fanciful.  Pleased  with  light  literature.  Im- 
aginative. Fond  of  romance. 


.  SUBJECTIVE 


MORAL. 


PHYSICAL. 


( Credulous.  Impulsive.  Capricious.  Way- 
I  ward.  Formative.  Hopeful.  Visionary.  De- 
1  sirous  of  an  object  of  adoration.  Ingenuous, 
L  but  often  deceitful.  Susceptible  of  good  or  evil. 


f  Maturity.  Strength.  Power  to  resist  or  en- 
I  dure.  Fixedness  of  habit.  Ability  to  control 
1  the  powers.  Conscious  manhood.  Grace  of 
I  person.  Suavity  of  manner. 


(Investigative.  Metaphysical.  Analytical. 
Rational.  Reflective.  Meditative.  Inven- 
tive. Argumentative.  Theoretical.  PrrmiH- 
ing.  Sagacious. 


MOBAL. 


Established  in  belief,  purpose  and  habit.  Mod 
eration.  A  constant  growth  in  religion,  or  in 
irreligious  tendencies.  Capable  of  the  exer- 
cise of  faith.  Philanthropic.  Patriotic. 


EDUCATIONAL   CAPACITY.  27 


CHAPTER  II. 

EDUCATIONAL   CAPACITY. 

WE  now  return  to  the  more  general  characteristics 
of  our  subject,  viz.,  "  Education  as  a  Science;"  and 
shall,  in  the  following  chapter,  briefly  speak  of  the 
character  and  design  of  man's  educational  wants, 
physical,  intellectual  and  moral. 

Article  1— Objective  Period. 

The  whole  cycle  of  human  life,  so  far  as  the  educa- 
tional susceptibility  of  the  individual  is  concerned, 
may  be  reckoned  under  three  distinct  periods.  The 
first,  or  Objective,  is  that  period  in  which  the  body  is  in 
its  earlier  stages  of  growth,  and  is  consequently,  deli- 
cate and  tender,  and  possesses  peculiaries  never  after- 
ward realized ;  and  in  which  the  mind  also  partakes 
of  similar  peculiarities,  being  most  impressible,  and 
for  the  most  part,  indebted  to  the  outer  world,  the  ob- 
jects of  nature  and  art,  for  its  sources  of  development. 

The  knowledge  itself  is  characterized  as  objective, 
since  it  is  chiefly  of  an  external  nature,  and  is  ac- 
quired mainly  through  the  avenues  of  the  senses.  True, 
there  is  some  knowledge  peculiar  to  this  age  and 
advancement,  which  would  not  appropriately  belong 
to  this  list — such  as  knowledge  of  personal  identity, 
cause  and  effect,  right  and  wrong,  etc. ;  but  the 


23  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

Knowledge  which  relates  to  the  physical  world,  that 
which  is  of  daily  contact,  and  whose  acquisition 
depends  upon  the  researches  into  nature  and  art,  is  the 
kind  of  which  we  speak. 

The  moral  powers,  too,  are  in  an  objective  state, 
clinging,  like  the  vine,  to  some  earthly  support,  and 
twining  themselves  about  some  tangible  objects,  as 
parents,  brothers,  sisters,  friends,  and  sensible  objects 
of  early  association,  whose  office  it  is  to  nourish  them 
and  lift  them  up  from  the  tangible  to  the  intangible, 
from  the  earthly  to  the  heavenly. 

It  will  be  seen,  from  a  close  examination  of  this  sub- 
ject, that  a  moral  and  religious  education  is  contem- 
plated, not  merely  in  a  theoretical  sense,  or  as  a  thing 
desirable  under  certain  circumstances,  but  as  absolute, 
certain  and  practical ;  for  God  has  not  planted  these 
longing  desires  after  some  object  of  worship,  after  the 
pure,  the  exalted,  the  true,  and  the  good,  in  his  crea- 
tures, to  mock  and  torment  them.  But  he  has  made 
their  gratification  not  only  possible,  but  practical,  and 
the  source  of  the  highest  enjoyment :  practical  and 
even  necessary,  since  the  very  wants  of  man's  nature 
demand  it.  The  soul  cries  out  after  God,  the  living, 
loving  God,  not  God  in  the  dead  letter  of  doctrines 
and  creeds,  but  God  in  nature,  God  in  Revelation,  God 
in  the  soul,  as  an  object  of  love  and  exaltation.  These 
wants  become  sometimes  almost  insatiable  ;  and  if  they 
are  not  gratified  in  a  manner  calculated  to  exalt  the 
intellectual  and  moral  powers,  the  affections  will  go 
out  and  attach  themselves  to  improper  objects;  and 
the  rending  of  them  loose,  sometimes  even  rends  the 
soul. 

The  religious  tendencies  usually  commence  at  a  much 
earlier  period  than  many  suppose.      These  desh-cs  are 


EDUCATIONAL    CAPACITY.  29 

among  the  very  first  manifestations  of  intelligence; 
and  they  are  never  strengthened  by  delay.  As  soon, 
therefore,  as  the  child  is  old  enough  to  sin,  it  is  old 
enough  to  pray.  The  very  first  lispings  of  infant 
intelligence  should  be  of  God,  home  and  heaven.  The 
very  first  sentences  should  be  framed  in  love  and 
tender  affection — not  in  curses,  blasphemy  and  deceit- 
Some  parents  and  teachers  say,  "Oh,  there  is  time 
enough  for  religious  teaching  after  other  things  are 
learned."  "The  minds  of  children  should  not  be 
biased  by  doctrines  and  creeds."  It  is  not  necessary, 
at  all,  that  they  should.  This  would  defeat  true 
religious  teaching.  But  would  the  same  policy  in 
reference  to  reading,  geography  and  arithmetic  be  a 
wise  one,  or  one  likely  to  be  adopted  by  any  parent 
or  teacher?  Is  there  not  truth  in  religion  as  well  as 
in  mathematics  ?  And  will  that  truth  not  produce  as 
healthy  results  ?  "Will  it  not  expand  the  mind  ?  Who 
would  dare  say,  "  There  is  time  enough  for  intellectual 
culture."  "  Do  not  bias  the  child's  mind  with  gram- 
mar and  arithmetic."  "  Wait  till  he  comes  to 
maturity."  "  Wait  till  he  can  judge  for  himself." 
How  soon  would  his  judgment  mature  sufficiently  to 
decide  upon  a  course  of  study  suitable  for  his  wants, 
without  previous  training  ?  Do  not  parents  and 
teachers  direct  him  in  these  things  ?  It  should  be  so 
in  religious  training.  When- is  there  a  better  time  to 
commence  this  teaching  than  in  youth  ?  It  is  not 
necessary  that  wickedness  should  be  the  first  product 
of  the  human  heart,  to  the  extent  that  some  would 
have  us  believe.  It  is  not  necessary  that  a  child 
should  lie  before  he  becomes  truthful ;  that  he  should 
kill  or  steal  before  he  learns  to  respect  the  rights  of 
p?rson  or  property  ;  that  he  should  cheat  and  defraud 


30  THE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

before  he  becomes  honest ;  that  he  should  profane  the 
name  of  God  and  his  holy  day,  before  he  becomes 
reverent  and  conscientious;  or  that  he  should  be 
disobedient  and  reckless,  before  he  learns  obedience  and 
circumspection.  But  rather  the  reverse  of  this  is 
true. 

The  period  of  youth  is  fraught  with  immense 
interests.  If  good  seed  is  not  sown  in  the  human 
heart,  bad  will  be ;  and  in  its  natural  and  unguarded 
condition,  these  seeds  will  grow  with  a  strange  luxu- 
riance. If  the  tender  and  good  affections  of  the  heart 
are  not  cultivated,  their  opposites  will  be.  If  these 
affections  are  not  garnered  by  the  righteous,  they  will 
be  perverted  ;  and  Satan  and  his  emissaries  will  have 
them.  The  seeds  of  morality  and  religion  will  not 
grow  more  vigorously  in  a  soil  that  has  been  poisoned 
and  hardened  by  sin.  The  tender  plants  of  virtue 
will  not  bear  more  precious  fruit,  by  being  reared  side 
by  side  with  the  weeds  of  vice,  nor  will  their  luxu- 
riance be  increased  by  any  preoccupancy.  The  young 
affections  of  the  human  heart,  offered  upon  the  altar 
of  religion  and  sanctified  by  Divine  grace,  become  a 
sweet-smelling  savor  unto  the  Lord.  The  offerings  that 
smoked  upon  Jewish  altars,  "  the  firstlings  of  the 
flock,  the  field,  and  of  all  the  increase,"  were  not  more 
acceptable.  This  is  the  period,  therefore,  when  direc- 
tion should  be  given  to  man's  moral  and  religious 
nature.  It  is  the  one  most  favorable  for  making 
impressions,  and  consequently  good  impressions.  This 
constitutes  the  chief  reason  for  commencing  this  kind 
of  education  at  the  very  outset  in  life. 

Again  :  a  moral  and  religious  education  is  insisted 
upon,  on  the  principle  that  that  education  which 
does  not  affect  a  man's  faith,  or  weakens  rather  than 


EDUCATIONAL   CAPACITY.  31 

strengthens  it ;  which  leaves  his  heart  untouched,  or 
in  a  worse  state  than  it  found  it ;  which  sharpens  the 
intellect,  but  blunts  the  moral  powers ;  which  en- 
lightens the  understanding,  but  darkens  the  soul ; 
which  awakens  thought,  but  warps  the  judgment; 
which  warms  the  imagination,  but  freezes  the  affec- 
tions ;  which  strengthens  the  reason,  but  enfeebles  the 
will ;  which  quickens  perception,  but  deadens  con- 
science, is  simply  monstrous;  that  all  true  education 
makes  man  better,  wiser,  happier,  stronger  intellec- 
tually, physically  and  morally,  just  in  the  same  ratio ; 
that  every  step  in  knowledge  should  mark  a  corre- 
sponding advance  in  goodness ;  that  the  sublimest 
hights  of  human  acquisition  and  excellence  are.  never 
scaled,  unless  the  heart  soar  with  the  head.  These 
and  sundry  other  reasons  are  surely  sufficient  to  in- 
duce any  one  to  give  due  prominence  to  moral  and 
religious  training  in  early  life. 

SECTION  1 — PHYSICAL  CAPACITY. — But  to  particu- 
larize in  reference  to  the  objective  capacity.  The 
condition  of  the  physical  powers  and  their  charac- 
teristic wants  may  be  briefly  described  thus  :  The 
body  itself  is  in  a  plastic  or  formative  state.  The 
bones  are  comparatively  soft  and  flexible.  The 
flesh  is  tender  and-  delicate.  The  brain  is  spongy, 
rare,  and  thin  in  consistency,  and  the  digestive  and 
vital  apparatuses  are  weak,  and,  for  the  most  part,! 
partake  of  the  same  general  characteristics  that  other 
organs  possess.  The  secretion  of  fluids  in  the  body 
largely  predominates  over  the  more  solid  deposits.  Tho 
whole  structure  may  be  fitly  compared  to  a  young  and 
tender  plant,  before  its  vital  functions  have  changed 
its  juices  into  the  more  solid  substances  of  the  stock 


32  THE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

or  leaves,  etc.  Changes,  of  course,  take  place  in  the 
character  and  structure  of  the  body,  every  day  and 
every  hour.  These  are  carried  on  chiefly  by  the  vital 
functions,  so  that,  while  in  health,  the  deposits  exceed- 
ing the  removals,  the  body  is  constantly  increasing 
and  maturing.  Some  of  the  chief  wants  or  desires  are 
those  of  food,  or  nourishment,  and  sleep.  Hence  the 
being  may  be  described  as  alimentive  and  somnolent. 
But  these  wants  are  only  periodical.  They  give  way, 
or  rather  make  way  for  the  desires  for  motion  and 
activity,  which  are  in  themselves  about  as  strong  and 
imperative  and  necessary  as  the  desires  for  food  and 
rest.  Hence  the  continual  restlessness  of  children 
during  their  waking  hours,  and  their  multiplied  and 
multiform  motions  and  gestures.  These  are  all  nec- 
essary for  their  health  and  growth ;  at  least,  they  all 
originate  primarily  in  those  natural  desires  wisely 
planted  in  children,  without  which  they  would  not 
move  a  hand  or  foot;  nor  would  they  scarcely  eat  or 
breathe.  But  with  them,  they  become  eager  and 
grasping  —  literal  absorbents.  They  resemble  the 
hungry  polyp,  grasping  in  a  hundred  directions  for 
some  object  of  gratification.  It  is  not  only  amusing 
but  instructive,  to  watch  the  motions  of  a  young  child 
in  one  of  those  hungry,  playful  rnoods,  as  it  lies  and 
kicks  and  strikes  in  all  its  possible  directions,  without 
any  apparent  design :  yet  the  teacher  or  parent  that 
can  not  see  both  order  and  design  in  all  this,  has  yet 
to  learn  his  first  lessons  in  the  science  of  education. 
At  a  little  more  advanced  period,  the  grasping  com- 
mences, and  every  thing  within  reach  of  those  little 
hands  is  appropriated  to  gratify  those  wants.  This 
eagerness,  so  common  to  children,  to  lay  hold  upon 
every  object,  whether  harmless  or  hurtful, — and  what 


EDUCATIONAL   CAPACITY.  33 

seems  strange,  the  more  injurious  the  more  eager  they 
seem  to  grasp  it,  and  generally  to  convey  it  to  the 
mouth — is  only  an  additional  evidence  of  an  educa- 
tional capacity,  and  of  the  necessity  of  furnishing  that 
capacity  with  suitable  educational  instruments.  These 
are  but  the  first  lessons,  prompted  by  natural  desires, 
to  become  acquainted  with  the  properties  of  matter. 
Other  animals  are  provided  with  certain  instincts  that 
prompt  them  either  to  select  or  to  reject,  and  thus  to 
guard  themselves  from  danger.  Hence  they  do  not 
stand  in  so  great  need  of  education.  But  children 
learn  by  experience.  They  appropriate  indiscrim- 
inately, and  acquire  knowledge  by  experimenting. 
Again :  the  young  of  all  animals  are  playful.  Chil- 
dren possess  this  propensity  in  a  remarkable  degree. 
This  desire  should  not  be  checked  too  early  or  too 
severely,  and  surely  never  repressed  entirely,  but 
rather  encouraged  and  made  a  means  of  physical 
culture.  A  rational  gratification  of  this  desire  also 
keeps  the  mind  in  a  healthy  state. 

The  desire  for  novelty  and  change  is  another  strong 
characteristic  of  this  period.  Nature  has  kindly 
furnished  a  vast  supply  of  pleasing  variety,  and  endless 
change  of  objects  and  scenery  ;  and  has  as  wisely  and 
munificently  planted  in  the  child's  nature, a  desire  to 
be  brought  in  contact  with  those  things.  The  grati- 
fication of  this  desire  also  furnishes  the  requisite 
amount  of  healthy  exercise.  This  wanting  and  restless 
longing  for  variety,  change  and  novelty,  is  a  kind 
of  semi-intellectual  want,  inasmuch  as  the  mind  is 
about  an  equal  sharer  with  the  body  in  the  benefits 
of  its  gratification. 


34  THE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

SECTION  2 — INTELLECTUAL  CAPACITY. — Intellectually 
considered,  the  human  being  at  this  age,  presents 
a  strange  variety  —  a  world  of  mystery — and  the 
world  into  which  he  is  introduced,  is  not  less  won- 
derful and  mysterious  to  him.  No  wonder  then 
that  strange  inconsistencies  and  seeming  paradoxes, 
present  themselves  in  the  path  of  the  educator !  The 
intellectual  powers  have  so  many  different  ways  of 
manifesting  themselves  in  early  youth,  as  almost  to 
baffle  description.  But  this  inability  on  our  part  is 
evidently  owing  to  the  great  want  of  extensive  and 
accurate  knowledge  of  the  human  powers,  especially 
those  of  the  mind,  at  this  early  period.  What  seems 
to  our  imperfect  understanding  of  the  entire  scope  of 
intellectual  power,  to  be  incomprehensible  and  some- 
times antagonistic  to  what  we  have  come  to  regard  as 
truth,' when  submitted  to  the  severest  scrutiny,  often 
reveals  new  truths  and  new  wonders,  and  astonishes 
us  with  the  striking  analogy  of  truth  in  all  the  de- 
partments of  nature :  so  that  we  shall  be  safe  in  assum- 
ing that  these  powers  are  guided,  universally,  in  their 
development,  by  fixed  laws,  whose  boundary  and 
scope  can  be  sufficiently  defined,  and  whose  operations 
can.  be  sufficiently  limited  and  controlled  by  human 
agencies,  to  render  them  subservient  to  the  pur- 
poses of  education.  But  to  give  to  these  intellectual 
powers,  as  a  whole,  a  characteristic  description  at 
their  several  periods  of  growth,  seems  to  be  a  matter 
of  the  greatest  difficulty.  We  shall  be  safe  in  saying, 
however,  that,  in  the  objective  state,  their  early  man- 
ifestations are  exhibited  chiefly  through  external  per- 
ception. The  eye  and  the  ear  are  the  chief  avenues 
to  the  mind  and  soul.  Through  them  impressions 
are  first  made.  These  arc  prompted  to  act  and  to 


EDUCATIONAL   CAPACITY.  35 

acquire  by  a  certain  desire  for  activity,  they  have  in 
themselves,  and  an  inquisitiveness  or  curiosity  com- 
bined with  instinct,  planted  in  the  mind  as  a  kind  of 
stimulator,  or  mental  appetite.  And  while  these 
prompt  to  action,  from  within,  the  world  of  form, 
color,  sound  and  beauty  invite  from  without ;  so  that 
the  young  powers  are  thus,  by  degrees,  led  forth  to 
revel  in  new  delights.  And  though  it  may  be  an- 
ticipating a  little,  it  is  proper  to  remark  here,  that 
this  mode  of  educating  should  not  be  interrupted 
throughout  all  the  subsequent  course  of  the  pupil. 
No  artificial  stimulants  can  be  substituted  without 
deranging  the  order  and  harmony  of  the  growth. 
The  child  is  first  led  to  observe,  and  then  to  think. 
He  is  first  sensuous  and  slightly  imaginative  in  his 
essential  characteristics,  before  he  is  rational  and  ar- 
gumentative. He  is  pleased  with  form  and  color, 
and  the  glitter  and  show  of  external  beauty,  before 
his  thoughts  take  a  subjective  turn.  His  appropriate 
knowledge,  as  a  basis  of  thought,  and  consequently, 
his  capacity  and  thoughts  themselves,  may  be  char- 
acterized as  rudimental,  partaking  in  a  slight  degree 
of  whatever  peculiarities  they  shall  afterward  inherit. 
They  are  just  receiving  shape  and  definite  proportions. 
They  are  striking  out  in  all  directions,  and  seeking 
ever  for  new  objects  of  investigation  and  discovery. 
Hence,  in  addition  to  the  child's  inquisitive  nature, 
he  is  communicative,  but  without  depth  of  thought. 
There  is  an  energy,  a  sprightliness,  about  his  powers 
at  this  period,  which  is  very  remarkable.  This  urges 
him  on  with  a  restless  longing,  ever  to  new  fields  of 
inquiry;  until  the  mind  gathers  stores  suificient  to 
set  up  a  stock  of  thoughts  and  a  process  of  thinking 
at  home,  or  on  ite  own  individual  responsibility. 


36  THE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

This,  it  is  true,  is  but  a  rude  and  imperfc-ct  sketch 
of  the  intellectual  capacity,  as  we  generally  find  it 
throughout  this  period  ;  but  it  is  hoped  it  may  serve 
as  a  guide  in  that  most  interesting  and  profitable  de- 
partment of  study. 

SECTION  3 — MORAL  CAPACITY. — It  has  already  been 
remarked,  that  the  moral  nature  of  the  child  at  this 
period,  is  peculiarly  susceptible.  It  is  sufficient  to 
add,  perhaps,  by  way  of  particularizing,  that  the 
affections  of  the  child  bear  about  the  same  relation 
to  his  moral  nature,  that  perception  does  to  his 
intellectual.  The  one  is  the  avenue  to  the  mind, 
the  other  is  the  avenue  to  the  soul ;  and  as  percep- 
tions are  antecedent  to  thinking  and  reason,  so 
affections  are, to  conscience  and  will.  If  we  say  there- 
fore, that  he  is  affectional,  we  shall  describe  him  in 
this  particular.  But  these  affections  and  faculties,  as 
to  their  susceptibility,  are  both  good  and  bad.  As 
the  eye  and  the  ear  may  drink  in  sights  and  sounds 
erroneous  and  false  in  themselves,  and  thus  leave  er- 
roneous impressions  upon  the  intellectual  faculties  ; 
so  may  the  affections,  even  from  the  same  and  other 
sources,  become  corrupted,  and  thus  carry  mildew  and 
moral  death  into  the  very  soul. 

The  child  is  comparatively  innocent — entirely  so, 
antecedent  to  any  actual  transgression — and  his  sub- 
sequent guilt  is  usually  measured  both  by  his  natural 
disposition  or  capacity  for  sin,  and  by  the  advantages 
(if  they  may  be  termed  such)  he  has  enjoyed  for  culti- 
vating it.  His  actual  transgression  is  therefore,  to  a 
great  extent,  the  product  of  mismanagement. 

He  is  also  unsuspecting.  Not  having  been  trained 
\r  the  hypocritical  practices  of  maturer  guilt,  he  is 


EDUCATIONAL    CAPACITY.  37 

therefore,  at  first,  easily  imposed  upon.  But  he  soon 
learns,  and  usually  becomes  an  apt  scholar  in  decep- 
tion. He  is  likewise  conscientious,  having  a  sense  of 
right  and  wrong,  but  feeble  to  act.  This  sense  is 
easily  shocked,  at  this  period,  and  it  too  often  be- 
comes somewhat  paralyzed,  which  is  generally  the  first 
step  in  the  hardening  process  which  follows.  It  can 
not  be  denied  also  that  the  child  is  passionate  and 
often  perverse.  This  is  usually  more  observable  in 
children  of  a  sensitive  nature,  than  those  of  a  dull 
and  morose  disposition  ;  hence  due  allowances  should 
be  made.  There  is  a  natural  dependence,  however,in 
children,  which  renders  these  proclivities  more  or  less 
subject  to  wholesome  restraints.  The  child  is  not 
only  dependent  by  virtue  of  his  natural  helplessness, 
but  he  is  likewise,  by  nature,  a  trusting  and  confiding 
creature.  This  renders  him  easily  incited  either  to 
good  or  to  evil.  Thus,  it  will  be  seen,  his  moral  capac- 
ity may  be  estimated. 

Article  2— Transition  Period. 

The  second  period  may,  from  its  nature  and  -,jecul- 
iarities,  be  denominated  the  transition  period,  since 
the  mind  and  body,  during  this  period,  are  both  sup- 
posed to  be  undergoing  a  radical  change  ;  and  in  all 
right  education  and  growth,  this  change  is  effected 
simultaneously  in  each  :  for  the  body  should  grow 
with  the  mind,  since  thv.  Wealthiest  development  oi 
the  one  depends  upon  a  corresponding  state  of  the 
other. 

This  period,  however,  is  subject  to  great  abuse 
An  unhealthy  ripeness  of  both  mind  and  body,  ia 
frequently  provoked  here  by  the  fashionable  follies  oi 
the  age,  and  our  modern  modes  of  education. 


38  T1IE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

Children  become  miniature  men  and  women  before 
they  become  respectable  boys  and  girls.  The  reason 
is,  vice  stimulates  the  mind,  or,  at  least,  some  depart- 
ments of  it,  to  a  precocious  maturity,  so  that  its  native 
energies  are  soon  exhausted,  and  then  it  ceases  to  ex- 
pand, but  assumes  a  kind  of  conceit  and  low  cunning, 
which  will,  in  a  measure,  account  for  the  charac- 
teristic smartness  of  some  of  our  boys  and  girls,  who 
are  exposed  to  the  vices  of  a  city  life. 

But  the  mind  is  not  the  only  sufferer.  The  body 
becomes  dwarfed  and  enfeebled  under  these  unnatural 
drains  upon  its  resources;  and  thus,  insulted  and 
thwarted  in  its  natural  endeavors,  it  ceases  to  grow  at 
an  early  age,  and  assumes  some  of  the  semblances  of 
manhood ;  while  a  healthy,  full  and  large  size  is  seldom 
attained. 

This  period  is  marked  in  the  body  by  the  earliest 
indications  of  change  from  boyhood  to  manhood,  or 
from  girlhood  to  womanhood  ;  and  in  the  mind,  by  a 
corresponding  change  in  the  tastes  and  mental  habits; 
by  a  desire  for  a  higher  class  of  literature,  or  other 
and  higher  kinds  of  knowledge;  by  an  ability  to 
pursue  metaphysical  studies,  though  the  physical  con- 
stitute the  chief  media  through  which  the  transition 
is  made. 

It  is  that  period  in  life  when  the  mind  is  neither 
fully  objective  in  its  manifestations,  nor  yet  fully  sub- 
jective, but  changing,  as  it  were,  from  the  one  state  to 
the  other.  It  holds  fast  by  one  hand  to  the  tangible 
forms  upon  which,  in  early  life,  it  depended  almost 
exclusively  for  the  stimulus  to  action  ;  and  with  the 
other,  it  reaches  forward  with  a  strange  fascination  to 
the  intangible  or  the  unknown  world  of  thought  and 
pure  intellection,  with  increasing  and  enlarged  desires, 


EDUCATIONAL   CAPACITY.  39 

and  feasts  upon  the  newly  discovered  dainties  of  rea- 
son, abstraction,  and  the  higher  forms-  of  thought  and 
investigation. 

It  by  no  means  follows,  however,  that  it  loses  any 
of  its  objective  characteristics.  Its  power  to  observe 
and  enjoy  outward  forms,  and  to  appropriate  objective 
knowledge  and  beauty,  is  only  increased  by  the  wak- 
ing up  ot  a  new  world  of  inner  life,  as  is  evidenced 
by  the  increased  interest  a  highly  cultivated  mind 
takes  in  all  the  operations  of  nature  and  of  art.  It  is, 
in  fact,  not  only  the  point  at  which  the  two  worlds 
are  joined  together,  but  it  is  the  link  itself  that  unites 
them ;  the  objective  being  instrumental  chiefly  in 
awakening  the  subjective,  while  it,  in  turn,  is  more 
than  compensated  by  the  additional  loveliness  and 
beauty  with  which  the  latter  invests  the  former. 

SECTION  1  —  PHYSICAL  CAPACITY. — The  physical 
powers  in  this  period  may  be  briefly  described  thus. 
The  body  is  generally  in  a  state  of  rapid  growth. 
There  is  a  certain  immaturity  or  greenness  about 
it,  which  renders  it  susceptible  to  the  slightest  im- 
pressions. It  may  have  the  semblance  of  strength, 
but  it  is  a  flashy,  unripe  kind  of  strength,  which 
renders  the  body  liable  to  over-exertion.  It  lacks 
durability  and  stability.  It  is,  for  the  most  part, 
incapable  of  severe  and  protracted  efforts.  The 
movements  are  generally  awkward  ;  because  there  are 
continually  new  spheres  of  action  imposed  upon  the 
members,  and  they  must  become  habituated  to  these 
before  they  can  act  in  them  with  grace,  ease  and  pre- 
cision. The  voice  is  usually  broken,  half  inclined  to 
the  manly  and  to  the  boyish  tones.  There  is  also  a 
strong  tendency  to  excess  or  over-indulgence,  since 
the  appetite,  and  indeed  nearly  all  the  desires  are 


40  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

necessarily  strong,  while  the  judgment  and  will  are 
apt,  through  neglect  or  otherwise,  to  be  weak.  There 
is  a  clas8«of  imaginary  wants,  liable  to  spring  up  here, 
and  to  plead  lustily  for  redress ;  but  they  are  the 
mere  perversions  of  the  natural  and  legitimate  desires. 
Indulgence,  therefore,  only  aggravates  them ;  and 
they  beget  another  brood  of  similar  character,  until 
the  unfortunate  victim  is  haunted,  as  it  were,  by  a 
hoard  of  hungry  passions.  Bad  habits,  diseases  and 
distempers  of  various  kinds,  grow  up  from  this  state 
of  things,  to  the  no  small  annoyance  of  the  youth 
who  indulges  too  freely. 

Other  characteristics  similar  to  these  might  be 
described;  but  they  will  readily  be  inferred  from 
what  has  already  been  said. 

SECTION  2 — INTELLECTUAL  CAPACITY. — The  intel- 
lectual condition  has  been  partially  described.  'It 
is  in  an  objecto-subjective  state,  in  relation  to  its 
characteristic  wants.  It  seeks  concrete  and  tan- 
gible knowledge  as  a  means  of  inducing  the  dis- 
crete and  intangible.  The  literary  taste  is  rather 
inaccurate  and  fanciful,  than  true  and  well  defined. 
There  is  a  special  fondness  for  light  literature,  extrav- 
agant theories,  and  "  windy  "  eloquence.  The  judg- 
ment is  not  entirely  settled,  and  the  understanding  is 
immature.  Even  the  memory  is  in  a  transition  state, 
passing  from  the  notice  of  facts  to  principles  and  theo- 
ries. It  grasps  both  classes,  but  it  usually  finds  difficulty 
in  assuming  and  discharging  both  functions  entire. 
Hence  it  is  not  an  uncommon  thing  for  the  memory, 
under  bad  treatment,  to  become  treacherous  in  this 
period,  and  to  remain  so  for  life.  But  this  is  by  no 
means  a  necessary  result.  Under  proper  treatment,  it 


EDUCATIONAL   CAPACITY.  41 

may  all  the  time  improve,  notwithstanding  it  may 
exhibit  these  peculiarities  as  above  stated. 

The  individual  is  also  imaginative,  and  apt>  to  be- 
come somewhat  sentimental ;  though,  this  is  more  a 
moral  affection  than  an  intellectual.  Hence  a  fondness 
for  romance  is  peculiar  to  this  period.  This  taste  in 
itself,  is  a  useful  one,  but  liable  to  great  abuse.  It 
should  not  therefore  be  crushed  out,  but  directed. 
By  crushing  it,  all  taste  for  literature  is  sometimes 
obliterated  :  but  of  this, under  the  head  of  Processes. 

SECTION  3  —  MORAL  CAPACITY.  —  The  moral  con- 
dition at  this  period  will  scarcely  need  additional 
description.  It  has  already  been  treated,  in  a 
general  way,  in  the  preceding  remarks.  One  of  its 
marked  characteristics,  however,  is  hopefulness.  The 
individual  is  supposed  to  be  just  entering  upon  a 
new  sphere.  Every  thing  seems  to  wear  an  invit- 
ing aspect.  Hence  the  real  value  of  men  and 
things  is  often  misjudged  and  over-estimated.  This, 
while  it  is  chiefly  an  intellectual  operation,  has,  like 
most  others  of  a  similar  import,  a  most  decided  moral 
effect.  The  heart  generally  becomes  more  or  less 
impressible,  as  the  truthfulness  or  falsity  of  these 
mental  impressions  become  more  or  less  apparent. 
The  individual  is  apt  to  be  visionary  and  chimerical, 
yet  equally  susceptible  to  truthful  impressions.  The 
heart  is  comparatively  tender,  and  the  sensibilities 
qui  jk  and  lively.  The  religious  tendencies  are  strong ; 
but  the  world  and  sensual  pleasures  usually  invite,  and 
the  conscience  and  will  are  frequently  too  feeble, 
unless  strengthened  by  subsequent  treatment,  to 
interpose  a  successful  barrier.  Many,  therefore,  fall 
into  bad  habits,  here.  There  is,  however,  most  un- 
mistakably, a  strong  desire,  on  the  part  of  most  youtli 


42  THE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

of  the  age  of  which  we  are  speaking,  for  some  object 
of  religions  worship  or  adoration.  Hence,  in  this  re- 
spect, the  young  may  be  said  to  be  of  a  religious  turn ; 
but  they  are  usually  credulous  and  impulsive,  ready 
to  believe  almost  any  thing  congenial  to  taste  or  incli- 
nation. They  eagerly  grasp  at  whatever  dogmas  or 
doctrines  promise  the  largest  liberty  to  belief,  and 
sometimes  to  sensual  pleasure.  Hence  the  great 
importance  of  instilling  correct  religious  sentiments 
and  practices  early  in  life ;  so  as  to  anticipate  these 
difficulties.  Children  are  usually  generous  and  benev- 
olent in  their  impulses,  at  this  period;  and  these 
qualities  are  not  unfrequently  associated  with  a  ca- 
pricious and  wayward  disposition,  often  whimsical  and 
inconsistent,  full  of  conceit  and  levity,  sometimes,  at 
others,  proud  and  ambitious.  But  these  peculiarities 
are  seldom  permanently  established  at  this  age,  and 
hence  subject  to  removal.  The  moral  character  is  in 
a  formative  state,  which  will  account  in  no  small 
degree  for  these  oscillations,  seeming  inconsistencies, 
and  the  preponderance  of  evil.  Hence  the  boy,  in  this 
period,  may,  as  it  were,  be  both  ingenuous  and  frank, 
and  treacherous  and  deceitful :  not,  however,  that  either 
of  these  traits  has  become  settled  in  all  cases,  but  in 
this  unsettled  state  both  dispositions  may  be  mani- 
fested. Girls  are  generally  more  humane  and  tender- 
hearted ;  while  boys,  whose  dispositions  may  result 
not  less  fortunately,  will  manifest  a  degree  of  cruelty 
and  barbarism  absolutely  astonishing.  Boys  usually 
possess  the  greater  frankness;  and  girls,  the  greater 
sensibility.  The  first  possess  more  will ;  and  the 
latter,  more  affection.  Both  are,  however,  subject  to 
great  change ;  but  more  with  the  boys  than  with  the 
girls.  Girls  usually  mature  sooner  than  boys,  which 


EDUCATIONAL    CAPACITY.  4-3 

may  in  some  measure  account  for  the  difference.  Both 
may  be  said,  however,  to  vary  with  circumstances, 
and  to  be  very  susceptible  at  this  period,  either  to  good 
or  to  evil  impressions,  and  hence  to  good  or  evil  ten- 
dencies and  habits. 

Article  3— Subjective  Period. 

The  third,  or  subjective  period  will  scarcely  need 
description,  since  its  chief  characteristics  will  be 
inferred  from  the  account  given  of  the  other  two.  It 
is,  however,  that  period  in  life  when  both  the  mind 
and  body  begin  to  assume  their  greatest  strength  and 
activity.  It  is  the  fully  developed  state  of  both  ;  or 
rather  that  period  when  the  various  processes  of 
manly  and  womanly  development  are  most  marked. 

SECTION  1  —  PHYSICAL  CAPACITY.  —  This  period  is 
distinguished  in  the  bodily  and  physical  powers,  by 
certain  and  well  known  characteristics  —  such  for 
instance,  as  a  general  maturity;  a  fullness  and  plump- 
ness, or  roundness  of  form ;  sonorousness  of  voice ; 
vigorous  development  of  bodily  strength  ;  the  power 
to  resist  and  endure  ;  fixedness  of  habit; — for  a  person 
at  twenty-five  or  thirty  years  of  age,  seldom,  if  ever, 
entirely  changes  his  habits  and  desires,  unless  some 
"  stronger  than  the  strong  man  armed "  with  habit, 
attacks,  binds  and  casts  out  the  former  inhabitant ; 
and  even  in  this  case,  there  is  a  constant  tendency  to 
revert  to  former  practices. 

It  is  further  marked  by  ability  to  control  the  desires 
and  appetites,  as  well  as  the  motions  of  the  body. 
Conscious  manhood  or  womanhood,  grace  and  beauty 
of  person,  suavity  of  manner  and  a  general  appearance 
of  maturity  of  bodily  power,  give  full  indications  of 


44  THE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

the  entire  preponderance  of  subjective  influences  and 
wants. 

Of  course,  due  allowance  must  be  made  in  this 
estimate,  for  those  who,  either  from  natural  defi- 
ciencies or  acquired  peculiarities,  never  fill  these 
conditions.  All  such  require  additional  care  in  order 
to  regulate  the  conflicting  forces. 

SECTION  2 — INTELLECTUAL  CAPACITY. — Intellectually 
considered,  this  period  exhibits  some  marked  peculiar- 
ities. As  it  has  been  intimated,  the  intellectual  facul- 
ties are  distinguished  by  a  state  of  development  corre- 
sponding with  the  growth  and  maturity  of  the  body. 

The  reasoning  and  reflective  powers  assume  their 
highest  forms  of  action.  Metaphysical  investigations 
— which  seemed  to  the  preceding  periods  as  dry  ab- 
stractions— become  matters  of  peculiar  pleasure  now. 
The  imagination,  quickened  into  new  life  by  these  sub- 
jective beauties,  walks  abroad  into  the  hitherto 
unknown  fields  of  the  ideal  world,  and  gathers  the 
materials  and  combinations  for  the  richest  creations 
of  art.  The  understanding,  ripened  into  perfect  con- 
ceptions, takes  comprehensive  views  of  plans,  theories 
and  general  principles ;  and  dwells  with  increasing 
interest  upon  the  useful,  the  true  and  the  good.  The 
judgment,  matured  in  its  discriminations,  weighs,  com- 
pares, classifies  and  adjusts  the  points  and  principles 
of  argumentation.  The  memory,  having  received  a 
bountiful  supply  of  facte  and  principles,  gathers  them 
up,  associates  them,  retains  them  and  reproduces  them 
at  pleasure.  The  taste,  corrected  and  refined  by  the 
combined  action  and  aid  of  the  other  powers,  dis- 
criminates truly  in  the  aesthetic  world,  and  the  whole 
intellectual  machinery  moves  in  harmony. 


EDUCATIONAL    CAPACITY.  45 

SECTION  3 — MORAL  CAPACITY. — In  a  moral,  religious 
and  social  capacity,  the  characteristics  are  not  less 
apparent.  There  is  a  strength,  power  and  stability  of 
will,  and  fixedness  of  purpose  and  habit,  seldom,  if. 
ever,  attained  in  either  of  the  other  periods.  The 
affections  assume  a  loftier  sphere,  and  the  conscience, 
under  proper  culture,  becomes  a  fixed  principle.  A 
moderation  characterizes  the  desires  and  wishes,  and 
controls  the  decisions;  a  toleration  and  forbearance 
for  the  mistakes  and  weaknesses  of  others  prevail 
here, — all  of  which  are  almost  the  direct  antipodes  of 
the  rabid  opinions,  and  hasty  and  ill-digested  decisions, 
peculiar  to  the  period  preceding  this. 

The  religious  tendencies  and  principles,  under 
certain  circumstances,  are  apt  to  be  strong  in  this 
period,  and  they  will  increase  with  advancing  years, 
and  subsequent  development  of  the  mind,  provided,  in 
both  cases,  the  influences  have  been,  and  are  still, 
favorable  to  such  growth.  But  on  the  other  hand,  if 
the  influences  have  been  adverse,  whether  constitu- 
tional or  otherwise ;  and  if  there  is  no  yielding  up 
of  the  powers,  to  be  controlled  by  the  Divine  agency, 
irreligious  tendencies  increase  in  about  the  same  ratio; 
moral  and  religious  feelings  become  hardened,  and  the 
tendencies  are  altogether  toward  infidelity.  The  man 
is  capable,  therefore,  of  the  exercise  of  the  largest  faith 
in  the  promises  of  Divine  revelation,  or  he  may  be 
the  subject  of  the  most  distressing  doubts,  and  of  the 
blindest  unbelief.  He  is  capable  of  the  exercise  of 
the  widest  and  the  loftiest  philanthrophy,  or  his 
sympathies  may  be  dried  and  withered  by  the  rankest 
selfishness.  His  patriotism  may  be  of  the  purest  and 
loftiest  character,  and  flow  on  in  the  widest  stream ; 
or  it  may  be  narrowed  do\vn  to  the  meanest  and 


46  THE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

most  crooked  channel  of  corrupt  party  spirit.  His 
expanding  powers  may  be  taught  to  grasp  the  world, 
and  his  love  to  embrace  the  whole  brotherhood  of  the 
race,  and  his  affections  all  to  center  in  God,  the  great 
source  of  every  lofty  aspiration ;  or  by  simple  neglect 
or  positive  effort,  he  may  turn  these  living  streams, 
these  springs  and  fountains  of  the  soul,  into  the  filth- 
iest cess-pools,  or  streams  of  the  dirtiest  gall,  or  stag- 
nant marshes  whose  dreadful  malaria  shall  poison 
and  corrupt  every  living  thing. 

This  gives  us,  at  least,  a  partial  view  of  the  educa- 
tional susceptibility  or  capacity  of  the  human  being, 
at  the  respective  periods  of  development,  as  well  as 
the  changes  to  which  these  capacities  are  subject. 

It  is  proper  to  remark  in  the  conclusion  of  this  part 
of  the  subject,  that  these  changes,  in  different  indi- 
viduals, are  not  always  accompanied  with  the  same 
phenomena,  nor  do  they  occur  at  the  same  age ;  nor 
yet,  in  all  cases,  do  the  mind  and  body  keep  pace  with 
each  other,  owing  to  constitutional  differences.  For 
to  suppose  this  to  be  the  case,  would  be,  in  effect,  to 
revive  the  unwarrantable  assumption,  that  individual 
capacity  is  universally  the  same.  But  it  should  be  the 
object  of  education,  so  to  equalize  and  distribute  the 
forces  as  to  counteract,  so  far  as  possible,  any  ab- 
normal growth  or  precocious  development  of  the  fac- 
ulties on  the  one  hand,  and  disease  or  imbecility  on 
the  other. 

For  a  general  review  of  this  part  of  the  subject,  viz., 
man's  Educational  Capacity,  the  reader  is  referred  to 
the  scheme,  or  general  view,  placed  at  the  beginning 
of  this  chapter. 

The  matter  is  placed  in  this  shape,  for  the  conve- 
nience of  the  student. 


48 


THE    SCIENCE    OF   EDUCATION. 


OBJECTIVE. 


III. 

(Food.  Clothing.  Air.  Light.  CleanlineM, 
etc.  Toys.  Pictures.  Playmates.  Parents. 
Domestic  animals.  Trees.  Fruits.  Flowers. 


TRANSITION.  < 


L  SUBJECTIVE. 


f  Color.    Form.    Size.    Motion.    Sound.    Lau 
INTELLECTUAL.  \  guage  of  names  and  emotions.    Simple  nar- 
L  rativo.    Concrete  numbers. 

r  Parental  love.    Family  and  Social  influences. 
MORAL.  -j  Watchfulness.     Firmness.    Patience.     Sym- 

L  pathy.    Protection.    Discipline. 

f  Agricultural    and    Mechanical    labor.     Fin* 
f  PHYSICAL.          i  Arts.      Gymnastics.      Calisthenics.     Amudv- 
I  meats.    Best.    Food.    Sleep,  etc. 

(Physical  Science.  History.  Biography,  etc. 
Language  (use.)  Mathematics  (mixed.)  Me- 
chanical employment.  Manners. 

{Bible  lessons.  Maxims.  Precepts.  Relig- 
ion. Example.  Practice.  Biography  and 
History  of  worthy  characters  and  events. 


(Some  fixed  occupation.     Labor. 
Recreation.     Rest. 
Singing.    Reading 

(Mental  Science.  Logic.  Pure  Mathematics. 
Philology.  Philosophy.  Poetry.  Art.  Evi- 
dences of  Christianity.  Civil  polity. 

r  Moral  science.    Ethics. 

MORAL.  J  Biblical  Theology.    Psychology. 

I  Natural  Theology. 


EDUCATIONAL   FORCES.  49 


CHAPTER   III. 

EDUCATIONAL    FORCES. 

now  invite  the  reader's  attention  to  the  exam- 
ination of  the  educational  forces  or  instrumentalities, 
as  they  exist  in  the  world  of  matter  and  of  mind. 
These  forces  are  as  numerous  as  the  wants  they  were 
intended  to  supply.  And  here  we  re-affirm,  that  there 
exists  no  want,  of  an  educational  character,  which 
the  Creator  has  not  wisely  considered  and  provided 
for.  The  eye,  for  instance,  was  made  for  the  light — 
with  a  most  wonderful  adaptation,  too,  with  educa- 
tional wants  which  light  alone  can  supply — and  light 
was  furnished  that  the  eye  might  find  ample  scope  for 
exercise.  The  ear  was  made  for  sounds,  and  sounds 
for  the  ear ;  the  lungs  for  the  air,  and  air  for  the 
lungs;  food  for  the  body,  and  the  body  for  food; 
labor  for  the  hands,  and  the  hands  for  labor.  Just 
examine  their  wonderful  mechanism,  and  then  say, 
if  you  can,  that  they  were  made  to  be  idle !  The 
mind,  too,  was  made  for  labor,  for  thought,  for  sci- 
ence ;  and  the  world  of  investigation  and  science  was 
made  for  mind.  The  sou*  was  made  to  love,  to  sym- 
pathize, to  worship  and  adore ;  and  God  is,  and  man 
was  created,  that  its  every  power  might  find  room  for 
expansion  and  perfect  development.  It  starves,too, 
without  these  supplies,  just  as  surely  as  the  body  starves 


50  TUB   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

without  its  supplies.  How  vain,  and  worse  than 
foolish,  therefore,  the  argument  of  atheists,  or  that 
which  would  rob  man  of  an  essential  part  of  his 
being,  and  deprive  him  of  his  appropriate  exercise ! 

Thus  every  sense  and  every  faculty  of  body,  mind 
and  soul, finds  appropriate  stimulants  in  the  world  of 
matter,  or  in  the  more  occult  mysteries  of  meta- 
physics. In  no  department  of  the  works  of  the 
Creator,  do  we  observe  happier  adaptations  of  means 
to  ends,  or  stronger  evidences  of  wisdom  and  design  ; 
and  the  whole  creation  abounds  and  rejoices  in  this 
marvelous  harmony. 

But,  to  return.  These  Educational  Forces,  as  they 
are  termed,  embrace  all  the  means  and  influences  of 
an  educational  character,  that  are  or  can  be  brought 
to  bear  upon  mind,  body  and  soul  throughout  the 
whole  period  of  life.  Indeed,  they  begin  with  man's 
very  existence,  and  are  doubtless  co-extensive  with  that 
existence.  Those,  however,  that  relate  more  immedi- 
ately to  his  present  education,  will  claim  attention 
here.  They  may  be  classified  according  to  their 
nature  and  the  influence  they  exert,  in  the  following 
general  groups,  viz. :  Objects  of  nature  and  art  /  Books 
of  science,  religion  and  literature ;  Living  teachers,  and 
whatever  other  influences  may  be  addressed  to  man's 
faculties,  either  from  an  external  or  from  an  internal 
source.  All  these,  again,  admit  of  the  same  classifi- 
cation, that  we  find  in  the  educational  capacity  or 
susceptibility,  viz. :  Objective,  or  primary ;  Transition, 
or  intermediate  ;  and  Subjective,  or  advanced :  not, 
however,  that  these  forces  are  necessarily  or  inher- 
ently so  ;  but  that  they  so  accommodate  themselves  to 
the  educational  capacity  of  man ;  and  so  arrange 
themselves  that  every  educational  want,  physical,  in- 


EDUCATIONAL   FORCES.  51 

tellectual  and  moral,  is  provided  for,  at  these  several 
periods.     But,  to  particularize. 

Article  1— Objective  Period. 

It  will  be  seen,  by  a  brief  reference  to  Chapter 
Second,  Article  1,  Sec.  1,  that  appetite,  motion 
and  kindred  desires  are  among  the  earlier  wants 
of  infant  man  or  woman.  Therefore,  the  appro- 
priate supplies  would  be  food,  light,  air,  temper- 
ature, clothing,  exercise,  sleep,  cleanliness,  etc.,  as 
administering  more  directly  to  the  physical  wants ; 
and  toys,  pictures,  playmates,  parents,  domestic 
animals — both  bird  and  beast — trees,  fruits,  flowers, 
etc,  etc.,  as  instruments,  not  only  of  the  best  physical 
culture,  at  this  early  age,  but  aiding  much  in  the  in- 
tellectual and  moral ;  since  the  surest  and  safest 
means  of  reaching  these  infant  powers,  is  through  the 
physical  man.  This  fact  must  be  borne  in  mind  con- 
stantly ;  that  whatever  merit  these  things  possess  in 
a  physical  sense,  they  are  no  less  valuable  as  a  means 
of  waking  up  mind  and  calling  out  the  aifections. 
Indeed,  they  seem  to  be  the  Divinely  appointed  in- 
struments of  infant  education ;  and  no  attempts  to 
abandon  them,  or  to  barter  them  for  their  artificial 
substitutes,  should  be  tolerated.  They  need  not,  and 
indeed,  they  will  not,  displace  others  of  a  judicious 
character.  They  only  fill  the  hiatus  that  too  often 
offers  an  easy  ingress  to  idleness  and  vice. 

Of  course,  these  supplies  are  constant  throughout 
all  the  periods  of  life,  the  quantity  and  quality  varied, 
only  to  suit  the  character  of  the  wants.  No  one,  for 
instance,  would  maintain,  that  the  food  and  exercises 
best  suited  for  the  infant,  or  even  the  youth,  would 
be  best  for  the  adult.  And  the  same  is  true  mainly 


62  THE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

of  the  other  forces.     The  character  of  the  want  will 
indicate  the  quantity  and  quality  of  the  supply. 

A  mere  allusion  to  some  of  the  chief  characteristics 
of  these  forces  must  suffice  for  the  present,  while  their 
peculiar  fitness  will  be  inferred  from  their  mode  of 
application,  discussed  in  another  place. 

SECTION  1 — PHYSICAL  FORCES. — The  food  should  be 
plain,  simple  and  nutritious.  Nature  has  kindly  indi- 
cated its  quality,  as  well  as,  in  part,  its  quantity,  in  the 
supply  she  has  furnished  for  the  tender  age  of  infancy. 
Whatever  changes  are  necessary,  should  be  made  after 
consulting  the  wants  of  childhood — real  wants,  not 
imaginary  ones.  It  is  often  the  case  that  a  false 
demand  is  created  by  injudicious  supplies,  which  be- 
comes imperious  in  after  life. 

The  light  should  be  the  natural  light,  and  as  equally 
diffused  as  possible,  throughout  childrens'  apartments. 
This  seems  to  be  indicated  by  the  general  diffusion 
of  light  throughout  all  the  departments  of  nature, 
where  plants  and  animals  exist.  The  sunlight  is 
God's  light,  and  one  of  his  best  gifts  to  man.  Its 
quality  has  never  yet  been  equaled  or  improved  by 
any  artificial  compound.  It  is  an  essential  element 
in  the  healthy  growth  and  development  of  plants  and 
animals,  as  has  been  abundantly  proved  by  exper- 
iment. Why  then  should  we  attempt  to  shun  it,  or 
to  change  its  essential  ingredients  by  any  artificial 
means  ?  This  light  may  change  the  color  of  the  skin 
slightly ;  but  then  this  change  should  be  coveted, 
rather  than  dreaded.  It  is  the  change  from  the  pale, 
sickly  hues  of  disease,  or  the  shaded  life,  to  that  of 
health,  vigor  and  hardihood. 

Children  should  be  allowed  the  free  use  of  sunlight; 


EDUCATIONAL   FORCES.  53 

for  nothing  seems  so  unreasonable  as  to  deprive  them 
of  it,  or  to  put  them  on  a  stinted  allowance,  since  it 
is  nature's  own  bounty.  "What  looks  more  healthy, 
and  consequently  beautiful,  than  sun-embrowned 
boys  and  girls,  if  they  have  observed  the  laws  of 
health  in  other  respects  ?  But  we  pass  this  to  notice  the 

Air. — This,  of  course,  should  be  pure,  and  used 
freely.  It,  like  the  light,  is  a  free  gift;  and  no  one 
therefore  should  be  allowed  to  speculate  upon  it,  or 
to  deprive  any  one  of  the  free  use  of  it.  It  is  well 
known  also,  that  after  being  once  used,  for  the  pur- 
poses of  breathing,  etc.,  it  is  utterly  unfit  for  use 
again,  until  it  is  purified  by  natural  processes.  It 
becomes  poisonous.  No  one  therefore  should  be  com- 
pelled to  use  it  in  this  condition  ;  much  less  to  breathe 
it  a  third  or  fourth  time,  without  its  being  first  sub- 
mitted to  the  purifying  processes.  What,  for  instance, 
would  be  thought  of  a  man  who  would  poison  a 
fountain  of  water,  at  which  the  whole  neighborhood 
drank?  He  would  not  only  be  publicly  execrated, 
but  publicly  executed.  But  we  do  a  deed  similar  to 
this,  when  we  compel  our  children  to  breathe  fetid 
atmosphere.  But  much  has  been  said  on  this  subject, 
in  other  works. 

The  Temperature  of  the  body  has  an  important 
bearing  upon  the  health.  All  parts  should  maintain 
nearly  the  same  temperature  ;  i.  e.,  the  heat  should  be 
uniformly  distributed,  in  order  to  keep  up  healthy 
circulation.  This  brings  us  to  notice  the  clothing 
This,  of  course,  should  be  adapted  to  age,  employ- 
ment, climate,  constitutional  peculiarities,  etc.  For 
information  on  this  subject,  the  reader  is  referred  to 
works  on  physiology  and  hygiene.  It  is  a  remarkable 
fact,  however,  that  no  parts  of  the  human  body,  espe- 


54  THE    SCIENCE   OF    EDO  CATION. 

cially  in  childhood  and  youth,  need  prelection  more 
than  the  upper  and  lower  extremities ;  and  it  is 
equally  remarkable,  and  more  strange  than  remark- 
able, that  no  parts  are  more  exposed,  especially  at  that 
age,  when  the  danger  from  exposure  is  greatest.  The 
physical  and  moral  evils  arising  from  this  whim  ot 
fashion,  are  too  apparent  and  too  appalling  to  need 
exposition  here.  They  can  not,  however,  be  too  dis- 
tinctly pointed  out,  and  carefully  guarded  against. 

Sleep  is  a  necessity,  and  has  a  remarkable  effect 
upon  childhood.  Without  it,  some,  and  indeed  all 
the  important  functions  of  the  living  being,  would 
u-ease.  Its  necessity  and  effects  are  scarcely  less 
Apparent  in  the  moral  and  intellectual  man.  To  be- 
come useful,  however,  it  must  be  taken  periodically, 
and,  except  in  cases  of  infancy  and  early  childhood, 
or  in  disease,  should  be  taken  in  the  absence  of  the 
sun's  rays  from  the  earth.  Night  is  the  time  appoint- 
ed to  man  for  sleep,  and  the  day  for  labor,  activity 
and  enterprise ;  and  no  attempt  to  change  this  beau- 
tiful order,  should  be  tolerated.  The  individual, 
therefore,  who,  without  good  and  sufficient  reasons, 
such  as  named  above,  lies  abed  while  the  sun  is  shin- 
ing upon  his  part  of  the  world,  violates  a  clearly 
implied  law  of  God  ;  and  so  does  he  who  wantonly 
spends  that  portion  of  the  night,  designed  for  sleep, 
in  labor,  pleasure  or  dissipation.  No  animal  except 
man,  willingly  violates  this  law  ;  and  none  suffer  its 
penalties  so  fearfully. 

Cleanliness  is  so  nearly  allied  to  Godliness,  that  its 
importance  can  scarcely  be  over-estimated.  It  is  so 
essential  to  the  health  and  happiness  of  the  human 
race,  that  its  claims,  as  an  educational  force,  will 
scarcely  be  disputed  by  any  one;  and  so  intimately 


EDUCATIONAL   FORCES.  55 

allied  is  it  to  man's  true  education,  that  we  find  it 
keeping  steady  and  even  pace  with  him,  throughout 
all  his  various  stages  of  advancement.  This  is  true 
no  less  of  nations  than  of  individuals,  as  will  at  once 
appear,  upon  a  comparison  of  the  manners  and  cus- 
toms of  some  of  the  more  enlightened  nations,  with 
those  of  the  Chinese,  or  the  still  less  fastidious  Arabs. 
What  enlightened  nation,  for  instance,  would  be  will- 
ing to  adopt  the  beastly  habits  of  the  filthy  Esquimau, 
or  the  South-Sea  Islander?  It  is  safe  to  say,  therefore, 
that  a  nation's  true  advancement  may  be  measured 
by  its  cleanliness :  and  the  same .  is  true,  no  less  of 
individuals  than  of  masses. 

We  have  no  charity,  and  but  little  patience,  for  that 
kind  of  education  which  does  not  improve  a  man's 
habits  and  general  appearance  ;  which  does  not  refine 
and  elevate  him  in  his  social  capacity,  and  indeed  in 
every  other  respect.  But  if  filthiness  is  unpardonable 
anywhere,  it  is  certainly  so  in  the  family  and  in  the 
school-room,  where  children  are  forming  opinions 
and  habits  for  life. 

Toys  and  Apparatus  are  of  great  service  in  the 
education  of  children.  They  are  the  tools  with  which 
they  conduct  the  various  operations  and  experiments 
in  their  miniature  world,  the  nursery,  the  school  room 
and  their  surroundings.  They  are  also  safe  and 
cheap  investments;  for  they  not  only  afford  the  means 
of  innocent  amusement  and  healthy  development,  but 
they  often  save  doctor-bills,  and  not  unfrequently 
bills  of  a  more  exceptionable  character.  The  school 
apparatus  is  too  generally  confined  to  the  high-school, 
and  the  home  apparatus  to  the  parlor,  or  locked  up  safe 
from  mischievous  hands,  whose  annoyance  sometimes 
becomes  almost  insufferable,  in  consequence  of  this 


56  THE   SCIENCE   Of   EDUCATION. 

privation.  The  apparatus  in  many  of  our  best  high- 
schools  and  colleges,  costs  thousands  of  dollars;  while 
the  primary  and  secondary  schools,  if  furnished  with 
any,  can  usually  sum  up  theirs  in  the  brief  cata- 
logue,— "  a  disordered  globe,  a  broken  numeral  frame, 
and  a  few  antiquated  maps  and  charts;"  and  in 
many  instances,  indeed,  the  walls  of  these  depart- 
ments are  as  bare  as  those  of  a  prison.  Now  this  is 
wrong.  The  primary  and  secondary  schools,  by  virtue 
of  the  objective  nature  of  their  inmates,  need  the  most 
apparatus,  though  it  should  differ  in  quality  from  that 
of  the  high-school.  The  advanced  scholars,  for  a 
similar  reason,  are  capable,  for  the  most  part,  of  carry- 
ing forward  their  investigations  without  such  helps, 
however  great  the  advantages  of  having  them  may 
be.  It  would  by  no  means  be  wise,  therefore,  to 
diminish  the  apparatus  in  the  higher  departments; 
but  it  would  be,  to  increase  it  in  the  lower;  being 
careful,  of  course,  to  select  such  a  variety  as  would 
suit  the  wants  of  children — such,  for  instance,  with 
which  they  can  experiment. 

Pictures  are  no  less  useful  than  toys,  since  they 
are  the  representatives  of  objects,  and  thereby  aid  the 
mind  in  making  its  transfer  of  knowledge  from  the 
tangible  to  the  intangible.  Their  chief  utility,  how- 
ever, as  instruments  of  physical  culture,  is  in  training 
the  eye  to  trace  the  outlines  of  beauty,  and  the  hand 
in  imitating  it.  They  might  be  classed  with  toys,  etc., 
only  that  they  are  one  step  higher  in  the  scale.  Their 
use  will  be  explained  more  fully  under  the  head  of 
"physical  culture,"  in  chapter  fifth. 

Playmates  are  almost  as  essential  to  the  healthy  and 
natural  development  of  children,  as  light  is  to  the 
plant.  A  child  reared  alone  is  deprived  of  a  large 


EDUCATIONAL   FORCES.  57 

share  of  those  youthful  sports  which  constitute  sc 
essential  an  element  in  his  physical  culture;  and  if 
exclusively  with  old  people,  he  not  only  assumes  their 
habits,  but  the  shape  of  the  body  is  often  modified  by 
the  unnatural  influences;  so  that  he  becomes  gradually, 
in  habits  and  decrepitude,  the  aged  invalid.  Any 
attempt,  therefore,  to  thwart  nature,  by  furnishing  old 
heads  for  young  shoulder's,  or  bringing  children  to 
maturity  before  they  have  passed  through  the  child 
period,  will  only  be  accompanied  with  disastrous  con- 
sequences. But 

Parents  and  Teachers  are  indispensable  to  the  ac- 
complishment of  all  that  is  desirable  in  the  physical 
education  of  the  child.  They  are  so  necessary  that  it 
does  not  seem  important  that  their  particular  functions 
should  be  pointed  out  here.  They,  however,  become 
objects  of  love  and  veneration,  as  well  as  the  instru- 
ments of  instruction,  protection,  direction  and  re- 
straint. But,  as  necessary  as  they  are  in  these  respects, 
it  would  seem  that  many  children  would  fare  better 
without  them  than  with  them ;  for  when  they  scold 
them,  and  beat  them,  and  look  upon  them  continually 
with  suspicion,  they  poison  not  only  their  minds,  but 
interfere,  in  no  small  degree,  with  their  physical 
growth.  And  when  they  pamper  and  indulge  them, 
especially  their  appetites,  they  breed  conceit,  laziness 
and  physical  diseases.  But  of  this,  more  particularly 
under  Modes  of  Culture. 

Domestic  Animals,  both  birds  and  beasts,  are  the 
delight  of  children,  and  usually  afford  them  their  first 
Lessons  in  natural  history,  as  well  as  the  means  for 
their  physical  exercises.  No  one  who  has  ever  wit- 
nessed the  gambols  of  rosy-cheeked  boys  and  girls, 
with  a  noble  Newfoundland  dog,  or  their  playful 


58  THE   SCIENCE    OF   EDUCATION. 

excursions  with  a  Shetland  pony,  or  perhaps,  what 
is  just  as  useful,  and  a  good  deal  more  common, 
the  healthy  care  and  labor  with  domestic  animals  on 
the  farm,  can  doubt  for  one  moment,  the  utility  of 
these  educational  forces. 

Threes,  Fruits  and  Flowers,  are  usually  linked  with 
the  early  associations  of  childhood  ;  especially  when 
these  are  in  a  natural  state ;  but  when  cultivated, 
their  influence  is  scarcely  less  potent.  They  afford 
ample  amusement  for  them,  while  their  cultiva- 
tion begets  a  love  for  the  beautiful,  at  the  same  time 
that  it  gives  physical  employment  and  forms  habits 
of  industry.  He  who  plants  a  tree  is  said  to  be  a  bene- 
factor to  his  race ;  but  children,  if  only  allowed  to 
indulge  their  tastes,  thus  early,  not  only  become  public 
benefactors,  but  they  form  habits  and  attachments 
that  time  will  never  efface. 

The  above  comprehends  a  brief  description  of  some 
of  the  more  important  physical  educational  forces, 
peculiar  to  the  objective  period.  But  it  will  be 
remembered  that  whatever  of  excellence  they  possess 
in  early  life,  they  lose  no  essential  force  in  subsequent 
periods.  Their  potency  usually  increases  as  the  inner 
life  becomes  developed  in  man. 

SECTION  2  —  INTELLECTUAL  FORCES. —  Intellectually 
considered,  the  nature  and  characteristics  of  these 
supplies  are  not  less  varied  and  striking.  For  the 
objective  or  dawning  intellect,  they  are  thoroughly 
objective,  and  suited  to  its  capacity :  for  the  transition, 
they  are  not  less  appropriate;  and  in  the  subjective, 
the  same  mutual  adaptation  is  very  distinct.  Not  to 
admit  this,  would  be,  in  effect,  to  call  in  question  the 


EDUCATIONAL    FORCES.  59 

wisdom  and  goodness  of  the  Creator.  To  admit  a  part 
of  it,  and  not  the  whole,  would  be  to  compromise  a 
great  and  fundamental  principle.  To  doubt  the  prac- 
ticability of  the  application  of  this  principle,  in  the 
education  of  man,  involves  an  absurdity. 

The  first  class  of  these  objective  forces  includes  all 
the  objects  and  influences  of  nature  and  art  that  appeal 
to  the  new-born  powers  of  the  mind,  more  directly 
through  the  senses.  All  the  external  world,  with  its 
strange  and  delightful  changes,  is  brought  into  requi- 
sition here.  Those  alluded  to  under  physical  forces 
are,  for  the  most  part,  equally  well  adapted  to  the 
intellectual  wants.  Their  intellectual  force  will  here 
be  shown  in  connection  with  others, 

Among  the  first  of  these  may  be  classed  Color,  with 
its  endless  variety  of  shadings,  from  the  gorgeous  hues 
of  the  rainbow  to  the  pale  blue  sky  and  colorless 
vapor.  The  blushing  morn,  the  subdued  and  mellow 
eve,  the  delicate  penciling  in  flowers,  and  the  varied 
tints  in  the  plumage  of  birds,  the  pleasant  shades 
of  forest  green,  the  meadow,  the  lawn,  the  distant 
mountains  dressed  in  their  somber  hues, — these  all 
speak  in  silent  but  soft,  beseeching  language,  that 
stirs  the  feeble  pulses  of  mind,  and  gives  the  first 
motions  to  thought  and  investigation.  They  operate 
with  a  charm  upon  these  newly  awakened  powers,  far 
excelling  any  of  the  boasted  plans  and  brain-racking 
theories,  too  frequently  adopted  by  modern  educators. 
But  not  only  color,  but  Form  or  outline,  as  it 
appears  in  forest  trees,  the  sloping  woodlands,  the 
winding  rivers,  the  dancing  waterfall,  the  glassy 
lake  and  overhanging  margin,  the  graceful  foliage, 
the  exquisite  shape  of  animals  and  plants  and 
flowers,  the  graceful  curves  and  arches  that  abound 


60  THE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

in  works  of  nature  and  art,  the  abrupt  outline  of  the 
precipice  or  the  mountain,  the  ever  changing,  yet 
ever  pleasing  circling  and  eddying  in  clouds, and  bodies 
of  water, — all  these  convey  impressions  to  the  mind, 
silent,  though  they  may  be,  yet  so  powerful  that  they 
become  the  most  pleasing  themes  of  contemplation  iu 
subsequent  life. 

And  then  the  endless  variety  of  Sounds,  from 
the  sighing  zephyr  to  the  rushing  tornado;  from 
the  rippling  of  the  brook  to  the  deafening  roar 
of  the  cataract ;  from  the  murmur  of  the  half- 
quiet  lake  to  the  thundering  crash  of  waves,  when 
the  storm-rent  Ocean  lifts  up  his  voice ;  from  the 
chirping  of  the  cricket  at  the  hearth-stone  to  the 
deep-toned  thunder,  the  lowing  herds,  the  animated 
voice  of  pleasure  and  the  hum  of  business;  the  singing 
of  birds  and  the  sweet  strains  of  music,  all  move  the 
mind's  dormant  energies,  and  wake  its  powers  to  life 
and  activity. 

And  then  again,  Motion,  with  its  thousand  tropes  as 
exhibited  in  the  animated  world,  its  curves  and  angles," 
its  grace  and  ease,  and  beauty,  and  poetry — these  and 
all  the  external  manifestations  of  nature  we  have 
named,  and  ten  thousand  more,  stand  as  so  many 
sentinels  on  the  outposts  of  science,  to  awaken  and 
delight  the  incipient  mind,  and  to  beckon  it  on  to 
drink  of  these  pure,  healthy  streams.  They  invite 
the  young  body  forth  to  activity,  enterprise  and  manly 
development.  They  are  nature's  means  for  educating 
man.  Why  then  should  we  interfere  with  them,  when 
they  are  so  obviously  in  accordance,  not  only  with 
sound  philosophy,  but  with  our  unbiased  inclinations? 
Why  should  children  be  kept  confined  and  shut  out 
from  all  these  nobler  forms  of  loveliness,  in  order  that 


EDUCATIONAL   FORCES.  61 

they  may  be  educated  ?  Even  supposing  the  school- 
house  or  the  dwelling  to  be  passable  or  even  elegant, 
does  this  afford  any  excuse  for  the  rejection  of  these 
natural  educational  forces?  Instead* of  interfering  in 
any  degree  with  the  discipline  of  children,  or  the 
acquisition  of  knowledge,  even  from  books  and 
teachers,  they  only  prepare  the  way  by  opening  up 
every  avenue  of  the  mind,  to  the  most  wholesome 
discipline  and  the  most  vigorous  development. 

From  the  above  it  will  be  inferred  that  the  natural 
sciences,  language,  and,  we  might  add,  concrete  mathe- 
matics are  best  adapted  to  the  wants  of  both  body  and 
mind  at  this  period.  Natural  sciences,  in  their  simpler 
form  open  up  the  way  to  the  mind,  and  afford 
abundant  activity  for  the  body.  They  give  knowledge 
of  the  physical  universe,  and  acquaintance  with  the 
beauties  and  attractions  of  nature  and  art. 

Language  affords  an  opportunity  to  give  expression 
to  feeling.  Its  study  also  cultivates  close  observation, 
whereby  a  higher  order  of  thought  is  awakened.  It 
should,  however,  relate  only  to  the  simple  and  exact 
modes  of  expression,  the  beauty,  richness  and  accu- 
racy in  description,  etc. 

Mathematics,  or  arithmetical  and  geometrical  ex- 
ercises as  they  relate  to  simple,  external  form  and 
proportion,  cultivate  quickness  of  apprehension,  clear- 
ness and  closeness  of  reasoning  and  investigation. 
They  strengthen  and  prepare  the  mind  for  abstract 
and  metaphysical  research. 

It  must  not  be  inferred  from  the  above  that  the 
exercises,  as  they  will  be  described  in  another  place, 
are  intended  to  usurp  the  place  of  those  in  common 
use,  so  far  as  the  latter  conform  to  sound  philosophy. 


62  THE   SCIENCE   OP   EDUCATION. 

So  tar  from  any  usurpation,  or  even  an  interruption, 
they  only  excite  a  laudable  interest  in  them.  A  child 
who  has  been  taught  to  observe  closely,  and  whose 
faculties  have  been  trained  in  this  natural  process,  will 
not  only  possess  keener  perception,  stronger  memory, 
a  better  understanding  and  judgment,  and  a  liveliei 
imagination,  but  every  emotion  of  the  soul  will  be 
quickened  into  healthy  activity.  Thus  an  early  taste 
for  study  and  habits  of  accuracy  will  be  formed,  which 
will  be  a  basis  for  subsequent  pursuits.  It  is  the 
natural  order;  and  any  methods  that  conflict  with 
nature,  will  check  the  real  progress  of  the  child. 

In  every  department  of  the  works  of  the  Creator, 
there  is  the  most  rigid  economy  combined  with  the 
most  benevolent  designs,  and  the  happiest  harmony. 
Man  should  therefore  be  very  careful  how  he  inter- 
feres with  these. 

SECTION  3  —  MORAL  FORCES.  —  The  instruments 
of  man's  moral  and  religious  culture  next  claim 
attention.  This  department  of  his  education,  no  less 
than  all  others,  is  dependent  upon  antecedent  causes, 
subject,  for  the  most  part,  to  his  own  control.  Among 
the  first  and  foremost  of  these  forces,  for  the  objective 
period,  may  be  placed  Parental  Love,  and  the  family 
and  social  influences. 

The  family  seems  to  be  not  only  the  first  compact 
or  association  ordained  by  heaven,  but  the  one  into 
which  every  human  being  is,  or  ought  to  be,  first 
introduced.  It  is  the  proper  nursery  of  infant  thought 
and  infant  action.  It  is  the  natural  home  of  the  child. 
No  artificial  association  should  be  allowed  to  usurp  its 
pi  nee.  The  parent  stands  by  nature,  and  by  Divine 
appointment,  at  the  head  of  this  social  compact;  and 


EDUCATIONAL    FORCES.  63 

holds  in  his  hands,  to  a  greater  extent  than  any  other, 
the  fundamental  Educational  Forces  of  the  child. 
Especially  is  this  true  in  a  moral  and  religious  sense  ; 
for  whatever  may  be  the  intellectual  training  of  the 
child,  and  to  whomever  committed,  its  moral  and 
religious  tendencies  are  generally  controlled  and 
guided  by  the  home  and  parental  influences. 

Now,  whatever  of  influence  was  attributed  to  the 
intellectual  forces,  will  justly  apply  to  the  moral;  for 
it  is  impossible,  according  to  the  well  known  laws  of 
mind,  to  educate  one  department  of  man's  nature 
truly,  without  appealing  to  all  other  departments. 
The  proper  education  of  the  head  will  always  affect 
the  heart,  and  vice  versa. 

This  truth  can  not  be  too  often  repeated  and  too 
carefully  inculcated.  It  is  one  of  the  fundamental 
principles,  associated  with  right  education.  By  over- 
looking or  disregarding  it,  the  ancient  world  groped 
in  darkness ;  and  the  modern  educational  world  has 
run  into  the  wildest  vagaries  and  the  strangest 
extremes. 

But  the  truth  is  plain  and  simple, like  all  of  God's 
truths.  Every  intellectual  force  is  virtually  a  moral  force. 
So  intimately  allied  are  they,  that  were  it  not  for  the 
distinctions  wrhich  exist  in  man,  as  to  his  moral  and 
intellectual  qualities,  and  also,  as  to  the  moral  and 
intellectual  qualities  of  actions,  the  two  forces  would 
mutually  blend. 

To  illustrate :  the  child  first  learns  to  love  and  obey 
its  parents.  This  is  but  a  simple  act,  and  yet  it 
implies  an  intellectual  act,  a  moral  act,  and  may 
include  a  physical  act ;  but  not  one  of  them  singly 
can  be  performed,  in  the  true  sense,  without  the 
other. 


64  THE    SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

We  might  as  well  talk  of  nourishing  one  arm  at  a 
time,  or  one  leg,  or  the  body  without  the  limbs,  by 
simply  taking  food  into  the  stomach,  as  to .  talk  of 
educating  a  man,  and  not  affecting  for  good  or  ill,  all 
the  departments  of  his  nature. 

The  affectional  nature  of  the  child  is  the  first  to 
show  signs  of  development.  It  goes  out,  and  naturally 
entwines  itself  about  the  parent.  The  manifestations 
may  be  feeble  at  first,  like  all  its  powers,  but  under 
proper  management  it  soon  acquires  strength.  The 
mother's  soothing  voice  is  the  first  sound  that  ad- 
dresses its  ear  intelligently.  The  tender,  gentle 
embrace,  stirs  the  fountains  of  love  in  its  soul;  the 
latent  affections  are  moved,  and  they  rise  up  to  meet 
and  mingle  with  her  own.  How  swift  and  how  sweet 
the  response  thus  given  !  Here  then  is  the  educa- 
tional want.  Where  are  the  supplies  ?  Ay  :  are  they 
not  at  hand?  Do  they  not  exist  in  a  mother's  love, 
a  father's  care,  and  all  the  endearing  ties  of  home  and 
friends  ?  Now  if  those  supplies  are  not  cut  off  or 
poisoned — as  is  too  frequently  the  case — if  they  are 
constant,  and  are  judiciously  administered,  it  is  easy 
to  see  how  the  little  heart  might  be  led  on,  step  by 
step,  to  love,  to  trust  and  to  obey. 

But  Watchfulness,  Patience  and  Firmness  are  neces- 
sary ingredients  in  a  parent's  stock  of  forces  to  control 
and  direct  the  growing  energies  of  the  child;  watchful- 
ness to  detect  the  first  buddings  of  sinful  desires;  for 
such  is  their  deceptive  nature,  that  they  grow  up  some- 
times under  the  immediate  eye  of  the  parent,  and  are 
not  unfrequently  fostered  by  fond  and  doting  friends  as 
indications  of  smartness.  At  other  times  they  mani- 
fest themselves  in  outbreaking  vices,  not  less  to  be 
deplored,  and  seem  to  summon  every  demon  to  their 


EDUCATIONAL   FORCES.  65 

aid.  In  all  these  forms, patience  must  have  her  perfect 
work.  She  teaches  us  to  bear  the  ills  of  life.  Much 
more  should  she  teach  us  to  bear  with  the  wayward- 
ness of  children.  If  their  sins  are  many,  the  occasions 
and  weaknesses  that  draw  them  aside,  and  cause  them 
to  fall,  are  not  less  numerous. 

It  often  becomes  necessary,  therefore,  to  interpose 
authority;  and  in  such  cases,  firmness  and  unyielding 
integrity  are  in  great  demand,  in  order  to  check  the 
irrational  desires,  and  to  turn  them  into  their  proper 
channels.  The  child  soon  loses  confidence  in  one  not 
possessed  of  these  qualifications,  and,  whatever  other 
excellencies  he  may  possess  will  be  taken  for  less 
than  half  their  real  value,  in  consequence  of  the 
absence  of  these  qualities.  A  decision  once  rendered, 
should  not  be  changed  for  light  causes. 

Children  are  no  less  the  objects  of  sympathy  than 
they  are  themselves  sympathetic.  In  -all  their  weak- 
nesses and  follies,  they  not  only  need  the  mantle  of 
charity  to  hide  their  seeming  depravity,  but  they  need 
the  sympathy  of  their  seniors ;  not,  by  any  means,  to 
encourage  them  in  crime,  but  to  lift  them  up  from 
weakness  and  irresolution, to  strength  and  determina- 
tion in  the  various  ways  of  duty.  They  need  that  pro- 
tection from  the  uncharitable  assaults  of  the  world, 
which  the  home  circle  alone  can  afford.  They  need 
an  asylum  into  which  they  may  retreat  from  the 
storm  and  the  tempest, with  which  the  sky  of  youth  is 
frequently  overcast. 

These  trials  may  all  be  necessary  as  discipline ;  but, 
at  this  tender  age,  unless  assistance  or  protection  is  at 
hand,  the  little  sufferer  bends  too  often,  and  sinks 
beneath  the  load,  and  the  moral  powers  are  bruised 

and  broken  instead  of  being  strengthened. 
6 


66  TUK   SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

Mother  or  teacher,  stand  by  your  little  one,  in  those 
fearful  hours  of  temptation  and  strife,  and  see  that  the 
world  and  the  passions  do  not  overcome  him.  A 
moral  conquest  here  is  better  than  the  conquest  of  a 
kingdom;  but  a  defeat  may  carry  disaster  into  all  the 
chambers  of  the  soul. 

The  family  and  social  influences,  as  educational 
forces  to  give  direction  to  the  moral  and  religious 
powers  of  the  child,  can  not  be  over-estimated.  The 
child  not  only  learns  to  love  his  brothers  and  sis- 
ters, and  to  revere  and  obey  his  father  and  mother, 
as  well  as  love  them,  but  numberless  occasions  arise 
when  it  becomes  necessary,  in  the  little  community, 
that  the  personal  preferences  and  individual  liberty 
of  the  few,  must  be  sacrificed  to  the  general  good. 
Here  the  child  learns  to  respect  the  rights  of  his  fel- 
lows, to  submit  to  wholesome  restraints,  and  to  ren- 
der cheerful  obedience  to  the  properly  constituted 
authorities.  He  thus  acquires  the  feelings  and  habits 
of  a  good  citizen.  And  what  is  true  of  the  family, 
in  this  respect,  is  also  true  of  the  school,  for  it  should 
be  modeled  as  nearly  as  possible  on  the  plan  of  a  well 
regulated  family.  The  only  essential  difference  in 
the  government  is,  that  in  the  latter  it  is  generalized, 
and  on  a  larger  scale. 

But  what  a  dark  picture  that  family  or  that  school 
presents,  where  all  these  moral  forces  are  perverted 
and  made  to  act  as  so  many  influences  against  the 
right  development  of  the  moral  powers !  What  a 
repulsive  sight  where  love  is  turned  to  hate,  trust  to 
jealousy  and  suspicion,  watchfulness  to  careless  in- 
difference, firmness  to  vacillation  and  irresolution, 
patience  to  petulance,  sympathy  to  malevolence,  pro- 
tection to  neglect,  discipline  to  disorder,  and  all  the 


EDUCATIONAL   FORCES.  67 

social  endearments,  to  so  many  sources  of  discontent 
and  bitterness  ! 

Man's  happiness  would  thus  be  turned  to  misery,  his 
social  ties  would  be  only  so  many  clanking  chains,  to 
fret  and  chafe  his  humor,  and  to  strew  his  pathway 
with  thorns.  His  cup  of  connubial  bliss  would  be  a 
cup  of  gall ;  and  the  happiest  spot  on  earth  for  man 
— his  own  dear  home — would  be  a  hell. 

But  we  turn  from  this  dark  picture  to  consider  the 
educational  forces  at  another  and  an  important  period 
in  life. 

Article   2— Transition  Period. 

It  was  a  remark  of  u  distinguished  educator,  while 
describing  a  course  of  study  for  high-schools,  that 
"a  hiatus  occurs  in  the  history  of  every  human  being 
between  the  ages  of  11  and  15,  and  that  this  is  ex- 
ceedingly difficult  to  fill  up."  In  this  he  refers  doubt- 
less to  the  period  of  which  we  are  about  to  speak. 

While  we  admit  that  such  a  period  does  occur, 
and  that  its  characteristics  are  distinctly  marked, 
yet  we  can  not  agree  with  the  learned  Dr.  when  he 
tells  us  that  this  period  is  necessarily  more  difficult 
to  supply  than  any  other.  We  admit  that  it  is  more 
liable  to  neglect  and  abuse  than  any  other  ;  and  that 
many  who  have  made  shipwreck  of  their  powers, 
may  date  their  ruin  back  to  the  incidents  occurring 
in  this  period  ;  but  it  no  more  follows  that  this  is  a 
necessary  result,  than  that  people  should  die  of  hun- 
ger while  the  land  abounds  in  plenty:  or  that  they 
should  fail  to  become  educated  in  any  case,  when  the 
means  for  such  education  are  within  their  reach. 
Because  men  starve  is  no  proof  that  there  is  no  food, 
though  this  would  be  a  sequence,  were  there  none. 


68  THE   SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

it  only  proves  that  there  is  none  for  them ;  or  that 
they  have  not  availed  themselves  of  its  advantages. 
So  in  the  case  before  us.  Many  suffer  for  want  of 
proper  supplies,  at  this  period,  not  because  there  are 
no  such  supplies,  for  this  would  be  charging  God 
with  neglect;  but  because  these  supplies  are  not 
brought  within  their  reach.  They  exist  in  groat 
abundance,  but  because  of  their  simplicity  and  uni- 
versality, men  are  apt  to  overlook  them.  They  are 
like  those  common  blessings  whose  visits  are  so  silent, 
so  frequent,  and  yet  so  necessary,  that  we  forget  to 
credit  them. 

SECTION  1 — PHYSICAL  FORCES. — In  casting  about  for 
supplies  for  the  physical  wants  and  powers,  we  are 
apt  to  look  beyond  the  real  ones,  and  to  select  some- 
thing artificial  or  foreign  to  their  nature.  Nature 
offers  an  abundant  supply,  and  on  the  most  reasonable 
terms. 

We  see  by  reference  to  chapter  second,  article  1st, 
that  the  capacity  is  very  marked ;  and  that  these 
powers,  in  their  semi-educated  state,  are  constantly 
seeking  employment.  Activity  is  their  essential 
characteristic,  and  in  it  they  find  their  chief  enjoy- 
ment. But  there  is  great  danger  of  excess.  Hence 
the  greater  need  of  special  direction  and  control. 
The  question  then  recurs,  what  are  the  natural  and 
legitimate  supplies  for  these  wants? 

In  addition  to  those  enumerated  in  the  Objective 
Period,  it  will  be  found  necessary  to  introduce  others, 
differing,  not  so  much,  perhaps,  in  kind,  as  in  quan- 
tity and  quality.  Hence,  many  of  those  there  enu- 
merated, will  be  readily  exchanged  for  others,  similar 
in  kind,  but  of  a  higher  order.  Thus,  the  toys  will 


EDUCATIONAL   FORGES.  69 

be  exchanged  for  farming,  mechanical  and  household 
utensils  and  implements.  Playmates  will  become 
companions  and  friends  in  a  truer  sense ;  co-laborers 
in  a  higher  calling. 

Among  the  many  avocations  of  life,  no  one, perhaps, 
is  more  congenial  to  man  than  Agricultural  Pursuits. 
They  are  probably  the  first  that  ever  engaged  the 
attention  of  the  race,  and  afforded  exercise  to  the 
physical  powers :  and  like  all  other  institutions  of 
Divine  appointment,  they  are  the  most  necessary  to 
man's  existence,  and  conducive  to  his  happiness. 

They  offer  better  opportunities  for  full  and  free 
exercise  of  all  his  physical  powers,  than  any  others. 
If  they  have  their  hardships,  they  have  likewise  their 
rewards.  If  they  have  their  exposures  to  inclement 
seasons,  they  have  likewise  their  pure  and  free  atmos- 
phere, freighted  with  the  odors  of  a  thousand  flowers. 
It  is  a  matter  of  astonishment,  since  this  employment 
is  at  once  so  congenial  and  necessary  to  the  human 
race,  that  so  many  are  inventing  ways  and  means  to 
escape  from  it. 

The  earth  uncovers  her  broad  bosom,  and  displays 
her  matchless  beauty  of  valley,  plain,  mountain  and 
woodland,  and  says  to  her  children,  "  Come,  cultivate 
my  fields,  and  I  will  pour  you  out  a  blessing,  such 
that  your  garners  shall  not  be  able  to  contain  it." 
"  Come,  eat  of  my  pleasant  fruits,  my  honey  and 
butter,  and  drink  of  my  wine  and  milk,  and  let  your 
hearts  be  glad  and  rejoice,  all  your  days."  And  yet 
men  will  huddle  together  in  crowded  cities,  and  even 
trea  1  one  upon  another,  that  they  may  get  gain. 

It  would  seem  that  the  inculcation  of  right  views 
upon  this  subject,  would  in  time  correct  this  abuse. 
Where,  then,  is  there  a  better  place  to  begin  this 


70  THE    SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

inculcation,  than  in  the  family  and  in  the  school-room  ? 

Next  in  importance  to  agricultural  pursuits,  ma}1 
be  ranked  the  Mechanic  arts  and  employments. 
These  likewise  seem  necessary  for  man's  subsistence : 
for  without  them,  he  would  be  unable  to  protect  him- 
self against  the  wrath  of  the  elements,  or  control  the 
forces  of  nature,  so  as  to  accomplish  the  purposes  of 
life.  Inventions  and  machinery,  the  products  of 
genius  and  labor,  stand  among  the  proudest  achieve- 
ments of  the  present  age ;  and  the  mechanical  em- 
ployments are  the  nurseries  where  this  kind  of  genius 
is  fostered.  Labor  is  the  means  by  which  these 
achievements  are  wrought  out. 

The  mechanic  arts  aftbrd  scope  for  all  that  is  in- 
genious in  man,  while  they  cultivate  his  taste  and 
his  physical  nature.  This  is  more  apparent  in  the 
subjective  period  than  in  the  transition ;  never- 
theless, it  has  its  origin  here,  since  the  man  is  the 
boy  first,  and  the  woman  is  the  girl  before  she  is 
the  matron.  The  same  is  true  of  the  Fine  Arts. 
They  do  not  attain  any  degree  of  perfection  here ; 
yet  they  exist  in  an  incipient  state.  Their  uses  and 
modes  of  culture  will  be  pointed  out  in  another 
place. 

But  "  All  work  and  no  play  would  make  Jack  a 
dull  boy."  Thus  philosophized  "  Poor  Richard ; "  and 
every  one  will  allow  that  his  philosophy  is  sound.  It 
is  a  well  established  fact  that  our  physical  organism 
needs  the  health-giving  influences  of  Amusement ; 
and  children  in  particular,  who  have  the  greatest 
need  of  it,  have  an  instinctive  desire  for  it.  It 
may  be  said,  however,  by  some  cross-grained  devotee 
of  asceticism,  that  "  So  they  have  for  many  other 
vices."  But  before  any  thing  can  be  made  out  of 


EDUCATIONAL   FORCES.  71 

this  argument,  it  must  be  shown  that  play  is  a  vice, 
which  position  is  untenable.  The  fact  is,  the  love  of 
rational  amusement  is  a  virtue,  no  less  to  be  cultivated 
than  the  love  of  innocence  and  truth,  with  which  it 
stands  intimately  related  :  and  the  desires  for  vicious 
indulgence  are  all  perverted  desires,  often  so,too,  from 
neglect.  These  legitimate  desires  exist  every- where 
in  the  animal  world,  especially  with  the  young ;  and 
their  rational  gratification  is  always  accompanied 
with  pleasure.  It  is  only  when  the}T  are  not  properly 
regulated,  that  they  become  sources  of  mischief. 
Hence  Gymnastic  and  Calisthenic  exercises,*  since 
these  are  regulated  plays,  are  best  suited  to  the  ac- 
complishment of  one  of  the  most  obvious  designs  of 
amusement,  viz. :  the  healthy  and  symmetrical  devel- 
opment of  the  physical  powers. 

And  then  amusement  serves  another  important  pur- 
pose. It  rests  the  body  from  the  fatigue  of  labor, 
and  clears  away  the  cobwebs  and  clouds  from  the 
mind,  and  lets  in  a  bright  ray  of  the  real,  living 
sunshine  of  enjoyment. 

SECTION  2 — INTELLECTUAL  FORCES. — We  come  now 
to  notice  the  intellectual  forces,  appropriate  for  this 
period. 

The  supposed  "hiatus,"  alluded  to  in  another  place, 
ha-s  more  of  an  existence  in  an  intellectual  sense,  than 
in  a  physical.  But  a  proper  study  of  man,  and  of  his 
educational  forces,  will  soon  discover  to  the  inquirer 

*  It  should  be  remembered,  however,  that  unless  these  last  named 
exercises  are  conducted  with  strict  reference  to  the  objects  to  be  attain- 
ed, they  are  of  but  little  service.  Indeed,  they  are  frequently  very 
injuriouss,  owing  to  excesses  and  wrong  applications.  They  should, 
therefore,  be  conducted  under  the  eye  and  special  direction  of  an  accom- 
plished master. 


72  THE   SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

the  vast  supplies  that  have  been  laid  up  in  store  for 
this  period.  So  that  the  hiatus  is  more  the  result  of 
our  mistakes  than  otherwise. 

The  proper  adjustment  of  the  physical  forces,  will 
not  only  suggest  the  proper  disposition  of  the  intel- 
lectual ones,  but  will  lead  to  a  juster  appreciation  of 
Buch  culture,  and  assist  materially  in  carrying  it 
forward. 

As  in  the  objective  state,  the  physical  world  afforded 
the  greatest  amount  of  influence,  calculated  to  awaken 
and  develop  the  thinking  powers  ;  so  in  the  transition, 
the  forces  are  chiefly  of  a  material  character.  The 
intellectual  eyes  of  the  learner,  at  this  period,  however, 
are  just  opening  upon  the  immaterial  world,  and  he 
stands  bewildered,  while  he  gazes  upon  its  wonders. 
The  physical  sciences,  properly  pursued,  lead  directly 
to  the  metaphysical,  just  as  the  study  of  language  leads 
to  the  development  of  thought.  Indeed  the  physical 
sciences  are  but  the  initials  or  elements  of  the  meta- 
physical. Hence  they  are  first  in  order  of  time.  All 
things  material  have  antecedents,  either  material  or 
immaterial ;  and  all  actions  and  effects  produced  have 
causes.  These  causes  again  have  their  antecedents, 
until  all  causes  are  traced  back  to  the  great  First 
Cause  of  all  things. 

The  mind  passes  by  steps  from  the  tangible  to  the 
intangible,  from  the  material  to  the  immaterial,  from 
the  simple  to  the  more  abstruse.  From  the  well- 
known,  it  at  once  sets  out  in  pursuit  of  the  unknown. 
From  the  effect,  it  travels  back  to  the  cause,  and  soon 
becomes  merged  in  metaphysical  research.  At  least, 
this  is  one  of  its  routes  of  travel,  and  the  one  usually 
selected  by  the  learner,  in  this  period. 

The  physical  sciences,  therefore,  since  they  abound 


EDUCATIONAL   FORCES.  73 

in  facts,  offer  the  safest  medium,  through  which  the 
transition  may  be  made.  They  are  pleasing  and  attract- 
ive, and  abound  in  the  strange  and  beautiful.  But  their 
chief  excellence  lies  in  the  fact  that  they  are  so  inti- 
mately related  to  all  the  operations  of  daily  life.  We 
can  scarcely  breathe  or  move  without  bringing  into 
requisition  some  of  the  strangest  phenomena,  and 
awakening  in  the  mind  the  profoundest  curiosity. 
The  natural  sciences,  therefore,  seem  to  be  the  Divinely 
appointed  stepping-stones,  which  lead  from  the  physic- 
al universe  to  that  universe  of  mind  and  spirit  into 
which  the  learner  is  introduced  in  his  more  advanced 
stages.  A  list  of  these  sciences  might  here  be  given, 
were  not  the  circumstances,  under  which  it  would  be 
necessary  to  pursue  them,  so  various,  as  to  render 
such  a  list  nothing  more  than  an  approximation. 

History  and  Biography,  likewise,  hold  an  important 
place  among  the  educational  forces  of  this  period. 
Their  descriptive,  as  well  as  their  objective,  nature 
renders  them  peculiarly  appropriate.  There  is  & 
novelty  and  an  interest  connected  with  a  well  prepared 
history  or  biography,  which  perhaps  do  not  exist  in 
works  of  mere  fiction.  They  are  strangely  attractive 
for  that  class  of  mind  of  which  we  are  now  speaking. 
Their  chief  excellence,  however,  consists  in  the  nar- 
rative style,  their  simplicity  and  the  power  they 
possess  in  awakening  mind,  and  provoking  a  desire 
to  excel. 

Great  care  should  be  exercised,  however,  in  the 
selection  of  authors.  An  unholy  ambition  may  be 
fostered  here,  which  will  lead  to  untold  disaster.  But 
a  proper  taste  for  the  above  named  studies,  formed  in 
early  life,  would  offer  a  strong  barrier  to  the  formation 
of  a  morbid  love  of  fiction  and  light  reading.  It  ia 

7 


74  THE    SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

not  because  the  mind  is  more  averse  to  the  truth  than 
to  a  lie,  that  this  taste  for  morbid  trash  is  formed. 
Neither  is  it  because  truth  lacks  any  of  the  essential 
elements  of  attractiveness ;  for  it  is  even  stranger  than 
fiction ;  but  it  results  from  overlooking  this  most 
obvious  truth,  that  our  education  should  begin  with 
the  heart,  and  for  intellectual  advancement, it  should 
make  use  of  natural  objects  first. 

Language  is  a  medium  for  the  communication  of 
thoughts,  feelings  and  desires.  Its  manifestations 
commence  with  the  commencement  of  being,  and  they 
can  cease  only  when  existence  ceases.  Viewed  in  this 
light,  it  becomes  a  science  which  admits  of  culture, 
and  is  also  an  educational  force.  To  none  of  the 
sources  of  culture  is  man  more  indebted  than  to  this. 
Its- elements  exist  within  him,  and  its  capacity  in- 
creases with  the  increase  of  knowledge. 

Language  has  been  regarded  too  much  as  merely 
an  objective  thing,  an  outward  adorning  instead  of  a 
living,  acting  principle,  whose  elements  are  interwoven 
with  the  very  fibers  of  thought.  There  is  therefore 
a  language  of  thought,  as  well  as  of  word  and  action. 
No  other  science  holds  precisely  the  same  relations  to 
man,  that  this  one  holds.  It  is  not  only  his  medium, 
means  and  object  of  culture,  but  it  is  used  in  the 
investigation  of  every  other  science,  and  its  study 
should  be  prosecuted  in  connection  with  every  other. 

Serious  blunders,  however,  are  frequently  committed 
in  the  use  of  language  as  an  educational  force.  It 
might,  with  respect  to  its  meaning,  uses,  and  philo- 
sophy, adopt  the  classification  selected  for  education 
in  general ;  viz.,  objective,  transition,  and  subjective. 
Its  tir&t  office  is — aside  from  merely  making  known 
our  wants  —  to  give  names  to  objects,  actions  and 


EDUCATIONAL   FORCES.  75 

qualities.  The  second  is  to  arrange  and  combine 
these  so  as  to  represent  the  relations  existing  among 
'them,  arid  to  express  the  ideas  suggested  and  developed 
under  modes  of  culture.  The  third  is  to  investigate 
the  properties  of  language  itself  as  an  abstract  or 
metaphysical  study. 

This  latter  department  is  usually  presented  first,  so 
far  at  least  as  any  scientific  use  is  made  of  it ;  and  this 
is  one  of  the  blunders  to  which  allusion  is  made.  The 
child  should  be  allowed  to  pass  through  the  other 
periods  first,  and  to  acquire  the  meaning  and  use  of 
words  and  language,  before  the  technicalities  are 
arrayed  before  him. 

Mathematics  is  an  early  and  constant  necessity.  It 
is  the  great  staple  of  the  common  school.  As  a  disci- 
plinary study,  it  perhaps  has  few,  if  any  equals.-  It 
is  similar  in  some  respects  to  language,  in  that  it 
has  several  departments  which  are  exactly  suited  to 
the  several  wants  of  the  child.  Simple  numbers  and 
counting  stand  among  the  first,  and  correspond  to 
names  and  the  meaning  of  words.  The  concrete  or 
mixed  mathematics  come  next,  and  are  best  adapted 
to  the  capacity  of  the  child  in  the  transition  state. 
There  is  just  enough  of  the  objective  nature  about  this 
science,  here,  to  enable  the  learner,  without  too  great 
an  effort  of  abstract  reasoning,  to  cling  to  it ;  and  yet 
enough  of  the  subjective  nature  to  lift  the  powers  up 
into  more  exalted  spheres  of  thought.  It  should  be 
borne  in  mind  here,  that  elementary  geometry  is  one 
of  the  principal  and  most  important  and  appropriate 
branches  of  mathematics  for  this  period,  and  even  for 
the  one  preceding  it. 

There  is  another  department  of  science  which  has 
a  peculiar  fitness  for  this  period.  It  is,  perhaps,  as 


76  THE   SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

much  a  moral  force  as  an  intellectual,  and  as  much 
the  result  of  the  combined  action  of  all  the  sciences, 
as  a  distinct  science.  We  speak  of  good  manners. 

This  period  offers  peculiar  advantages  for  teaching 
this  science;  but,  in  too  many  instances,  it  is  neglected. 
There  is  a  spurious  article,  sometimes  used  as  a  sub- 
stitute ;  but  this  only  aggravates  the  evil.  Good 
manners  consist  in  pure  thinking,  pure  speaking,  and 
pure  acting.  It  is,  therefore,  to  a  great  extent,  under 
the  control  of  the  toacher  and  parent,  and  serves  as  a 
most  potent  instrument,  in  his  hand,  for  the  accom- 
plishment of  good. 

SECTION  3 — MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  FORCES. — At  no 
period  in  life  are  the  moral  powers  in  a  more  critical 
condition  than  in  this.  This,  perhaps,  is  not  so 
much  because  their  impressibility  is  any  greater,  but 
because  of  the  many  counteracting  influences.  The 
period  is  described  briefly  in  chapter  second,  article  2, 
section  3. 

The  wants  here  are  most  palpable,  and  the  condition 
would  be  most  lamentable,  were  there  no  means  of 
supplying  them.  But  we  are  not  at  liberty,  for  a 
moment,  to  believe  that  so  gross  a  blunder  could  be 
committed  even  by  a  wise  man,  much  less  by  a 
Supreme  Being. 

It  is  our  business  now  to  inquire  after  the  moral 
and  religious  forces,  as  means  of  culture. 

Whatever  excellence  the  moral  forces  described  in 
Art.  1,  Sec.  3,  of  this  chapter  possess,  they  are  all 
thrown  into  the  shade,  when  compared  with  one  that 
can  now  be  rendered  available.  We  mean  the  Bible. 
It  is  not  without  its  force  in  the  objective  period ;  but 
ita  sublimer  truths,  as  a  general  thing,  are  of  such  a 


EDUCATIONAL    FORCES.  77 

character,  that  their  full  force  is  not  felt,  until  the 
mind  acquires  more  maturity.  If  any  one  should 
inquire,  why  the  Bible  possesses  such  a  power,  as  an 
educational  instrument,  we  would  reply  that  God 
made  it  and  he  made  man,  having  a  full  knowledge 
of  his  capacity,  and  of  the  best  educational  forces. 
He  therefore  made  the  Bible  for  the  very  purposes  for 
which  we  propose  to  use  it, — for  the  moral  and 
religious  culture  of  youth  ;  and  he,  knowing  all  things 
from  the  beginning,  is  supposed  to  have  a  better 
understanding,  as  to  what  is  best  calculated  for  this 
purpose,  than  any  merely  human  tribunal.  No  creeds, 
or  confessions,  or  human  devices,  therefore,  should  be 
allowed  to  usurp  its  place.  God  made  mind  and 
matter.  The  one  administers  to  the  other.  He  also 
gave  man  his  Revelation.  The  design  is  very  obvious. 
Nature  and  revelation  are  designed  to  make  man 
wiser,  better,  happier.  This  they  do,  when  we  allow 
them  to  act  in  harmony, as  they  were  designed;  and 
when  they  are  properly  studied  and  their  precepts 
practiced. 

The  Bible  has  stood  the  shock  of  error  and  falsehood, 
the  combined  opposition  of  infidelity  leagued  with 
darkness,  for  four  thousand  years;  and  yet  its  truths 
shine  brighter  to-day  than  ever  before.  Like  the  oak 
that  is  buffeted  by  the  storm,  these  truths  have  taken 
deeper  root  in  the  soil  of  the  human  heart,  and  they 
lift  their  boughs  higher  and  higher  to  scatter  their 
fruits  among  the  nations  of  the  earth. 

It  is  not  our  purpose  to  enter  into  a  discussion  upon 
the  authenticity  or  inspiration  of  the  Bible.  We  take 
for  granted  that  it  is  Divine  in  its  origin,  and  therefore 
true.  We  admit  also,  that  there  are  some  truths 
which,  from  their  nature  and  origin,  must  be  taken — 


78  THE    SCIENCE   OP    EDUCATION. 

especially  at  this  period — on  trust  or  faith  ;  for  the 
powers  of  comprehension  are  too  feeble,  at  their  most 
exalted  stage  of  development, to  grasp  the  wisdom  and 
foresight  of  God. 

The  Bible  abounds  in  these  truths.  It  often  finds 
man  struggling  with  the  most  difficult  problems  of 
existence  and  destiny.  It  finds  him  perplexed  and 
confounded  at  the  very  threshold  of  science.  But 
science  and  human  philosophy  are  forever  impotent  to 
the  great  task  of  solving  man's  future  destiny  and 
happiness.  He  must  needs  have,  therefore,  a  higher 
authority,  a  brighter  light,  and  a  surer  pilot,  an 
infallible  guide.  The  Bible  comes  to  him  in  these 
periods  of  doubt  and  uncertainty,  and  offers  him  those 
great  moral  truths,  of  a  primal  and  universal  nature, 
upon  which  he  may  rest  his  faith  and  belief  with  entire 
certainty.  These  become,  to  him,  not  only  the  basis 
of  moral  character,  but  a  standard  by  which  all  moral 
truths  are  tested.  Without  such  a  basis,  he  is  liable 
to  fall  a  prey  to  every  false  doctrine  that  floats  in  the 
moral  atmosphere. 

The  grounds  for  belief  in  such  truths  may  at  first  ap- 
pear weak,  the  light  dim ;  but  they  soon  grow  strong, 
and  the  dim  nebula  is  soon  resolved  by  the  telescope 
of  faith,  and  reveals,  to  the  astonished  soul,  stars  of 
the  first  magnitude.  These  will  light  his  path  to  more 
exalted  conceptions  and  discoveries  in  the  moral 
universe,  until  the  whole  firmament  shall  glow  with 
a  radiance  before  unknown. 

In  this  period  likewise,  he  is  about  making  a  trans- 
fer of  his  affections,  from  the  objective  world,  to  the 
subjective  or  spiritual.  A  thousand  phantoms  dance 
before  him  to  lure  him  to  doubt,  and  to  win  those 
affections  from  their  legitimate  sphere.  The  truths  of 


EDUCATIONAL   FORCES.  79 

the  Bible  step  in  and  ask  for  belief,  and  to  become  a 
guide  to  the  soul  in  this  hour  of  solicitude.  It  is  just 
as  though  God  looked  down  upon  the  wanderer, 
groping  his  way  in  darkness,  clinging  to  this  thing 
awhile,  and  then  to  that,  and  said  to  him,  "Here, 
child,  is  my  hand.  I  know  the  way  through  this 
darkness."  "It  is  light  further  on."  "Hold  to  my 
hand,  and  you  are  safe."  "  My  power  is  omnipotent, 
and  there  is  no  contingency  for  which  I  have  not 
provided."  "Would  it  be  wise  to  ask  for  evidence 
here,  or  to  question  his  power  and  goodness  ?  Because 
people  will  not  believe,  is  the  very  reason  they  are 
always  in  the  dark.  Bible  Lessons,  therefore,  are 
among  the  first  and  strongest  educational  forces ;  and 
they  may  be  rendered  available  in  uprooting  a  false 
belief,  and  of  awakening,  correcting  and  strengthen- 
ing the  moral  powers  of  man. 

Maxims  and  Precepts  take  a  strong  hold  upon  the 
mind  at  this  period.  They  may  be  classed  with  the 
"  facts, "  in  the  intellectual  forces.  Hence,  moral 
truth  may  be  readily  conveyed  through  them.  And 
nearly  allied  to  these  are  Biographical  and  Historical 
sketches,  especially  when  they  relate  to  worthy  char- 
acters and  events.  They  not  only  gratify  a  thirst  for 
the  grand  and  heroic  in  action,  but,  when  proper 
selections  are  made,  they  hold  up  worthy  examples 
for  imitation,  and  establish  the  heart  in  virtue. 

But  example  alone  will  never  make  a  child  heroic 
or  virtuous,  any  more  than  citing  him  to  an  example 
ot  extraordinary  mathematical  powers,  would  make 
him  a  mathematician.  This  may  be  useful  as  an  in- 
centive, but  to  make  a  man  mathematical,  he  must 
practice  mathematics.  So  to  make  a  child  benevolent, 
it  is  not  enough  to  cite  an  example  of  this  virtue;  but 


80  THE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

to  make  him  heroic,  virtuous,  or  good  in  any  sense,  he 
must  be  practiced  in  these  virtues. 

Religion  is  a  necessity  growing  out  of  the  relation 
man  sustains  to  his  fellow  man  and  to  his  God.  He 
is  therefore  by  nature  religious,  though  his  religion 
may  be  a  curse  to  him.  He  must  worship  something ; 
and  the  more  exalted  the  object  of  his  worship,  the 
more  exalted  his  moral  powers,  and  indeed,  all  his 
powers.  Hence  it  is  wisdom  to  worship  the  highest 
possible  object ;  and  since  God  himself  is  the  highest, 
the  devotion  naturally  belongs  to  him.  This  is  look- 
ing at  the  subject  merely  in  the  light  of  philosophy. 
Were  we  to  examine  it  from  the  common  standpoint, 
we  should  find  the  obligations  vastly  increased. 

It  is  a  matter  of  the  profoundest  wonder  and  regret, 
that  a  man  should  harbor  in  his  heart  any  repugnance 
to  religion.  Religion  welds  the  link  severed  by  sin, 
and  unites  man  again  to  his  God.  Who  could,  ration- 
ally object  to  this,  especially  after  considering  man's 
wretched  condition  without  it,  his  apostasy  from  God, 
his  father?  Religion  therefore  proposes  to  reinstate 
man,  and  to  furnish  all  rational  supplies  to  his  moral 
and  religious  nature. 

Article  3— Subjective  Period. 

We  come  now  to  notice  a  new  and  higher  class  of 
instrumentalities  for  the  education  of  man.  But 
since  these  are  of  a  more  general  character ;  and  since 
the  individual  for  whom  they  are  intended  is  sup- 
posed here  to  have  passed  the  most  critical  period  in 
life,  and,  for  the  most  part,  from  under  the  immediate 
influence  of  the  teacher  or  parent, — it  does  not  seem 
necessary  that  any  thing  more  than  a  mere  allusion 
to  them  be  made. 


EDUCATIONAL   FORCES.  81 

Man  is  described  in  Chap.  II,  Art.  3,  as  having 
arrived  at  that  period  when  his  powers  are  assuming 
their  greatest  strength  and  greatest  activity.  Of 
course  their  capacity  and  wants  are  changed,  and 
they  demand  an  additional,  and  somewhat  different, 
class  of  forces  or  supplies. 

SEC.  1 — PHYSICAL  FORCES. — Man's  physical  powers 
are  more  or  less  subject  to  habit ;  and  are  affected  by 
antecedent  influences.  Too  much  importance  can  not, 
therefore,  be  attached  to  regular  and  periodic  labor. 
Man  needs  some  fixed  occupation,  in  which  his  physical 
powers  may  find  exercise.  Unless  this  is  provided,  his 
energies,  which  were  made  for  activity  and  enterprise, 
will  be  continually  annoying  him,  and  urging  him 
into  difficulty.  Did  parents  realize  this  truth,  they 
would  not  bring  up  their  children  in  habits  of  idle- 
ness ;  neither  would  they  fail  to  provide  for  them 
some  fixed  and  regular  physical  employment,  as  well 
as  mental,  to  be  pursued  in  after  life  as  a  means  of 
securing  a  livelihood.  The  young  man  who  is  thus 
provided  for,  is  comparatively  safe ;  while  the  practice, 
on  the  part  of  parents  or  others,  of  hoarding  up  mon- 
ey for  children,  and  anticipating  all  their  wants  and 
whims,  thus  depriving  them  of  the  exertion  necessary 
to  secure  their  happiness,  is  only  providing  for  them 
the  means  of  self-destruction. 

What  was  said  in  Art.  2,  Sec.  1,  on  the  various 
kinds  of  labor,  will  apply  with  equal  force  here. 
Too  much  importance  can  not  be  attached  to  a  proper 
division  of  time:  —  though  this  subject  would  come 
more  particularly  under  modes  of  culture.  Man 
is  such  a  creature  of  habit,  that,  having  once 
thoroughly  adopted  a  course  of  conduct,  it  is  quite 


82  TIIE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

easy  to  adhere  to  it  through  life.  If  he  would,  there- 
fore, merely  consider  the  physical  good,  he  would  set 
aside  a  certain  portion  of  his  time  for  labor,  a  certain 
portion  for  recreation,  and  another  for  rest.  The  re- 
creation and  rest  are  just  as  necessary,  in  a  physical 
sense,  as  the  labor.  In  addition  to  these,  there  are 
certain  other  exercises  which  seem  necessary.  They 
might  not  at  first  seem  to  be  physical  forces,  yet  such 
is  their  influence  upon  health,  and  upon  physical  cul- 
ture generally,  that  we  can  not  help  regarding  them 
as  such.  We  refer  to  audible  reading  and  singing. 
These,  in  connection  with  suitable  devotional  exer- 
cises, as  preparatory  to  taking  rest  in  sleep,  will  be 
found  to  exert  a  magic  influence  upon  the  health  and 
happiness  of  man,  to  say  nothing  of  their  moral  effects. 

SECTION  2 — INTELLECTUAL  FORCES. — The  intellect- 
ual powers  of  man  at  this  period  are  supposed  to 
have  acquired  sufficient  strength  and  vigor  to  grapple 
with  the  sterner  truths  and  more  occult  mysteries  of 
science.  A  proper  pursuit  of  the  physical  sciences 
will  have  led  to  this  result.  They  are  the  steps 
which  lead  from  Nature  up  to  her  Author  ;  and  while 
they  reveal  wonders  which  seem  too  vast  for  the  com- 
prehension of  finite  minds,  they  are  nevertheless  not 
wanting  in  suggestions  and  results  of  a  metaphysical 
character,  which  at  once  enlist  the  reasoning  powers, 
and  lead  them  to  the  higher  walks  of  science.  Hence 
Mental  Sciences,  in  which  these  powers  are  permitted 
to  turn  their  energies  in  upon  themselves,  and  to  trace 
the  interesting  relation  between  mind  and  matter, 
possess  strong  attractions  to  one  well  inducted  into 
this  period. 

As   the  field   of  thought  and  investigation   grows 


EDUCATIONAL   FORCES.  83 

wider  and  more  productive,  a  demand  for  increased 
facilities  of  communication  arises.  Language,  in  its 
higher  departments,  therefore,  as  Philology,  Logic 
and  Rhetoric,  is  intimately  associated  with  mental 
science,  and  affords  ample  supply  for  this  demand. 

The  higher  Mathematics  reveal  to  us  some  of  the 
sublimest  truths  in  nature ;  while,  at  the  same  time, 
they  afford  the  discipline  most  needed. 

Philosophy  reveals  its  hidden  treasures,  and  pours 
light  in  upon  the  astonished  and  delighted  sense. 

Poetry  and  the  Fine  Arts  correct,  elevate  and  refine 
the  taste,  and  afford  ample  scope  for  the  imagination. 

The  reasoning  powers,  not  content  with  bare  as- 
sumption, seek  for  demonstrative  evidence  of  the 
great  truths  of  Revelation ;  and  are  delighted  to  find 
that,  in  Evidences  of  Christianity,  they  are  all  corrob- 
orated by  the  most  conclusive  testimony. 

His  country  and  his  fellow  men  have  claims  upon 
the  man.  Law  and  Civil  Polity  expound  the  nature 
of  these  claims,  and  lead  to  a  proper  appreciation  of 
his  civil  and  political  rights  and  obligations.  Thus  it 
will  be  observed  that  every  want  is  provided  for  in  tins, 
the  most  exalted  sphere  of  man's  intellectual  powers. 

SECTION  3 — MORAL  FORCES. — Moral  Science  spreads 
out  her  truths  and  propositions,  and  invites  to  inves- 
tigation. Ethics  explains  the  principles  that  should 
regulate  human  conduct,  defines  man's  social  position, 
and  lays  down  a  code  of  laws  to  govern  him  in  his 
actions.  But  whatever  may  be  said  of  the  value  of 
these  sciences  as  educational  forces,  the  Bible  is  the 
grand  text-book,  both  in  morals  and  in  religion.  From 
it  the  excellencies  of  all  forms  of  government,  and  of 
every  system  of  true  religion,  have  been  derived  At 


84  TUE    SCIENCE    OF   EDUCATION. 

this  stage  of  man's  growth,  it  either  becomes  a  stone 
of  stumbling,  a  rock  of  offense,  or  a  beacon  light  to 
pilot  him  to  the  skies. 

Biblical  and  Natural  Theology,  Psychology,  and 
all  that  relates  to  God  or  the  soul,  are  studies  in  which 
the  mind  finds  special  pleasure,  and  the  moral  powers 
gather  additional  strength. 

True,  most  and  indeed  all  the  last  named  studies 
afford  food  for  the  intellectual  powers.  This  is  not  only 
true  of  every  other  science,  but  it  is  in  accordance 
with  the  doctrine  heretofore  taught,  that  those  sciences 
best  calculated  for  the  culture  of  the  moral  and 
religious  nature  are  either  the  best  in  themselves,  or 
lead  to  the  best  ones  for  the  cultivation  of  the  intel- 
lectual powers  ;  and  that  the  very  best  for  the  culture 
of  man's  moral  and  intellectual  nature,  always  point 
with  unerring  certainty  to  those  exercises  best  suited 
for  the  culture  of  the  body.  So  that  we  are  safe  in 
drawing  the  inference  that  our  minds,  souls  and  bodies 
were  made  to  dwell  together  in  this  state  of  existence 
without  conflict,  and  to  be  united  in  the  happiest 
harmony  hereafter. 

What  a  glorious  truth  !  What  a  sublime  view  it 
gives  of  the  true  science  of  education !  Into  what 
utter  insignificance  all  the  trifling  plans  and  half-way 
modes  of  culture  sink,  when  compared  with  the  true 
mode.  They  fade  as  the  light  of  the  moon  or  stars 
before  the  beams  of  the  rising  sun.  Let  us  be  thank- 
ful, therefore,  to  the  gracious  Giver  of  every  good  and 
perfect  gift,  that  he  has  thus  created  us  and  all  our 
surroundings  in  the  most  wonderful  harmony,  and 
with  the  most  evident  design  of  making  us  happy 
here  and  hereafter. 


THE   SCIENCE   Of   EDUCATION. 


OBJECTIVE. 


TRANSITION.  -I 


SYUKTOFSIS    IV. 

C  Regularity  in  diet.    Judicious  supplies.   Pert* 
r  PHYSICAL.         -I  odical  rest.    Sleeping.    Bathing,  etc.    Exer- 
I  else  in  open  air.    Object  lessons. 

C  Opportunity  for  observation  of  things,  stc.  Ex- 
IXTELLECTCAL.  -I  perimenting.  Describing.   Acquiring.   Learn- 
L  ing  to  think.    Numbering.    Counting. 

f  Sympathizing  with    children  in    trials,   etc. 
MORAL.  J  Commands  given   in   firm  but  gentle  tones. 

L  Practice  of  deeds  to  inspire  confidence. 


r  Moderate  exercise  in  manual  labor.    Military 
f  PHYSICAL.         -I  drill.    Culture  of  form.    Graceful  movement. 
I  Biding.    Walking,  etc. 

(Interrogative  methods  of  recitation.  Prac- 
ticing. Semitopical  methods  of  reciting. 
Applying.  Didactic  methods  of  reciting. 
Describing. 


,  MOKAL. 


r 

.|  of 


Kindness  iu  administering  reproof.     Practice 
moral  duties  and  obligations.    Inspiring  a 
I,  love  for  the  true,  the  beautiful,  etc. 


.  SUBJECTIVE. 


f  Moderation  in  the  pursuit  of  business.  Labor- 
PHYSICAL.         -I  ing   periodically.      Recreating.     Practice  of 
I  manly  sports.    Physical  prowess. 

f  Topical  methods  of  reciting.    Analyzing.    Di- 

INTELLECTUAL.  J  dactic    methods   of  reciting.      Generalizing. 

t  Independent  methods  of  reciting.    Criticising. 

r  Study    of  Creation.    Life    duties.    Study   ol 
MORAL.  J  anthropology.    Teaching.    Study  cf  Insplra- 

l_  tion.    Exercise  of  feitb 


EDUCATIONAL  PROCESSES.  87 


CHAPTER  IV. 

JCVU'ATIONAL    PROCESSES. 


A  '(ENEP.AL  description  of  the  educational  processes 
is  al.  that,  will  be  attempted  in  this  chapter,  since  the 
special  modes  have  received  careful  consideration 
under  the  head  of  School-room  Duties,  in  the  Author's 
treatise  on  The  Art  of  Teaching. 

It  is  thought,  however,  that  a  brief  explanation  of 
the  accompanying  diagram  of  Processes  and  Modes 
might  be  of  service  in  the  following  manner: 

1.  It  would  show  the  adaptation  of  means  to  the 
ends  to  be  accomplished,  throughout  every  department 
of  education. 

2.  It  would  show  the  possibility  and  practicability 
of  classification  in  this,  as  well  as  in  any  other  science. 

3.  It  would  lead  to  a  more  careful  examination  of 
the  subject  by  the  teacher,  and  a  more  rigid  applica- 
tion of  these  principles  in  the  education  of  the  young. 

With  this  hope,  we  proceed  at  once  to  remark  that 
the  teacher,  thus  far,  is  supposed  to  have  acquainted 
himself  with  the  educational  capacity  and  wants  of  the 
pupil;  also  with  the  nature  and  design  of  the  educa- 
tional forces  and  supplies  ;  and  now  he  is  to  inves- 
tigate the  modes  of  application. 

"While  much  that  relates  to  these  modes  of  appli- 
cation has,  doubtless,  been  inferred  from  tV  e  discussions 


88  TIIE    SCIENCE    Of    EDUCATION. 

of  the  two  preceding  topics;  nevertheless,  they  consti- 
tute, independently,  no  small  share  of  the  teachers 
professional  qualifications.  They  would  fall  under 
special  didactics,  were  it  not  that  they  have,  specifically, 
a  theoretical  character  which  we  proceed  to  notice. 

Article  1— Objective    Period. 

By  reference  to  chapters  second  and  third,  and  by 
a  brief  comparison  of  Capacity  and  Force,  it  will  be 
seen  that  for  every  rational  desire  or  want,  whether 
physical,  intellectual  or  moral,  there  is  supposed  to 
exist  an  appropriate  supply.  This  truth  is  so  palpable 
and  so  general,  that  it  needs  no  argument  or  illustra- 
tion. But  the  fact  we  now  wish  to  impress  upon  the 
minds  of  parents  and  teachers  is,  that  these  supplies 
are  often  misdirected,  and  rendered  not  only  useless, 
but  injurious,  simply  from  a  want  of  knowledge  and 
skill  in  managing  them.  The  benevolent  designs  of 
the  Creator  are  often  thus  thwarted  by  our  stupid- 
ity, and  his  wisdom  and  goodness  will  seem  to  have 
been  expended  in  vain ;  for  of  what  service,  for 
instance,  would  food,  and  the  materials  for  clothing 
be,  if  man  knew  not  how  to  use  them,  or,  knowing, 
if  he  abused  them  ?  Or  of  what  service  would  be  any 
of  the  countless  blessings  God  has  bestowed  upon  hi? 
children,  if  he  had  left  them  without  the  means  of 
discovering  their  design  and  application  ?  They 
would  become  curses  to  them,  while  their  wants 
would  mock  and  tantalize  them.  And  scarcely  less 
ruinous  do  they  become  when,  through  neglect  or 
obstinacy,  they  refuse  to  appropriate  them  to  their 
proper  uses. 

Is  it  not  true,  that  men  do  actually  starve  in  the 
midst  of  abundance,  either  from  the  want  of  knowl- 


EDUCATIONAL  PKOCESSES.  89 

edge,  inclination  or  the  means  to  procure  supplies  ? 
But  those  isolated  cases  are  by  no  means  the  ones 
most  to  be  deplored.  It  is  the  improper  use  of  these 
supplies  and  educational  forces,  that  has  filled  the 
land  with  groans  and  suffering.  These  irregularities 
and  abuses  most  frequently  take  their  rise  in  causes 
least  suspected  by  the  young  and  inexperienced.  Here 
again  would  appear  the  necessity  for  parents  and 
teachers ;  and  that  these  possess  the  requisite  knowl- 
edge and  skill,  to  direct  the  education  of  those  com- 

O  ? 

mitted  to  their  care. 

The  education  of  the  human  being  begins  with  the 
beginning  of  his  existence ;  and  it  may  not  be  inap- 
propriate to  say,  that  it  will  end  only  with  his  exist- 
ence ;  or  in  other  words,  will  never  end. 

SECTION  1 — PHYSICAL  PROCESSES. — The  child's  edu- 
cation is  first  physical,  so  fur  at  least  as  it  falls 
under  our  observation  and  control.  The  first  object 
therefore,  would  be  to  regulate  the  physical  forces. 
These,  in  the  brute  creation,  are  regulated,  for  the 
most  part,  by  instinct.  Not  so  with  the  human  ani- 
mal. His  first  hours  are  spent  with  those  supposed 
to  have  reason  and  experience.  Where  these  are 
wanting  or  defective,  he  always  suffers.  His  educa- 
tion being  first  physical,  or  mainly  so,  his  physical 
habits  should  first  receive  attention.  One  of  the  first 
of  these,  and  perhaps  the  first,  after  due  attention  to 
clothing,  is  to  regulate  the  child's  diet.  How  many 
unreasonable  desires  are  engendered  here,  and  how 
many  whims  begotten,  by  unwisely  and  inconsider- 
ately yielding  to  and  gratifying  the  imaginary  wants 
of  childhood  !  Reason  and  judgment  should  be  eyes 
to  the  passions  or  affections,  for  these  latter  are  stone- 


90  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

blind.  They  are  born  blind.  Were  their  impulses 
blindly  followed,  they  would  in  many  cases  lead  to 
the  destruction  of  the  child.  These  wants  of  child- 
hood, real  or  imaginary,  thus  injudiciously  gratified, 
breed  new  desires;  and  these  again  multiply,  until 
the  brood  overruns  the  bounds  of  all  reason,  and 
the  whole  being  becomes  a  mass  of  misery  and 
suffering. 

Mothers,and  those  having  charge  of  young  children, 
should  therefore  regulate  their  diet  with  regard  to 
frequency,  as  well  as  to  quantity  and  quality.  The 
too  common  practice  of  keeping  their  stomachs  dis- 
tended to  their  utmost  capacity,  either  through  ex- 
cessive kindness  or  to  gratify  their  whims,  is  a  fruitful 
source  of  mischief,  both  to  body  and  mind.  And  the 
evils  are  greatly  aggravated  when  children  are  allowed 
to  indulge  their  appetites  upon  highly  seasoned  dishes 
or  confectionery.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  children, 
under  this  regime,  become  fretful,  passionate,  stupid, 
filthy  and  diseased?  The  stomach  and  digestive  ap- 
paratus stand  in  as  great  need  of  occasional  and,  we 
might  add,  periodical  relaxation,  as  do  any  other 
physical  powers. 

But  this  subject,  in  detail,  is  one  of  too  great  length 
to  admit  of  a  full  discussion  here.  It  covers,  in  fact, 
a  great  part  of  the  subject  of  hygiene.  We  must 
therefore  beg  the  reader  to  consult  this  science  for 
the  detail  upon  diet,  as  well  as  upon  sleeping,  bathing 
and  kindred  exercises. 

Exercise  in  the  nursery  and  in  the  open  air,  is  of 
go  much  importance,  however,  as  to  demand  a  mere 
passing  notice.  A  large  share  of  the  peevishness  and 
irritability  of  children,  might  be  prevented  by  attend- 
ing to  their  wants — not  their  whims — in  this  respect 


EDUCATIONAL  PROCESSES.  91 

Instead  of  feeding  them  on  cakes  and  candies  to  keep 
them  quiet,  a  better  way  would  be,  most  generally,  to 
give  them  healthy  and  appropriate  exercise  in  the 
open  air,  which  would  bring  into  play  those  little 
muscles,  bones  and  nerves,  whose  inactivity  is  the 
chief  cause  of  the  uneasiness. 

Again :  children  are  anxious  to  iearn  the  names, 
qualities  and  uses  of  things.  They  must,  therefore, 
as  far  as  possible,  be  brought  in  contact  with  them ; 
and  this  seems  to  be  the  chief  employment  and  delight 
of  young  children.  It  affords  an  agreeable  exercise, 
when  properly  directed,  and  an  excellent  substitute 
for  that  mischief  which  becomes  so  annoying  to 
mothers. 

This  exercise  might  be  arranged  in  the  form  of 
Object  Lessons,  in  which  names  of  objects,  their  quali- 
ties and  uses,  might  be  connected  with  the  sports  and 
amusements  of  the  young;  and  this  need  not  occupy 
as  much  of  the  mother's  time  as  is  usually  spent  in 
watching  them,  scolding  them,  and  repairing  damages 
committed  by  them. 

But  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  in  order  to  render 

• 

any  and  all  of  these  exercises  and  processes  highly 
beneficial,  they  must  be  periodical,  and  their  practice 
regulated  and  continued  until  the  habits  are  formed 
and  fixed.  They  thus  become  a  kind  of  second  nature, 
and  proceed  without  any  special  effort.  But  with 
these  hasty  suggestions  we  leave  this  part  of  the  sub- 
ject, to  notice  briefly, 

SECTION  2 — INTELLECTUAL  PROCESSES. — With  a  bare 
mention  of  a  few  general  principles  and  directions 
illustrative  of  the  "  chart,"  the  reader  is  referred  to 
Chapter  Sixth,  "  Intellectual  Culture,"  for  a  more 


92  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

extended  view  of  this  subject;  and  to  the  Art  of  Teach- 
ing for  the  particular  mode  of  study,  recitation,  etc. 

As  we  have  already  remarked,  children's  first 
lessons  are  taken  from  their  surroundings.  These 
have  been  described.  Their  opportunities  for  obser- 
vation, therefore,  should  not  be  circumscribed.  The 
practice  of  confining  the  young  to  one  apartment,  not 
only  proves  very  irksome  to  them,  but  deprives  them 
of  one  of  the  chief  sources  of  intellectual  culture. 

Their  powers  of  observation  are  usually  very  active, 
if  not  accurate,  and  constitute  the  chief  means  of 
acquiring  knowledge.  Therefore,  let  their  eyes  feast 
upon  the  beautiful  in  nature  and  art,  and  their  ears 
be  saluted  with  their  harmonies. 

The  next  step,  and  the  one  usually  associated  with 
observation,  is  that  of  experimenting  with  objects  for 
the  purpose  of  testing  their  qualities  and  ascertaining 
their  uses.  While  the  objects  and  exercises,  to  which 
young  children  are  exposed,  should  not  be  so  numerous 
and  diversified  as  to  distract  their  minds,  or  weary 
their  feeble  energies,  yet  they  should  be  sufficiently 
numerous  to  afford  that  pleasing  variety  which  their 
desires  for  novelty  rationally  demand. 

At  this  period  one  of  the  greatest  necessities  belong- 
ing to  childhood,  arises;  to  wit :  a  want  of  suitable 
terms  to  express  the  ingathered  stores  of  observation 
and  experiment.  Language  is  the  demand. 

One  of  the  best  means  of  cultivating  the  expressive 
powers,  is  to  give  frequent  opportunities  to  children 
to  relate  their  little  experiences,  and  to  describe  the 
objects  and  actions  which  have  fallen  under  their  no- 
tice, observing  to  correct  any  inaccuracies  and  exagger- 
ations that  may  arise.  The  imagination,  or  rather  the 
fancy,  may  get  the  advance  of  judgment  and  discretion ; 


EDUCATIONAL  PROCESSES.  93 

and,  uuless  watched  carefully,  children  will  form  the 
habit  of  falsifying,  or  omitting  important  points  in 
narrative,  without  realizing  the  enormity  of  the  offense. 

The  practice  of  describing  frequently  and  accurately, 
is  useful,  not  only  in  the  manner  indicated  above,  but 
also  as  being  one  of  the  surest  and  most  rapid  methods 
of  acquiring.  In  teaching,  it  is  always  best  to  encourage 
the  child  to  tell  all  it  knows,  as  a  means  not  only  of 
ascertaining  its  capacity  and  advancement,  but  as  the 
best  mode  of  inducing  thought.  It  gives  comparative 
accuracy,  point  and  direction  to  the  thinking  powers, 
and  renders  the  acquisitions  much  more  easy  and 
certain. 

One  of  the  first  things  to  be  done  in  intellectual 
training,  is  to  accelerate  and  facilitate  the  early  proc- 
esses of  thinking.  Children,  in  the  majority  of  cases, 
have  not  the  ability  to  confine  their  thinking  powers, 
and  therefore  need  this  aid  in  their  early  efforts,  just 
as  the  child  beginning  to  walk,  needs  aid  in  that 
exercise. 

Among  the  many  obstacles  to  successful  thinking, 
weakness  or  want  of  mental  force  is  one.  This  weak- 
ness sometimes  arises  from  want  of  development,  and 
at  other  times  it  is  constitutional  inaptitude.  Another 
obstacle  is  mental  aberration  or  want  of  concentration, 
which,  by  the  way,  is  a  species  of  weakness.  Another 
is  the  formation  of  superficial  and  inattentive  habits. 

Most  of  these  hindrances  may  be  regarded  as  a 
species  of  disease,  subject,  however,  to  the  control  of 
the  master;  and  they  must  all  be  removed  before  any 
successful  study  or  thinking  can  be  done.  The  best 
method  of  removing  them,  however,  is  the  formation 
of  right  habits.  The  exercises  used  for  the  cure  of 
these  weaknesses,  serve  to  establish  their  opposites. 


94  THE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

Special  methods  for  overcoming  these  difficulties  and 
of  establishing  correct  mental  habits,  will  be  described 
in  the  Art  of  Teaching,  Chapter  Second — STUDY. 

SECTION  3 — MORAL  PROCESSES. — The  moral  treat- 
ment of  children  is  a  matter  of  extreme  delicacy  and 
care.  A  little  mistake  committed  here  often  leads  to 
great  mischief.  Their  natures,  susceptible  of  the 
slightest  impression,  can  be  molded  into  almost  any 
shape  the  hand  of  the  parent  or  teacher  may  chance 
to  direct.  "Warm,  ardent  and  unsuspecting,  their 
belief  and  practices  are  subject  to  the  almost  un- 
bounded control  of  their  superiors.  They  are  riot, 
however,  without  their  little  griefs  and  sorrows,  trials 
and  temptations.  These  are  not  always  appreciated 
by  their  elders.  They  are  apt  to  be  treated  as  trifles, 
and  as  unworthy  of  attention,  simply  because  they 
happen  to  be  viewed  from  a  different,  and  it  may  be, 
a  higher,  stand-point.  They,  however,  exist,  and  have 
upon  the  child  the  same  effect  that  trials  of  a  greater 
magnitude  have  upon  children  of  a  larger  growth ;  and 
so  with  their  labors  and  sports  and  other  employments. 
These,  to  them,  are  what  the  genuine  life-duties  are 
to  the  adult,  and  are  evidently  sent  before  to  prepare 
them  for  the  sterner  realities  which  must  follow. 
They  should  therefore  be  treated  with  some  consid- 
eration. 

Nothing,  perhaps,  gives  the  teacher  greater  power 
over  the  child,  either  for  good  or  for  evil,  than  the 
exercise  of  sympathy  with  him  in  his  joys  or  sorrows, 
in  his  labors  and  enterprises.  We  do  not  mean  that 
he  should  descend  to  the  same  level  with  the  child,  or 
that  he  should  indulge  him  in  all  or  any  of  his  whims. 
These  he  should  correct.  But  we  mean  simply,  that 


EDUCATIONAL  PROCESSES.  95 

he  should  not  disregard  this  educational  want,  but 
make  use  of  it  for  the  moral  e-levatiou  of  the  child. 
The  very  existence  of  it,  and  the  activity  of  these 
feehler  moral  powers,  constitute  the  occasion  for  such 
treatment,  while  their  neglect  may  lead  to  ruin. 

Again  :  children  are  to  be  controlled  ;  but  how  sad 
the  abuse  of  this  power !  They  are  too  frequently 
scolded  and  beaten  in  such  a  manner  that  they  lose 
their  sulf-respect  and  self-control ;  and  come,  by-aud- 
by,  to  believe  that  they  are  the  veriest  vipers  that 
ever  crawled ;  and,  to  be  consistent,  they  strive  to  be 
all  they  are  taken  to  be.  If  there  is  one  thing,  in  the 
treatment  of  children,  that  is  of  no  possible  benefit, 
or  has  not  one  redeeming  quality;  if  there  u 
one  sin  that  is  without  excuse,  and,  for  wickedness, 
almost  without  a  parallel ;  one  that  is  more  offensive 
than  all  others, — that  sin  is  passionate  scolding.  It  is 
out  of  place  every  where.  We  venture  the  assertion 
that  there  never  was  an  occasion,  in  all  the  education 
of  a  child,  that  rendered  a  resort  to  this  practice  nec- 
essary. It  is  purely  gratuitous,  and  purely  demoniac. 
Its  effects  upon  the  moral  nature  of  the  child  are  sad 
beyond  comparison.  It  poisons  every  stream  of  hap- 
piness; it  deadens  every  generous  impulse;  it  destroys 
moral  confidence;  and  discourages  every  high  and 
noble  aspiration.  In  fact,  it  is  not  only  without  its 
uses,  but,  for  fruitful  sources  of  evil,  it  is  almost  with- 
out any  equal.  Hence  all  commands  should  be  given 
in  firm  but  gentle  tones.  There  are  frequent  occasions, 
however,  in  which  it  becomes  necessary  for  the  teach- 
er to  point  out  the  shortcomings  and  vices  of  children 
in  a  very  decided,  audit  may  be,  earnest  manner; 
but  can  not  this  be  done  without  resort  to  that  tirade 
of  abuse  and  faultfinding,  which  make  up  the  sum 


96  TUB    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

total  of  scolding  ?  Can  not  all  the  vices,  to  which  chil- 
dren arc  addicted,  be  pointed  out  in  a  calm,  dispas- 
sionate, yet  earnest  and  loving  manner?  If  there 
ever  was  a  call  for  calmness,  it  is  certainly  here  ;  and 
if  they  can  not  thus  be  pointed  out,  it  will  surely 
aggravate  them  to  resort  to  abuse. 

There  is  yet  another  mode  of  appealing  to  the 
moral  nature  of  children,  that  claims  a  brief  notice 
here.  We  mean  the  practice  of  those  deeds  of  truth- 
fulness and  strict  honesty  in  their  presence,  that  will 
inspire  their  confidence  and  their  love  for  the  truth. 
Children  should  never  be  deceived,  either  by  word  or 
deed.  They  never  should  hear  or  practice  a  lie. 
They  would  then  learn  to  fear  and  abhor  it  and  kin- 
dred evils.  But  the  practice  of  deceit  and  hypocrisy 
in  their  presence,  has  not  only  a  tendency  to  destroy 
their  confidence  in  the  integrity  of  others,  but  leads 
them  to  practice  the  same  vices  themselves.  The 
occasions  on  which  this  temptation  arises,  are  very 
numerous.  The  child,  for  example,  is  often  induced 
to  comply  with  the  wishes  of  the  parent  or  teacher, 
without  knowing  the  motives  and  means  made  use  of, 
to  secure  such  compliance.  But  the  probability  is, 
that  he  will  find  out  some  time ;  and  then  what  a  low 
estimate  will  he  set  on  moral  honesty  !  And  some, 
again,  have  come  to  think  that  deceit  may  be  practiced 
with  impunity,  provided  a  desirable  object  may  be 
accomplished  by  it.  Hence  they  govern  on  the  prin- 
ciple of  craft.  They  deceive  their  children  into  un- 
willing submission,  esteeming  it  sufficient  if  the  thing 
desired  is  done,  without  taking  into  account  the 
means  employed.  Now  the  manner  of  obedience  is 
often  of  greater  moment  than  the  obedience  itself,  or 
the  object  accomplished  by  it.  "  Behold,  to  obey  ia 


EDUCATIONAL   PROCESSES.  Q 

better  than  sacrifice,  and  to  hearken  than  the  fat  of 
rams,"  was  Samuel's  righteous  sentence  to  a  faltering 
and  disobedient  king ;  and  the  sequel  shows  the  enor- 
mity of  the  sin  of  disobedience,  as  well  as  in  what  it 
consists.  It  is  a  safe  rule,  therefore,  to  practice  noth- 
ing, in  the  presence  of  children,  which  would  have 
a  tendency  to  impair  their  confidence  in  you,  or  which 
you  would  not  be  willing  should  appear  in  them,  as  a 
part  of  their  moral  character. 

Article  2— Transition    Period. 

We  come  now  to  notice  the  educational  processes, 
appropriate  to  that  period  in  life  when  the  faculties 
are  in  a  condition  of  change,  or  when  the  change  is 
going  on  most  rapidly. 

The  peculiarities  and  susceptibilities  of  these  facul- 
ties have  been  briefly  described  under  the  head  of 
"  Educational  Capacity,"  Chapter  Second,  Article  2  ; 
and  their  supplies  under  the  head  of  "Educational 
Forces,"  Chapter  Third,  Article  2.  It  now  remains 
to  discuss  briefly  the  modes  of  treatment,  reserving 
the  special  applications  for  the  Art  of  Teaching. 

SECTION  1 — PHYSICAL  PROCESSES. — Many  of  the 
modes  and  exercises,  prescribed  for  the  objective 
period,  will  have  their  full  force  here,  varied  slightly 
however,  to  suit  the  nature  of  the  wants. 

Moderate  exercise  in  manual  labor,  though  an  old- 
fashioned,  and  by  some,  almost  forgotten  practice, 
is  nevertheless  one  of  the  surest  and  safest  modes  of 
securing  healthy  physical  development,  that  ever  was 
invented.  Indeed,  it  can  scarcely  be  said  to  be  in- 
vented, since  it  always  existed  as  a  necessity.  It 
can  not  therefore  be  laid  aside  without  injury.  We 
9 


98  THE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

venture  the  assertion,  that  if  this  one  simple  piactice 
were  persistently  followed,  in  the  education  of  chil- 
dren, they  would  be  delivered  from  untold  woes,  mis- 
eries, vices,  bad  habits  and  bad  health.  Idleness  is 
the  parent  of  vice  ;  and  vice  strikes  at  the  very  root 
of  social  order  and  happiness.  The  faculties  at  this 
age — and  indeed  at  every  other — seek,  yea,  demand 
activity  and  employment.  If  this  demand  is  not 
heeded,  supplies  will  be  sought  from  such  quarters, 
and  in  such  a  manner,  as  to  bring  with  them  habits 
and  diseases  that  will  poison  the  very  fountains  of 
health  and  happiness. 

The  importance  of  labor  of  various  kinds,  as  the 
means  of  securing  the  healthiest  development  of  all 
the  physical  powers,  has  been  alluded  to  in  several 
places.  Its  objects,  as  an  educational  force,  are  often 
defeated,  however,  by  injudicious  management.  To 
oe  effective,  either  as  a  profitable  or  as  a  healthy  exer- 
cise, it  must,  for  this  period  especially,  be  periodical, 
and  not  too  severe  or  too  long  continued.  Its  purposes 
as  an  educational  instrumentality,  are  not  answered 
by  working  hard  for  a  few  days,  weeks,  or  even 
months,  and  then  refraining  for  as  long,  or  even  a 
longer  time,  any  more  than  the  purposes  of  eating  and 
sleeping  are  answered  by  adopting  a  similar  course 
with  them.  All  the  exercises  should  be  periodical, 
and  all  the  habits  regulated,  if  we  would  render 
them  useful. 

The  effects  of  too  severe  and  long-continued  labor 
at  an  early  age,  are  most  strikingly  exhibited  in  the 
miserable  sickly  condition  of  children  in  the  mines 
and  factories  of  Great  Britain ;  and  many  in  the  United 
States  and  other  countries  suffer  from  similar  causes. 
Their  powers,  too  heavily  taxed,  fail  to  attain  their 


EDUCATIONAL  PROCESSES.  99 

full  development,  but  hasteu  into  an  unhealthy  matu- 
rity, and  as  rapidly  decay. 

But  labor  alone,  let  it  be  ever  so  wisely  arranged, 
does  not  accomplish,  for  the  child  of  this  age,  all  that 
is  desirable.  Unless  the  exercises  are  varied,  there 
is  constant  danger  of  imposing  too  much  on  some  of 
the  powers,  while  others  may  be  suffering  for  want  of 
a  due  supply.  Hence  the  many  instances  of  crooked 
and  deformed  persons  among  the  laboring  classes. 

For  a  school  exercise,. the  Military  Drill,  or  some- 
thing similar  to  it,  as  practiced  in  some  of  our  best 
schools,  is  an  excellent  means  of  correcting  many  of 
these  abuses.  It  gives  the  child  command  over  his 
physical  powers,  and  promotes  promptness  and  precis- 
ion in  his  movements.  It  cultivates  the  erect  posture 
and  manly  form,  and  prevents,  in  a  measure,  the  for- 
mation of  those  slovenly  and  disagreeable  habits,  so 
liable  to  be  contracted  at  this  age. 

The  practice  in  graceful  movement  of  the  body, 
such  as  is  usually  secured  in  a  calisthenium,  or,  where 
this  advantage  is  not  enjoyed,  such  as  may  be  adopted 
in  any  school  or  family,  will  be  found  useful  in  fur- 
nishing to  girls  the  advantages  which  the  boys  enjoy 
in  the  drill  or  gymnasium.  The  bodies  of  girls  need 
as  much  active  exercise  as  those  of  the  boys,  though 
differing  somewhat  in  kind.  Indeed  there  seems  to 
be  a  greater  necessity,  in  their  case,  for  special 
arrangements,  since  their  modes  of  life,  and  kinds  of 
employment,  do  not  afford  them  the  advantages  which 
boys  have. 

The  practice  of  making  the  physical  training  of 
youth — as  far,  at  least,  as  it  relates  to  their  bodily 
movements — a  part  of  their  family  and  school  educa- 
tion, would  not  only  prevent  the  contraction  of  dis- 


100  TUE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

eases  and  physical  suffering,  but  it  would  supersede 
the  supposed  necessity  of  employing  a  dancing-mas- 
ter, and  the  evils  and  miseries  arising  from  com- 
mitting this  part  of  the  education  of  children  to  the 
hands  of  those  who  are  too  frequently  destitute  of  the 
first  principles  of  sound  morality. 

Riding,  either  on  horseback  or  otherwise,  walking, 
rowing,  etc.,  etc.,  are  healthy  exercises ;  but  to  be  ren- 
dered most  serviceable,  they  should  be  conducted  under 
the  direction  of  a  master ;  since  many  of  these  phys- 
ical exercises  are  rendered  useless,  and  in  some  in- 
stances positively  hurtful,  for  the  want  of  proper  skill 
in  managing  them.  But  more  particular  directions 
will  be  given  in  the  Art  of  Teaching. 

SECTION  2 — INTELLECTUAL  PROCESSES. — The  modes  of 
intellectual  culture  are  so  numerous  and  well  known, 
that  we  shall  only  allude  to  a  few  of  the  more  general 
and  important  principles  involved  in  them. 

They  should  differ  from  those  of  the  objective 
period  in  the  following  particulars  : 

1.  They  should  cover  a  wider  field;    and   should 
address  the  faculties  of  the  understanding  and  judg- 
ment more  directly. 

2.  They  should  cultivate  the  habits  and  powers  of 
independent  thinking  and  acting. 

3.  They  should  cultivate  the  expressive  powers, and 
originality,  as  they  relate  to  descriptions  and  the  uses 
of  knowledge. 

Hence  the  Interrogative,  Semitopical,  and  Analytic 
methods  of  recitation  may  be  used  here,  as  well  as 
corresponding  modes  of  study,  etc. 

The  first  is  the  one  most  appropriate  in  the  objective 
period,  but  should  not  be  entirely  abandoned  here. 


EDUCATIONAL  PROCESSES.  101 

The  topical  method  is  the  one  most  appropriate  for 
the  subjective  period,  since  it  throws  all  tu.e  labor  of 
recitation,  etc.,  upon  the  pupil,  he  being  at  an  age 
when  he'lps  are  unnecessary.  But  in  the  transition 
period,  the  pupil  is  supposed  to  be  in  a  state  in  which 
he  requires  both  the  assistance  of  the  questions  in 
recitation,  etc.,  and  also  of  the  topics, — the  one  to 
enable  him  to  stand,  the  other  to  induct  him  into  the 
more  independent  modes  of  investigation. 

It  will  be  remembered,  however,  that  these  princi- 
ples and  directions  are  general ;  and  that,  while  they 
will  be  found  true  in  the  main,  many  seeming  excep- 
tions will  arise. 

SECTION  3 — MORAL  PROCESSES.  —  It  is  a  well  estab- 
lished fact  that  discipline  is  a  necessary  ingredient  in 
the  education  of  man;  that  without  it,  he  would  be  an 
untamed  animal,  a  fit  associate  for  wild  beasts  and 
savages.  His  powers  would  be  of  little  service  to 
himself,  or  any  of  the  race. 

The  period  in  which  we  are  now  considering  man, 
in  a  moral  and  religious  point  of  view,  is  one  of 
decided  interest.  If  there  is  one  period  in  the  educa- 
tion of  the  child,  in  which  he  needs  the  special  guid- 
ance of  mother,  father  or  teacher,  it  is  this.  His 
moral  powers  are  just  now  assuming  that  shape  and 
direction  which  are  to  give  character  to  the  man  ;  at 
the  same  time,  they  are  beset  on  all  sides  by  tempta- 
tion, and  are  struggling  against  a  host  of  evil  influences, 
that  break  in  upon  them  from  every  quarter.  These 
unassisted  powers,  for  the  most  part,  are  unequal  to 
bear  the  severity  of  this  rude  shock,  and  they  often 
fall  an  easy  prey  to  vice. 

There  is  no  period,  either,  in  which   the  desire  to 


102  THE   SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

throw  off  parental  restraint  is  so  strong.  The  boy  of 
eleven  or  sixteen  thinks  it  unmanly  to  obey  his  mother ; 
and  the  little  miss  puts  on  airs  that  would  do  credit  (?) 
to  the  maid  of  forty.  But  wholesome  discipline  will, 
in  the  majority  of  cases,  ward  off  these  evils,  and  will 
make  use  of  these  temptations  to  strengthen  ihe  moral 
powers.  This  discipline  may  be  derived  from  various 
sources,  and  may  apply  alike  to  the  moral,  intellectual 
or  physical  powers.  We  propose  to  speak  of  but  two 
sources,  together  with  modes  of  administering  and 
receiving  it. 

1.  Parental  discipline  and  influence. 

2.  That  which  is  derived  from  other  sources. 
Obedience  is  an  obligation  due  from  the  child  to  the 

parent,  no  less  in  this  period  than  in  the  preceding 
one.  This  will  be  admitted  by  all  except  those  who 
run  wild  upon  new  theories  and  new  doctrines. 

We  shall  not  stop,  therefore,  to  discuss  either  the 
grounds  or  the  nature  and  extent  of  this  obligation. 
It  is  enough  for  our  purpose  to  know  that  it  exists,  and 
that  it  is  one  of  the  first  and  most  important  lessons 
to  be  learned  by  the  child.  There  are,  in  a  popular 
sense,  two  kinds  of  obedience,  the  voluntary  and  the  in- 
voluntary. The  voluntary  is  the  genuine;  but  it  often 
happens  that  we  are  compelled  to  resort  to  the  latter 
as  an  expedient  to  secure  the  former.  But  it  never 
should  be  relied  upon.  It  is  only  a  substitute,  to  be 
thrown  aside  whenever  the  genuine  can  be  made  to 
take  its  place.  Hence  when  requests  are  made,  orders 
issued  or  commands  given  (all  these  forms  are  admis- 
sible, but  not  all  under  the  same  circumstances),  it 
may  be  necessary  to  resort  to  the  latter  first,  in  order 
to  maintain  authority ;  but  the  whole  transaction, 
request  and  all,  should,  if  possible,  be  repeated  for  the 


EDUCATIONAL  PROCESSES.  103 

purpose  of  securing  the  willing  obedience ;  for  that  is 
not  really  obedience  which  is  performed  unwillingly. 
It  is  forced  submission  rather.  Many  mistake  the 
means  for  the  end,  however,  and  satisfy  themselves 
with  mere  submission,  while  the  heart  may  be  in  a 
state  of  absolute  rebellion.  To  leave  it  in  that  con- 
dition, is  to  cultivate  a  cowardly,  morose  and  treach- 
erous disposition. 

What  wonder  then  that  so  few  obey  from  proper 
motives ;  or  that  deceit,  treachery  and  falsehood  every- 
where abound,  when  so  little  genuine  obedience  is 
secured  in  childhood  ! 

Kindness  in  administering  reproof  or  correction  is 
indispensable  in  right  moral  training.  Like  produces 
its  like,  no  less  in  the  moral  world,  than  in  the  physical. 
The  parent  or  teacher  is  apt  to  arouse  the  same  spirit 
in  the  child,  he  manifests  himself.  Perhaps  no  greater 
abuse  obtains  any  where  in  dealing  with  children  than 
at  this  very  place.  The  vindictive  spirit  is  so  apt  to 
manifest  itself,  that  many  are  incapable  of  adminis- 
tering reproof  or  punishment,  without  yielding  them- 
selves to  its  control.  And  then  again,  some  think  it 
not  worth  while  to  act,  so  long  as  their  wrath  is  not 
kindled  ;  and  therefore,  always  wait  until  it  reaches 
the  exploding  point,  before  they  open  the  battery  ;  and 
then,  woe  to  the  luckless  wight  that  happens  to  be  the 
object  of  vengeance ! 

Now,  it  is  needless  to  say  this  is  all  wrong.  It 
would  be  wrong  in  the  management  of  dumb  animals; 
much  more  then,  in  the  management  of  children. 

2.  That  discipline  which  is  derived  from  other 
sources,  will  now  claim  attention.  The  willing  and 
cheerful  obedience,  rendered  in  early  life,  the  lessons 
of  submission  and  privation  there  learned  fit  man  for 


104  THE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

the  life-struggle  which  awaits  him  in  the  world.  They 
give  him  power  to  conquer  his  enemies,  having  first 
subdued  the  worst  one  he  will  he  likely  to  meet,  viz., 
himself,  a  foe,  too,  with  whom  few,  if  any,  can  grapple 
single  handed.  But  if  discipline  be  administered  in 
kindness,  though  it  be  severe,  and  if  we  are  taught 
that  it  comes  from  the  hand  of  our  best  friend,  and 
that  it  is  inflicted  for  our  good,  it  will  not  arouse  those 
vindictive  and  rebellions  feelings,  but  rather  their 
opposites  ;  and  we  can  look  up  in  meek  submission 
and  bless  the  hand  that  afflicts  us. 

This  spirit  will  ease  the  pain  of  affliction,  and  will 
mitigate  much  of  the  rigors  of  punishment,  making  it, 
even  for  the  present,  joyous  and  not  grievous.  This 
is  the  kind  of  discipline  that  should  be  exercised  in 
our  families  and  schools,  to  prepare  their  inmates  to 
meet  these  trials;  for  meet  them  they  must,  since  they 
are  but  the  common  lot  of  humanity.  Why  not  then 
prepare  for  them  at  a  time  when  the  severity  of  the 
strokes  may  be  lightened  by  parent  or  teacher.  It  will 
be  too  late  in  most  cases  to  begin  when  these  days  and 
advantages  are  past.  "  In  time  of  peace,  prepare  for 
war,"  was  a  wise  maxim  given  by  a  distinguished 
statesman,  and  which  is  not  without  its  bearing  upon 
this  subject.  In  time  of  youth  prepare  for  life;  in 
time  of  life  prepare  for  death  ;  for  it  is  only  after 
this  period  that  life's  harvest  is  gathered,  and  we 
begin  to  live  in  earnest. 

Again  :  the  practice  of  moral  and  religious  duties 
and  obligations,  as  the  surest  means  of  developing 
moral  power,  is  a  subject  of  such  importance,  as  to 
compel  a  passing  notice  here,  though  its  practical 
bearings  will  be  reserved  for  another  place.  We  pass 
it  therefore,  with  this  single  remark,  that  alJ  the 


EDUCATIONAL   PKOCESSES.  105 

moral  precepts  and  examples  combined,  and  enforced 
with  the  most  scrupulous  care,  can  never  equal  the 
actual  practice  of  these  duties  by  the  children  them- 
selves. There  is  a  tangibility,  a  force,  a  meaning  and 
a  power  about  them,  when  practiced  by  the  children 
themselves,  which  take  right  hold  of  the  heart  and 
habits,  and  make  them  feel  what  moral  elevation 
there  is  in  doing  good.  They  learn  from  their  own 
experience,  from  their  own  feelings,  that  "it  is 
more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive ; "  and  that  it 
is  better  to  do  a  good  deed,  than  to  theorize  on 
goodness. 

Another  mode  of  moral  culture  claims  a  word  of 
explanation  ;  i.  e.,  the  process  of  inspiring  a  love  for 
the  Beautiful,  the  True  and  the  Good.  This  love  of 
the  beautiful  etc.,  is  an  innate  affection.  It  usually 
commences  with  objective  beauty,  and  advances 
through  all  the  stages,  until  the  full  development  of 
the  subjective.  There  is  usually  an  exact  corre- 
spondence between  the  outer  and  the  inner  world, 
between  the  objective  and  the  subjective.  The  ob- 
jective, if  properly  directed,  leads  into  the  subjective. 
The  cultivation  of  objective  beauty  not  only  indicates 
the  degree  of  subjective  development,  but  will,  when 
the  powers  are  well  regulated,  constitute  the  very  best 
and  most  direct  means  of  cultivation.  Thus  :  if  a 
boy  has  been  taught  to  love  a  rose,  for  instance,  and 
really  to  appreciate  the  outer  forms  of  beauty  and 
purity,  his  inner  nature  seeks  their  counterparts ;  he 
will  therefore  more  easily  be  taught  to  love  the  truth 
and  the  morally  beautiful,  since  these  are  counterparts 
of  the  former.  Ugliness  and  deformity  are  begotten 
of  depravity,  and  are  fit  accompaniments  of  vice  and 
vulgarity.  Hideousness  and  a  lie  are  both  born  of 


106  THE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

the  same  parents,  and  are  both  monsters.  They  are 
inseparable  companions,  notwithstanding  falsehood 
and  deceit  may  dress  themselves  in  angel  garbs,  as 
they  most  frequently  do  ;  but  this  only  renders  "  their 
deformity  more  deform."  They  are  unlovely  and 
unloved,  save  by  corresponding  natures.  But  on  the 
other  hand,  goodness,  mercy,  peace,  purity,  humility, 
honesty,  integrity  and  every  Christian  virtue  are  the 
legitimate  offspring  of  all  that  is  morally  beautiful 
and  sublime,  and  the  inseparable  associates  of  all  that 
is  really  beautiful  in  nature  and  art.  It  is  the  prov- 
ince of  education  to  develop  these  forms  of  beauty, 
and  to  regulate  the  outer  and  inner  world,  so  that 
these  elements  of  living,  loving  beauty  and  truth, 
shall  assimilate  and  form  one  grand  and  harmonious 
system  of  loveliness. 

Article  3— Subjective    Period. 

The  Subjective  Processes  next  claim  attention. 
Here,  as  in  the  case  of  the  instrumentalities,  there 
seems  to  be  but  little  necessity  for  special  directions. 
The  individual  is  supposed  to  be  passing  beyond  the 
more  immediate  influence  of  the  family  and  school. 
He  is  now  coming  forth  to  take  his  stand  beside  his 
fellows,  in  the  battle  of  life ;  and  the  great  problem, 
whether  he  shall  lose  or  win,  is  about  to  be  solved. 
He  becomes  a  man  of  business ;  for  if  he  is  educated, 
there  will  be  no  margin  left  for  inglorious  ease,  or 
vile  and  sensual  pleasure. 

He  is  still,  however,  a  mortal  man,  a  physical,  in- 
tellectual and  moral  being:  and  these  qualities  are 
now  assuming  a  decided  and  positive  character.  They 
are  not  therefore,  without  special  interest ;  and  in 
order  to  preserve  them  in  as  perfect  a  state  as  possible, 


EDUCATIONAL   PROCESSES.  107 

and  to  transmit  them  unimpaired  to  posterity,  they 
demand  special  treatment. 

SECTION  1 — PHYSICAL  PROCESSES. — In  addition  to 
what  has  been  suggested  in  another  place,  as  appro- 
priate to  physical  processes,  others  of  a  higher  order 
might  now  be  introduced,  in  view  of  the  new  relation- 
ship sustained.  Business,  therefore,  becomes  a  pur- 
suit. The  physical  powers  are  supposed  to  have  been 
trained  to  some  avocation,  in  which  they  will  be  called 
upon  to  act  in  one  capacity  or  another.  The  danger 
is,  therefore,  where  the  business  is  of  such  a  character 
as  to  demand  physical  labor,  that,  in  the  outset,  since 
the  desire  for  success  is  usually  so  great,  the  demand 
made  upon  these  powers  will  be  greater  than  they 
can  satisfy,  without  sustaining  an  injury.  Modera- 
tion, therefore,  in  the  pursuit  of  business,  becomes 
necessary  to  success.  Indeed,  moderation  is  necessary 
every- where,  but  chiefly  here.  Labor  becomes  a 
drudgery  if  this  precaution  is  not  observed  ;  and  that 
which  was  intended  as  a  blessing  for  man,  becomes 
a  curse.  Of  course,  this  precaution  would  be  uncalled 
for  in  the  case  of  those  drones  in  society,  whose  ex- 
cessive moderation  excels  their  wisdom.  But  these 
cases  are  exceptions,  involving  the  condition  of  those 
who  may  be  laboring  under  the  disease  of  laziness, 
the  removal  of  which  will  depend  much  upon  its 
character  and  the  remedies  employed. 

Again  :  Moderation  in  the  pursuit  of  business  will 
be  most  likely  to  cultivate  the  same  virtue  in  the 
desires  and  modes  of  life.  Extravagance  is  the  bane 
of  social  happiness.  It  has  filled  the  world  with  mis- 
ery. It  is  an  irregularity  that  strikes  at  the  very  root 
of  the  tree  of  domestic  peace.  It  entails  wretchedness 


108  THE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

upon  what  might  otherwise  be  happy  families.  It  is 
a  fruitful  source  of  intemperance,  bankruptcy  and 
villainy.  It  can  only  be  corrected  by  adopting  its 
opposite. 

But  the  physical  powers  yield  willingly,  nay  gladly, 
to  whatever  reasonable  demands  are  made  upon 
them,  provided  they  are  informed  in  due  time,  so  as 
to  make  preparation  ;  or,  in  other  words,  provided  the 
habit  is  formed.  Hence,  here,  as  in  other  periods, 
labor  should  be  periodical.  This  will  not  only  render 
it  more  pleasant,  but  more  profitable.  When  this 
habit  is  once  thoroughly  established,  these  powers 
will  not  ask  to  be  released,  but  will  always  mani- 
fest uneasiness  until  they  are  permitted  to  return 
to  their  accustomed  employment.  This  is  proved 
by  the  experience  of  thousands. 

But  how  miserable  is  that  poor  wretch  who  has 
nothing  to  do  !  His  own  physical  energies  tormenting 
him,  his  conscience  goading  him,  and  a  world  of  labor 
upbraiding  him,  no  wonder  that  he  seeks,  in  dissipa- 
tion, to  drown  these  unwelcome  visitations.  Out 
upon  all  such  vagabonds,  wherever  found;  whether 
they  crawl  amid  the  slime  and  filth  of  poverty, 
or  cling  like  leeches  to  the  living  body  of  indus- 
try, or  wallow  in  luxurious  ease !  Let  us  have  a  world 
of  workers,  and  then  we  shall  have  a  happy  world. 

These  powers  also  demand  recreation,  which  may 
consist  either  of  a  change  of  physical  exercise,  or  of 
diversions  of  a  lighter  sort.  In  either  case,  it  should 
be  taken  after  the  physical  energies  have  become 
somewhat  exhausted  from  the  labors  of  the  day.  It 
should  also  be  taken  amid  pleasant  associations,  so 
that  the  mind  may  lend  its  aid  to  invigorate  the  body. 
Hence  the  practice  of  manly  sports  for  those  whose 


EDUCATIONAL    PROCESSES.  109 

sedentary  or  mental  habits  deprive  them  of  the  requi- 
site amount  of  physical  exercises;  and  those  lighter 
diversions,  more  of  a  mental  and  moral  character,  for 
those  whose  physical  powers  have  been  taxed  during 
the  day,  seem  most  appropriate. 

These  diversions,  however,  should  be  guarded  against 
excesses  into  which  they  are  liable  to  run.  They 
should  be  regulated,  therefore,  as  to  time,  place,  and 
manner,  and  never  allowed  to  infringe  upon  other 
duties. 

SEC  2 — INTELLECTUAL  PROCESSES. — Our  next  topic 
is  the  general  discussion  of  modes  of  intellectual  cul- 
ture best  suited  for  the  subjective  period. 

As  the  individual  advances  in  true  education,  he 
requires  less  and  less  teaching.  His  powers,  once 
awakened  and  properly  directed,  go  forward  per  force 
of  their  own  native  energies,  until,  by  and  by,  all  the 
helps  being  removed,  the  man  stands  up  a  living,  act- 
ing, positive  being,  fitted  alike  for  the  joys  and  sor- 
rows, the  reverses  and  successes,  the  conflicts  and 
triumphs  of  this  life. 

His  intellectual  powers  demand  continued  activity  ; 
and,  like  the  physical  powers,  unless  this  is  afforded 
them,  they  fall  into  decay.  The  world  of  science  and 
art,  into  which  they  are  about  to  be  introduced,  fur- 
nishes ample  scope  and  the  necessary  materials  for 
such  activity. 

The  idea  that  an  education,  i.  e.,  the  full  develop- 
ment of  these  powers,  can  be  acquired  in  a  few  years, 
by  attending  college,  is  absurd.  The  preparation,  indeed, 
may  be  made  there,  though  this  itself  is  not  always 
done;  the  tools  may  be  sharpened  there,  but  their 
edge  must  be  tried  and  their  temper  tested  in  subse- 


110  THE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

quent  contest  with  actual  duties.  And  not  only  so, 
but  the  tempering  and  developing  of  these  powers  are 
effected  in  this  life  struggle.  The  efforts  must  be  con- 
tinuous, and  the  acquisitions  constant. 

The  false  notion  alluded  to  above, needs  correcting. 
It  is  a  mischievous  one.  The  young  man  comes  to 
believe  that  when  he  graduates  he  is  educated,  and 
hence  entitled  to  some  consideration.  And  so  he  is  ; 
but  he  gets  the  idea  that  he  is  then  ready  to  commence 
in  the  world,  and  that  it  has  some  special  opening  for 
him.  He  thinks  that  said  world  is  under  an  obliga- 
tion to  receive  him  fresh  from  the  arms  of  his  "Alma 
mater,"  and  to  compensate  him  for  his  long  years  of  toil. 
He  thus  makes  up  his  bill  of  items,  and  presents  his 
claims  ;  but  the  heartless  world  tells  him  "  to  tarry  at 
Jericho  until  his  beard  be  grown,"  or  to  prove  his 
claim,  and  to  make  good  his  title,  and  then  to  come, 
and  it  will  listen  to  him.  If  he  obey  this  admonition, 
he  may  succeed.  If  he  disregard  it,  he  will  be  apt  to 
meet  with  disappointment,  and  to  fall  back  among  that 
numerous  class  of  splendid  failures  who  graduate  for 
a  name. 

But  what  are  the  modes  of  continuing  this  educa- 
tion, which  we  have  supposed  to  be  commenced  and 
carried  forward  successfully  thus  far?  One  of  the 
best  methods  of  promoting  healthy  thought,  so  far  as 
it  relates  to  the  school,  and  of  introducing  the  learner 
to  the  higher  modes  of  investigation,  is  the  method  of 
study  and  recitation  by  Topics.  It  cultivates  that 
manly  independence  and  self-reliance  which  consti- 
tute so  large  a  share  of  the  necessary  elements  of 
success.  But  a  fuller  description  of  this  mode  will  be 
given  in  another  place. 

The  practice  of  Analysis  also,  now  becomes  inviting; 


EDUCATIONAL  PROCESSES.  Ill 

and  the  dry  abstractions  of  science  yield  before  this 
powerful  battery  of  thought,  as  the  snow  and  the  ice 
yield  under  the  influence  of  the  sun's  rays. 

The  Generalization  processes  follow ;  and  every 
thing  learned  assumes  its  proper  place  in  the  super- 
structure of  knowledge,  until  the  whole  stands  out  in 
fair  proportions  and  beautiful  outline,  a  symmetrical 
temple  of  truth. 

Criticism  also  forms  a  part  of  the  modes  of  learning 
and  teaching;  and  texts  and  authors  are  examined 
with  care.  Every  thing  is  submitted  to  the  severest 
scrutiny  before  it  is  admitted  into  the  mind  as  a  part 
of  the  intellectual  fabric. 

Independent  modes  of  teaching,  and  the  inductive 
and  deductive  processes  of  investigating,  form  a  part 
of  those  mental  processes  by  which  the  individual  is 
carried  forward  into  the  higher  department  of  science 
and  literature. 

SEC.  3 — MORAL  PROCESSES. — At  no  period  in  man's 
education  do  his  moral  powers  claim  more  attention 
than  when  they  are  assuming  that  fixedness  which 
gives  the  various  shadings  to  moral  character.  A  man, 
in  the  true  sense  of  that  word,  standing  out  in  all  his 
manliness,  and  exhibiting  these  moral  qualities,  pre- 
sents one  of  the  finest  objects  for  contemplation  of 
which  the  mind  can  conceive.  It  would  soem  that 
those  powers  were  given  man,  that  in  him  might  shine 
the  noblest  perfections  of  creation. 

But  what  a  fearful  and  melancholy  picture  is  pre- 
sented, when  we  behold  these  powers  dragged  down 
from  their  lofty  position,  and  made  the  slaves  and 
sport  of  man's  sensual  desires!  It  would  seem  that 
no  sadder  phase  of  human  wretchedness  could  be 


112  TUB   SCIENCE    OF   EDUCATION. 

exhibited ;  that  no  darker  shade  could  be  thrown  over 
the  scene ;  for  these  powers,  having  been  created  to 
occupy  the  highest  seat  in  the  human  mind,  are  sub- 
ject, when  once  dethroned,  to  the  saddest  reverses, 
and  generally  descend  to  the  lowest  depths.  Abun- 
dant provision,  however,  has  been  made,  both  in  the 
physical  and  in  the  metaphysical  world,  for  reclaiming 
and  perpetuating  these  powers. 

The  study  of  the  works  of  Creation,  as  exhibited  in 
the  universe  of  matter,  has  claims  to  a  high  position 
among  educational  processes.  Man  here  has  an  ex- 
cellent opportunity  of  viewing  and  comparing  his 
own  insignificance  with  the  stupendous  works  of 
God,  which  overpower  his  mind.  Under  the  influence 
of  these  feelings,  he  cries  out  with  the  Psalmist, 
"When  I  consider  thy  heavens,  the  work  of  thy 
fingers,  the  moon  and  the  stars  which  thou  hast 
ordained ;  what  is  man  that  thou  art  mindful  of  him, 
or  the  son  of  man  that  thou  visitest  him?"  He 
traces  the  finger  of  God  in  the  works  of  creation,  as 
exhibited  in  the  most  delicate  pencilings  of  the  small- 
est flower,  and  in  the  blushing  hues  of  the  rainbow: 
in  the  minutest  atoms  of  matter  up  through  all  the 
forms  and  grades  of  creation,  until  he  arrives  at  the 
very  presence-chamber  of  Omnipotence,  where  he 
bows  with  meek  reverence  before  Jehovah.  He  wor- 
ships, he  adores.  This  gives  him  a  more  exalted 
view  of  life  duties  and  obligations ;  and  he  studies 
the  relations  he  sustains  to  his  fellow  men  and  to  his 
God. 

But  the  study  of  man  himself  is  a  most  wonderful 
subject;  and  if  rightly  pursued, will  lead  to  the  most 
exalted  conclusions  in  reference  to  the  wisdom  and 
goodness  of  the  Creator. 


EDUCATIONAL   PROCESSES.  113 

We  find  man  compounded  of  the  strangest  ex- 
tremes :  "  mortality  and  immortality ;  life  and  death  ; 
soaring  loftiness  and  humbling  littleness, — an  all}7  at 
once  of  earth  and  heaven."  And  yet  this  is  man,  dis- 
tinct from  all  other  beings,  and  destined  to  an  endless 
existence.  These  truths  can  not  fail  to  produce  the 
profoundest  humility  in  a  mind  properly  imbued  with 
the  principles  of  early  piety. 

Again :  teaching  offers  a  fine  opportunity  for  the 
pursuit  of  this  subject.  The  study  of  man,  his  phys- 
ical and  metaphysical  nature,  their  wonderful  union, 
the  adaptation  of  means  to  ends,  the  modes  of  culture, 
the  harmony  in  the  laws  of  mind  and  matter,  and  all 
that  pertains  to  human  culture,  can  not  fail  to  impress 
the  learner  with  awe  and  reverence. 

But  the  study  of  Inspiration,  as  a  moral  process, 
possesses  merits  to  which  no  other  can  lay  claims.  If 
man's  reason,  assisted  thus  by  the  light  of  science,  can 
approach  so  near  to  God,  in  the  universe  of  matter, 
and  if  it  can  trace  his  handiwork  in  the  metaphysical 
world,  with  what  clearness  can  it  apprehend  these 
truths,  when  inspiration  pours  in  its  floods  of  light 
upon  them !  And  if  the  study  of  the  universe  of 
matter  and  of  mind,  and  all  that  pertains  to  them, 
from  the  minutest  atom  or  spark  of  intelligence  up 
through  all  the  grades  of  creation,  until  we  lose  sight 
of  the  created,  in  the  effulgence  of  the  Creator,  fills 
the  mind  with  such  astonishment,  and  calls  forth  such 
profound  reverence  and  adoration,  what  must  be  its 
overwhelming  sensations,  when  it  approaches  that 
strange  and  mysterious  sacrifice,  upon  which  angels 
gazed  with  astonishment,  the  sacrifice  that  redeemed 
the  world  ?  Here  the  feeble  powers  droop  their 
wings.  They  can  soar  no  higher;  and  the  trembling 
10 


114  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

soul,  overcome  with  this  exhibition  of  vengeance  and 
mercy  joined,  falls  prostrate  before  its  Maker.  With 
unutterable  fullness,  it  looks  up  through  this  wilder- 
ness of  mystery,  and  with  feelings  of  mingled  awe 
and  love,  it  adores  and  worships  that  God  who 
planned  and  executed  the  scheme  of  creation  and  of 
redemption.  The  living  faith  now  takes  hold  upon 
this  scheme,  and  strengthens  itself  in  the  promises  left 
on  record  for  it,  and  lives  and  grows  in  the  beatitudes 
of  Spirit  life. 

It  is  thus,  that,  through  all  these  periods  and  pro- 
cesses, the  child,  the  youth,  the  man,  passes  until  he 
ripens  into  that  noble  being  of  power  and  excellence ; 
or,  by  an  opposite  course,  he  renders  all  these  blessings 
so  many  curses,  and  flings  defiance  in  his  Maker's 

face. 

CONCLUSION. 

Thus,  it  will  be  observed,  that  the  whole  subject  of 
Education,  or  Human  Culture,  resolves  itself  into  a 
certain  science.  The  whole  curriculum  of  duties,  as 
well  as  the  sciences  to  which  they  relate,  may  be  so 
arranged  as  to  meet  the  exact  wants  of  the  human 
being  at  every  stage  of  his  progress. 

The  periods,  to  which  allusion  is  made,  are  distinctly 
marked  in  the  history  of  every  educated  man  and 
woman,  not  so  much,  however,  by  the  sole  activity  of 
any  faculty  or  sets  of  faculties,  or  by  the  exclusive 
condition  of  the  mind  or  body,  as  by  the  preponder- 
ance of  objective  or  subjective  manifestations  and 
influences. 

The  transition  is  not  so  much  a  distinct  period  as  it 
is  a  mere  condition  of  mind  and  body,  when  the 
change  from  one  period  to  the  other  is  most  marked 
and  rapid.  Indeed,  there  is  no  distinction  in  the 


EDUCATIONAL  PROCESSES.  115 

essential  characteristics  of  the  essence  of  mind,  at  any 
particular  age,  only  that  produced  by  its  manifestations 
through  a  material  organism. 

The  ultimate  principle  of  intelligence  is  strictly 
a  unit,-  the  difference  in  kind,  both  as  to  quantity  and 
quality,  being  more  the  result  of  physical  causes,  and 
different  degrees  of  maturity,  than  of  any  original 
distinction  in  the  character  of  the  thinking  principle 
itself,  at  its  several  stages  of  growth.  It  is  the  same 
intelligent  agent,  whether  we  regard  it  while  looking 
out  through  the  senses,  upon  the  diversified  forms  and 
groups  of  physical  phenomena,  or  turning  its  energies 
inward,  and  contemplating  those  more  wonderful 
groupings  of  thought,  affection  and  will,  and  thread- 
ing the  more  intricate  mazes  of  reasoning,  imagi- 
nation and  abstraction. 


116 


THE   SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 


C  Copying  lines.    Angles.    Geometrical  figures. 

BLACKBOARD    1  _ 

•<   Drawing 


KXEBCI8E8. 


ng  pictures.     Familiar  objects.     Draw. 
V.  ing  maps.     Familiar  places. 


f  Copying  letters.     Numerical  figures.    Copy. 


fHAND    COL-. 
1          TURE.         1 

SLATE      KXKU- 

CI8E8. 

J   ing  and  forming  words  representing  things. 

V.  Copying  and  forming  sentences.  Composition. 

{Painting  and    coloring  pictures    and    maps. 

CARD      EXER- 
CISES. 

Perspective  and  free  hand  drawing.    Archi- 

tectural drawing.    Painting. 

i  Botanical,  Geological,  Mineralogical  expedi- 

H 

2 

•    FIELD  EXER- 
CISES. 

tious.    Zoological  and  Entomological  expedi- 
tions.   Topographical  and  Historical  expedi- 

< 
o 

tions. 

fi 
i< 

EXCURSION 
AND  LABOR.' 

MANUAL  EX- 
ERCISES. 

!  Agricultural  and  Horticultural  pursuits.   Me- 
chanical and   Architectural  pursuits.    Com- 

«« 

mercial  and  general  business  pursuits. 

PHYSIC) 

EXPERIMENT  & 
__  MANIPULATION. 

f  Chemical  and    Philosophical  experiments. 
\  Classification  of  specimens.    Arrangement  ol 
V.  cabinets. 

{Walking.      Running.      Skating.      Drilling. 

ATHLETIC    EX- 
ERCISES. 

Climbing.     Leaping.    Vaulting.     Balancing. 

Fencing.   Swimming,  etc. 

VOCAL     EXER- 

/- Breathing.     Exploding     Sounds.      Reading. 

.GYMNASTICS" 

CISES. 

\  Declaiming    in   Conrort.      Singing.     Chant* 

ing. 


CALISI  MKNH 

v        KXEKC1SE8 


Arm  movements. 
Body  movements. 
Vuvl  movements. 


PHYSICAL    CULTURE.  ]  J  7 


CHAPTER    V. 

PHYSICAL     CULTUEE. 

REMARKS. 

propose  in  the  three  following  chapters  to  give 
a  more  condensed  and  connected  view  of  the  three 
departments  of  education,  viz. :  Physical,  Intellectual, 
and  Moral  and  Religious,  without,  special  reference  to 
any  particular  periods,  but  chiefly  in  those  in  which 
the  child  is  under  parental  and  school  training. 

This  might  seem,  at  first  view,  like  a  repetition  of 
the  topics  heretofore  discussed ;  but  upon  careful 
examination,  it  will  be  found  that  while  the  same 
principles  are  brought  forward  in  hasty  review,  the 
object  is  to  show  their  practical  utility  and  more 
immediate  bearing  upon  the  exercises  of  the  school- 
room and  the  family.  The  former  chapters  have 
dealt  chiefly  with  the  theoretical  part  of  education  ; 
because  it  is  more  in  harmony  with  the  subject,  and 
better  suited  to  the  purposes  of  a  text-book,  to  dispose 
of  the  theory  first. 

The  following  three  chapters  will  discuss  the  more 
general  modes  of  teaching,  as  applicable  both  to  the 
school  and  the  private  circle.  And  so  far  as  they 
relate  to  the  theory,  they  may  be  regarded  discursive; 
and  so  far  as  they  relate  to  practice,  they  may  be 
regarded  didactic.  They  will  sustain  the  same  relation 


118  THE   SCIENCE   OP    EDUCATION. 

to  the  theory,  that  the  particular  recitations  in  Heading, 
Arithmetic  or  English  Grammar  would  sustain  to 
school-room  duties;  and  hence  they  may  be  regarded 
as  supplementary. 

ARGUMENT. 

We  begin  with  man's  physical  nature  first,  because 
he  is,  in  an  educational  sense,  a  physical  being  before 
he  is  a  moral  or  intellectual  being ;  and  secondly, 
because  it  is  through  the  physical  organism  that  we 
approach  the  mental  and  moral  faculties,  especially  in 
childhood. 

The  following  inquiries  might  arise  in  the  minds  of 
some,  viz. : 

1.  Is  there  any  special  need  of  physical  culture  ? 

2.  If  so,  will  not  this  necessity  provide  for  itself  in 
the  ordinary  duties  of  life? 

3.  Is  there  any  special  necessity  of  connecting  it 
with,  and  making  it  a  part  of,  an  educational  system  ? 

We  shall  endeavor  to  answer  these  questions  in  the 
order  in  which  they  occur,  and  then  proceed  to  show 
the  modes  of  application. 

The  answer  to  the  first,  perhaps  could  best  be  given 
by  a  reference  to  the  maladies,  imbecility  and  physical 
suffering  of  the  human  race.  If  it  be  objected  that 
these  are  the  necessary  results  arising  out  of  man's 
peculiar  relations,  we  answer,  that  this  is  true  no 
farther  than  it  relates  to  violated  law  at  some  period ; 
that  suffering  is  not  necessary  to  man's  happiness  (and 
he  was  not  made  for  misery),  any  further  than  it  goes 
to  correct  his  irregularities,  and  to  call  him  back  to 
the  path  of  duty ;  that  its  mission  is  accomplished 
when  this  is  effected  ;  and  that  it,  would  finally  dis- 
appear, if  the  causes  which  produce  it  were  removed. 


PHYSICAL   CULTURE.  119 

It  might,  therefore,  be  pertinent  to  the  point  in 
hand,  to  inquire  how  far  a  correct  physical  education 
would  go  to  reduce  physical  suffering. 

Educating  in  this,  as  in  any  other  sense,  means  de- 
veloping, strengthening,  fortifying  and  preparing  for 
the  fullest  and  freest  activity ;  and,  consequently,  for 
the  largest,  the  most  perfect  and  prolonged  enjoyment. 
This,  therefore,  would  cut  off  just  so  much  physical 
suffering;  since  suffering  and  disease  diminish  and 
disappear  in  the  same  proportion  in  which  physical 
development  takes  place,  the  one  being  incompatible 
with  the  other.  This  point  then  is  settled;  and  it 
goes  far  to  settle  the  main  issue, — the  necessity  of 
physical  education. 

It  might  be  further  added,  however,  by  way  of  a 
conclusion,  that,  since  deformity,  disease,  and  suffering 
do  exist ;  and  that — as  it  has  been  demonstrated,  not 
only  theoretically,  but  practically — they  disappear  pro- 
portionally as  correct  physical  development  takes  place, 
other  things  being  favorable;  and  that  this  last  result  is 
secured  just  in  proportion  to  the  right  application  of 
physical  exercises  and  correct  treatment, — therefore 
physical  exercises,  and  all  that  appertains  to  correct 
physical  treatment,  are  not  only  the  best  antidotes  for 
physical  suffering  as  it  now  exists,  but  the  best  possi- 
ble means  for  developing  the  powers,  and  fortifying 
them  against  the  encroachment  of  disease,  and  pre- 
paring them  for  the  largest  and  fullest  enjoyment. 
This  is  further  substantiated  by  actual  experiment 
with  individuals  and  communities.  There  is,  there- 
fore, special  necessity  for  physical  education. 

2.  Will  not  this  necessity  be  provided  for  in  the 
discharge  of  the  ordinary  duties  of  life? 

We  answer,  Is  it?    This  necessity  may  thus  be  sup- 


I 

120  T1IE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

plied,  but  is  it  in  the  ordinary  business  transactions  ? 
Are  there  no  improprieties,  not  to  say  enormities,  com- 
mitted in  allowing  children  to  have  their  own  way  in 
physical  exercises  ?  Might  not  many  of  these  irregu- 
larities be  corrected  in  training  children  after  a  philo- 
sophical system  ?  Are  their  physical  powers,  in  ordi- 
nary education,  developed  to  their  fullest  extent,  dun  ng 
the  time  in  which  the  mental  powers  are  receiving 
attention  ?  Are  there  not  diseases  rather,  and  suffer- 
ings, planted  at  a  very  early  age  in  childhood,  both  in 
the  school  and  in  the  family,  which  could  be  prevented 
by  a  proper  knowledge  of  the  means,  and  skill  to 
apply  them  ?  Are  there  any  good  reasons  for  suppos- 
ing that  man's  physical  powers  would  provide  for 
themselves  without  this  wisdom  and  special  direction, 
any  more  than  his  intellectual  powers  would?  Do 
they  possess  instincts  or  native  intelligence  to  direct, 
themselves  in  their  development,  which  other  powers 
do  not  possess?  Finally,  do  they  not  seek  activity, 
and  in  consequence  of  the  urgency  of  this  demand, 
and  for  the  want  of  proper  restraint  and  direction,  do 
they  not  run  into  bad  practices  and  adopt  vicious  hab- 
its that  bring  speedy  destruction  upon  themselves  and 
their  possessors? 

Until  these  and  similar  difficulties  are  disposed  of,  in 
such  a  way  as  to  show  the  uselessness  of  system  and 
arrangement  in  training  these  powers,  we  shall  claim 
that  there  is  just  as  much  necessity  for  special  educa- 
tion, in  this  department  of  man's  nature  as  in  any 
other ;  and  especially  is  this  true  at  that  tender  age 
when  they  are  most  impressible,  and  consequently 
most  exposed. 

3.  Is  there  any  necessity  for  connecting  it  with, and 
making  it  a  part  of,  an  educational  system? 


PHYSICAL    CULTURE.  121 

To  this  question  we  reply  briefly,  that  since  there  is 
no  incompatibility  between  physical  exercises  and 
mental  activity,  but  that,  when  properly  directed,  the 
one  promotes  the  other ;  and  since  there  is  no  antag- 
onism between  any  of  the  faculties  and  the  forces  that 
develop  them  ;  and  since  it  does  not  become  necessary 
to  sacrifice  one  single  physical  power  or  one  real 
enjoyment  in  order  to  educate  the  mind;  therefore, 
we  conclude  that  there  is  a  special  necessity  for  con- 
necting physical  training  with,  and  making  it  a  part 
of  an  educational  system.  All  the  departments  of 
man's  nature  were  made  to  grow,  the  one  with  the 
other,  and  not  one  at  a  time,  much  less  that  the  devel- 
opment of  the  one  should  demand  the  sacrifice  of  the 
other,  as  the  popular  practice,  in  many  instances, 
would  seem  to  indicate. 

It  is  a  base  reflection  upon  the  wisdom  and  good- 
ness of  the  Creator,  to  suppose  that  he  made  body  and 
mind,  and  placed  them  in  such  intimate  relationship, 
and  yet  that  he  demands  that  one  should  be  sacrificed 
for  the  benefit  of  the  other.  It  is  a  glaring  inconsist- 
ency, whose  parallel  is  not  found  any  where  else  in 
the  wide  universe ;  and  yet  this  very  thing  is  prac- 
ticed every  day,  in  the  family,  in  the  school,  and 
in  the  college.  It  is,  however,  an  irregularity 
that  a  true  and  liberal  system  of  education  would 
correct. 

"We  propose,  therefore,  in  order  to  show  the  practi- 
cability and  importance  of  exercising  all  the  faculties 
harmoniously  and  simultaneously,  with  proper  inter- 
vals of  change  and  rest,  to  present  the  subject  ot  Phys 
ical  Culture  first,  as  the  surest  means  of  meeting,  not 
only  the  physical  wants,  but  the  mental  and  moral 
also.  All  three  of  these  departments  should  be  started 
11 


122  THE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

together,  and   kept  together  throughout  the  whole 
course  of  education. 

PHYSICAL  EXERCISES. 
"We  shall  proceed  in  the  following  order: 

1.  Hand  Culture,  its  varieties  and  uses. 

2.  Excursion  and  Labor,  their  varieties  and  uses. 

3.  Gymnastics,  the  varieties  and  uses. 

Article  1 — Hand  Culture. 

The  hands  are  the  great  instruments  of  physical 
labor  and  enterprise.  Their  great  activity  as  well  as 
the  great  demand  for  their  services,  indicate  their 
utility,  and  the  necessity  of  educating  them.  They 
are  among  the  first  of  the  physical  powers,  (for  they 
are  instruments  of  power)  in  motion;  and  their  con- 
tinued and  unwearied  exertions,  as  well  as  the  rela- 
tion they  sustain  to  matter  and  mind,  as  the  instru- 
ments and  media  of  tactual  knowledge,  should  teach 
us  the  importance  of  providing  employment  for  them 
at  a  very  early  day.  Their  activity,  and  consequent 
demand  for  employment,  are  incessant.  And  unless 
this  demand  is  met,  and  appropriate  employment  fur- 
nished, they  are  pretty  sure  to  find  that  which  is 
inappropriate,  or  else  to  languish  in  hopeless  idleness. 
In  either  case  a  lamentable  injury  is  sustained. 

It  becomes  necessary  then,  if  we  follow  out  the 
leading  idea  of  this  work,  to  inquire,  1st,  into  the 
nature  of  the  educational  capacity  or  want;  2dly,  to 
seek  the  appropriate  supplies ;  and  3dly,  to  make  the 
proper  application. 

The  first  has  been  done  briefly  in  the  preceding  re- 
marks. Their  further  wants  will  appear  as  we  pro- 
ceed. It  is  pertinent,  therefore,  to  inquire  in  the  2d 
place,  what  kind  of  employment  is  best  suited  to 


PHYSICAL   CULTURE.  123 

satisfy  these  wants,  and  at  the  same  time  to  accom- 
plish the  other  results,  viz. :  their  healthy  develop- 
ment, keep  them  out  of  mischief,  open  the  way  to 
the  mind,  and,  at  the  same  time,  train  them  to  useful 
employment. 

It  has  been  remarked,  that  children  are  great  im- 
itators. And  so  they  are.  They  not  only  imitate  the 
actions  of  those  with  whom  they  associate,  but  they 
have  an  equal  desire  to  imitate  the  forms  of  objects 
with  which  they  are  surrounded,  at  the  same  time 
that  they  are  becoming  acquainted  with  them ;  for 
the  desire  to  become  acquainted  is  the  ulterior  cause 
of  imitation,  in  the  great  majority  of  cases.  Nothing 
affords  children  greater  pleasure,  at  the  time  when 
their  hands  become  uneasy  and  anxious  for  employ- 
ment, and  sometimes  very  annoying  to  mothers  and 
teachers,  than  for  them  to  represent,  by  pictures  and 
other  means,  the  objects  of  nature  and  art,  with 
which  they  are  brought  in  daily  contact.  In  other 
words,  they  love  to  make  pictures.  They  are  imita- 
tors, or  mechanics;  and  though  their  first  products 
are  rude,  yet  age  and  practice  will  improve  them. 
Their  ideas  of  form,  size  and  fitness  have  just  been 
awakened,  and  like  other  newborn  powers,  exercise 
gives  them  pleasure.  They  love  to  give  expression 
to  these  ideas ;  and  this  desire  is  so  great  sometimes 
as  to  lead  to  mischief,  especially  if  not  directed. 
Hence  the  propensity  among  boys,  that  have  not  had 
this  desire  properly  cared  for,  to  mark  and  cut,  deface 
and  even  to  destroy  objects  within  their  reach.  This 
is  only  a  perverted  desire,  the  last  being  a  distorted 
one.  This  may  happen, too,  very  early  in  life;  even 
before  any  other  manifestations  of  a  similar  kind  have 


124  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

made  their  appearance.  It  is  nevertheless  the  per- 
verted desire.  Who  perverted  it,  is  another  question. 
It  is  enough  for  our  purpose  to  know  that  it  is  so, 
and  that  even  this  bad  state  of  the  case  can,  in  a 
great  measure,  bo  corrected. 

There  is  a  picture  period,  or  a  period  of  representa- 
tive knowledge,  into  which  every  learner  enters  at 
an  early  age;  and  the  acquisitions  and  development 
are  more  easily  made  through  this  source,  than 
through  any  other.  It  is  the  earlier  part  of  the 
Objective  period.  Tangible  knowledge  or  objects 
themselves  are  first;  second,  their  models  and  pictures  ; 
third,  their  names,  etc.  Every  child  that  arrives  at 
maturity,  passes  through  this  period.  The  same  great 
truth  is  observable  in  the  process  of  civilization  and 
enlightenment  of  nations.  They  are  first  objective  in 
their  modes  of  representing  knowledge,  the  object 
itself  conveys  the  idea ;  then  the  picture  performs 
the  same  office,  then  the  word,  etc.  Hence  the  vari- 
ous stages  of  the  development  of  written  language. 
In  the  ruder  stages  of  society  we  find  first  the  picto- 
rial ;  then,  as  civilization  advances,  the  hieroglyphic, 
the  verbal,  the  syllabic,  and  the  alphabetic,  or  the 
highest  and  most  philosophic  mode  of  expressing 
thoughts.  Thus  it  will  be  seen,  that  in  respect  to 
representative  knowledge,  a  child  passing  from  infancy 
through  all  the  stages  of  growth,  and  a  nation  of  peo- 
ple passing  from  Barbarism  to  Civilization,  etc.,  have 
many  peculiarities  in  common.  But,  in  order  to  make 
the  acquisitions  more  permanent  and  useful,  they 
should  be  copied,  or  represented.  This  serves  to  fix 
it  in  the  mind, and  at  the  same  time  affords  the  right 
kind  of  employment. 


PHYSICAL    CULTURE.  125 

Now  observe  the  harmony  and  wisdom  of  the  de- 
sign. The  hands,  at  this  period,  are  full  of  activity, 
and  must  have  employment,  or  they  are  continually 
running  into  mischief.  The  mind  is  in  that  particular 
condition,  in  which  it  craves  that  very  kind  of  knowl- 
edge the  hands  alone  can  furnish.  The  hands  there- 
fore, ask  to  do  the  thing  which  the  mind  wants  done, 
and  which  can  be  done  by  no  other  instruments. 
Why  not  then,  let  them  work  for  each  other,  and 
prevent  the  countless  evils  that  arise  from  their  sepa- 
ration and  consequent  inactivity  ?  But  what  exercises 
are  best  adapted  to  these  wants  ?  For  the  nursery 
and  home  training,  children  should  have  a  plentiful 
supply  of  models,  pictures,  etc.,  as  objects  of  imita- 
tion ;  and  slates,  cards,  pencils  and  other  convenien- 
ces, and  opportunity  for  exercising  their  hands  and 
eyes.  This,  in  the  end  will  be  found  to  be  a  cheap 
and  very  profitable  investment,  for  it  will  save  both 
time  and  patience.  But  for  the  school-room,  a  classi- 
fication like  the  following  might  be  made: — 

1.  Blackboard  exercises.  2.  Slate  exercises.  3. 
Card  exercises. 

SECTION  1 — BLACKBOARD  EXERCISES. — It  was  a  re- 
mark of  a  distinguished  educator,  that  "  Every  inch 
of  school-room  wall,  not  devoted  to  blackboard,  should 
be  appropriated  for  a  cabinet  of  common  things  and 
the  curiosities  of  art  and  nature."  This  would  be  an 
admirable  arrangement  for  the  primary  school  as  well 
as  for  the  more  advanced ;  for  it  would  afford  the 
right  kind  of  facilities  for  experimenting  and  drawing. 
But  a  large  amount  of  blackboard  is  also  necessary 
for  the  use  of  children  ;  so  that  when  they  become 
weary  of  their  other  lessons,  and  of  their  seats,  as 


126  THE   SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

they  soon  will,  they  may  go  to  the  board  and  amuse 
themselves,  by  drawing  lines,  pictures,  maps,  etc. 

This  would  be  a  much  better  means  of  disposing  of 
this  superabundance  of  vital  force  and  mental  activity 
than  to  let  it  work  off  in  the  form  of  mischief,  01  even 
to  attempt  to  crush  it  out  by  long  confinement,  and 
then  to  complain  that  the  child  has  not  capacity,  when 
in  fact  he  has  just  been  deprived  of  what  little  he  had. 
Scolding  and  whipping  will  only  aggravate  the  evils 
by  driving  this  activity  into  improper  channels.  Bet- 
ter direct  it  than  attempt  to  crush  it ;  for  in  doing  the 
latter  we  are  warring  against  the  strongest  element  of 
power,  planted  in  the  human  being.  We  venture  to 
say  that  the  ettbrt  to  keep  children  quiet,  all  the  time, 
in  the  school-room,  as  some  teachers  do,  is  more  ex- 
hausting to  teachers  than  all  the  teaching  they  do, 
simply  because  children  were  not  made  to  be  quiet  all 
the  time,  any  more  than  trees  and  plants  were  made 
to  be  moved  every  few  days.  Look  at  that  child, 
teacher,  as  he  writhes  in  the  hopeless  agony  of  idle- 
ness before  you ;  and  then  tell  me,  if  you  can,  that  he 
must  be  quiet.  Why,  every  limb  and  joint,  and  boiie, 
and  muscle,  ligament,  nerve,  and  fiber  in  his  bod}T 
quivers  its  negation  to  such  a  proposition,  and  says,  a? 
plain  as  language  can  say,  give  me  exercise,  activity,  and 
labor.  Will  you,  therefore,  be  dumb  to  these  mute  but 
eloquent  pleadings?  The  children  need  the  exercises 
of  which  the  teacher  strives  to  deprive  theni;  and  the 
teacher  needs  the  force  thus  expended,  to  direct  the 
children  in  their  lessons  and  exercises.  Let,  therefore, 
the  same  harmony  obtain  here  that  exists  every  where 
else,  in  the  departments  of  nature.  Blackboard  exer- 
cises may  serve  in  part,  at  least,  to  exhaust  that  accu- 
mulation of  vitality  which  is  sometimes  so  annoying, 


PHYSICAL    CULTURE.  127 

but  which  was  never  made  to  be  wasted  nor  crushed 
out.  For  convenience,  these  exercises  may  be  classi- 
fied somewhat  in  the  following  manner : 

1.  Copying,  and  forming  lines,  angles,  and  geometrical 
figures.     The  perpendicular,  horizontal,  and  oblique 
lines  might  constitute  one  class  of  exercises ;  and  if 
the  teacher  can  afford  the  time  necessary  to  direct 
them,  it  would  be  well  to  have  the  whole  class  operate 
in  concert.      The   combinations   of   right   lines   into 
angles  and  rectilinear  figures  might  constitute  another ; 
while  the  curves  and  their  combinations  would  con- 
stitute still  another. 

These  exercises  will  cultivate  close  observation,  and 
will  train  the  judgment  in  comparison  and  in  the  ap- 
prehension and  conception  of  forms  of  beauty,  as  well 
as  the  eye  and  the  hand  in  tracing  them.  And  when 
sufficient  command  of  the  hand  and  the  muscles  ap- 
pertaining thereto,  shall  have  been  secured,  a  higher 
class  of  exercises  may  be  attempted. 

2.  Drawing  pictures  of  familiar  objects,  etc.,  will  be 
entirely  compatible  with  the  wants.     Here  it  will  be 
found  that  some  children  will  prefer  one  class  of  ob- 
jects, and  some  another.     It  may  therefore  be  well 
to  indulge  them,  to  some  extent,  in  their  preferences, 
both  for  the  purpose  of  encouraging   them   and  of 
ascertaining  their  peculiarities.     Better  opportunities 
will  also  occur  here  for  learning  the  disposition  and 
capacity  of  the  child,  than  wrill  ordinarily  occur  in  a 
whole  term  of  the  best  instruction  in  A,  B,  C.     Super- 
added  to  this  will  be  the  opportunity  of  encouraging 
talent  in  mechanical  execution  and  sesthetical  culture — 
departments  of  education  too  much  neglected  among 
the  American  people. 

A  classification  of  objects  like  the  following,  may 


128  THE   SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

be  of  service  to  teachers:  animate  and  inanimate 
objects ;  and  of  the  first,  the  wild  and  domestic,  with 
any  subdivisions  that  may  suggest  themselves.  Of 
the  second,  natural  and  artificial;  and  these  again 
suggest  their  subdivisions  as  organic  and  inorganic, 
as  vegetable  and  mineral — such  as  trees,  rocks,  etc. : 
and  for  the  artificial ;  architectural  structures,  mechan- 
ical, agricultural  and  household  implements,  etc.,  etc. 
But  it  will  be  found  best  in  most  cases,  at  first,  not  to 
adhere  too  strictly  to  technical  distinctions  or  classes. 
Let  there  be  as  much  freedom  in  the  selections  as  will 
comport  with  the  nature  of  the  exercises,  it  being  suf- 
ficient for  ordinary  purposes  to  place  the  copies  or 
models  before  the  class,  and  allow  them  to  make  their 
own  selections,  except  when  the  object  is  to  secure 
concert  of  movement  and  dispatch,  precision  and 
accuracy  in  execution.  In  this  case,  the  same  forms 
should  be  selected  for  the  whole  class,  and  a  regular 
drill  given  in  the  execution  of  them. 

This  mode  of  representing  things  will  suggest  the 
representation  of  localities  or  places.  Hence,  drawing 
maps  of  familiar  places  will  follow  as  a  matter  almost 
of  necessity;  and  the  little  urchins'  eyes  will  sparkle 
as  they  trace  the  outline  of  the  door-yard,  the  garden 
or  orchard  at  home;  or  the  school-room,  the  play- 
ground, or  flower-garden,  and  little  paths  of  the  school 
premises ;  and  I  have  seen  the  teachers'  eyes  sparkle 
too  in  such  exercises,  and  a  feeling  of  sympathy  and 
love  pervade  the  whole  group  of  learners.  How  much 
better  this,  than  that  cold,  forbidding  crabbed  ness 
which  freezes  the  very  life  out  of  children  !  This  pro- 
cess will  awaken  mind  as  well  as  afford  an  outlet  for 
vital  force. 


PHYSICAL    CULTURE.  129 

SEC  2 — SLATE  EXERCISES. — Another  class  of  exer- 
cises equally  important,  though  not  so  much  of  a 
physical  character,  may  be  named  Slate  Exercises. 
These  may  be  practiced  at  the  same  time  with  Black- 
board Exercises,  and  presuppose  that  children  should 
be  furnished  with  slates,  the  very  first  day  they 
enter  school.  They  are  even  more  useful  and  neces- 
sary then,  than  their  books  are.  It  were  no  greater 
inconsistency  to  send  a  child  to  school  without  his 
coat  or  appropriate  clothing  or  food,  than  to  send 
him  without  a  slate.  He  will  need  his  slate  and  pen- 
cil as  much  as  he  will  need  any  of  these  articles.  It 
would  be  like  sending  a  man  to  do  a  day's  work  with- 
out providing  him  tools  with  which  to  work ;  and  the 
enormity  would  be  still  greater,  if  we  should  tie  his 
hands  and  feet,  and  then  require  him  to  work.  The 
analogy  can  readily  be  traced  by  those  who  have  seen 
little  boys  and  girls  tied,  as  it  were,  to  their  seats 
throughout  the  long,  dull  hours  of  the  school-day, 
with  the  hopeless  task  of  nothing  to  do,  staring  them 
in  the  face.  The  best  primary  schools  in  the  land 
now  require  the  slate  and  pencil,  as  a  necessary  prep- 
aration for  attending  school. 

There  may  be  difficulty,  however,  at  present,  in 
securing  this  arrangement  in  the  country  school  ;  and 
it  is  quite  likely  the  same  difficulty  would  exist  one 
hundred  years  hence,  provided  there  is  nothing  said 
about  it.  But  a  reform  is  necessary  and  right,  and  there- 
fore should  be  put  into  operation  as  soon  as  possible. 
What,  therefore,  are  the  exercises  with  the  slate  ?  The 
child  is  supposed  to  be  about  learning  the  alphabet  of 
elementary  sounds,  as  a  mental  exercise.  Now,  of 
what  advantage  will  this  physical  exercise  be  to  him 
in  this  respect?  For  we  have  claimed  for  it  that  it  is 


130  THE   SCIENCE   OF 'EDUCATION. 

useful  every-where,  and  in  every  way.  It  is  a  pecul- 
iarity of  childhood,  as  well  as  of  manhood,  to  set  a 
greater  value  upon  its  own  products  than  upon  others. 
Hence  the  little  boy  will  value  the  sled  or  top  he 
made,  or  the  little  girl  the  doll  dress  she  made,  vastly 
more  than  he  or  she  does  any  others,  though  the  latter 
may,  in  reality,  be  ten  times  more  valuable. 

One  reason  for  this  seems  to  be  that  their  attention 
has  been  called  to  every  particular  in  relation  to  these 
things ;  they  have  felt  an  interest  in  every  part  and 
particle  of  them ;  their  little  ingenuities  have  been 
taxed,  exhausted  perhaps,  in  their  production.  Hence 
they  have  really  cost  them  more  ;  and  a  consciousness 
of  ability  to  produce  them,  renders  them  a  thousand 
fold  more  valuable.  So  in  making  a  picture,  a  map 
or  a  letter.  Its  value  to  the  child  will  be  in  propor- 
tion to  the  interest  and  ingenuity  expended  in  its 
production.  He  will  feel  a  greater  interest  in  a  letter 
or  figure  he  makes  himself,  than  in  one  he  finds  already 
made.  All  the  letters  of  the  alphabet,  and  the  numer- 
ical figures  may  thus  be  made  at  the  same  time  that 
children  are  learning  them — all  too,  by  just  taking 
advantage  of  the  desire  and  necessity  for  physical 
exercises. 

Copying  and  forming  letters  and  numerical  figures 
may,  therefore,  constitute  a  pleasing  and  profitable 
employment  for  children  while  upon  their  seats,  about 
the  same  time  that  they  are  taking  lessons  or  exercises 
on  the  board. 

But  as  soon  as  a  child  learns  to  make  a  few  letters, 
he  should  be  taught  to  combine  them,  so  as  to  form 
words  representing  familiar  objects.  This  now  awak- 
ens in  him  the  same  idea  that  the  real  object  or  the 
picture  did.  Then  his  ambition  and  interest  increase. 


PHYSICAL   CULTURE.  131 

He  begins  to  feel  that  he  really  is  employed  about 
some  important  business.  And  so  he  is.  It  is  ques- 
tionable whether,  if  he  should  live,  he  would  ever  be 
employed  about  any  greater.  Let  him  feel  it  then. 
Let  his  little  heart  swell  to  its  utmost  capacity  ;  for  he 
has  actually  accomplished  wonders  when  he  has 
acquired  the  ability  to  represent  objects  and  words ; 
and  no  wonder,  if  it  become  the  proudest  achievement 
of  his  life. 

Hence,  copying  and  forming  words  that  represent 
familiar  things,  may  constitute  the  second  step  in 
slate  exercises,  corresponding  to  the  pictures  on  the 
blackboard  or  the  slate,  for  they  need  not  be  confined 
to  the  board. 

As  soon,  therefore,  as  words  are  formed,  the  pro- 
priety of  connecting  them  will  at  once  suggest  itself; 
and  little  sentences  composed  of  little  words  will  soon 
grow  up  under  this  nurturing  process.  And  hence 
just  as  fast  as  the  child  learns  the  elements  in  his 
mental  training,  he  should  use  them  in  all  possible 
relations  until  he  is  perfectly  familiar  with  both  their 
nature  and  use.  Hence  composition  writing  is  com- 
menced right  here,  on  the  principle  that  as  fast  as  a 
child  learns  facts  and  principles,  he  should  both  do 
them,  and  tell  them. 

The  advantages  of  the  above  named  course  can  not 
fail  to  be  seen  and  appreciated  by  every  intelligent 
teacher.  It  might  seem  at  first  to  be  more  of  intel- 
lectual training  than  physical.  Grant  it :  but  it  will 
be  remembered  that  it  is  through  the  physical  man 
that  we  reach  the  mental ;  so  that  while  we  adopt 
exercises  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  hands,  we  are  all 
the  time  feeding  the  mind  most  effectually. 


132  THE   SCIENCE   OP   EDUCATION. 

SECTION  3 — CARD  EXERCISES.* — These  exercises  are 
intimately  allied  to  those  last  mentioned,  and  may  be 
included  under  the  head  of  lland  Culture,  though 
they  are  not  less  efficient  in  the  cultivation  of  the 
intellect,  and  the  taste  in  particular.  They  may  con- 
sist of  two  varieties,  and  are  semi-intellectual  in  their 
application  and  effects.  To  be  learned  and  appre- 
ciated they  should  be  seen. 

The  first  consists  in  the  use  of  blocks  or  slips  of 
pasteboard,  or  cards  with  letters  printed  upon  them ; 
and  grooves,  or  frames,  or  plain  surfaces,  into  which 
or  upon  which  the  children  place  these  blocks,  etc., 
so  that  the  letters  shall  form  words  and  sentences. 
This  plan  has  been  successfully  adopted  in  teaching 
idiots.  It  aids  them  in  the  control  of  the  muscles,  and 
gives  them  precision  and  individuality  of  movement. 
The  exercise  is  both  physical  and  intellectual,  and, 
if  properly  conducted,  will  suitably  engage  all  the 
powers  at  the  same  time. 

The  other  has  reference  to  the  use  of  blank  cards 
or  slips  to  be  used  in  drawing,  either  linear  or  per- 
spective. Painting  or  coloring  pictures  or  maps, 
architectural  drafting  and  sketching  from  nature,  will 
afford  the  pupil  great  delight  and  profit. 

Special  directions  for  conducting  these  exercises 
seem  unnecessary  here,  since  we  have  text-books  upon 
most  of  these  subjects.  Indeed  they  scarcely  need 
any  direction.  They  will  follow  the  other  exercises, 
if  the  means  are  provided,  just  as  certainly  as  reading 
will  follow  spelling,  or  as  acquisition  will  follow  ex- 
periment and  study.  And  they  may  be  continued  all 
through  the  school  period. 

*  Free  hand  Drawing,  as  now  taught  in  our  best  schools,  supplies 
this  wan',. 


PHYSICAL   CULTURE.  183 

We  close  this  section  with  these  general  remarks : 
1.  That  teaching  and  learning  become  pleasant  just 
in  the  proportion  in  which  they  conform  to  natural 
and  philosophical  principles.  2.  That  antagonisms 
and  inconsistencies  cease  in  the  same  ratio.  3.  That 
while  it  is  not  the  teacher's  duty  to  relieve  the  child 
of  any  of  its  appropriate  labor,  not  even  to  remove  the 
natural  obstacles  from  the  way,  but  rather  to  teach  it 
how  to  surmount  them  ;  yet  when  the  way  is  entirely 
blocked  up,  and  hedged  about  with  error,  it  is  his  duty 
then  to  break  the  way  and  to  remove  the  unnatural 
obstacles.  4.  That  it  is  important  that  this  be  done 
soon,  since  the  miserable  excuses  now  urged  by  some 
teachers,  for  clinging  to  the  errors  in  teaching,  will  be 
likely  to  have  as  much  force  one  thousand  years  hence 
as  now,  provided  no  one  steps  forward  and  offers  to 
remove  them ;  and  lastly,  that  it  is  the  better  policy 
always  to  educate  the  school  up  to  a  proper  standard, 
than  to  degrade  the  standard  to  a  level  with  igno- 
rance and  inconsistency. 

Article  *2 — Excursion  and  Labor. 

There  is  another  department  of  physical  culture  or 
exercise  properly  belonging  to  school  and  family  train- 
ing, which  should  receive  attention  here. 

For  the  want  of  a  better  name,  we  shall  call  it 
Excursion  and  Labor. 

Its  application  to  the  school-room  is  not  so  immedi- 
ate as  that  of  Black-board  Exercises ;  yet,  there  are 
many  things  connected  with  it  that  will  render  it 
highly  useful  for  the  same  purposes  for  which  the 
others  are  recommended,  viz  :  1st,  In  affording  an  out- 
let to  the  superabundance  of  vitality,  and  leading  it 
off  into  useful  channels;  2d,  In  developing,  fortifying, 


134  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

and  training  the  physical  powers  to  manly  vigor  and 
useful  employment;  3d,  Of  opening  up  the  way  for 
the  most  successful  mental  and  moral  development. 

For  convenience  the  subject  may  be  classified  as  fol- 
lows: 1.  Field  Exercises,  etc.;  2.  Manipulations  and 
Experiments;  3.  Manual  Labor  and  Business. 

These  terms  are  not  expressive  of  the  precise  ideas 
intended,  and  yet  they  come  nearer  than  any  others  in 
our  vocabulary. 

The  Field  Exercises  are  used  somewhat  in  the 
sense  of  Field  Notes  in  surveying,  etc. 

They  may  include,  1.  Botanical,  Geological,  and 
Mineralogical  Expeditions;  2.  Zoological  and  Ento- 
mological Expeditions;  3.  Topographical  and  His- 
torical Expeditions. 

It  is  a  truth  well  attested,  we  think,  that  nature,  in 
her  multiform  varieties,  teaches  not  only  the  first, 
but  some  of  the  most  attractive  and  useful  lessons. 
Her  treasury  of  knowledge,  for  simplicity,  variety, 
utility,  and  beauty,  is  not  surpassed  by  all  the  accu- 
mulated stores  of  art.  These  stores,  too,  are  well 
adapted  to  the  purposes  for  which  they  were  intended. 
Each  season  of  the  year  brings  with  it  its  peculiar 
charms  for  childhood,  youth  and  age.  Hence,  child- 
hood and  spring,  middle  age  and  summer,  old  age 
and  winter,  have  ever  been  used,  not  only  as  the 
strongest  types  of  physical  and  metaphysical  resem- 
blance, but  as  actually  possessing  mutual  attractions 
for  each  other.  But,  however  this  last  may  be,  it  is 
nevertheless  certain  that  the  fields  and  the  woods,  the 
rocks  and  the  brooks,  the  mountains  and  the  floods, 
the  flowers  and  the  fruits,  that  are  cast  abroad  in  such 
profusion  over  the  face  of  nature,  possess  a  charm  for 
the  heart,  for  which  we  may  seek  in  vain  elsewhere 


PHYSICAL    CULTURE.  135 

This  is  emphatically  true  in  youth.  But  what  advan- 
tage can  be  derived  from  these  dispositions  in  chil- 
dren, and  their  corresponding  excitants  in  nature? 

This  marked  conformity  of  want  to  supply  and  sup- 
ply to  want,  indicates  design  ;  or  else  it  forms  an  ex- 
ception to  the  general  rule. 

SECTION  1 — FIELD  EXERCISES. — Botany  is  a  science 
of  great  beauty  and  acknowledged  utility;  but  its 
study  is  usually  deferred  until  late  in  life.  This,  per- 
haps, is  well,  so  far  as  the  technicalities  and  more  dif- 
ficult parts  of  the  science  are  concerned.  But  there  is 
much  of  the  beautiful  and  useful  of  this  and  kindred 
sciences  that  may  be  taught  in  connection  with  the 
school  duties,  physical  exercises,  and  common  duties, 
where  they  will  be  most  readily  seen  and  appreciated. 

What  is  more  lamentable  than  the  ignorance  that 
prevails  among  laborers,  and  indeed,  among  all  classes, 
in  reference  to  this  and  kindred  sciences  !  And  for 
what  class  of  society  are  they  more  useful  and  befit- 
ting than  for  that  which  is  brought  in  daily  contact 
with  nature's  loveliness  ?  But  how  shall  the  evil  be 
corrected?  Must  they  or  their  children  spend  their 
time  in  the  pursuit  of  these  branches  in  the  ordinary 
way  of  studying  them,  when  so  many  other  things 
demand  their  attention  ? 

Much,  and  perhaps  all  that  is  really  necessary,  might 
be  done  for  children  in  these  branches,  while  they  are 
attending  school,  without  at  all  interfering  with  their 
other  duties.  This  is  the  age  with  them,  when  their 
bodies  need  the  fresh  and  invigorating  air  from  mount- 
ain and  valley.  Their  long  confinement  in  the  school- 
room, perhaps  in  fetid  and  poisoned  air,  will  render 
some  change  more  necessary. 


136  THE   SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

They  need,  also,  the  active  exercise  of  limb  and 
body.  The  long  rambles,  the  excursions  after  fruits 
and  flowers,  etc.,  which  will  bring  them  in  close  prox- 
imity with  the  wonderful  works  and  operations  of 
nature,  will  afford  this  in  due  measure. 

The  waters  and  the  air  abound  with  life.  The  earth 
toems  with  myriads  of  living  beings.  Her  bowels 
groan  with  untold  wealth,  intellectual  as  well  as  phys- 
ical. Her  surface  is  covered  with  a  carpel  ui  verdure, 
and  starred  and  gemmed  with  flowers.  Her  products 
are  full  of  strange  variety,  and  the  foot-prints  of  the 
Creator  are  visible  upon  every  rock.  Can  she  fail, 
therefore,  to  become  interesting  to  the  learner? 

These  objects  themselves  possess  the  same  advantage 
over  the  mere  description  of  them,  in  text-books,  that 
a  view  of  a  real  scene  or  visible  transaction  possesses 
over  the  mere  description  ;  and,  added  to  this,  is  the 
physical  labor  that  earns  it.  Of  cour.se,  these  excur- 
sions and  exercises  will  not  supersede  the  use  or  ne- 
cessity of  the  text -book.  They  will  render  it  only 
more  attractive  and  useful,  for  reasons  that  have 
already  been  given. 

What,  therefore,  will  be  the  impropriety  of  stated 
rambles  or  excursions  over  the  hills  and  along  the 
brooks  and  rivers,  in  the  fields  and  in  the  forests,  to 
catch  the  glimpses  of  those  noble  forms  of  creation, 
that  art  can  never  equal,  and  which  will  plant  great 
thoughts  deep  down  in  the  soul  ? 

Why  not  pluck  the  wild  flowers,  gather  the  fruits, 
or  cull  the  specimens  of  shells  and  stones  and  ores, 
that  abound  in  almost  all  localities?  Why  not  hunt 
the  beetle  and  the  butterfly,  and  collect  specimens  in 
all  the  departments  of  natural  history  ?  Why  not 
interrogate  nature  here  in  her  own  dominions,  where 


PHYSICAL    CULTURE.  137 

she  will  give  sensible  responses?  Why  not  bound 
with  light  foot  and  lighter  heart  over  the  joyous  earth, 
since  our  bodies  languish,  and  our  souls  pant,  and 
nature  beckons  us  with  her  blandest  smile  ?  There  is 
no  impropriety  in  it,  more  than  there  would  be,  if  a 
man  were  hungry,  to  feed  him. 

Let  us  suppose  a  band  of  blooming  boys  and  girls 
sallying  forth  for  an  afternoon  ramble.  The  under- 
standing is,  that  they  are  to  collect  specimens  in  all 
the  above  named  departments  of  natural  history,  for 
the  purpose  of  forming  a  school  cabinet. 

They  attack  the  first  coal-bank  that  lies  in  their 
line  of  march,  and  make  the  necessary  spoliation.  The 
next  may  be  a  patch  of  wild  flowers,  or  blossoming 
shrubs  or  trees,  and  the  shouts  and  exultations  are 
prolonged  and  loud.  '  Can  you  look  at  that  excited 
group,  teacher,  without  emotion  ?  Why  not  ?  Be- 
cause it  is  an  exhibition  of  nature,  giving  a  lesson  to 
her  children,  a  kind  of  recitation  too  rare  in  the 
schools. 

Look  again !  There,  they  have  found  a  nest  of 
bees  !  And  mark  how  that  ambitious  boy  will  risk 
the  pain  of  an  encounter,  rather  than  lose  his  specimen 
of  the  hymenoptera.  And  see  where  yonder  stream 
washes  the  pebbles  from  the  mountain  !  What  a  busy 
crowd  collect  there  !  They  are  gathering  shells  and 
stones  ;  and  that  fern  along  the  sedgy  lake  or  pond, 
must  grace  the  herbarium  of  a  loved  sister  or  class- 
mate. Even  the  fishes  can  not  escape,  and  attacks 
are  made  on  the  brooks  and  streams.  Thus  they 
ransack  nature  through  till, tired,  some  sink  down  to 
rest,  and  cull  their  specimens  ;  and  some  to  ruminate, 
and  drink  in,  the  forms  of  beauty  and  grandeur  of 
nature.  And  now  the  little  group  return  to  their 
12 


138  THE   SCIENCE    OF   EDUCATION. 

school-house ;  tired,  it  may  be,  with  the  toils  of  the 
march,  but  laden  with  the  spoils  of  science.  Now 
they  examine  their  stock, and  prepare  for  the  arrange- 
ment. They  investigate  and  discriminate;  they  clas- 
sify and  arrange  their  specimens  And  how  sweet 
their  sleep  becomes,  this  night,  because  they  have 
been  exercising  all  their  powers  harmoniously ;  and 
think  you  they  will  not  love  their  school  and  its  exer- 
cises more  and  better,  for  this  acquisition  ?  Will 
they  not,too,  escape  that  ignorance,  so  common  as  to 
these  sciences  ?  Their  stupidity  must  border  close 
upon  idiocy,  if  they  do  not. 

SECTION  2 — EXPERIMENT  AND  MANIPULATION. — The 
process  of  experimenting  and  manipulating  may  now 
commence  ;  and  it  will  be  with  that  real  interest  that 
always  invests  a  subject,  when  thus  rendered  practical. 
These  exercises  may  be  classified  according  to  the 
amount  of  apparatus,  grade  of  school,  and  elements  used: 

1.  Chemical  and  Philosophical  Experiments ;  2. 
Preparation  and  Classification  of  Specimens;  3. 
Preparation  and  Arrangements  of  Cabinets.  Every 
school-house  in  the  land,  might  have  a  cabinet  of 
some  kind.  The  woods  and  hills  and  brooks,  are  full 
of  the  right  kinds  of  specimens ;  and  that  teacher 
who  is  too  indolent  to  collect  them,  or  allow  his  pupils 
to  collect  them,  ought  not  to  be  allowed  to  keep  school. 

Nothing  perhaps  would  add  more  to  the  interest 
and  profit  of  the  school-room,  than  thus  furnishing  it 
with  specimens  in  all  the  departments  common  to  the 
locality,  and  with  Chemical  and  Philosophical  appa- 
ratus, by  which  other  wonders  in  the  natural  world 
might  be  exhibited. 

Enter  two    class-rooms  with  me.     In  the  one,  the 


PHYSICAL    CULTURE.  139 

astute  professor  is  lazily  asking,  or  rather  reading, 
questions  to  the  class;  or  it  may  be,  he  is  discoursing 
learnedly  upon  the  various  geological  periods,  the 
philosophical  abstractions  of  Metaphysics ;  or  he  may 
be  explaining  the  technicalities  of  Natural  History, 
Language  or  Mathematics.  The  pupils  sit  with  meek, 
blank  submission.  With  folded  hands  and  eyes  up- 
turned (if  awake)  it  may  be,  half  wonderingly  upon 
him,  but  more  likely  staring  into  vacuity :  their 
minds — it  were  easier  to  say  where  they  are  not, 
than  to  guess  where  they  are.  But  thus  they  man- 
age to  endure  the  lesson.  Every  thing  evinces  the 
languor,  stupidity,  uneasiness  and  inattention  of  over- 
confinement.  Now  at  this  point,  propose  a  geological 
or  botanical  excursion  with  them,  to  the  mountains ; 
or  a  ramble  or  a  scramble  over  the  valleys  and  hills, 
as  described  above.  "Will  not  their  eyes  sparkle,  their 
blank  faces  kindle,  their  forms  straiten  up,  and  every 
muscle  begin  to  contract  and  to  prepare  for  the  en- 
counter ? 

But  enter  the  other  class-room.  The  pupils  are  all 
fresh  from  one  of  those  excursions.  Each  one  holds 
his  specimen,  and  is  anxious  for  the  test  of  experi- 
ment or  examination.  The  teacher,  no  less  enlisted 
than  they,  need  but  suggest  a  subject,  and  their  willing 
minds  grapple  with  it  at  once.  They  are  all  alive. 
The  difference  in  the  two  recitations  is  quite  percep- 
tible. These  latter  have  been  shaking  hands  with  the 
living,  loving  and  speaking  forms  of  nature  ;  and  their 
cheeks  glow  with  health  ;  their  eyes  sparkle  with  intel- 
ligence; and  their  minds  kindle  as  they  approach  these 
life-giving  subjects.  The  one  process  is  teaching,  the 
other  is  stultifying.  Physical  culture  suggests  the 
former. 

10 


140  THE    SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

Now  there  is  no  possible  excuse  why  school-houses 
should  present  the  barren  and  forbidding  appear- 
ance that  they  do,  so  long  as  nature  abounds  with 
the  very  apparatus  that  is  needed.  And  what  renders 
this  matter  still  more  urgent  is,  that  most,  if  not  all 
that  is  absolutely  necessary,  may  be  collected  in  the 
immediate  vicinity,  by  the  teacher  and  pupils,  in  their 
rambles  for  needed  recreation  and  health.  What 
could  not  thus  be  collected,  might  soon  be  secured  by 
exchanges. 

Is  this  impracticable  then  ?  If  so,  then  education  is 
impracticable,  because  it  involves  the  very  first  prin- 
ciples of  education,  viz. :  development,  discipline, 
acquisition  and  use.  If  this  is  mere  speculation,  and 
delicately  elaborated  theory  without  a  possibility  of 
practice,  then  education  is  a  failure ;  and  we  must 
forever  be  doomed  to  unwelcome  toil  and  drudgery, 
to  vexation  and  ultimate  disappointment,  with  the 
great  mass  of  youth.  But  we  are  at  liberty  to  draw 
no  such  conclusions.  The  experiments  and  successes 
already  accomplished  forbid  this  ;  therefore,  the  prem- 
ise is  wrong,  and  this  is  not  mere  speculation,  but 
sound  practical  philosophy — the  natural  and  most 
ready  and  legitimate  way  to  accomplish  the  ends  we 
have  in  view. 

SECTION  3 — MANUAL  EXERCISES. — The  topic  of  man- 
ual labor  and  exercise  has  been  discussed  in  preceding 
chapters.  It  will  not  therefore  be  referred  to  again, 
except  to  show  its  connection  with  this  part  of  the 
subject.  The  person  taught  after  the  manner  indi- 
cated above,  goes  to  his  daily  toils,  feeling  the  dignity 
of  labor.  He  not  only  feels  that  he  is  surrounded  by 
the  living  and  loving  forms,  but  that  he  is  handling 


PHYSICAL   CULTURE.  141 

the  very  instruments  that  God  has  made  for  his  use. 
H  e  goes  to  his  fields,  not  like  the  galley-slave  scourged 
to  his  duty,  but  conscious  that  he  is  there  to  meet 
with  those  welcome  companions,  those  old  acquaint- 
ances, that  have  contributed  so  largely  to  his  happi- 
ness in  early  life. 

The  mechanic,  the  professional  man,  and  the  man  of 
business  are  equally  benefited,  in  their  several  depart- 
ments, from  the  knowledge  of  the  forces  of  nature  that 
have  been  thus  early  revealed  to  them. 

Again  :  the  chances  for  success  in  almost  any 
department  of  business  are  more  than  doubled,  by  this 
early  and  practical  acquaintance  with  Nature  and  her 
laws.  Numberless  occasions  will  occur,  in  the  life  of 
an  educated  man,  in  which  he  can  not  only  enhance 
his  own  wealth  and  happiness,  but  can  contribute 
largely  to  the  enjoyment  of  his  fellows.  He  sees 
beauty  where  others  see  deformity  ;  and  the  grosser 
materials  that  are  passed,  it  may  be,  with  indifference 
by  the  vulgar,  are  made  to  contribute  to  his  wants  and 
enjoyment. 

And  last,  but  not  least,  these  things  have  had  a 
tendency  to  preserve  health  and  develop  the  physical 
man.  They  have  preserved  him  from  a  broken-down 
constitution ;  and  now  that  he  is  a  man,  he  has  the 
feelings,  the  habits,  the  soul,  the  mind  and  the  body 
of  a  man. 

Article  3— Gymnastics. 

The  next  subject  to  which  attention  will  be  called, 
viz.,  Gymnastics,  is  one  so  full  of  science,  that  wo  do 
not  feel  at  all  competent  to  do  it  justice.  It  has, 
however,  such  a  practical  bearing  upon  a  symmetrical 
education,  that  its  leading  principles  may  be  so 


142  THE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

grouped  and  presented  as  to  enable  the  teacher  to  ap- 
prehend them  at  once,  and  to  put  them  into  practice. 
Text-books  on  this  subject  have  been  carefully 
compiled,  which,  if  consulted,  will  enable  the  teacher 
to  build  up  his  own  system.  This  subject  is  claiming 
much  attention,  in  this  way,  in  our  best  schools  and 
among  our  ripest  scholars;  and  the  educational  in- 
strumentalities are  considered  by  them,  to  be  quite 
incomplete,  if  they  do  not  embrace  the  means  of 
physical  culture. 

Gymnastics,  as  it  is  applied  by  modern  educators,  has 
reference  to  the  healthy  development  of  the  physical 
powers.  It  accomplishes  this  by  means  of  various 
exercises  which  will  be  named  hereafter.  It  proposes 
to  correct  the  abuses  commonly  practiced,  and  to 
remedy  those  evils  that  have  been  imposed  upon  the 
body  by  improper  management,  as  well  as  to  strengthen 
and  fortify  it  against  the  encroachments  of  disease. 
As  such,  it  has  been  introduced  into  the  schools,  and  is 
fast  becoming  a  regular  system  of  training. 

SECTION  1  —  ATHLETIC  EXERCISES.  —  For  practical 
purposes  the  following  classification  might  be  adopted. 
It  may  be  made  to  include  all,  and  perhaps  something 
more,  than  can  be  practiced  in  the  common  school. 

The  Athletic  Exercises  may  include  Walking,  Run- 
ning, Leaping,  Skating,  Rowing,  Balancing,  Climbing, 
Vaulting,  Fencing,  etc.  Most,  if  not  all  of  these 
exercises  may  be  practiced  in  connection  with  the 
school  duties,  provided  there  is  some  one  to  give 
direction  to  them. 

Take  the  first  one,  for  example.  But  it  may  be 
asked,  "  Do  not  our  boys  and  girls  of  school  age  know 


PHYSICAL    CULTUKE.  14tS 

how  to  walk  ?  "  "  Why  teach  them  what  they  already 
know?" 

We  ask,  How  do  they  walk?  Are  their  manners  in 
this  particular,  what  they  should  be  ?  Take  an  ex- 
ample in  some  of  our  rural  districts.  Propose  to  the 
children  to  give  a  sample  of  their  ability  to  cross  and 
recross  the  room ;  to  pass  to  and  from  the  recitation 
seat ;  or  to  enter  and  retire  from  the  room  ;  and  what 
are  these  performances  like  ?  We  would  be  safe  in 
saying  they  are  like  nothing  else.  They  are  purely  sui 
generis.  There  would  be  limping,  halting,  swaggering, 
embarrassment,  affectation,  awkwardness,  slovenliness 
and  perhaps  as  many  more  varieties. 

Now  all  of  these  faults  become  very  annoying  to  a 
teacher  of  taste  or  refinement,  especially  in  recitations. 
Can  they  be  corrected  ?  We  maintain  that  they  can  ; 
and  that  too,  at  school,  and  in  the  school-room — 
both  the  time  and  place  to  do  this  work.  It  is  seldom 
ever  done  if  neglected  here.  There  is  no  time  so 
favorable  for  refining  the  body,  as  when  we  are  refining 
the  mind,  and  when  its  organs  and  instruments  are  in 
a  plastic  state. 

The  first  thing  to  be  done  in  correcting  the  evils  of 
this  class,  to  which  we  are  prone,  is  to  cultivate  an 
erect  and  easy  posture  in  standing.  Then  some  simple 
and  graceful  movements  of  the  hands  and  arms — such 
as  are  commonly  used  in  oratorical  gesticulation  ;  then 
of  the  feet  in  changing  the  position  from  right  to  left 
and  the  reverse ;  then  turning,  first,  one  quarter,  then 
one  half,  and  finally  entirely  round — each  effort  con- 
stituting a  separate  exercise,  observing  to  make  as 
little  effort  as  possible. 

These  exercises  should  be  practiced  in  concert  daily, 


144  T1IE    SCIENCE    OF   EDUCATION. 

and  usually  with  the  reading  lessons,  until  the  pupils 
acquire  ease  and  freedom  in  the  execution  of  all  the 
movements. 

Now  the  step  maybe  introduced,  which  should  con- 
sist, at  first,  of  a  few  simple  movements  in  concert ; 
and  may  be  timed  either  with  or  without  music. 
Let  them  be  easy,  graceful,  firm  and  clastic.  For 
the  school-room  walk,  as  it  is  sometime  termed  (not 
the  march),  the  toe  should  be  last  to  leave  the  floor 
and  first  to  approach  it.  This  is  done  by  a  slight 
flexion  of  the  knee  forward,  and  also  by  throwing  the 
body  forward  and  over  it,  so  as  not  to  give  the  walk 
the  appearance  of  a  strut.  It  is  not  walking  upon  the 
toe  entirely,  since  the  bottom  of  the  foot  and  heel  are 
gradually  brought  to  the  floor  after  the  toe  or  ball  has 
struck. 

A  daily  exercise  at  least  should  be  practiced,  and 
the  boisterous,  slovenly  and  uncouth  habits  of  the 
boys  and  girls  will  soon  undergo  a  change  for  the  better, 
much  sooner  than  if  they  were  scolded  for  their  noise 
and  bad  manners  for  a  whole  term. 

In  all  these  exercises,  care  should  be  taken  to  avoid 
the  labored  or  affected  manner,  such  as  reeling  from 
side  to  side,  or  swinging  the  hands  and  arms,  etc. 
Nature  only  needs  assistance,  in  order  to  give  the 
truest  manners  and  the  highest  polish. 

Here  again  it  will  be  observed,  the  law  of  mutual 
adaptation  is  reaffirmed;  for  while  these  exercises  are 
adopted  chiefly  for  their  physical  benefits,  they  accom- 
plish a  very  important  part  in  the  •  mental  and  moral 
development,  and  social  refinement  of  the  pupil. 

The  running,  leaping,  skating,  rowing,  etc.  belong 
more  appropriately  to  the  play-ground  and  excursion, 
hut  may  be  rendered  tenfold  more  serviceable  by  being 


PHYSICAL    CULTURE.  145 

superintended  by  a  competent  master.  And  then 
again,  those  injurious  excesses  into  which  the  pupils 
are  liable  to  run,  may  be  avoided. 

We  shall  not  attempt  a  description  of  these  exercises 
here,  but  would  beg  leave  to  refer  the  reader  to  works 
on  these  subjects. 

The  climbing,  balancing,  vaulting,  fencing,  etc.,  as 
well  as  some  to  which  reference  has  been  made,  belong 
to  the  gymnasium  ;  and,  where  the  school  is  furnished 
with  an  instrumentality  of  this  kind,  they  should  be 
under  the  strict  superintendence  of  a  competent  in- 
structor, by  which  the  evils  of  improper  and  too  vio- 
lent or  too  feeble  exercise  may  be  avoided,  and  the 
healthiest,  manliest  strength  and  vigor  cultivated. 

How  much  wiser,  on  the  part  of  the  educator,  to 
take  advantage  of  this  desire  for  active  exercise,  so 
common  in  childhood,  and  make  it  accomplish  some 
important  part  in  the  child's  education,  rather  than  to 
allow  it  to  be  wasted  in  idleness,  or  upon  corrupting 
and  vicious  games  and  trifling  amusements,  whose 
only  effects  are  to  degrade  the  man ! 

SEC.  2 — VOCAL  EXERCISES. — Technically,  gymnas- 
tics might  not  cover  all  the  ground  we  have  mapped 
out  for  it;  but  practically,  we  propose  to  make  it  in- 
clude all  that  belongs  to  body  culture,  not  included  in 
hand  culture,  and  excursions  and  labor. 

Hence  both  Yocal  Exercises  and  Calisthenics  will 
claim  attention.  The  human  voice  is  the  product  of 
physical  effort.  Its  organs  constitute  not  only  one  of 
the  most  useful  apparatuses,  but,  at  the  same  time, 
one  of  the  most  delicate,  complicate  and  wonderful. 

We  shall  not  attempt  its  anatomy  or  analysis  here, 
but  shall  content  ourselves  with  offering  some  eugges- 
13 


146  THE    SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

tions  on  modes  of  culture,  as  connected  with  physical 
exercises. 

One  of  the  great  obstacles  to  vocal  culture  is  weak- 
ness and  want  of  flexibility  in  the  vocal  organs. 
These  should  be  the  first  things  corrected.  The  habit 
of  weak  and  indistinct  speaking  is  one  that  annoys 
teachers  much.  Henco  various  devices  have  been 
resorted  to,  in  order  to  correct  it.  Pupils  have  been 
coaxed,  censured,  and  even  threatened,  for  not  speaking 
loud  and  plain  enough  in  recitation,  while  it  has  been 
alleged  as  evidence  against  them,  that  they  can  speak 
loud  enough  in  conversation  and  on  the  playground. 

But  scolding,  however  much  it  may  increase  the 
teacher's  quantity  of  voice  (we  do  not  think  it  can  im- 
prove its  quality),  will  have  little,  if  any  influence  in 
improving  the  voices  of  the  pupils.  The  only  effect- 
ual way  to  induce  them  to  give  up  their  bad  habits, 
is  to  give  them  good  ones  in  exchange  for  them;  or, 
in  other  words,  to  drive  out  bad  habits  by  means  of 
good  ones. 

Good  reading  and  speaking,  as  a  physical  exercise, 
is  made  from  good  voices,  and  good  voices  are  made 
from  breath  or  breathing.  Hence  good  elocution 
depends  upon  the  breathing.  The  first  step,  there- 
fore, in  vocal  gymnastics,  is  an  exercise  in  breathing. 
This,  at  first,  might  seem  unnecessary,  since,  in  the 
language  of  the  little  boy  who  was  caught  whistling 
in  school,  if  we  let  it  alone,  it  will  breathe  itself;  yet 
very  few  people  really  know  how  to  breathe,  so  as  to 
make  the  best  possible  use  of  their  breath.  If  all  did 
know,  then  would  all  have  good  voices,  except  those 
who  have  physical  defects. 

But  suppose  an  exercise  in  breathing. 

1.  Position. — The  pupils  are  arranged  standing,  and 


PHYSICAL    CULTURE.  147 

it  may  be  best,  on  a  line,  on  each  side  of  the  room, 
facing  each  other.  The  posture  should  be  erect,  the 
hands  resting  upon  the  hips  and  waist,  the  fingers 
forward  and  pressing  slightly  upon  the  abdomen,  the 
shoulders  thrown  back,  but  not  strained. 

2.  Inspirations. — The  inhalations  should  be  in  con- 
cert, and,  at  first,  moderate,  but  gradually  increased 
from  time  to  time,  until  they  become  long,  full,  and 
deep,  filling  the  lungs  to  their  utmost  capacity.     They 
may  be  made  either  through  the  mouth  or  nostrils,  or 
both ;  and,  for  the  greater  part  of  the  exercises,  they 
should  be  made  without  noise,  or  what  is  called  loud 
breathing. 

3.  Expirations. — These  should  correspond  with  the 
inspirations.     All  the  air  should  be  expelled  from  the 
lungs,  preparatory  to  another  inhalation,  gradually  at 
first,  but  increasing  in  force  and  rapidity  until  the 
explosive  force  is  reached.     The  passage  of  the  air  to 
and  from  the  lungs,  may,  for  convenience  of  concert 
exercises,  be  indicated  by  the  upward  and  downward 
movement  of  the  hand  or  index  of  the  teacher. 

The  exercise  should  be  daily  at  least — twice  a  day 
is  still  better — and  should  be  continued  each  time 
until  a  sensation  of  dizziness  is  experienced.  This 
sensation,  however,  will  gradually  subside.  It  would 
be  well,  in  some  instances,  to  accompany  these  breath- 
ings with  appropriate  motions  of  the  hands  and  arms. 
These,  thus  combined,  would  give  capacity  to  the 
lungs  and  chest;  would  develop  and  strengthen  the 
muscles  situated  in  and  about  them,  and  at  the  same 
time  they  would  give  command  over  the  hands  and 
arms.  Another  exercise,  or  rather  a  modification  of 
the  same  one,  may  now  be  commenced. 

It  requires  the  same  order  and  arrangement,  and 


148 


THE    SCIENCE    OP    EDUCATION. 


the  same  exercise,  except  that  hi  place  of  simple 
breath  or  breathing,  we  now  use  the  voice  while  ex- 
pelling the  air  from  the  lungs. 

1.  The  long  vocal  sounds  should  be  selected  first, 
and  delivered  with  all  possible  force,  key  and  velocity ; 
then  all  the  vocal  sounds  in  the  same  manner.     It  ia 
best  to  practice  on  the  deep  tones  first. 

2.  The  sub-vocal  and  aspirate  sounds  may  now  be 
given  in  a  similar  manner,  with  the  exception,  per- 
haps, of  some  of  the  variations,  observing  always  to 
secure  full,  deep, healthy  sounds, as  the  physical  benefits, 
as  well  as  the  success  in  training,  will  depend  upon  this. 

3.  Now  take  a  word  or  short  sentence,  one  having 
an  easy  flow  of  sounds,  and  drill  the  class  upon  it,  in 
the  same  manner,  through  all  the  possible  varieties  of 
force,  pitch,  velocity  and  inflection.     Then  advance  to 
more  difficult   sentences,  and  those  having  the  most 
difficult  combinations  of  sub- vocal  and  aspirate  sounds. 

The  following  system  of  marks  has  been  used  by 
the  author,  with  some  success,  in  drilling  teachers  at 
Institutes,  and  may  be  of  some  service  to  others. 

The  heaviest  stroke  in  the  following  scale  indicates 
the  greatest  force,  or  the  loudest  or  greatest  volume 
of  voice  ;  the  next  in  size,  a  slightly  diminished  force, 
or  loudness,  and  so  on  down  to  the  softest  murmur, 
and  even  the  whisper,  which  might  be  indicated  by  a 
dotted  line.  Thus: — 


Loud. 


FORCE. 


Medium  loud. 
Medium. 
Medium  soft 


'-  Soft. 


PHYSICAL   CULTURE.  149 

In  like  manner  pitch  or  key  may  be  represented  to 
the  eye :  the  upper  line  in  the  following,  indicating 
the  high;  the  next  below, the  medium  high 5  and  so  on 
down  until  the  very  lowest  possible  pitch  is  attained, 
being  careful  not  to  vary  the  general  force.  Thus: — 


High. 

Medium  higli. 
Medium. 


P  I  T  C  H.  \  ^••••••—^••i^^™ 

^^^••^^^••••••^^•••^•H  Medium  low. 


,  Low. 


And  thus  again  with  velocity  or  rate  of  motion : 
the  first  or  long  intervals  in  the  following,  represent- 
ing slowest  utterance;  the  less  intervals,  the  accelerated 
motion,  and  so  on  increasing,  until  the  greatest  rapidity 
of  which  the  voice  is  capable  is  reached;  being  careful 
to  maintain  the  same  general  force  and  key.  Thus: — 


VELOCITY. 


Slow. 


Medium  slow 
Medium. 
Medium  fast. 
.Fast. 


And  lastly  the  inflections  and  other  variations  may, 
for  convenience,  be  represented  to  the  eye;  though 
but  few  of  these  can  be  thus  represented  with  any 
considerable  degree  of  accuracy.  A  rude  sketch  of 
them  might  be  given  as  follows,  commencing  with  the 
upward  or  rising  slide,  through  all  its  degrees  of 
abruptness ;  then  the  downward  or  falling  slide  in  a 
similar  manner;  then  the  sweeps,  waves  and  waving 


150 


THE   SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 


slides,  as  denominated  by  some  authors  ;  so  the  bend, 
the  swell  and  emphasis  (very  imperfectly  however), 
and  every  possible  movement  of  the  voice  may,  as  a 
matter  of  convenience,  in  concert  vocal  drills,  be 
represented  to  the  eye.  Thus: — 


The  advantage  of  this  plan  is,  that  it  represents  to 
the  eye,  what  sometimes  is  too  feebly  represented  to 
the  ear,  and  for  this  reason,  fails  to  reach  the  under- 
standing. A  person  can  lift  more  with  two  hands 
than  he  can  with  one.  For  a  similar  reason,  a  pupil 
will  more  readily  apprehend  a  fact  or  principle  when 
his  eyes  and  ears  both  are  addressed  at  the  same  time, 
than  when  addressed  separately. 

The  foregoing  plan  possesses  another  advantage. 
It  does  not  complicate  the  matter  and  confuse  the 
scholar  with  a  multiplicity  of  things  at  the  same  time. 
This  is  the  prevailing  error  of  the  highly  wrought 
systems  and  theories ;  and  of  those  who  teach  them. 
But  according  to  the  above  arrangement  of  the  ex- 
ercises, but  one  thing  is  attempted  at  the  same  time, 
and  that  is  completed  before  another  is  commenced. 

It  is  not  claimed,  however,  that  this  plan  is  complete 
or  exclusive,  or  that  some  other  might  not  answer 
equally  as  well.  It  must  be  remembered  also  that  it  is 
only  given  as  an  exercise  in  vocal  culture — as  a 
means  of  strengthening  and  developing  the  powers  of 
the  voice,  as  a  physical  instrument. 


PHYSICAL  CULTURE.  151 

EXERCISE.  ' 

A  sentence  may  now  be  selected  for  an  exercise  in 
Force,  and  the  class  is  drilled  in  concert  on  all  the 
forces  indicated,  and  as  many  more  as  may  be  thought 
best.  It  will  be  found  best  to  commence  with  the 
medium,  and  ascend  or  descend  from  it.  Frequent 
and  rapid  changes,  from  one  degree  to  another,  may 
be  made  as  a  test  of  the  ability  of  the  members  of  the 
class  to  control  their  voices.  "With  the  necessary  vari- 
ations, these  directions  will  also  answer  for  the  other 
varieties. 

The  class  may  be  divided  into  sections  after  the 
members  have  acquired  some  skill  and  confidence, 
each  section  reciting  in '  concert,  and  these  again  into 
sub-sections,  until  finally,  the  individual  exercise  may 
be  given. 

Care  should  be  exercised  in  these  drills  that  the 
proper  force,  pitch  and  velocity  are  preserved,  e.  g., 
when  the  exercise  is  on  force,  the  pitch  and  velocity 
should  be  preserved  the  same  throughout ;  when  on 
pitch,  the  force  and  velocity  should  be  uniform;  and 
when  on  velocity  the  force  and  pitch  should  be  the 
same  throughout ;  on  the  variations,  all  should  be 
varied  more  or  less. 

These  exercises,  properly  conducted,  will  certainly 
break  up  the  most  inveterate  habits  of  weak  voices 
and  indistinct  articulation.  I  have  never  known  one 
so  deep  seated  as  not  to  yield,  where  a  fair  opportunity 
was  offered. 

But  the  excellencies  of  these  exercises  consist  in 
their  universal  usefulness ;  for  while  they  are  practiced 
chiefly  for  their  physical  advantages,  they  constitute 
the  very  best  means  of  teaching  and  training  in  that 
most  useful  of  all  arts,  the  art  of  speaking  and  reading. 


152  THE   SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

Singing  is  nearly  allied  to  these  exercises,  and  when 
practiced  iii  connection  with  marching,  and  hand  and 
arm  movements,  as  may  be  done  in  connection  with 
the  school  songs  prepared  for  these  purposes,  it  becomes 
a  very  exciting  and  healthy  physical  exercise.  But 
this  would  rank  more  properly  with  the  next  topic. 

SECTION  3  —  CALISTHENIC  EXERCISES.  —  Calisthenics, 
as  its  etymology  implies,  is  a  science  which  has  for  its 
object  the  cultivation  of  beauty  and  strength  of  body 
and  limb.  As  an  exercise  for  this  purpose,  it  perhaps 
has  no  equal.  It  proposes  to  meet  the  precise  diffi- 
culties and  diseases  that  arise  from  study  and  over- 
confinement,  the  exercises  being  so  arranged  as  to 
bring  into  activity  those  parts  of  the  body  suffering 
most  from  inactivity,  and  resting  those  parts  that  may 
have  been  overtaxed  with  exercise. 

We  do  not  propose  to  give  a  full  exposition  of  the 
subject  here,  it  being  sufficient  for  the  present  purpose 
to  give  the  outline  and  allow  teachers  to  consult  text- 
books upon  this  subject,  and  to  suit  the  particular 
exercise  to  the  particular  wants. 

It  may,  however,  be  classified  for  ordinary  purposes, 
in  the  following  manner  : 

1.  Arm  movements. 

2.  Body  movements. 

3.  Feet  movements. 

For  a  full  and  complete  description,  and  special 
directions  in  those  exercises,  as  practiced  in  our  best 
schools,  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  author's  Art  of 
Teaching,  Chapter  Fifth,  Article  III. 


154 


THE   SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 


SYisroiPSis  vi. 

NATURAL 

f  Properties    of  matter    (external.)      Motiou. 

OBJECTS. 

\  Sounds.    General  phenomena. 

/•  Apparatus.    Models.    Toys.    Pictures.    Num. 

f     OBSERVA- 
TION   A   EX- 

REPRESENTA- 
TIVE. 

J  bers.    Directions.    Symbols.    Simple  combi> 

PERIMENT. 

V.  nations. 

!  Words  fwritteul  denoting  things. 

INITIAL  AND 

NAMES. 

"        actions. 

"               "        qualities  A  relation*. 

{Tales.    Sketches  of  travel  and  adventure.    In- 

• 
• 

'    INTERESTING 
NARRATIVE. 

cidents  in  biography  and  history.  Description 

P 
It 

of  common  things  and  occurrences. 

J 

P 
0 

!  Natural  phenomena.   Waking  thought.   Laws 

CONVERSA- 
j3  J   TION  A   DE-   • 

SCIENTIFIC 

FACTS. 

of  life  and  health  and  growth.      A  knowledge 

P 

SCRIPTION. 

of  the  arts  and  employments. 

H 

g 

H 

!  Maxims.      Mottoes.     Sentiments.      Rhymes. 

d 

REHEARSALS, 
Ac. 

Poems.      Lessons.       Law.      Correct    mental 

fa 

habits.     Order. 

INVESTIGA- 
TION   AND 
GENERALI- 
ZATION. 


5  Relations.  Adaptations.  Chemistry.  Agri- 
culture. Natural  and  mechanical  philosophy 
Mathematics.  Art.  Natural  history.  Laws 
of  life. 


!  Practical  grammar.  Composition.  Philolo- 
gy. Literature.  Criticism.  Philosophy  ol 
history.  Politics. 


{Attributes  of  intelligence.  Laws  of  thought 
Existence.  Duration.  Infinity.  Taste.  Ideal, 
ity.  Theories.  Creations, 


INTELLECTUAL    EDUCATION.  155 


CHAPTER    VI. 

INTELLECTUAL    EDUCATION. 

THE  intellectual  education  of  man  ranks  among  the 
highest  duties  of  the  age.  It  has  claimed  more  atten- 
tion, however,  than  any  other,  since  it  has  been  thought 
that  the  intellect  of  man  is  about  all  there  is  of 
him,  worthy  of  special  cultivation;  a  proof, this,  of 
the  high  position  it  should  hold  in  the  scale  of  human 
elevation. 

So  great  has  been  the  desire  for  intellectual  culture, 
that  both  body  and  soul  have  been  sacrificed,  and  are 
to  this  day,  in  many  instances,  in  order  to  secure  it. 
But  the  relationship  and  sympathy  between  all  the 
powers  and  faculties  of  man  are  such  as  to  forbid  that 
one  department  should  suffer  without  impairing  the 
health  of  the  other.  Hence  the  very  plans  adopted 
to  force  intellect  beyond  the  natural  growth,  have 
proved  destructive,  not  only  to  other  powers,  but  to 
the  intellect  itself,  thus  defeating  the  very  object  had 
in  view,  since  upon  the  healthy  condition  of  the  other 
powers, depends  the  harmonious  and  safe  development, 
of  the  intellect.  No  forced  measures,  however  suc- 
cessful they  may  have  been  for  a  season,  have  ever 
done  more  than  to  show  that  the  order  of  nature  can 
not  be  disturbed,  in  the  slightest  degree,  without  de- 
ranging the  whole  educational  system. 

To  the  educator,  it  becomes  a  matter  of  the  first 


156  THE   SCIENCE   OP   EDUCATION. 

importance,  not  only  to  understand  the  nature  and 
character  of  these  powers  individually,  but  to  know 
their  relative  value,  and  modes  of  treatment. 

The  intellect  has  powers  and  faculties  that  have  a 
mutual  influence  upon  one  another.  The  activity  of 
one  set  of  faculties,  induces  a  corresponding  state  in 
others;  and  the  disease  or  inactivity  of  one,  will  in- 
duce disorder  and  abnormal  growth  in  another.  These 
powers  do  not  all  unfold  or  develop  at  the  same  time, 
nor  in  precisely  the  same  order  in  different  individuals. 
The  same  variety  obtains  here  that  exists  every-where 
among  nature's  works.  Nor  yet  do  they  individually 
come  to  maturity  at  once.  They  require  their  full  time 
for  growth,  just  as  essentially  as  trees  and  plants  do; 
and  no  attempt  to  hasten  them  will  be  tolerated. 

The  order  of  development  is  a  matter  which  de- 
mands consideration.  There  is  first  the  bud,  then  the 
blossom,  and  then  the  fruit.  But  it  would  seem  that 
this  order  is  much  deranged,  and  in  some  instances, 
almost  inverted.  There  is  a  great  desire  to  gather 
fruit  from  the  blossom,  and  even  from  the  buds.  Man 
is  too  impatient  of  delay.  And  not  only  so,  but  he  is 
disposed  to  search  for  fruit  upon  the  wrong  vines.  This 
arises  from  an  imperfect  understanding  of  the  nature 
and  design  of  the  faculties  themselves,  which  results 
in  a  corrupt  state  of  education. 

The  most  popular  classification  jf  mental  faculties 
recognizes  the  following  grand  divisions,  viz. :  Intel- 
lect, Sensibility  and  Will.  The  intellectual  powers, 
or  those  now  under  special  consideration,  have,  accord- 
ing to  their  nature,  and  the  offices  they  perform,  been 
divided  into  two  groups,  viz. :  the  Primary  and  Second- 
ary faculties.  These  have  their  subdivisions,  as  Per- 
ception, Consciousness  (which,  perhaps,  is  more  a 


INTELLECTUAL   EDUCATION.  157 

mental  state  than  a  faculty)  and  Intuition,  or  Original 
Suggestion. 

These  again  have  their  several  functions  to  perform. 
Hence  arises  another  classification  based  upon  use. 

Perception,  for  instance,  may  be  classified  accord- 
ing to  the  several  organs  through  which  it  acts; 
and  the  knowledges  or  apprehensions  of  externality 
that  such  action  gives:  such,  for  example,  as  smell 
and  odors,  taste  and  savors,  touch  and  texture,  tem- 
perature, hearing  and  sounds,  sight  and  color,  form, 
size,  etc. 

These  senses  have  also  their  interchangeable  rela- 
tions, as  experiments  in  the  apprehensions  of  the  prop- 
erties of  matter  would  show.  But  it  is  not  our  pur- 
pose to  give  a  strict  analysis  here. 

Consciousness  and  Original  Suggestion  also  have 
their  subdivisions  according  to  use;  the  first  giv- 
ing notice  of  the  existence  of  the  several  mental 
states ;  the  second  taking  cognizance  of  cause  and 
effect,  individuality  and  place,  number  and  infinity, 
duration  and  power,  right  and  wrong,  etc. 

The  secondary  faculties  and  their  functions  have 
been  classified  in  the  following  manner: 

1.  Understanding,   whose   functions  are,    first   the 
Notion-forming  power,  which  gives  us  our  common 
ideas  of  whatever  we  behold  or  think  about.     These 
ideas  may  be  general  or  particular,  simple  or  complex, 
correct  or  incorrect.     Second,  Reflection  or  the  power 
the  mind  has  to  dwell  upon  its  own  operations  or  any 
subject  of  thought.     It  is  usually  preceded  by  atten- 
tion and  conception,  which  last  may  be  true  or  false, 
vivid  or  weak. 

2.  Judgment,   including,  first,   comparison   or  the 
power    to   detect   resemblances,  or  to    discriminate: 


158  THE   SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

it  deals  with  tbo  notices  furnished  by  the  other 
faculties.  Secondly,  classification,  which  disposes  of 
these,  whether  objects,  facts  or  theories,  according  to 
'iheir  several  peculiarities.  Thirdly,  argumentation  or 
reasoning,  which  relates  chiefly  to  terms,  propositions 
and  theorems,  and  the  processes  of  deducing  con- 
clusions from  premises. 

3.  Memory,  the  great  treasure-house  of  the  mind, 
whose  functions  are  to  receive,  associate,  retain  and 
reproduce,  when  called  upon,  the  materials  entrusted 
to  it  for  safe-keeping. 

4.  Imagination,  that  pioneer   of  the   mind,  whose 
office  is  to  enter  into  the  ideal  world,  and  to  gather 
the  raw  material,  or  to  take  portions  of  that  which 
may  have  been   prepared,  and  to  combine  them  into 
theories    and    creations,   as   the  judgment    or   sense 
shall  indicate,  and  the  reason  and  taste  shall  decide. 

Now  any  modes  of  culture  that  do  not  recognize 
these  facts  and  principles  or  similar  ones,  are  liable  at 
once,  to  be  at  variance  with  the  natural  order  of 
development.  These  faculties  all  have  their  infancy, 
youth  and  maturity,  corresponding  severally  to  the 
periods  of  growth  recognized  as  the  Objective,  Tran- 
sition and  Subjective. 

It  is  pertinent  now  to  inquire  into  the  manner  in 
which  these  faculties  may  be  developed,  so  as  not  to 
interfere  with  and  disarrange  this  beautiful  order  and 
harmony  of  things. 

It  will  be  seen  that  Perception  stands  at  the  head  of 
the  list  of  Primary  faculties,  and  Understanding  at  the 
head  of  the  Secondary,  and  that  these  two  are,  in  a 
great  measure,  concomitants,  i.  e.,  the  notices  furnish- 
ed by  the  perception,  are  readily  apprehended  by  the 
understanding,  and  passed  on  to  be  disposed  of  aa 


INTELLECTUAL   EDUCATION.  159 

the  judgment  may  appoint.  It  will  be  observed  far- 
ther that  the  perception  is  furnished  with  a  set  of 
organs,  through  which  it  takes  cognizance  of  the 
external  world  ;  avenues  leading  inward  to  the  world 
of  thought  and  abstraction. 

Now  the  object  of  education  is  not  to  interrupt  or 
cut  off  these  communications  either  way,  but  to  am- 
plify and  establish  them,  at  the  same  time  that  the 
materials  which  go  to  awaken  mind,  are  furnished 
through  them.  Hence  intellectual  education  begins 
with  the  senses,  through  which  early  knowledge,  the 
food  for  the  mind,  is  received. 

Article  1 — Observation  and  Experiment. 

This  leads  us  at  once  to  modes  of  learning  and  modes 
of  treatment  or  teaching,  which  for  the  earliest  pe- 
riods may  be  denominated  Observational  and  Experi- 
mental, because  the  senses  are  addressed  first ;  and  as 
soon  as  the  observation  or  perception  is  complete,  an 
inquiry  as  to  what  ?  what  kind  ?  when  ?  how  ?  etc., 
is  begotten  in  the  mind.  This  curiosity  is  planted  in 
the  human  mind  at  this  early  period,  for  very  wise 
and  benevolent  purposes.  Were  it  not  there,  there 
would  be  no  desire  to  know,  and  the  child  would  be 
in  a  condition  little  better  than  downright  idiocy. 
This  desire  prompts  him  to  experiment,  which  is  a 
second  step  in  acquisition.  Hence  the  ceaseless  desire 
in  young  children  to  handle,  and  taste  and  examine 
objects;  and  these  again  present  to  them  ever  new 
and  ever  changing  varieties,  which  keep  their  obser- 
vational and  experimental  powers  in  a  state  of  healthy 
activity.  This  early  desire  for  observation  is  gratified 
only  by  indulgence.  Color,  size,  form,  temperature, 
texture  and  externality  generally,  constitute  the  first 


100  THE   SCIENCE    OP   EDUCATION. 

intellectual  food  for  the  faculties ;  and  experiment  is 
one  of  the  first  processes,  or  exercises  of  application. 
The  motions,  sounds  and  general  phenomena  now 
attract  the  attention  of  the  youthful  learner,  and  he 
opens  his  eyes  and  ears  upon  the  wonders  with  which 
this  new  and  strange  world  abounds.  The  senses  are 
astonishingly  active  in  conveying  their  impressions 
inward,  where  they  do  their  office  work  in  awakening 
the  incipient  mind.  But  this  subject,  as  it  relates  to 
very  young  children,  has  been  alluded  to  in  another 
place.  This  brief  notice  therefore  must  suffice.  It  is, 
however,  a  department  of  education,  full  of  intense  in- 
terest; and  one  with  which  the  teacher  should  be  very 
familiar.  The  more  he  knows  of  the  infant,  the 
better  will  he  be  prepared  to  know  the  man ;  and 
knowing  him,  to  direct  him. 

SECTION  1 — REPRESENTATIVE  KNOWLEDGE. — The  next 
advance  the  child  makes  from  the  object  world,  where 
his  faculties  are  employed  chiefly  with  things  and 
their  properties,  is  into  the  picture  period,  or  period 
of  representative  knowledge.  This  has  also  been  de- 
scribed under  the  head  of  physical  culture,  which  is  so 
nearlv  allied  to  intellectual  culture  at  this  age,  as 
scarcely  to  be  distinguished  from  it.  Indeed,  about 
all  the  intellectual  culture  a  child  needs,  he  will  receive 
in  his  physical  training,  if  that  is  properly  conducted. 
At  this  age  his  education  is  supposed  to  be  directed  by 
parents,  and  its  chief  object  will  be  accomplished,  if 
he  is  furnished  with  the  necessary  means  for  investi- 
gation— such  as  toys,  pictures,  etc.,  and  the  necessary 
facilities  for  imitating. 

Too  much  special  instruction  will  interfere  with  the 
natural  order  of  growth,  and  discourage  the  child  in 


INTELLECTUAL    EDUCATION.  161 

his  pursuits.  The  proper  training  of  a  young  and 
tender  plant  does  not  consist  in  excessive  handling,  or 
in  warping  and  bending  it,  but  in  furnishing  it  with 
the  necessary  means  of  natural  growth.  So  in  refer- 
ence to  mind,  or  the  intellectual  faculties.  They  need 
no  overfeeding  or  cramming,  nor  yet  do  they  require 
bending  or  incessant  handling  in  order  to  secure  their 
growth.  They  need  the  conditions  of  growth  furnish- 
ed them  in  due  proportion,  and  then  to  be  let  alone. 
They  grow  from  their  own  internal  sources,  appro- 
priating the  external  as  the  means  of  growth.  As 
much  freedom,  therefore,  as  is  compatible  with  proper 
discipline,  is  a  point  to  be  aimed  at  here.  For  the 
school,  however,  it  will  be  found  that  the  exercises 
recommended  in  Chapter  Fifth,  Section  1 — Hand  Cul- 
ture and  those  immediately  connected  with  it — will  be 
most  effectual  in  cultivating  the  perceptive  faculties, 
and  in  waking  up  other  departments  of  the  mind. 

The  following  exercises  are  recommended  as  in 
harmony  with  those  already  given ;  and  they  may  be 
used  in  connection  with  them. 

1.  Exercises  in  counting  and  numbering,  in  which 
the   numeral    frame   or  counters  may  be  used ;    and 
exercises  in  pointing,  in  which  not  only  the  points  of 
compass  may  be  located,  but  all  places   with  which 
the  pupil  is  supposed  to  be  familiar.     The  inaccuracies 
and   blunders  arising  from   defective   knowledge   in 
reference  to  direction  and  distance,  are   most  humil- 
iating.    They  may  be  corrected  as  shown  above. 

2.  Exercises  in  the  combination  of  simple  numbers, 
as  addition,  subtraction,  and,  for  those  more  advanced, 
multiplication  and  division,  both  oral  and  written,  will 
be  found  useful  in  cultivating  the  power  of  attention 
and  quickness  of  apprehension. 

14 


162  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EULCATIuN. 

SECTION  3 — INITIALS  AND  NAMES. — Oral  and  written 
exercises  ou  words  representing  things,  actions,  qual- 
ities and  relations,  may  be  introduced,  in  which  the 
whole  vocabulary  of  common  words  might  be  brought 
before  the  mind,  and  so  connected  with  common  facts 
and  transactions,  that  both  their  meaning  and  use 
could  be  learned  at  the  same  time.  The  composition 
and  analysis,  the  reading,  spelling,  and  writing  of 
simple  sentences  should  go  hand  in  hand  ;  so  that 
when  a  child  learns  a  thing  he  may  know  it,  retain  it 
and  use  it. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  tedium  of  the  school- 
room, which  becomes  so  oppressive  and  distasteful 
sometimes,  may  be  relieved  by  introducing  these  exer- 
cises along  with  others  in  common  use.  They  are  not 
designed  to  take  the  entire  place  of  those  now  in  use — 
except  so  far  as  the  latter  can  be  shown  to  be  faulty — 
but  merely  as  auxiliary  to  them ;  so  that  that  time 
which  is  usually  spent  in  idleness,  and  that  energy 
which  is  usually  thrown  away,  and  worse  than  thrown 
away,  may  be  profitably  employed. 

If  it  be  objected  by  any  that  time  will  not  allow 
the  introduction  of  additional  intellectual  exercises,  it 
may  be  answered  that  if  these  exercises  are  as  impor- 
tant as  those  now  in  use,  they  ought  to  share  equally 
with  them  in  time  and  attention  :  if  they  are  more 
important,  they  should  receive  a  corresponding  amount 
of  attention.  And  we  might  further  add,  that  no 
teacher  is  worthy  of  confidence,  who  will  persist  in 
sacrificing  the  good  of  his  pupils  to  public  prejudice 
wlic-n  he  sees  and  knows  that  his  practices  are  wrong. 

The  most  vigorous  thinkers  are  those  who  have 
been  taught  thus  early  to  m.ike  a  practical  use  of  their 
knowledge ;  and  the  best  teachers  are  those  who  thus 


INTELLECTUAL    EDUCATION.  163 

recognize  the  necessity  and  the  laws  of  intellectual 
activity. 

Article  2 — Conversation  and  Description. 

That  mode  of  teaching  and  learning  which  brings 
into  activity  the  greatest  amount  of  mental  force,  and 
at  the  same  time  does  not  interfere  with  the  order  of 
the  faculties,  may  be  pronounced  good  —  nay,  the 
best. 

It  is  a  well  established  fact  that  mental  development 
is  measured  not  so  much  by  what  a  man  knows  as 
what  he  does ;  not  so  much  from  acquisition  as  from 
the  ability  to  act — to  act  patiently,  persistently,  stead- 
ily, efficiently.  Teaching,  therefore,  does  not  consist 
so  much  in  the  communication  of  knowledge,  as  in 
imparting,  by  a  well  directed  train  of  influences,  the 
ability  to  acquire  knowledge,  to  grapple  with  and 
overcome  the  difficulties  of  life. 

It  should,  therefore,  be  the  constant  aim  of  the 
educator,  to  develop  man's  mental  faculties,  so  that 
they  may  harmonize  in  all  their  bearings  and  relations 
with  one  another;  so  that  there  be  no  friction  in  the 
mental  machinery,  no  jarring,  no  lagging,  no  fitful 
starts  or  flights,  no  unsightly  growth  nor  seeming 
death.  To  do  this  it  is  necessary  to  call  into  frequent 
and  vigorous  activity  all  the  mental  powers,  and  as 
nearly  as  possible  all  at  the  same  time.  This  activity 
should  not  be  merely  the  activity  in  acquiring,  but 
in  producing. 

One  of  the  best  modes  of  inducing  this  healthy  play 
of  all  the  faculties  is  by  Conversation  and  Descriptions. 
It  refers  more  particularly  to  primary  education,  and 
includes  both  teaching  and  learning.  A  brief  descrip- 
tion of  it  may  be  presented  in  the  following  manner. 


164  THE    SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

SECTION  1  —  INTERESTING  NARRATIVE.  —  Children 
from  the  ages  of  five  and  six  to  ten  and  twelve,  are 
inveterate  lovers  of  narrative,  especially  if  it  be  of  an 
exciting  character.  They  are  eager  devourers  of  sto- 
ries. Their  literature  is  of  an  objective  and  descrip- 
tive nature.  Hence  it  is  a  common  thing  for  the  little 
boy  or  girl  to  beset  the  mother  or  teacher  for  stories, 
etc.  Their  little  minds  do  not  seem  to  be  satisfied 
with  the  stores  of  knowledge  to  which  they  have  ac- 
cess— and  this  would  be  wrong  if  they  were — they 
must  seek  it  from  another  source.  And  during  these 
recitals,  mark  the  attention  and  the  earnest  expres- 
sion. They  are  lost  to  all  except  the  incident  before 
them. 

Now,  this  is  one  of  the  most  educable  points  in  the 
whole  mental  and  moral  constitution ;  and  being  most 
accessible  it  is  assailed  from  all  quarters.  This  very 
disposition  which  was  given  for  the  very  best  of  pur- 
poses, is  rendered  sometimes  one  of  the  most  danger- 
ous, since  through  it  the  very  fountains  of  the  mind 
are  corrupted  i  for  this  reason  it  should  be  most  care- 
fully guarded. 

Again :  the  observations  and  experiments  children 
have  made,  will  have  furnished  them  with  sufficient 
stores  to  enable  them  to  commence  upon  their  own 
capital.  Children  delight  to  relate  their  own  incidents 
and  experiments;  and  in  doing  this, 'they  are  only 
pursuing  one  of  the  most  effective  modes  of  culture. 

Tales,  Sketches  of  Travel  and  Adventure,  form  a 
large  share  of  the  literature  of  this  age,  but  too  much 
care  can  not  be  exercised  in  the  selections.  The  char- 
acters and  the  incidents  should  be  of  an  unexception 
able  kind,  since  upon  their  good  quality  and  the  mod* 
of  presenting  them,  depends  the  success  of  the  plan 


INTELLECTUAL    EDUCATION.  165 

The  impressions  made  should  have  a  refining  and 
elevating  influence,  or  it  were  better  none  were  made. 
The  ambition  to  excel  may  be  a  holy  or  an  unholy  one. 
If  it  is  prompted  by  a  desire  to  excel  others  for  the 
simple  pleasure  of  being  above  them,  it  is  wrong.  If, 
however,  it  arises  from  a  desire  to  excel  for  the  purpose 
of  elevating  others  to  the  same  point,  it  is  right.  This 
holy  ambition  may  thus,  by  a  judicious  choice,  be  in- 
spired to  go  forward,  conquering  obstacle  after  obsta- 
cle, until  the  aspirant  has  excelled  even  those  whose 
noble  deeds  first  inspired  him. 

Care  must  also  be  exercised  both  in  the  selections 
and  the  modes  of  presenting  these  topics,  so  as  not 
to  foster  a  morbid  desire  for  excitement,  which  not 
unfrequently  leads  to  an  indiscriminate  devouring  of 
every  thing  that  savors  of  the  wonderful  or  the 
sentimental.  Hence  the  desire  for  fiction  and  fancy. 
But  incidents  in  history  and  biography,  and  in  fact 
this  whole  subject  abounds  in  that  which  is  not  only 
wonderful  but  true;  and  which,  if  properly  presented, 
will  be  equally  palatable  with  the  overwrought  fiction, 
so  much  sought  after  by  the  young. 

These  incidents  etc.,  may  be  related  in  the  school 
or  family  by  the  teacher  or  parent,  and  then  at  suit- 
able intervals,  they  may  be  called  up  in  review  arid 
recited  by  the  pupil.  This  will  cultivate  the  memory 
and  the  power  of  narration,  at  the  same  time  that  it 
will  convey  a  knowledge  of  most  of  the  important 
events  in  history  and  biography. 

Another  mode  of  cultivating  the  descriptive  powers, 
and  thereby  training  the  intellect  to  habits  of  close 
observation  and  thought,  is  to  require  the  pupil  to 
give  frequent  descriptions  of  common  occurrences. 
This  will  also  afford  an  excellent  opportunity  for 


166  THE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

cultivating  a  habit  of  telling  the  truth,  a  habit  quite 
too  rare  in  all  circles  of  society.  Many  suppose  that, 
in  order  to  make  a  story  interesting,  it  must  be  em- 
bellished with  all  manner  of-  superlatives  and  exple- 
tives ;  and  hence  they  fall  into  the  habit  of  exaggera- 
tion and  falsifying  to  such  an  extent,  that  it  becomes 
almost  impossible  for  them  to  tell  the  truth,  even 
when  they  wish.  Though  this  is  a  moral  evil,  it  may 
be  corrected  at  the  same  time  that  these  other  im- 
portant intellectual  results  are  secured.  The  practice 
therefore,  of  frequently,  and  it  may  be  sit  stated  peri- 
ods, requiring  the  pupil  to  give  a  plain  unvarnished 
statement  of  common  occurrences,  will  not  only  teach 
him  to  tell  the  truth  on  all  occasions,  but  will  cultivate 
his  language,  his  power  to  reproduce,  his  habits  of 
observation  and  thought,  and  will  beget  a  desire  for 
study  and  a  love  for  the  school.  This  will  be  per- 
fectly natural ;  for  whatever  children  can  do  well, 
they  generally  love  to  do.  And  instead  of  this  prac- 
tice interfering  in  the  least  with  the  ordinary  school- 
duties,  it  will  only  invest  them  with  additional  interest, 
and  carry  into  them  the  same  accuracy  and  practical 
earnestness  and  utility,  that  characterize  the  Descrip- 
tions and  Biographical  Sketches. 

SEC.  2 — SCIENTIFIC  FACTS. — There  is  a  large  class 
of  Scientific  Facts  which  may  be  communicated  at 
intervals  and  during  recitations,  without  any  interrup- 
tion to  the  regular  school  duties.  It  is  the  most  evi- 
dent intention  that  these  things  should  be  learned  earl} 
in  life,  since  the  mind  then  is  in  the  most  favorable 
state  to  receive  them,  and  since  ignorance  of  them 
often  leads  to  accidents,  ill  health  and  fatal  results. 
Those  most  useful,  and  at  the  same  time  most  inter- 


INTELLECTUAL    EDUCATION.  167 

esting,  are  those  connected  with  Natural  Phenomena, 
Vegetable  and  Animal  Life,  the  Laws  of  Health  and 
Growth,  and  a  Knowledge  of  the  Arts  and  Employ- 
ments. 

The  air,  for  instance,  is  one  of  the  most  common 
substances,  and  yet  its  properties  are,  at  once,  most 
simple  and  most  wonderful.  Now  a  few  brief  allusions 
to  these  by  the  teacher,  or  what  is  still  better,  where 
it  can  be  done  (and  I  know  of  no  place  where  it  could 
not),  to  give  a  few  simple  experiments,  judiciously 
arranged,  will  usually  awaken  a  greater  interest  in 
the  study  of  Natural  Philosophy  and  Meteorology, 
than  half  the  text  books  in  the  land.  These  subjects 
themselves  seem  to  be  specially  designed  by  the 
Author  of  nature,  to  evoke  that  kind  of  interest  and 
mental  development  which,  if  left  without  these  aids, 
too  frequently  slumber  throughout  the  whole  period 
of  life.  Tell  the  group  of  wondering  pupils,  on  some 
occasion  when  their  minds  are  in  an  inquiring  state, 
that  the  air  once  breathed  becomes  poisonous,  and  is 
hence  unfit  for  breathing  purposes  again,  until  it  is 
purified  by  natural  processes ;  that  this  same  air  that 
is  thus  deprived  of  its  animal  vitality,  goes  to  the 
vegetable  world,  freighted  with  the  very  pabulum  of 
life  for  that  department,  where  it  is  again  purified, 
and  fitted  for  the  animal  world ;  and  you  awaken  a 
train  of  thought  which  may  go  on  unraveling  these 
mysteries  until  it  arrives  at  the  very  threshold  of  Deity. 
Tell  them  that  trees  and  plants  do  really  breathe,  and 
you  at  once  beget  the  inquiry,  "What,  and  where  are 
their  lungs?"  What  better  opportunity  could  occur 
for  a  lesson  in  Botany  ?  The  uses  of  the  leaves  and 
flowers  will  at  once  suggest  themselves.  They  will 
readily  understand,  that  in  addition  to  the  grateful 


168  THE   SCIENCE    OF  EDUCATION. 

shade  and  beautiful  foliage  they  produce,  they  havo 
an  ulterior  object,  viz. :  the  growth  and  reproduction 
of  the  species.  Tell  them  that  trees  not  only  breathe, 
but  that  they  eat ;  and  the  wonder  of  these  inquiring 
minds  will  amount  to  astonishment.  Let  them  think 
over  it,  and  talk  over  it,  before  you  explain  it  to  them, 
and  perhaps  in  a  few  days  the  whole  neighborhood 
will  be  aroused  to  investigation.  Books  will  be  pur- 
chased, authors  will  be  consulted,  and  mind  will  be 
awakened. 

Now  is  the  time  to  describe  to  them  the  various 
kinds  of  soil,  the  processes  of  absorption  from  it,  the 
ascent  of  the  sap  in  trees  and  plants,  its  distribution 
to  the  buds  and  on  the  surface  of  the  wood  to  form 
the  new  growth  as  in  the  case  of  forest  trees  :  and, 
if  the  season  is  favorable,  remove  the  cuticle,  and  the 
true  bark,  showing  their  uses  and  analogy  to  the 
cuticle  and  the  cutis  vera  of  the  human  body  ;  and 
let  them  see  this  distribution  of  embryo  woody  fiber. 
Ask  the  boys,  why  they  can  not  make  their  wooden 
whistles  in  midsummer  and  fall,  as  well  as  in  the 
spring,  and  you  will  set  them  to  thinking :  you  will 
throw  an  attraction  about  these  subjects,  which  will 
make  them  the  themes  of  constant  observation  and 
research. 

Tell  them  that  the  burning  of  wood  in  the  stove, 
the  breathing  of  air  in  their  lungs,  and  the  rusting 
of  iron  when  exposed  to  the  moisture,  are  one  and 
the  same  chemical  process;  and  what  better  oppor- 
tunity could  you  ask,  in  which  to  convey  to  them 
some  of  the  most  important  chemical  knowledge? 
It  will  beget  a  spirit  of  inquiry,  that  will  result  in 
more  mental  development  than  is  ordinarily  secured 
by  years  of  teaching  in  the  hum-drum  routine  of 


INTELLECTUAL   EDUCATION. 

study  and  recitation,  without  these  aids.  And  then 
again,  there  are  the  subjects  of  rain  and  bail,  snow 
and  frost,  heat  and  cold,  dew  and  fogs,  winds  and 
clouds,  lightning  and  thunder,  all  these  are  common 
matters,  and  are  fraught  with  intensest  interest  to 
children. 

But  the  topics  need  not  be  confined  to  one  or  two 
departments  of  science.  The  earth  and  the  waters,  and 
the  departments  of  Natural  History  abound  with 
wonders  that  are  no  less  entertaining  and  instructive. 
This  is  practical  knowledge,  and  its  value  is  greatly 
enhanced,  when  it  is  remembered,  that  in  addition  to 
the  above  named  benefits,  this  process  is  calculated  \p 
inspire  a  love  for  the  study  of  the  natural  sciences. 
Animal  life  itself  is  a  mystery  which,  while  it  defies  the 
wisdom  of  man,  presents  some  of  the  most  wonderful 
and  pleasing  phenomena  that  abound  any  where  in 
the  whole  range  of  science. 

The  circulation  of  the  blood,  the  digestion  of  the 
food,  the  processes  of  growth  and  elimination,  of 
secretion  and  deposit,  offer  the  same  opportunities  for 
waking  up  the  mind.  The  flying  of  birds,  the  running 
of  animals,  the  swimming  of  fish,  arid  all  the  various 
phenomena,  their  habits,  the  adaptation  of  supplies 
to  wants,  of  means  to  ends,  seem  fitted  by  the  very 
hand  of  the  Creator  to  inspire  the  young  student  of 
nature  with  a  love  for  her  walks. 

Then,  immediately  connected  with  this  subject,  is 
that  of  a  knowledge  of  the  Arts  and  Employments. 
Children  living  in  the  city  exclusively,  are  usually 
ignorant  of  the  arts,  employments  and  modes  of  life 
peculiar  to  the  country.  Many  of  them  can  not  tell 
whether  flour  is  made  from  wheat  or  corn,  whether 
buckwheat  grows  on  trees  or  vines,  whether  butter  is 
15 


170  TUB   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

H  natural  or  artificial  product,  whether  pumpkins, 
potatoes  and  melons  are  tropical  or  the  products  of 
their  native  soil.  And  they  are  equally  ignorant  of  the 
modes  by  which  crops  are  produced  from  the  soil,  and 
how  the  various  products  are  manufactured  into  the 
commodities  of  common  use.  The  country  children 
likewise,  are  no  less  ignorant  of  city  life,  and  of  some 
of  the  commonest  arts  and  employments,  such  as  the 
manufacture  of  the  articles  of  commerce,  etc. 

Now  if  these  things  are  worth  knowing,  they  may 
as  well  he  learned  early  in  life,  so  that  they  may  yield 
a  profit;  and  then  they  are  such  essential  aids  to  the 
practical  study  of  the  sciences.  They  enlarge  the 
circle  of  human  knowledge,  and  prepare  the  mind  for 
the  successful  prosecution  of  the  practical  duties  of 
life. 

It  will  not  be  understood  that  these  suggestions  and 
recommendations  shall  form  exclusive  modes  of  cult- 
ure. This  is  not  their  design.  They  are  designed 
rather  as  aids  to  those  already  in  use,  and  to  suggest 
others  more  useful. 

SECTION  3 — REHEARSALS,  ETC. — There  is  another 
class  of  truths,  more  of  a  metaphysical  nature  than 
otherwise,  which  have  a  powerful  effect  in  an  educa- 
tional sense,  and  which  are  not  conveyed  directly  by 
the  modes  heretofore  described,  but  which  may  be 
brought  before  the  mind  in  the  shape  of  maxims, 
mottoes,  sentiments,  rhymes,  poems,  etc.  These  are 
simple  and  direct,  and  by  virtue  of  the  style  are  pecul- 
iarly adapted  to  the  tastes  and  wants  of  the  young. 

Much  solid  truth  as  well  as  encouragement  and 
precept,  which  might  fail  to  make  the  proper  im- 
pression if  clothed  in  the  ordinary  style,  may  be 


INTELLECTUAL    EDUCATION.  171 

couched  in  a  pithy  maxim  or  motto.  And  what 
renders  this  style  still  more  useful  is,  that  facts  and 
principles  in  this  form  are  more  readily  learned  and 
easily  retained.  Simple  poetry  possesses  the  same 
merits,  but  great  care  should  be  exercised  in  the  selec- 
tions, so  as  not  to  corrupt  the  taste.  All  the  above 
selections  should  be  short,  terse  and  not  pedantic. 
Hence  it  is  a  good  plan  to  have  a  large  supply  of 
these  printed  in  large  type,  on  cards  of  convenient  size, 
to  be  suspended  on  the  wall,  where  the  pupils'  eyes, 
while  wandering  about,  will  catch  them  ;  and,  at  times 
perhaps  when  we  are  least  suspecting  it,  they  will  be 
drinking  deeply  of  the  sentiment.  This  will  have 
the  effect  to  familiarize  the  mind  with  some  of  the 
most  noble  sentiments  and  important  scientific  facts, 
and  to  inspire  the  learner  with  noble  resolutions  to 
exertion  and  perseverance. 

It  was  upon  this  principle  that  the  Israelites  were 
commanded  to  "Teach  these  things  to  their  children," 
(referring  to  the  commands  of  God),  "  to  write  them 
upon  the  palms  of  their  hands  and  upon  the  door- 
posts," where  they  would  most  frequently  meet  the 
eye.  They  thus  became  household  words,  fixed  in- 
delibly in  the  memory,  and  became  the  strongest 
incentives  to  thought  and  duty. 

One  of  the  grand  objects  of  education  is  to  learn  to 
think,  to  train  the  mental  faculties  to  habits  of  patient, 
persevering  and  persistent  thought.  The  acquisitions 
are  secondary  to  this,  but  most  easily  and  readily 
made  through  it,  and  by  it. 

At  the  age  of  which  we  have  been  speaking,  there- 
fore, the  formation  of  correct  mental  habits  is  a  matter 
of  the  first  importance,  and  should  be  kept  constantly 
before  the  mind  of  the  teacher.  The  education  in  the 


172  THE   SCIENCE   OP   EDUCATION. 

ordinary  sense,  is  more  than  half  accomplished  when 
such  habits  are  formed.  The  acquisitions  then  become 
a  matter  of  pleasure. 

Now,  whatever  may  be  said  of  the  impracticability 
of  these  plans  for  awakening  and  training  the  mind 
to  habits  of  thought  and  investigation,  it  is  neverthe- 
less true,  that  they  correspond  more  fully  to  the 
order  of  development  and  the  manner  in  which 
children  learn,  than  the  ones  usually  practiced  ;  and 
that  teacher  who  can  not  adapt  the  exercises  of  the 
school-room  to  them,  should  not  teach.  If  these 
things  can  be  shown  to  accord,  both  with  the  best  phi- 
losophy and  with  the  best  practice,  no  flimsy  apology  for 
not  adopting  them  should  be  listened  to  for  a  moment. 

Article  3— Investigation  and  Generalization. 

In  the  preceding  investigations  and  suggestions, 
we  have  kept  steadily  before  the  mind  the  order  of 
the  development  of  the  faculties,  and  the  best  modes 
of  awakening  and  engaging  the  attention  upon  subjects 
of  study.  It  might  be  well  now  to  inquire  briefly  into 
the  means  by  which  this  research  can  be  continued 
without  interrupting  the  harmony  of  action  and  order 
of  growth. 

The  processes,  or  mental  acts  themselves,  so  far  as 
they  relate  to  acquisition  and  development,  may  be 
termed  investigation — including  analysis  and  general- 
ization. And  the  sciences,  or  subject  in  which  they 
are  em  ployed,  may  be  arranged  under  the  following 
heads,  viz :  1.  Physical  Sciences  :  2,  Language  and 
History  ;  3,  Metaphysics. 

The  term  investigation,  as  employed  here,  is  one 
of  more  than  ordinary  beauty  and  strength.  It  may 


INTELLECTUAL   EDUCATION.  173 

be  made  to  include  all  the  processes  by  which  the 
mind  makes  progress  in  science.  It  is  the  permeating 
of  the  mental  faculties  into  the  substance  of  knowledge, 
tracking  it  out,  through  all  its  various  ramifications  ; 
and  so  apprehending  it,  that  the  facts  and  principles 
become,  not  only  familiar,  but  are  assimilated  to  the 
mind  itself,  becoming  a  part  of  it,  as  the  food  by  diges- 
tion and  assimilation  becomes  a  part  of  the  living 
body.  Knowledge  thus  nourishes  the  vital  principle 
of  thought.  And  in  all  vigorous  and  useful  learning, 
the  generalization  processes  follow,  and  even  accom- 
pany the  investigation  as  surely  as  digestion  follows 
eating.  It  takes  up  the  fragments  as  they  are  disen- 
gaged by  analysis,  and  arranges  them  under  their 
appropriate  heads,  referring  indiv' duals  to  species,  and 
species  to  genera,  until  the  whole  superstructure  is 
complete  in  all  its  parts.  The  power  of  generalizing 
is  the  chief  distinction  between  an  educated  mind, 
and  one  in  a  rude,  uncultivated  state. 

Again :  two  minds  may  be  in  the  possession  of  the 
same  amount  of  knowledge,  and  yet  not  be  both  edu- 
cated. The  educated  one  will  know  how  to  use  its 
knowledge ;  but  the  merely  instructed  mind  will  be  at 
a  loss  to  know  how  even  to  retain  its  stores.  Hence 
the  difference  in  power  and  efficiency.  The  process- 
of  generalization  is,  therefore,  of  incalculable  value 
to  a  teacher,  since  it  gives  him  the  power  to  arrange 
each  topic  of  study  in  its  proper  order,  so  as  not  to 
disarrange  the  natural  order  of  mental  growth. 

SECTION  1  —  PHYSICAL  SCIENCE.  —  The  physical 
sciences  afford  ample  scope  for  the  exercise  of  a  large 
share  of  the  mental  powers.  We  have  spoken  of  the 


174  THE   SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

manner  of  introducing  these  sciences  to  the  notice  of 
the  faculties,  and  the  means  by  which  they  can  be 
rendered  attractive.  It  will  be  sufficient  for  the 
present  purpose  to  point  out  a  few  of  the  relations 
and  dependencies  existing  between  these  departments 
of  science,  and  the  intellectual  faculties  they  were 
intended  to  nourish,  and  to  leave  the  detail  to  the 
modes  of  study,  recitation  etc. 

Nothing  has  been  made  in  vain.  Even  the  smallest 
atom  of  matter  performs  its  humble  part  in  the  great 
economy  of  Omnipotence,  as  well  as  the  ponderous 
globe  that  rolls  in  ceaseless  grandeur  in  its  ap- 
pointed orbit.  The  feeblest  spark  of  intelligence  has 
its  appointed  sphere,  as  well  as  the  towering  intellect 
of  the  tallest  archpngel.  They  all  exist  in  mutual 
relationship.  The  one  would  not  be  complete  without 
the  other.  They  administer  to  each  other's  happiness 
and  even  to  each  other's  existence.  So  mind  was 
made  for  science,  and  science  was  made  for  mind. 
God  made  both,  and  the  one  for  the  other.  This  is  most 
conclusive,  and  it  would  be  foolish,  if  not  wicked, 
to  suppose  that  there  is  any  antagonism  between 
them. 

Mind  lives  and  expands  in  science,  while  the  latter, 
in  turn,  is  enlarged  and  extended  by  the  action  of 
mind  upon  it.  The  benefits  are  mutual,  while  the 
action  and  reaction  constitute  one  of  the  sublimest 
harmonies  of  nature.  Not  only  is  there  a  general 
adaptation  of  means  to  ends ;  but  it  descends  to  the 
mini>tiae.  There  are  grades  or  steps  in  the  several 
departments  of  science,  exactly  suited  to  corresponding 
grades  or  steps  in  mental  growth.  If  it  were  not  so, 
then  this  order  would  be  interrupted,  and  science 


INTELLECTUAL   EDUCATION.  175 

would  mock  our  hungry  minds.  But  HE  who  made 
them,  understood  their  relationship  and  wants,  when 
he  established  this  Divine  order. 

Now  it  is  the  duty  of  the  educator  to  seek  out  this 
order,  and  so  to  adjust  the  two  as  to  bring  them 
together  at  points  where  they  will  harmonize ;  for 
unless  they  are  thus  brought  together,  there  will  be 
jarring  and  contention.  The  mind  will  rebel  against 
the  uncongenial  labor  and  drudgery,  while  science  in 
her  turn,  will  yield  but  a  meager  bounty.  She  locks 
up  her  storehouses  against  all  unwilling  customers, 
and  grants  but  a  stinted  dole  to  him,  who  seeks  her 
treasures  in  unnatural  channels.  The  questions,  there- 
fore, to  be  settled  at  this  stage  of  progress  in  mental 
growth,  are,  what  is  the  extent  or  degree  of  develop- 
ment now  existing  in  the  individual,  and  what  are 
the  departments  and  steps  in  the  same  and  different 
sciences,  best  adapted  to  carry  it  forward  ?  These 
points  can  not  always  be  determined  by  age,  inclina- 
tion, or  by  the  opportunity  enjoyed ;  nor  yet  are  they 
the  same  with  respect  to  any  two  individuals  enjoying 
the  same  advantages.  Hence  the  necessity  of  the 
most  consummate  knowledge  of  a  professional  char- 
acter, on  the  part  of  the  teacher,  that  he  may  balance 
those  points  nicely. 

Perhaps,  however,  it  is  not  given  to  human  knowK 
edge,  in  its  present  imperfect  state,  to  avoid  all  errors 
in  this  adjustment,  even  were  the  materials  furnished 
to  our  hands,  in  a  perfect  state;  but  the  designs  are 
nevertheless  most  evident.  Because  we  are,  by  cor- 
ruption and  consequent  ignorance,  incapacitated  for 
this  duty,  is  no  argument  against  its  existence,  nor 
any  excuse  for  not  attempting  it,  any  more  than 
ignorance  and  neglect  in  observance  of  the  laws  would 


176  THE   SCIENCE    OP  EDUCATION. 

be  excusable,  because  we  were  not  all  first  rate  law- 
yers. Much,  therefore,  should  and  can  be  done  by 
intelligent  effort,  to  render  this  subject  plain,  as 
the  palpable  errors  now  existing  would  abundantly 
testify. 

For  instance :  if  we  could  indicate  the  educational 
capacity  or  susceptibility  by  a,  and  the  degree  of  men- 
tal development  by  i,  then  ab  would  represent  the 
mental  condition  or  advancement  of  the  individual. 
Now  if  c  could  represent  the  science  or  sciences,  and 
d  the  department  or  departments  in  them,  then  cd 
would  represent  the  educational  force.  In  like  man- 
ner, n  might  represent  the  power  or  true  mode  of 
application.  Now  when  the  first  two  sets  of  quanti- 
ties or  terms  are  reciprocally  and  individually  equal, — 
as  far  as  quantities  so  unlike  in  kind  can  be  equal, — 
viz. :  a  to  c  and  b  to  d,  and  ab  to  cd,  each  raised  to 
the  nth  power,  then  would  the  educational  problem 
be  nearly  solved. 

But  whether  human  knowledge  shall  ever  arrive  at 
that  perfect  state  or  not,  is  a  question.  It  is  never- 
theless obligatory  upon  us  to  endeavor  to  reach  it, 
since  a  perfect  state  of  education  can  not  exist 
without  it. 

We  have  two  great  departments  of  science,  viz. : 
Physics  and  Metaphysics,  each  having  subdivisions. 
These  relate  respectively  to  matter  and  mind. 

Mathematics  and  Language  are  somewhat  pecul- 
iar, having  characteristics  belonging,  in  common,  to 
Physics  and  Metaphysics.  They  are,  as  it  were,  con- 
necting links,  binding  the  physical  and  metaphysical 
worjds. 

The  first,  as  a  physical  science,  investigates  the 
properties  of  matter,  and  the  laws  and  forces  of  the 


INTELLECTUAL   EDUCATION.  177 

universe.  It  also  deals  with  truths  in  the  abstract, 
as  the  numerical  quality  of  magnitudes,  and  magni- 
tudes in  their  relations  to  space,  which  give  it  a 
metaphysical  character. 

The  second,  or  Language,  sustains  about  the  same 
relation  to  these  departments ;  in  that  it  gives  ex- 
pression to  all  these  relations,  and  the  thoughts,  feel- 
ings and  desires  that  arise  in  the  soul ;  and  it  also 
represents  the  whole  physical  universe  in  its  tangible 
forms,  actions,  qualities  and  relations.  In  these  res- 
pects it  is  both  metaphysical  and  physical. 

Geography  and  History  are  merely  local,  temporal 
and  descriptive,  terminating  within  the  limits  of 
man's  possible  knowledge.  The  others  reach  far 
beyond.  Purely  professional  science  teaches  only  the 
right  application  of  facts  and  principles,  evolved  from 
physical  and  metaphysical  research,  so  as  to  promote 
the  ends  of  life. 

Here  then  we  have  the  whole  curriculum  of  sci- 
ences brought  within  this  small  compass.  We  might 
give  the  several  subdivisions,  did  the  necessities  of  a 
text-book  require  it.  We  therefore  leave  this  part 
of  the  work  to  the  learner,  whose  own  investigations 
and  classifications  will  be  of  greater  service  to  him 
than  any  labored  effort  here.* 

At  the  beginning  of  this  section  we  have  given  a 
brief  exhibit  of  the  several  departments  of  mind  and 
intellect,  the  faculties  arid  their  functions.  We  have 


*  We  take  this  opportunity,  however,  to  refer  the  reader  to  a  very 
ingenious  classification  of  the  Departments  of  Human  Knowledge,  given 
in  a  lecture  to  the  "  College  of  Teachers,"  at  Cincinnati,  by  Roswell 
Park,  and  published  in  the  proceedings  of  that  body ;  also  in  the 
"Teachers'  Indicator,"  a  valuable  collection  of  those  lectures  published 
in  Cincinnati. 


178  THE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

also  attempted  a  description  of  the  general  modes 
of  culture,  on  through  the  primary  period  or  that 
which  relates  to  the  perception,  and  through  the 
secundo-primary,  or  that  which  relates  to  the  pri- 
mary understanding,  judgment,  memory,  imagina- 
tion, etc.  The  sciences  and  the  several  faculties  now 
stand  arranged,  as  it  were,  one  over  against  the  other. 
Neither  can  yield  the  full  result  without  the  aid  of 
the  other. 

While  it  is  true,  that  some  sciences  are  more  attract- 
ive than  others,  and  some  hotter  calculated  to  develop 
certain  powers  of  mind  than  others,  it  does  not  follow 
that  each  faculty  elects  its  particular  science,  or  is 
elected  by  any  particular  one.  This  would  he  at  war 
with  what  has  hitherto  been  advanced  on  this  subject. 
But  the  mind,  rather,  elects  departments  in  all  the 
sciences — itself  being  elected  by  all — not  however 
with  the  same  strength  of  affinity. 

It  would  not  answer,  therefore,  to  appoint  one  par- 
ticular science  to  the  task  of  educating  a  particular 
faculty,  any  better  than  it  would  to  set  one  particu- 
lar faculty  at  work  upon  one  particular  science.  What 
could  unaided  perception  or  memory  do,  for  example, 
in  mathematics?  or  judgment  or  imagination  in  phi- 
losophy or  history  ?  or  the  reasoning  powers  in  lan- 
guage? It  requires,  therefore,  a  combined  action  of 
all  the  faculties,  as  well  as  the  combined  influence  of 
all  the  sciences,  to  produce  the  results  anticipated  by 
an  education. 

Natural  and  Mechanical  Philosophy,  Chemistry, 
Agriculture  and  the  Arts,  Mathematics,  History  and 
Geography,  so  far  as  they  relate  to  matter,  may  be  set 
down  among  the  physical  sciences  as  those  well  sidapted 
to  develop  the  understanding,  judgment  and  memory, 


INTELLECTUAL   EDUCATION.  179 

as  well  as  to  quicken  the  perception  and  reason.  The 
understanding  is  rendered  quick  and  accurate  in  its 
apprehensions  and  conceptions,  by  the  study  of  these 
sciences,  not  one  of  which  is  without  its  influence.  The 
judgment,  in  comparison,  classification,  and  arrange- 
ment of  facts,  principles  and  theories, is  chastened,  cul- 
tivated and  refined.  The  memory  has  all  it  can  do  in 
receiving,  associating,  and  storing  away  or  retaining 
the  material  furnished  by  the  united  action  of  all  the 
faculties,  and  in  reproducing  it,  when  called  upon  for 
that  purpose. 

SECTION  2. — LANGUAGE  AND  HISTORY. — It  now  be- 
comes necessary  to  inquire  briefly  into  the  nature  and 
influence  of  Language  and  History  and  kindred  sci- 
ences. The  harmony,  mutual  influence  and  benefits 
are  even  more  marked  here  than  in  the  preceding. 
All  the  faculties,  including  the  imagination,  to  some 
extent,  find  ample  room  for  exercise  in  Practical 
Grammar  and  Composition ;  Philology,  Criticism  and 
General  Literature;  Chronology,  Philosophy  of  His- 
tory and  Politics. 

We  will  not  undertake  to  decide  upon  the  precise 
amount,  or  even  upon  the  exact  quality  of  the  influence 
exerted  by  any  particular  branch  of  study  upon  the 
mental  powers;  for  these  results  would  be  governed 
in  a  great  measure  by  natural  capacity,  age,  advance- 
ment, inclinations,  and  other  modifying  circumstances. 
But  the  fitness  or  unfitness  of  each  will  be  determined 
by  the  existing  wants.  Neither  will  it  be  understood 
that  if  a  pupil  manifests  a  fondness  for  any  particular 
branch  that  he  is  to  be  allowed  uncontrolled  indul- 
gence in  it;  nor  yet  is  it  the  best  policy  to  check  him 
up  entirely,  thereby,  it  may  be,  putting  an  end  to 


180  THE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

mental  activity.  The  faculties  may  derive  strength  in 
all,  or  even  in  a  few,  of  the  sciences ;  but  they  seldom 
have  a  like  preference  for  all.  The  course  to  be  pur- 
sued, therefore,  must  be  determined  not  by  one  or  a 
few  of  these  circumstances,  but  by  all  of  them  com- 
bined. 

The  course  of  study  must  be  determined  by  the 
wants,  and  not  the  wants  by  the  course  of  study.  It 
should  bend  to  the  scholar,  i.  e.,  the  real  wants  of  the 
scholar,  and  not  the  scholar  to  it.  This  perhaps  ia 
one  of  the  greatest  necessities  connected  with  courses 
of_study.  Nature  never  bends  to  accommodate  our 
whims.  She  often,  however,  permits  us  to  go  unre- 
buked  for  a  time.  Justice  often  lingers  long ;  but  when 
she  does  call  us  to  account,  her  reckonings  are  most 
fearful. 

SECTION  3 — METAPHYSICS. — Lastly  it  will  be  proper 
to  inquire  briefly  into  the  nature  and  influence  of 
Metaphysical  Sciences. 

They  stand,  perhaps,  among  the  highest  for  the  cul- 
tivation of  the  Reasoning  and  the  Reflective  powers. 
Their  influence,  however,  is  not  less  potent  upon  the 
Imagination,  and  indeed  upon  all  the  secondary 
powers. 

The  Attributes  of  Intelligence  and  Laws  of  Thought 
are  intricate  enough  for  the  most  searching  analysis 
and  the  closest  reasoning. 

Existence,  Duration  and  Infinity,  are  broad  enough, 
deep  enough,  high  enough,  vast  enough,  it  would 
seem,  for  the  infinite  mind,  and  hence  for  reflection 
of  the  highest  order  and  the  most  far-reaching  imag- 
ination. Man's  feeble  powers  can  but  falter  here; 
but  they  gather  strength  in  efforts  to  fly. 


INTELLECTUAL   EDUCATION.  181 

Taste,  Ideality,  Theories  and  Creations  invite  the 
imagination  and  fancy  to  revel  in  the  exhaustless 
stores  of  their  respective  fields.  They  go  forth,  not 
alone  in  their  excursions  into  the  ideal  world.  All 
the  powers  accompany  them,  whence  they  return, 
laden  with  1  he  spoils  gathered,  it  may  be,  in  a  hundred 
battles  with  Science  and  Art. 


182 


THE    SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 


AFFECTION. 


CONSCIENCE.  < 


VII. 

f  Love  of  kindred.     Family  ties.     Love  of  the 
r  PHILANTHROPY  -{  race.    Sociability.    Equality.    Bespect.    Es- 
L  teem.    Friendship.    Love. 

'  Home  attachments  and  influences.    Nativity. 
PATRIOTISM.     «   Laws.     Institutions.     Love  of  right.    True 
.  bravery. 

f  Love  to  God.    Purity  of  heart.    Bevercnce. 
BELIGION.         -j  Meekness.    Submission.    Adoration.    Faith. 
I  Confidence. 

Ideas  of  God  the  basis  of  conscience.    Ideaa 
"  MORAL  SENSE.  -{  of  right  and  wrong.     Intuitions.    The  love 
of  truth.     Fidelity.     Integrity. 


MORAL  DUTIES 


RELIGIOUS 

DUT 


f  Belating  to  the  family  and  Social  conj] 
.  •{  Belating  to  country.  Laws.  Institutions. 
I  lating  to  mankind  in  general.     Honesty. 

f  To  worship  God  in  public  and  prii 
IEB         "{  'ove  our  ne'Khbor  as  ourselves.     To 


pact 
Be- 


To  worship  God  in  public  and  private.     To 
visit  the 
I  fatherless  and  widow,  &c. 


WILL. 


'  Instruction  in  matters  of  right  and  wrong. 
PURPOSE  E      l  Trust  in  the  rectitude  of  a  higher  power.   En- 
ergy and  perseverance  in  duty. 


CHOICE   AND 
INTENTION. 


EXECUTIVE 
VOLITION. 


'  Strengthening  good  resolutions.      Obedience 
to  superiors.     Law.     Submission  to  suffering. 
.  Privation. 

:  Direction  and  control  by  superior  force.  En- 
counter with  difficulties.  Temptations.  Be- 
stralnt.  Moral  suasion.  Energy  and  pen* 
verance  in  <luty. 


MORAL,   SOCIAL,    AND   RELIGIOUS    CULTURE.  183 


CHAPTER    VII. 

MORAL,  SOCIAL,  AND  RELIGIOUS  CULTURE. 

THE  Moral  Education  of  man  is  a  theme  which  has 
engaged  the  attention  of  the  educationist  and  essayist, 
for  the  past  few  years,  to  a  greater  extent  than  almost 
any  other.  Indeed,  it  has  become  quite  an  educational 
hobby.  Long  lectures,  and  earnest  essays  have  been 
multiplied  to  such  an  extent,  that  one  would  think 
the  world  is  fast  approaching  a  revolution  in  its 
morals  and  religion.  And  yet  we  have  a  bad  world. 
Notwithstanding  Christianity  has  in  eighteen  cen- 
turies wrought  astonishing  changes  in  our  civilization, 
laws  and  social  refinement ;  notwithstanding  she  has 
wrested  science,  art,  commerce  and  literature  from 
the  iron  clutch  of  Paganism,  and  infused  her  life- 
giving  spirit  into  our  political  and  social  institutions  ; 
yet  I  say,  we  have  a  bad  world- too  bad,  indeed,  for 
unaided  morality  and  human  philosophy  ever  to  re- 
form. Indeed,  vice  and  crime  of  every  dye  seem  to 
multiply  right  in  the  midst  of  all  this  light;  and  it  is 
questionable  whether  the  world  would  ever  grow  any 
better — nay  it  is  quite  certain  it  wrould  not — under 
the  brightest  beams  of  the  most  exalted  system  of 
hur.ian  philosophy,  unaided  by  the  gospel  of  Divine 
Truth.  Man's  heart  must  be  reformed  if  the  world  ie> 
ever  reformed,  and  its  stains  are  too  deep  to  be  cleans- 
ed by  mere  human  means.  There  must  be  a  unior, 
of  forces  to  produce  harmonious  results. 


184  THE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

Now,  most  men  are  willing  to  admit  these  truths; 
but  too  many  stop  with  the  bare  admission  of  them. 
But  few  seem  to  regard  them  (if  we  may  be  allowed 
to  judge  from  the  amount  of  attention  bestowed  upon 
them  in  teaching)  of  any  further  importance,  than 
a  very  tine  speculative  theory.  Their  practical  results 
are  very  rarely  tested,  in  connection  with  our  systems 
of  instruction.  But  the  bare  admission  of  the  im- 
portance of  a  thing  will  never  bring  the  thing  to 
pass.  The  admission  that  drunkenness  is  an  evil,  and 
that  stealing  is  a  crime,  will  never  punish  theft  or 
reform  drunkenness.  Our  practice  must,  in  all  cases, 
correspond  with  our  theory,  if  we  ever  expect  to 
reform  the  world. 

I  have  sometimes  thought  that  if  a  being  from 
some  other  world  should  pay  our  earth  a  visit,  for 
the  purpose  of  ascertaining  what  kind  of  creatures 
inhabited  it,  and  should  happen  to  alight  in  some  of 
our  school  houses,  and  there  form  his  opinion  of  our 
nature,  exclusively  from  the  exercises  before,  him,  he 
would  wing  his  way  back  again,  with  the  mournful 
intelligence,  that  man  has  no  soul.  For  ho.  would 
hear  nothing  about  it,  and  see  nothing.  Nothing 
would  be  done,  perhaps,  from  one  week  to  another, 
to  induce  him  to  form  a  conclusion  that  man  has  .a 
moral  nature ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  there  would 
be  on  the  part  of  many  teachers,'  a  studied  effort  to 
avoid  any  thing  that  would  lead  to  such  suspicions, 
or  betray  the  fact  that  man  is  endowed  with  an  im- 
mortal nature — a  living  soul.  Now,  whether  such 
teaching  as  this  will  ever  effect  any  thing  for  the 
moral  and  social  elevation  of  the  race,  I  leave  for 
candid  and  honest  judges  to  decide. 

Or  suppose  again,  that  we  do  recognize  the  exist- 


MORAL,    SOCIAL,    AND   RELIGIOUS   CULTURE.  185 

er.ce  of  a  moral  nature  in  man,  and  teach,  the  pupil 
a  code  of  morals  culled  from  the  highest-toned  moral 
philosophy  man's  wisdom  ever  devised,  and  yet  leave 
his  heart  untouched,  save  by  the  potency  of  human 
precept ;  think  you,  there  would  be  the  warm  out- 
gushiner  of  the  living,  breathing,  loving  spirit  of 
Christianity  in  it?  Think  you  it  would  restrain  him, 
and  sustain  him  in  the  dark  hours  of  temptation  and 
affliction  ?  I  tell  you  nay.  The  fact  is,  there  is  no 
sound  and  enduring  morality  without  Religion.  The 
best  organized  governments,  and  the  best  modeled 
social  cc  mpacts  testify  conclusively  upon  this  point. 
Religion,  or  piety,  is  the  basis  of  every  sound  principle 
and  every  redeeming  feature  in  man's  nature  ;  and 
the  attempts  to  make  him  moral  without  making  him 
religious,  are  like  the  attempts  to  change  the  leopard 
to  a  kid,  by  feeding  it  with  milk,  or  to  produce  a  crop 
of  roses  from  a  growth  of  thistles.  The  adder's  sting 
is  not  removed  because  he  is  petted  like  a  harmless 
thing ;  nor  the  viper's  fang,  because  he  lies  in  your 
bosom.  We  do  not  say  by  this,  that  moral  acts  can 
not  be  performed,  and  from  good  motives  too,  by 
those  who  may  be  irreligious  ;  but  we  do  say,  that 
just  as  soon  as  the  motive  which  impels  the  act,  pro- 
ceeds from  the  right  source,  that  moment  the  act 
approximates  a  religious  act  in  the  truest  sense  of 
the  term. 

Let  man's  heart  be  right,  and  then  all  the  acts  pro- 
ceeding frcm  it,  will  be  right  also  ;  but  let  it  be  evil, 
and  the  issues  can  not  be  otherwise  than  evil ;  because 
"  The  same  fountain  can  not  send  forth  bitter  water 
and  sweet. "  "  A  corrupt  tree  can  not  bring  forth 
good  fruit,  neither  can  a  good  tree  bring  forth  evil 
fruit."  "Either  make  the  tree  good  and  his  fruit 
16 


186  THE   SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

good,  or  the  tree  corrupt  and  his  fruit  corrupt ;  for 
the  tree  is  known  by  his  fruit. " 

All  the  cold  rules  of  morality  you  may  hang  about 
a  man,  if  they  do  not  affect  his  heart,  will  only  gall 
him  like  so  many  chains,  weighing  him  down  with 
their  unnatural  burdens,  and  revealing  more  and  more 
the  corruptions  of  his  heart.  To  throw  the  white 
mantle  of  morality  over  the  dead  carcass  of  sin,  is 
like  "painting  the  sepulchers  of  dead  men's  bones." 
To  till  a  wicked  heart  with  moral  precepts  alone,  is 
like  the  "parable  in  a  fool's  mouth,"  or  the  "jewel 
of  gold  in  the  swine's  snout. "  True  religion,  and 
true  morality,  are  therefore  inseparable  in  their  true 
results.  The  attempts  to  sunder  them  are  like  the 
attempt  to  separate  the  heat  from  the  fire,  the  light 
from  the  sun,  or  the  colors  from  the  rainbow.  The 
moment  you  do  it,  it  dies.  You  paralyze  every  ener- 
gizing principle,  and  the  shapeless  mass  of  morality, 
falls  a  cold,  heartless  thing.  And  the  attempts  to 
separate  science  and  religion  are  not  less  destructive 
to  the  vitality  of  both,  and  are  doing  more,  to-day, 
to  destroy  the  effects  they  were  designed  to  produce 
upon  the  human  race,  than  most  men  are  aware. 
They  were  made  to  go  hand  in  hand. 

When  we  shall  come  to  recognize,  in  our  practice 
as  well  as  theory,  the  great  fact,  that  man  is  by  nature 
a  religious  and  social  being,  and  that  morality  is  noth- 
ing more  than  the  legitimate  fruits  of  the  right  cul- 
ture of  these  natures, — or  this  nature,  we  might 
almost  say ;  for  they  can  scarcely  be  distinguished  in 
their  origin  and  effects,  so  intimately  blended  are  they 
in  the  composition  of  human  nature— then  we  may 
reasonably  expect  the  improvements  of  which  educa- 
tionists have  so  long  dreamed. 


MORAL,   SOCIAL,    AND   RELIGIOUS   CULTURE.  187 

Man  becomes  circumscribed  in  his  nature  and  influ- 
ence, just  in  the  proportion  that  he  is  deprived  of  any  one 
or  more  essential  ingredients  or  elements  of  character; 
and  he  increases  in  power,  goodness  and  majesty,  just 
in  the  proportion  that  he  is  allowed  full  and  free  scope 
to  all  his  legitimate  powers.  If,  therefore,  it  can  be 
shown  that  man  has  a  religious  and  social  nature,  and 
that  upon  the  right  cultivation  of  these  natures  will 
depend  his  true  moral  character  and  greatness,  these 
being  the  true  basis  of  morality,  the  way  then  will  be 
clear  for  the  establishment  of  modes  of  culture  which 
shall  be  effective  in  moral  training ;  for  it  is  not  to  be 
supposed  that  these  things  are  at  all  beyond  the  reach 
of  educational  influences.  But  just  so  long,  depend 
upon  it,  as  man  is  treated  simply  as  a  moral  being,  in 
the  sense  in  which  we  usually  apply  that  term,  without 
attempting  to  purify  the  fountains  whence  issue  the 
streams;  these  issues  will  continue  to  burst  forth, 
leaping  every  barrier,  breaking  down  all  inclosures 
and  soiling  the  whitest  garments  with  which  he  can 
be  clothed. 

In  making  suggestions  in  reference  to  moral  and 
religious  training,  we  do  not  propose  to  usurp  the 
authority  or  prerogatives  of  the  church,  or  even  to  make 
theology  a  branch  of  study.  This  belongs  to  a  separate 
branch  of  morality,  yet  not  antagonistic  to  the  former. 
JSTor  yet  do  we  propose  to  dispense  with  any  of  the 
institutions  of  Divine  appointment ;  for  herein  consist 
the  whole  merits  of  any  mode  of  culture,  which  has 
man's  true  refinement  for  its  object;  but  we  simply 
mean  to  make  use  of  means  that  spring  up  around 
man,  by  virtue  of  his  nature  and  associations  ;  or  that 
seem,  as  it  were,  to  be  born  with  him  ;  and  which  if 
not  used  for  his  moral  elevation,  will,  from  the  very 


188  THE    SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

same  circumstances,  be  turned  against  him  to  work 
his  moral  degradation. 

Article   1— Affection. 

Man  has  affections,  conscience  and  a  will,  as  well  as 
body  and  intellect;  and  the  first  three  constitute  the 
foundation  upon  which  chiefly  rests  moral  and  reli- 
gious culture.  Or,  in  other  words,  the  proper  training 
of  these  will  result  in  a  symmetrical  moral  character. 

It  will  be  necessary  here  to  distinguish  between 
good  affections  and  bad  ones,  as  the  term,  by  most 
authors,  is  made  to  include  the  evil  passions,  as  well 
as  the  good  ones,  or  moral  sensibilities.  But  all  that 
is  necessary  will  be  accomplished  by  naming  those  to 
be  cultivated,  which  cultivation  will  act  as  a  check  or 
restraint  upon  those  which  need  this  kind  of  discipline ; 
so  that  the  whole  object  will  have  been  accomplished 
by  the  simple  cultivation  of  the  good  affections. 

The  following  classification  of  these  affections  will 
be  found  convenient  and  comprehensive  enough,  viz. : 
Philanthropy,  Patriotism  and  Religion.  These  include  the 
love  of  man,  the  love  of  country  and  the  love  of  God, 
as  the  basis  of  all  that  is  good  in  man's  affectioual 
nature,  all  that  is  worthy  of  cultivation ;  and  out  of 
which  grow  all  the  endearing  relationships,  social, 
political  and  religious,  that  appertain  to  man  as  such. 

SECTION  I-I-PHILANTHROPY,  in  its  most  general  sense 
means  the  love  of  mankind,  that  general  benevolence 
which  takes  into  its  wide  embrace  the  universal  broth- 
erhood of  the  race,  which  desires  alike  the  freedom, 
development  and  happiness  of  all.  It  is  antagonistic 
to  human  slavery,  for  philanthropy  rejoices  in  uni- 
versal freedom  and  development  of  all  man's  powers, 


MORAL,    SOCIAL   AND    RELIGIOUS   CULTURE.  189 

physical,  intellectual  and  moral.  Slavery  teaches  man 
to  bind  his  brother  in  hopeless  bondage.  Or  if  it  denies 
the  brotherhood  of  the  two  races,  it  still  involves  a 
monstrous  iniquity.  It  mingles  those  two  races,  and 
then  allows  a  man  to  bind  and  sell  his  own  race,  and  to 
make  a  chattel  of  the  human  soul.  It  teaches — nay 
it  commands  him  to  withhold  the  means  of  intellectual, 
moral  and  social  refinement,  which  philanthrophy 
commands  to  be  given  him.  Hence  it  is  at  war,  at 
once,  with  the  first  and  great  principles  of  universal 
benevolence.  But  it  is  not  our  purpose  to  discuss  this 
subject,  here.  A  simple  statement  of  the  general  prin- 
ciples could  not  be  avoided.  This  is  all  that  is 
necessary,  in  order  to  teach  our  children  to  hate  slavery 
and  to  love  liberty ;  for,  in  accordance  with  our 
premise,  just  in  proportion  as  we  develop  universal 
benevolence,  we  create  a  love  for  the  one,  and  an 
abhorrence  for  its  opposite. 

But  there  are  other  evils  of  scarcely  less  magnitude, 
if  not  political,  at  least  more  general,  crying  right  at 
6ur  doors ;  which  evils  universal  benevolence  would 
seek  to  drive  from  the  abodes  of  men.  We  refer  to 
the  needless  and  odious  distinctions  that  prevail  in 
what  is  termed  refined  society,  by  which  the  child  is 
taught,  in  the  most  forcible  manner,  to  respect  and 
love  one  class  of  society,  and  to  disrespect  and  despise 
the  other.  This  is  one  of  those  polite,  unobtrusive, 
yet  insidious  vices  that  makes  its  inroads  upon  us  in 
the  most  stealthy  manner,  taking  advantage  of  the 
very  likes  and  dislikes  of  our  nature,  commencing  at 
the  very  beginning  of  our  intercourse  with  the  world, 
and  wielding  a  power  over  human  conduct  and  human 
happiness  scarcely  equaled,  and  never  excelled, by  any 
other  vice.  It  is  scarcely  less  criminal  in  its  ultimate 


190  THE   SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

i«sults  than  human  slavery;  singe,  when  it  ripens,  and 
takes  possession  of  the  human  heart,  accompanied  as 
it  usually  is  by  a  lust  of  power  and  gain,  it  teaches 
man  to  defraud,  devour  and  oppress  his  neighbor.  It 
is,  therefore,  the  very  root  of  bitterness  in  the  sin  of 
slavery.  It  is  antagonistic  to  the  law  of  God  and  the 
revealed  character  of  God ;  for  the  first  teaches  to  love 
our  neighbor,  and  the  other  informs  us  that  he  is  no 
respecter  of  persons. 

When  shall  our  people  learn  the  true  sources  of 
happiness  and  greatness?  When  and  where  is  there 
a  better  time,  and  a  better  place, to  teach  these  things 
than  in  the  family  and  in  the  school,  in  which  the 
character  of  the  man  and  the  woman  is  forming?  If 
it  is  deferred  until  later  years,  that  character  will  be 
warped  by  a  thousand  counter  influences.  A  dem- 
agogue and  a  hypocritical  state  of  society  are  the 
very  worst  teachers  of  morality  and  religion — except 
in  a  negative  way — that  could  be  employed. 

The  questions  again  recur,  "  When  and  where  are 
the  most  befitting  places,  and  who  are  the  best  teach- 
ers of  these  things  ?  "  We  answer,as  before  indicated, 
"In  our  homes  and  in  our  schools,  and  by  our  parents 
and  by  our  teachers."  The  home  influences  and  asso- 
ciations are  the  strongest,  The  school,  which  should 
be  modeled,  as  nearly  as  possible,  upon  the  same  prin- 
ciples, so  that  it  may  take  up  the  same  course  of  train- 
ing, is  next  in  strength,  and  the  stepping-stone  from 
the  family  to  the  community  of  families.  Both  of 
these  institutions,  viz.,  the  family  and  the  school,  are 
only  preparatory  to  the  great  institution  of  human 
society,  to  which  the  pupil  graduates  at  an  early  age. 

Parents  are  the  natural  and  rightful  guardians  of 
youth ;  and,  by  virtue  of  this  relationship,  they  have 


MORAL,    SOCIAL,    AND   RELIGIOUS    CULTURE.  191 

an  influence  over  them  that  none  others  can  have.  The 
teacher,  by  virtue  of  his  office,  is  in  loco  parentis,  for 
the  time  being,  in  which  position  the  parent  delegates 
to  him  all  the  powers  he  relinquishes,  and  even  grants 
him  rights  and  privileges  in  common  with  himself. 
Thus,  in  a  proper  state  of  society,  the  child  is  never 
without  a  guide — a  constant  text-book  in  morals.  It 
becomes  necessary  now  to  inquire  into  the  nature  and 
potency  of  these  educational  forces,  and  at  the  same 
time,  into  the  modes  of  applying  them. 

The  love  of  kindred,  or  special  philanthropy,  is  among 
the  first  affections  of  the  human  heart  that  show  signs 
of  development;  and  hence  it  demands  the  first  atten- 
tion. This  is  exhibited  in  the  first  answering  tokens 
given  from  the  child  to  the  mother.  The  means  of 
culture  have  been  briefly  described  in  the  preceding 
chapters.  It  may  not  be  inappropriate,  however,  to 
add  that  the  love  of  kindred  or  family  ties — the  affections, 
constitute  not  only  one  of  the  dearest  bonds  on  earth, 
but  the  basis  also,  or  germ  of  universal  benevolence. 
These  affections  embrace,  1.  Parental  love,  or  the  love 
the  parent  bears  to  the  offspring;  and  2.  The  response 
to  it,  or  filial  love.  The  fact  of  its  existence  on  the 
part  of  the  parent  first,  is  only  in  accordance  with 
what  is  observable  in  every  other  department  of  na- 
ture, the  former  acting  as  a  stimulant  upon  the  lat- 
ter, calling  it  out  and  giving  it  character.  It  might 
Beem  selfish  at  first,  but  not  more  so  than  all  other 
early  manifestations,  relating  to  our  sentient  organism. 
The  desire  for  food,  for  example,  is  among  the  first, 
and  seemingly  selfish ;  yet  it  has  the  most  benevolent 
object  in  view.  Here  then  we  behold  the  buds  of 
affection  making  their  appearance  among  the  very 
first  manifestations  of  intelligence. 


192  THE    SCIENCE    OP    EDUCATION. 

Now,  it' the  dews  and  the  showers,  the  sunshine  and 
,he  shade  of  parental  love,  are  shed  upon  these,  in  due 
proportion,  they  will  unfold  their  tender  leaves,  reveal- 
ing the  morally  beautiful,  just  as  surely  as  physical 
beauty  is  developed  under  corresponding  influences  in 
the  physical  world.  But  how  they  wither  and  die,  or 
take  on  some  monstrous  growth,  when  nipped  by  sel- 
fishness and  neglect,  or  scorched  and  blasted  by  the 
hot  breath  of  anger  and  revenge !  Hence,  those  cor- 
ruptions of  the  aftectional  nature,  that  manifest  them- 
selves in  the  form  of  the  evil  passions.  They  do  not 
exist  because  they  were  planted  there  by  the  hand  of 
the  Creator :  they  are  nothing  more  nor  less  than  the 
fruits  of  a  monstrous,  perverted  or  dwarfed  growth 
of  the  good  affections,  produced  by  the  poisonous 
breath  of  sin.  The  family,  therefore,  and  school, 
which  is  only  a  generalized  family,  should  contain  all 
the  nurturing  elements  that  feed  those  tender  plants, 
until  they  shall  strike  their  roots  deep  in  the  soil  of 
the  human  heart,  and  lift  up  their  branches  to  the 
sunlight  and  the  breeze,  and  shed  their  fragrance 
upon  all  the  surrounding  world. 

It  is  wonderful  to  witness  all  the  manifestations  of 
a  human  being,  even  for  a  short  time.  In  doing  this, 
it  will  not  be  sufficient  to  take  cognizance  of  the  ex- 
traordinary occurrences  alone:  the  ordinary  events. 
and  the  common  occurrences  are  the  true  indices  to 
the  nature  and  wants  of  the  child.  Every  motion  and 
every  desire  is  significant  of  some  passion  which  is 
destined  to  reign  or  riot  in  the  human  heart.  They 
only  appear  insignificant  because  we  do  not  compre- 
hend their  depth  of  meaning. 

To  an  uncultivated  mind,  and  an  eye  unaccustomed 
to  trace  the  delicate  workmanship  of  nature,  a  ledge 


MORAL,    SOCIAL,    AND    LJELIGIOUS    CULTURE.  193 

cf  recks  presents  nothing  but  a  huge,  misshapen  mass. 
But  the  student  of  nature  sees  harmony  and  beauty 
in  every  part,  and  reads  in  legible  characters  the  dates 
and  names  of  the  several  geological  periods.  Both 
of  these  individuals  may  look  upon  a  meadow,  clothed 
in  verdure;  the  one  sees  nothing  but  grass,  the  other 
sees  a  hundred  beautiful  flowers.  They  listen  to  the 
music  of  nature :  the  one  hears  a  noise,  the  other  lis- 
tens, transported,  to  the  rapturous  hymnings  of  harps 
attuned  to  the  sweetest  melody.  The  one  can  scarcely 
bear  the  tedium  of  nature's  walks,  or  the  long,  dull 
silence  that  reigns  in  her  bowers;  the  other  recognizes 
himself  addressed  by  every  sight  and  every  sound ;  and 
if  he  had  a  thousand  eyes  and  a  thousand  ears,  he 
could  fi.nd  employment  for  them  all,  for  every  hour. 

Thus  it  is  with  children  and  teachers.  One  person 
looks  upon  a  child.  He  sees  nothing  but  a  rude,  med- 
dlesome, deceitful  pest,  and  usually  treats  him  accord- 
ingly :  the  other  sees  slumbering  there  all  the  elements 
of  true  manhood,  nobility  and  godlike  power.  The 
one  sees  in  every  look,  and  motion,  and  thought 
nought  but  selfishness,  craft  and  guile,  and  treats  him 
with  every  mark  of  suspicion  and  disrespect:  the 
other  looks  beyond  the  mere  outward  act,  to  the  mo- 
tive that  impelled  it,  and  by  a  word  or  look  he  antici- 
pates his  desires  and  checks  the  rising  storm,  or  feeds 
the  noble  flame. 

So  one  mother  hears  her  infant  when  it  cries,  and 
she  administers  to  its  wants,  as  she  does  to  the  calf's 
or  the  pig's :  another  hears  it  even  before  it  cries,  and 
feasts  it  upon  the  pure  milk  of  human  kindness.  The 
one  hears  in  those  torturing  screams,  nought  but  the 
rude  expressions  of  selfish  desire,  or  spleenish  want : 
the  other  analyzes  those  infant  wails,  and  recognizes 
17 


194  TilE    SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

in  them  the  tones  of  anguish  or  anger,  of  suffering  or 
legitimate  desire;  and  knowing,  she  is  prepared  to 
treat  those  desires  judiciously.  The  one  hears  an 
angry  broil  among  her  brood,  and  rushing  in  with 
wicked  words  and  maddening  blows,  dealt  right  and 
left,  she  assaults  the  contending  parties,  and  succeeds 
in  putting  them  to  flight,  and  it  may  be  to  silence.  But 
what  a  silence!  Mark  those  flashing  eyes,  as  they 
gleam,  fiery  red,  eagh  upon  his  antagonist  from  their 
lairs,  and  shoot  their  angry  arrows  into  each  others 
hearts.  Think  you  they  are  subdued?  So  then  is  the 
tiger  chafed  by  his  prison  bars.  The  other  hears  the 
contentions  of  her  little  ones,  fierce  it  may  be,  but  her 
heart  swells,  unutterably  full  of  emotions,  for  the 
future  of  the  man ;  and,  with  these  struggling  for 
utterance,  she  speaks,  but  not  in  anger.  Her  melting 
tones  fall  upon  those  hearts  like  oil  upon  the  troubled 
waters;  and  the  little  ones,  attracted  by  their  sorrow- 
ful tenderness,  glance  quickly  into  that  tearful  eye — 
their  anger  is  forgotten.  They  hasten  to  their  mother's 
arms — the  asylum  from  the  storm — to  seek  her  pardon 
and  a  reconciliation. 

Now  we  have  drawn  two  pictures  from  real  life,  it 
may  be  one  from  each  extreme ;  but  the  intermediate 
grades  are  scarcely  less  influential.  We  leave  them 
to  be  filled  out  by  the  reader.  Under  the  latter  treat- 
ment, the  elements  and  conditions  are  favorable  to  a 
vigorous  growth;  and  as  the  processes  go  forward, 
these  desires  ripen  into  other  forms  of  affection.  The 
little  children  have  been  taught  the  first  lesson,  at 
least,  in  morals  and  religion,  viz. :  "to  love  one  an- 
other : "  and  these  affections,  losing  none  of  their 
essential  characteristics,  as  a  filial  bond,  go  on  widen- 
.ng,  and  deepening,  and  strengthening,  until  they 


MORAL,    SOCIAL,    AND    RELIGIOUS   CULTURE.  195 

embrace  the  whole  human  family.  The  very  affec- 
tions that  cling  so  tightly  about  the  mother,  father, 
sister,  or  brother,  gather  sufficient  nourishment  and 
strength  from  these  sources,  to  enable  them  to  shoot 
out  their  branches  and  tendrils,  and  to  entwine  about 
other  objects;  and  hence  commences  a  more  compre- 
hensive growth — a  love  for  the  race.  This  prepares  the 
way  for  social  culture.  We  have  spoken  of  the  first, 
viz.,  General  Philanthropy,  or  a  love  of  the  race,  at 
the  beginning  of  this  section.  We  shall  therefore 
devote  a  few  pages  to  the  latter,  viz.,  Social  Culture, 
as  a  means  of  securing  the  highest  degree  of  moral 
and  religious  development.  We  shall  commence  by 
noticing  some  of  the  hindrances  to  the  progress  of 
religion,  arising  out  of  a  want  of  social  development. 

One  of  the  chief  hindrances  to  the  progress  of 
morals  and  religion,  is  the  cold  and  forbidding  aspect 
these  subjects  seem  to  wear  to  the  young.  But  these 
are  by  no  means  their  natural  garbs;  they  are  only  those 
which  have  been  thrown  about  them  by  a  mistaken 
idea  as  to  the  true  nature  and  intent  of  these  subjects. 
If  any  thing  in  the  wide  world  should  be  attractive, 
it  should  be  piety  or  religion,  which  has  the  same 
import  as  wisdom,  as  used  in  the  Bible.  "  She  is  a  tree 
of  life  to  them  that  lay  hold  on  her,"  etc.  "  Her  price 
is  above  the  price  of  rubies.  "  "Her  ways  are  ways 
of  pleasantness,  and  all  her  paths  are  paths  of  peace." 
"The  path  of  the  just  shineth  brighter  and  brighter, 
unto  the  perfect  day,"  etc.  Bat  it  is  unnecessary  to 
extend  evidence  upon  this  point.  The  whole  Bible  is 
a  mountain  of  testimony ;  and  ten  thousand  living 
witnesses  have  testified  to  the  same  fact.  Beauty  and 
truth  are  inseparable  companions.  They  are  both 
equally  attractive  to  the  moral  nature  of  mau. 


196  TUB    SCIENCE   OP    EDUCATION. 

It  will  be  necessary,  however,  to  distinguish  between 
the  really  beautiful  or  attractive,  and  that  which  ia 
deceptive,  having  only  the  appearance — between  sen- 
sual pleasures  and  those  of  a  higher  order.  Religion 
or  Wisdom  ever,  represents  the  latter,  and  in  that 
sense  she  should  be  held  up  to  the  young.  She  de- 
prives man  of  no  rational  enjoyment.  Indeed  she 
high  tens  every  earthly  pleasure,  and  assuages  every 
earthly  sorrow.  Every  earthly  blessing  grows  doubly 
dear,  when  piety  throws  her  pure  mantle  over  its  en- 
joyment. It  is  true,  she  teaches  us  to  deny  ourselves 
of  the  sinful  pleasures  of  the  world;  but  in  this  we 
only  exchange  dross  for  gold.  She  teaches  us  to 
"take  up  our  cross,"  etc.,  and  to  wage  a  continual 
warfare  against  sin  ;  but  in  all  this,  we  are  more  than 
compensated,  not  only  by  the  peace  of  conscience, 
and  the  lively  hopes  and  joys  inspired  within,  but  by 
the  conscious  strength  we  acquire ;  and  the  very  air 
we  breathe,  becomes  more  precious,  because  of  its 
source.  Our  friends  become  more  dear,  because  we 
can  love  them  with  a  purer,  intenser  affection.  Our 
property  is  enhanced  in  value  to  us,  because  we  can 
use  it  (in  which  consists  the  only  pleasure  we  can 
derive  from  it)  to  promote  the  happiness  of  our  fellow 
men,  and  to  advance  the  cause  of  our  Master. 

Tf  *"j.  l»udy  should  be  happy,  it  certainly  should  be 
he  who  has  a  title  to  both  earth  and  Heaven.  If  any 
body  on  earth  should  laugh,  it  should  be  the  good 
man  ;  if  any  body  should  mourn,  it  should  be  the  bad 
man  ;  for  "  the  way  of  transgressors  is  hard.  "  "  The 
wicked  are  like  the  troubled  sea  that  casts  up  mire 
and  dirt.  "  "  There  is  no  peace  for  the  wicked,  saith 
my  God."  "  The  lamp  of  the  wicked  shall  be  put 
out."  All  the  family  and  social  ties  are  rendered 


MORAL,    SOCIAL,    AND    RELIGIOUS    CULTURE.         197 

doubly  dear,  because  they  are  hallowed  by  the  sacred 
influences  of  piety.  But  while  it  is  our  purpose  to 
show  the  nature  and  necessity  of  social  culture,  it 
seems  necessary  at  the  same  time,  to  show  that  such 
culture  will  not  be  antagonistic  to  man's  religious 
nature. 

That  man  is  a  social  being,  no  one  but  a  hermit 
would  deny.  We  have  shown  that  he  is  a  religious 
being,  and  a  moral  being.  Now  if  his  social  nature 
is  in  antagonism  with  either  of  these,  we  at  once  dis- 
cover a  war  among  the  constituents  of  man's  nature, 
which  criminates  his  Maker,  and  makes  man  the  sport 
of  contending  forces.  In  assuming  the  foregoing 
position,  it  is  not  necessary  to  assert  or  deny  that  the 
good  in  man  is  continual!}'  waging  war  against  the 
evil,  and  the  evil  against  the  good.  This  is  entirely 
an  independent  issue,  involving  the  circumstances  and 
effects  of  the  fall;  and  whatever  views  might  be 
taken  of  that,  would  not  at  all  interfere  with  the  firsv 
position,  viz. :  that  man  has  a  social  nature,  demand- 
ing culture,  in  common  with  other  departments ; 
which  culture,  so  far  from  interfering  with  the  others, 
constitutes  one  of  the  strongest  and  the  safest  aids. 
Neither  is  it  sufficient  to  say  that  this  department 
will  provide  for  its  own  necessities.  The  instances  of 
lamentable  deficiency,  as  well  as  perverted  growth, 
prove  an  entire  refutation  of  the  position. 

It  becomes  necessary  therefore,  to  point  out  some 
of  the  modes  of  culture  to  be  adopted,  which  will 
not  interfere  with,  but  will  promote  man's  physical, 
intellectual  and  moral  growth.  And  here  it  might 
be  well  to  add  that  the  chief,  and  perhaps  the  only 
reason  that  modes  hitherto  adopted,  have  [roved 
faulty  or  insufficient,  is  that  thoy  did  not  recognize 


198  THE    SCIENCE    OF   EDUCATION. 

all  there  is  essentially  in  man ;  and  the  fact,  that  in 
order  to  make  any  one  department  of  education  suc- 
cessful, it  must  be  accompanied  by  all  the  rest.  And 
because  they  have  failed,  to  some  extent,  the  task 
has  been  abandoned  as  a  hopeless  one ;  or  it  has 
been  handed  over  to  those  entirely  incompetent, 
who  have  prostituted  every  power  to  pleasure,  and 
to  the  gratification  of  the  senses.  These  have  failed 
more  signally  than  any  others,  since  they  have  at- 
tempted to  develop  man's  social  nature,  not  only  inde- 
pendently of  his  morals  and  his  intellect,  but  in  direct 
opposition  to  them. 

Now  we  hold  it  as  a  cardinal  point,  that  the  good 
things  of  this  world  should  be  in  the  hands  of  the 
good,  since  none  others  seem  so  well  fitted  to  enjoy 
and  perpetuate  them.'  It  is  equally  tenable,  that  they 
should  have  the  control  and  direction  of  the  educa- 
tional influences,  since  these  are  among  the  good 
things.  The  moment  they  relinquish  their  hold  upon 
any  one  or  all  of  these,  they  fall,  from  necessity,  into 
the  hands  of  the  bad  ;  since  they  must  exist  some- 
where, and  there  are  but  these  two  classes  of  persons 
in  the  world,  among  whom  they  can  exist. 

Nothing,  therefore,  can  be  clearer  to  one  having  an 
unclouded  perception,  and  an  unbiased  mind,  than 
that  the  social  nature  of  man  does  need  attention,  and 
that  these  influences  should  be  looked  after,  since  they 
invariably  take  one  of  these  two  directions.  It  follows 
also  that  the  direction  of  man's  social  culture  should 
be  in  the  hands  of  tlie  wise  and  the  good,  since  it  is  a 
matter  of  such  delicacy  and  danger,  that  it  least  be- 
comes the  hand  of  a  novice  or  a  knave. 

The  inquiry  then  arises,  what  shall  be  its  nature  and 
characteristics?  In  answering  this  question,  it  will  be 


MORAL,   SOCIAL   AND   RELIGIOUS   CULTURE.  199 

necessary  to  revert  to  man's  original  constitution  and 
natural  wants.  These  can  only  be  determined  by 
careful  study,  which  will  reveal  the  fact  that  he  is  a 
being  of  unabated  activity,  and  ceaseless  desires  ;  that 
he  invariably  seeks  companionship  with  his  kind. 
Tie  seeks  company  that  he  may  give  vent  to  those 
social  desires  and  induce  a  lively  activity  of  the 
faculties,  since  in  their  activity  their  pleasure  alone 
consists.  Now  the  questions  arise,  what  shall  be  the 
nature  of  this  companionship,  and  what  employment 
shall  engage  his  faculties ;  since  upon  the  right  or 
wrong  determination  of  these  points,  will  depend  the 
success  or  failure  of  the  whole  thing. 

In  answer  to  the  first,  all  will  agree  that  the  better 
the  companionship,  the  better  for  the  man.  He  would 
derive  little  benefit  from  the'  companionship  with 
monkeys  or  savages.  His  habits  and  character  will 
partake  more  or  less  of  the  influences  surrounding 
him.  Hence  the  higher,  purer,  holier  and  more  refined 
those  influences,  the  more  beneficial  the  results  become. 
And  it  is  proper  to  remark  here,  that  his  regard, 
respect,  esteem,  friendship  and  love  all  rise  or  fall  to 
the  same  level,  and  will  take  their  character,  to  a  great 
extent,  from  the  qualities  of  the  objects  upon  which 
they  are  bestowed :  i.  e.,  the  purer  and  more  exalted 
the  object  of  affection,  the  purer  and  more  exalted  the 
affection  itself.  Hence  a  man  can  not  love  a  horse  or 
a  crocodile  as  he  can  love  his  own  species.  The  seem- 
ing exception  to  this  rule  is  accounted  for  on  the 
principle  of  perverted  affection. 

It  is  equally  manifest  that  if  companionship  of  the 
highest  order  is  withheld,  man  will  seek  that  of  a 
lower  grade.  But,  that  he  should  seek  that  of  an  in- 
ferior order,  without  some  strong  reason,  would  be  aa 


200  TUB    SCIENCE    OF   EDUCATION. 

strange  as  that  he  should  love  deformity  and  hate 
beauty,  or  that  he  should  seek  pain  and  shun  pleasure. 

We  have  cases  on  record,  it  is  true,  of  man's  seeking 
and  cultivating  companionship  with  the  inferior  an- 
imals, and  even  with  insects;  yet  this  has  always 
occurred,  when  he  was  driven  by  crime  or  other  cir- 
cumstances from  the  society  of  his  own  kind.  Here, 
then,  we  have  a  true  index  to  man's  companionship. 
It  should  always  be  with  his  own  kind,  and  should 
partake,  as  largely  as  possible,  of  all  the  ennobling 
elements  and  refining  influences  which  shall  give  a 
harmonious  activity  to  all  his  faculties,  intellectual, 
physical,  social  and  moral. 

Now  the  question  arises,  since  man  has  found  his 
companionship,  and  since  this  calls  for  employment, 
What  shall  this  employment  be?  Shall  he  do  good, 
or  shall  he  do  evil  ?  is  the  question  to  be  decided. 
We  have  spoken  in  preceding  chapters,  of  the  various 
kinds  of  employment,  suited  to  man's  several  wants — 
such  as  labor,  study,  recreation,  etc.,  but  have  not 
spoken  particularly  of  social  amusements. 

That  the  desire  for  amusement  does  actually  exist 
in  man,  no  one  can  deny.  But  whether  it  is  there  by 
command  or  consent,  is  a  question  that  might  trouble 
some.  In  either  case,  we  are  under  equal  obligation 
to  provide  for  it,  or  for  its  removal.  We  infer  that  it 
exists  by  command,  since  God  has  made  such  abun- 
dant provision  for  its  gratification,  and  since  it  is,  in 
itself,  both  innocent  and  useful,  as  we  shall  have 
occasion  to  show  as  we  proceed.  Now  if  God  has 
created  nothing  in  vain,  then  the  desire  for  amusement 
is  for  some  purpose.  If  it  is  for  some  purpose,  that 
purpose  is  either  a  good  one  or  a  bad  one.  To  admit 
the  latter  would  be  to  charge  God  with  evil. 


MORAL,    SOCIAL   AND   RELIGIOUS   CULTURE.  201 

Says  Dr.  Paley,  "  We  never  discover  a  train  of  con- 
trivance to  bring  about  an  evil  purpose.  No  anatomist 
ever  discovered  a  system  of  organization,  calculated  to 
produce  pain  and  disease ;  or,  in  explaining  the  parts 
of  the  human  body,  ever  said,  '  This  is  to  irritate ; 
this  is  to  inflame ;  this  duct  is  to  convey  the  gravel  to 
the  kidneys ;  this  gland  to  secrete  the  humor  that 
forms  the  gout.'  So  in  relation  to  the  faculties  of  the 
mind.  Who  has  ever  discovered  faculties  there  de- 
signed to  demoralize  and  debase  us  ?  Who  in  explain- 
ing them  ever  said,  '  This  is  to  make  you  profane,  this 
to  make  you  intemperate,  this  to  make  you  cruel,  and 
this  to  make  you  dishonest.' " 

This  is  a  very  fair  exposition  of  the  argument,  and 
shows  conclusively  that  God  has  not  only  not  made 
anything  in  vain,  but  has  made  every  thing  for  some 
wise  and  useful  purpose.  He  has  made  man  just 
right,  and  the  world  in  which  he  has  placed  him,  just 
right.  All  the  wrong  is  chargeable  to  man  himself. 
Another  proof  that  the  desire  in  man  for  amusement 
is  a  natural  desire,  is  found  in  the  fact  that  he  has, 
from  time  immemorial,  sought  after  it;  and  where 
attempts  have  been  made  to  deprive  him  of  it,  they 
have  resulted  in  disaster  to  some  of  his  powers  by 
entire  abstinence,  or  driven  him  to  excess  in  an 
opposite  direction  ;  as  the  monkish  asceticism  on  the 
one  hand,  and  the  shameless  abandonment  to  pleasure 
on  the  other,  are  but  too  sad  commentaries. 

Again  :  The  laws  of  God,  as  revealed  in  his  written 
word,  as  well  as  upon  every  object  of  nature,  and 
especially  in  man's  own  body,  as  well  as  upon  his 
mind  and  morals,  all  testify,  as  with  one  voice,  that 
man  needs  amusement  just  as  essentially  as  he  needs 
his  food  and  sleep ;  and  that  if  he  is  deprived  of  it, 


202  THE   SCIENCE    OF   EDUCATION. 

though  the  disasters  are  not  so  visible,  yet  they  are 
no  less  certain. 

And  again :  the  young  of  all  animals  play.  It  is 
as  natural  as  that  the  sun  should  shine  when  it  arises, 
or  that  plants  should  bloom  and  thrive  under  his 
genial  influence.  Children  need  play  for  their  phys- 
ical and  social  development.  Without  it,  they  would 
become  a  race  of  drones  and  misanthropes.  If  there 
is  any  thing  in  this  dark  world,  calculated  to  make 
glad  hearts,  it  is  the  merry  sports  of  childhood  and 
youth. 

But  the  old  need  it  also.  It  will  not  answer  to  say, 
that  this  is  all  well  enough  for  the  young,  but  that  the 
old  should  abstain  from  such  frivolities.  They  need 
its  life-giving  influence  ;  if  not  to  engage  in  it  them- 
selves, at  least  to  witness  it.  It  is  the  sunshine  of 
life.  It  makes  thorn  live  over  again  their  youthful 
days,  and  infuses  new  vigor  into  their  bodies.  It  were 
as  grave  an  error  in  philosophy  that  should  teach  that 
the  aged  and  middle-aged  do  not  stand  in  need  of 
amusements,  even  if  they  be  of  a  graver  sort,  as  that 
would  be  which  should  teach  that  the  sunshine  and 
the  showers  are  all  well  enough  for  the  flowers  and 
the  tender  plants,  but  that  the  giant  oak  and  the 
ripening- grain  have  no  need  of  such  light  and  trifling 
things.  How  long  would  the  oak  live  without  sun  or 
rain  ?  When  would  the  grain  ripen  ?  We  have  an 
answer  to  these  questions  in  the  untimely  death  of 
mortals,  and  the  unripe  condition  of  mind,  body  and 
morals. 

The  question,  therefore,  is  no  longer  "  Shall  we  have 
amusements?"  that  is  decided.  It  is  now,  what  kind  ? 
And  who  shall  superintend  them  ?  The  first  would 
involve  a  longer  description  than  the  limits  of  this 


MORAL,    SOCIAL,    AND    RELIGIOUS    CULTURE.        203 

chapter  will  allow.  We  would  simply  remark,  how- 
ever, that  some  of  the  best  and  most  ennobling  of 
these  amusements  have  been  discarded  by  the  religious 
world,  as  vicious  and  contaminating  in  themselves. 
And  because  they  have  thus  been  driven  out  of  the 
best  society,  and  all  moral  restraints  removed  from 
them,  they  have  sought  refuge  among  the  vile,  and 
have  hence  become  contaminated. 

Whether,  upon  the  whole,  it  would  be  wise  to  at- 
tempt to  purify  and  reinstate  these  amusements,  is  an 
open  question.  It  is  nevertheless  certain  that  they 
either  should  be,  or  else  others  of  equal  merit  should 
take  their  places.  This  conclusion  is  inevitable  from 
the  nature  and  constitution  of  the  human  race,  as  well 
as  from  the  sad  abuses  to  which  amusements  have 
been  prostituted.  One  of  the  most  popular  of  these 
social  amusements,  and  the  only  one  to  which  we 
shall  call  attention,  is  that  of  dancing,  at  once  a  science 
and  an  amusement,  and  in  itself  entirely  innocent 
when  properly  conducted;  as  much  so, surely,  as  sing- 
ing, or  walking  or  talking;  yet  unfortunately,  like 
poor  Tray,  it  is  suffering  from  being  found  in  bad 
company. 

Now  since  men  and  women,  and  boys  and  girls, 
will,  and  must  from  necessity  seek  society;  and  since 
this  institution  is  organized  for  the  benevolent  purpose 
of  refining  the  feelings  and  manners  of  its  members, 
as  well  as  to  contribute  to  their  enjoyment ;  and  since 
when  thus  assembled,  the  time  either  drags  heavily 
and  uselessly  on,  or  else  is  filled  up  with  vain,  insipid 
and  trifling  conversation,, or — what  is  still  worse,  since 
all  the  powers  want  activity — with  boisterous  plays, 
and  rough  and  uncultivated  and  uncultivating  con- 
duct; and  since  health,  intellect,  morals  and  physical 


204  THE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

development,  grace,  ease  and  dignity  in  bodily  move- 
ments, as  well  as  a  healthy  flow  of  good  nature,  all 
seem  to  entreat  for  some  employment  and  cultivation ; 
and  since,  in  the  great  majority  of  instances  of  inter- 
course, the  usefulness,  and  consequent  happiness  of 
the  individual  are  measured  by,  and  are  dependent 
upon, his  ability  to  make  a  proper  use  of  all  his  pow- 
ers, especially  those  which  relate  to  personal  address; 
therefore,  it  does  seem  necessary  that  some  amusement, 
having  the  greatest  possible  number  of  these  objects 
in  view,  at  once  simple,  cheap,  harmless  and  attrac- 
tive in  itself,  should  be  adopted  for  the  benefit  of  all 
classes. 

.  If  it  be  objected,  that  dancing  would  lead  to  balls, 
routs,  masquerades,  and  all  that  giddy  dissipation 
which  now  form  the  chief,  and  indeed,  almost  the 
only  valid  objection  to  it;  let  it  be  answered,  that 
these  are  mere  accidents,  and  mostly  traceable,  too,  to 
the  neglect  of  those  who  complain  :  but  that  they  are 
not  the  necessary  results,  any  more  than  the  extremes 
or  excesses  in  other  employments  are  necessary.  It  is 
not  a  valid  objection  against  singing,  for  instance, 
that  it  happens  to  be  prostituted  to  base  uses;  nor  yet 
against  language,  because  it  is  employed  by  the  vile 
to  convey  bad  thoughts.  What  would  be  thought 
of  the  moralist,  for  instance,  who  would  not  talk, 
because  somebody  had  made  a  bad  use  of  language. 
But  if  any  thing  better  than  the  dance  can  be 
adopted,  let  it  be  done:  no  good  man  or  woman,  cer- 
tainly, would  object;  and  the  bad  might  thereby  be 
the  more  easily  reclaimed.  But  there  is  that  about 
the  dance,  when  conducted  to  the  sweet  strains  of 
music,  which  renders  it  at  once  the  most  pleasing,  soul- 
cheering  and  refining,  both  to  body  and  mind,  of  any 


205 

mere  social  exercise.  In  saying  thus  much  we  are  r.ot 
pleading  for  nor  apologizing  for  the  miserable  abuses 
of  this  practice,  the  objectionable  forms  which  have 
obtained  in  the  most  corrupt  classes  of  society.  It  is 
not  more  necessary  to  include  these  in  this  science, 
than  it  is  to  admit  all  the  vulgar  songs  in  music,  or  all 
the  obscene  and  profane  words  in  language.  The  fact 
is,  all  those  irregularities  and  abuses  would  gradually 
disappear,  if  the  science  were  cultivated,  and  the  prac- 
tice recognized  and  superintended  by  the  wise  and 
prudent.  It  is  questionable  whether  any  exercise, 
whether  social,  religious,  or  otherwise,  would  survive 
long,  in  its  purity,  were-it  subject  to  like  abuses ;  and 
it  is  quite  likely  that  many  of  the  social  and  religious 
exercises,  if  not  all  of  them,  would  be  liable  to  as  fatal 
extremes,  were  they  submitted  to  as  rude  hands. 

This  leads  us  to  remark,  in  the  second  place,  that 
this  exercise,  in  common  with  all  other  rational  amuse- 
ments, needs  regulating;  or  like  all  others  committed 
to  the  young  and  inexperienced,  it  will  run  into  fatal 
extremes.  And  first,  it  should  be  regulated  as  to 
time,  place  and  frequency.  Let  us  glance  at  the 
present  practice.  Notice  is  given  that  in  six  weeks 
there  is  to  be  a  grand  Fourth  of  July  or  Christmas 
Ball,  at  such  a  place,  and  so  and  so.  Tickets  of  invi- 
tation are  circulated,  but  not  always  to  the  most  wor- 
thy. Of  course,  it  will  be  a  grand  time,  and  the 
excitement  begins  to  rise,  to  the  neglect  of  other 
duties.  Preparations  are  to  be  made,  and  a  needless 
expenditure  for  clothing  never  again  to  be  worn,  must 
be  ventured.  The  time  arrives:  and  the  parties,  ill- 
clad  it  may  be  for  the  season,  assemble ;  and  under 
the  most  exciting  circumstances  the  exercises  com- 
mence. But  the  room  is  ill  ventilated  (yet  it  must 


206  THE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

needs  be  closed),  and  the  air  soon  becomes  vitiated. 
The  youthful  revelers  become  intoxicated,  mad  with 
pleasure,  and  heated  with  excitement.  No  one  is 
there  to  check  them — no  father,  no  mother  to  chide  or 
counsel,  no  minister  of  grace  to  mingle  his  seasonable 
advice, — they  are  all  young,  and  anything  like  moder- 
ation would  be  treated  lightly  or  with  suspicion,  at 
least. 

Father  or  mother,  do  you  see  your  daughter  there, 
whirling  in  that  giddy  throng?  Do  you  see  your  son 
there,  reeking  in  excitement?  Look,  but  tremble  for 
their  safety.  The  soul  and  body  are  both  in  danger. 

But  attend  longer.  It  grows  late  in  the 

evening — Nine Eleven it  is  One;  and 

they  may  have  been  thus  engaged  from  One  or  Three 
of  the  preceding  day.  But,  "  on  with  the  dance,"  and 
dissipation  now  becomes  more  bold  ;  and  dissolute  con- 
duct and  the  vulgar  jest  mark  the  demeanor  of  that 

young But  we  quit  the  scene.  The  hour 

is  now  four  in  the  morning,  and  the  youthful  revelers 
repair  to  their  homes;  but  think  you  with  light 
hearts?  The  past  to  them  appears  like  a  dream  ;  but 
it  will  not  soon  be  forgotten.  They  go  to  their  homes, 
amid  the  exposures  of  inclement  weather  and  poor 
protection,  to  spend  a  blank,  unhappy  day,  dreaming 
in  morbid  sentimentality  over  the  last  night's  revel. 

Now,  is  this  physical  culture  ?  Is  it  intellectual  cult- 
ure? Is  it  moral  culture?  It  is  neither.  It  is  down- 
right murder  of  body,  mind,  and  soul !  Yet,  who  is 
to  blame  ?  Who  but  those  who  have  the  power  to 
correct  these  abuses,  and  will  not  use  it?  Who  would 
be  to  blame  if  you,  parent,  kept  your  child  in  such  a 
situation  that  his  physical  powers  had  become  so  re- 
duced by  hunger  as  scarcely  to  possess  vitality,  and 


MORAL,   SOCIAL,    AND   RELIGIOUS   CULTURE.  207 

the  mind  judgment;  and  in  this  starving  state,  you 
should  turn  him  loose  to  a  table  loaded  with  all  the 
delicacies  and  dainties  of  a  refined  restaurant,  if  you 
should  find  him  in  a  few  hours  a  bloated  corpse  ? 
Who  would  then  be  to  blame  ?  Nothing  but  necessity 
and  ignorance  would  excuse  you  in  the  eyes  of  the 
law.  But  neither  of  these  would  excuse  you  in  the 
eyes  of  God  or  the  world.  And  yet  your  conduct,  in 
reference  to  your  child's  amusement,  has  been  perhaps 
precisely  of  this  character.  He  has  been  deprived  of 
the  privilege  and  benefits  of  it  at  home  where  it  be- 
longs, it  may  be  for  months  at  a  time ;  and  then,  on 
some  extra  occasion,  he  is  turned  loose  without  any 
restraint,  except  the  feeble  resistance  offered  by  his 
own  judgment,  to  glut  himself  to  repletion  upon  that 
which  is  most  intoxicating.  What  could  be  expected 
but  excess!  It  were  far  better  not  to  indulge  at  all, 
or  to  get  a  beggarly  subsistence  upon  that  which  is 
thrown  out  by  the  wayside,  than  thus  to  abuse  our 
powers. 

But  this  is  only  a  faint  sketch  of  the  evils  of  modern 
dancing.  What  remedy  shall  be  proposed?  What 
but  that  which  should  be  prescribed  for  any  other 
natural  want?  Regulate  it,  both  as  to  time,  place  and 
frequency.  Regulate  it,  or  abandon  it  altogether!  The 
time  should  not  infringe  upon  the  hours  of  labor, 
devotion,  or  rest.  No  midnight  revels  should  there- 
fore be  tolerated. 

The  place  should  be  free  from  all  the  objections 
described  in  our  picture,  and  should,  if  possible,  be  at 
home;  because  it  is  a  home  and  family  amusement,  as 
much  so  as  family  devotion  is  a  home  exercise,  though 
both  may  be  practiced  abroad.  And  here  allow  me  to 
ask,  what  impropriety  there  would  be  in  bringing 


208  THE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

these  two  exercises  together,  or  at  least  in  close  prox- 
imity? For  if  amusements  of  this  kind  are  worth 
any  thing — if  they  are  right,  they  are  worth  asking 
God's  blessing  upon  ;  if  not,  it  were  better  to  abandon 
them. 

The  same  regulations  with  regard  to  frequency 
should  be  observed,  that  obtain  in  other  habits — as  in 
sleeping,  for  instance.  The  objects  will  not  be  attained 
by  resorting  to  them  once  a  week,  or  once  a  month, 
or  only  on  extra  occasions,  any  more  than  the  objects 
of  eating  and  sleeping  could  be  secured  by  resorting 
to  a  similar  course  in  reference  to  them.  Other  regu- 
lations might  be  oftered,  as  to  mode  and  degree  of  ex- 
ercise; but  they  will  readily  suggest  themselves,  if 
amusements  of  this  character  are  entered  into,  with  a 
proper  spirit,  and  with  a  proper  object  in  view.  As 
to  the  former,  however,  we  might  add  that  all  modes 
or  figures  that  have  the  slightest  tendency  to  excite 
undue  levity  or  mirth,  or  to  awaken  evil  desires,  should 
be  studiously  avoided.  No  crazy  waltz  or  giddy  polka, 
or  any  other  objectionable  figure,  should  ever  be  allowed 
a  place  in  the  social  circle,  much  less  in  the  family 
training  of  boys  and  girls. 

But  who  are  to  be  the  superintendents  of  these 
exercises?  We  have  just  seen  that  it  is  no  more 
safe  to  intrust  this  department  of  education  to  children 
themselves,  or  to  wicked  and  designing  men,  than  it 
is  any  other  depprtment.  The  answer  then  to  the 
question  is  this :  The  leading  minds  in  education  and 
religion.  If  the  wise  and  the  good  do  not  regulate 
them,  the  wicked  and  profane  will ;  because  they  must 
exist,  and  it  is  for  the  former  to  say,  whether  this  im- 
portant educational  force  shall  be  wrested  out  of  theii 
hands  or  not. 


MORAL,   SOCIAL    AND    RELIGIOUS   CULTURE.  209 

If  amusements  were  under  the  strict  surveillance  of 
the  parent,  the  teacher  and  the  preacher,  just  as  other 
departments  of  education  are,  and  treated  in  as  rational 
a  manner,  we  submit,  would  not  the  evils  arising  out 
of  them  speedily  disappear?  But  until  these  func- 
tionaries shall  come  forward,  and  proclaim  a  reform  in 
them  instead  of  standing  oft'  at  a  respectable  distance, 
and  hurling  their  anathemas  at  them,  the  probabilities 
are,  they  will  continue  where  they  are,  or  perhaps  will 
retrograde. 

This  mode  of  suppressing  the  evils  resembles  the 
ridiculous  farce  of  Dame  Partington,  armed  with  her 
mop,  disputing  the  right  of  the  sea  to  the  possession 
of  her  own  humble  dwelling.  And  it  is  reported  that 
the  sea  beat  the  old  lady  in  that  memorable  contest, 
notwithstanding  her  excellent  mode  of  warfare.  So 
we  are  apprehensive,  the  battle  with  these  amusements 
will  most  likely  terminate,  unless  the  mode  of  attack 
is  changed.  The  fact  is,  any  attempt  to  suppress  these 
amusements  without  providing  a  rational  substitute 
for  them,  is  too  much  like  the  attempt  would  be  to 
remove  all  food  or  exercise  from  man,  because  it  so 
happens  that  some  food  and  some  exercise  are  not 
profitable,  or  that  some  men  become  gluttons,  and 
others  kill  themselves  at  hard  work. 

We  have  spoken  candidly,  frankly  and  somewhat 
pointedly  upon  this  vexed  question.  We  have  tried 
to  show  the  absolute  necessity  for  safe  and  wholesome 
amusements ;  and  we  have  pointed  out  the  errors  and 
excesses,  and  shown  the  necessity  for  moral  and 
religious  restraints  as  the  only  corrective.  We  were 
compelled,  from  absolute  necessity,  to  take  this  ground, 
however  reluctant;  because  we  conceive  it  to  be 
wrong  to  attempt  to  conceal  any  part  of  tho  truth. 
18 


210  TUB    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

We  therefore  leave  the  reader  to  form  his  own  con- 
clusions after  weighing  carefully  the  testimony  pro 
mid  con. 

SECTION  2 — PATRIOTISM. — The  next  topic  under 
moral  and  religious  culture,  claiming  attention,  is  that 
of  Patriotism. 

It  may  riot  readily  be  understood  how  this  subject 
belongs  to  morals;  but  it  will  be  seen,  upon  closer 
examination,  that  the  influences  which  cultivate  a  true 
love  of  country, and  inspire  the  spirit  of  bravery,  are 
of  a  purely  moral  character,  and  can  be  traced  back, 
in  most  cases,  to  home  attachments  and  influences. 

Again  :  it  may  not  at  first  be  easy  for  every  one 
to  see  how  this  virtue  can  be  cultivated  in  the  school 
or  family  ;  but  a  little  reflection  will  disclose,  not  only 
its  true  sources,  but  the  surest  means  of  development. 
Home,  if  it  is  a  home  in  the  truest  sense  of  the 
word,  is  the  most  hallowed  spot  on  earth.  With  what 
fondness  we  are  accustomed  to  revert  to  scenes  of 
early  childhood  !  Our  weary  pilgrimage  in  life  may 
have  cast  a  shadow  over  our  brightest  prospects  ;  and 
our  present  abode  may  have  become  anything  but 
desirable ;  but  there  is  usually  one  spot  on  earth,  about 
which  the  memory  lingers  with  a  dreamy  fondness. 
That  spot  is  the  dear  old  home,  where  the  world  first 
revealed  its  wonders  to  us. 

The  traveler,  far  from  his  native  land,  when  night 
closes  in  upon  him,  instinctively  turns  to  gaze  upon 
the  setting  sun  ;  and  quick  as  thought,  visions  of  the 
past  and  of  the  dear  native  home  flit  across  his  mind, 
and  he  lives  over  again  for  a  few  brief  moments  his 
childhood  days.  The  soldier,  dying  in  a  foreign  land, 
breathes  in  his  comrade's  ear  his  last  faint  accents  of 


MORAL,   SOCIAL   AND    RELIGIOUS    CULTURE.  211 

home  and  the  loved  ones  there.  The  mariner,  strug- 
gling upon  the  wave  as  his  gallant  barque  goes  down, 
catches  glimpses  of  home,  ar.d  his  last  sad  waitings, 
mingling  with  the  crash  of  waters,  tell  but  too  feebly 
how  he  loved  his  home.  If  this  were  not  sufficient  to 
prove  the  love  of  home  to  be  an  affection,  worthy  to 
be  cultivated,  that  inimitable  ballad,  "  Home,  home, 
sweet,  sweet  home,"  etc.,  is  sufficient  of  itself  to  canonize 
the  feeling,  and  to  render  it  ever  a  matter  of  pleasure 
to  think  of  home.  There  is  therefore  a  home  affection, 
and  this  constitutes  the  basis  of  patriotism.  It  only 
needs,  like  other  affections,  the  fostering  hand  of  the 
true  teacher,  to  give  it  its  proper  direction,  and  the 
home  affections  expand,  and  embrace  the  whole 
country. 

Now,  just-  in  proportion  as  home,  the  mother  of 
patriotism,  is  made  home-like  and  happy,  will  these 
attachments  grow  and  become,  not  only  among  the 
strongest  barriers  to  the  incroachments  of  vice,  but  a 
sentiment,  when  fully  expanded,  that  will  be  one  of 
the  strongest  ties  to  fatherland.  It  will  soon  go  out 
and  attach  itself  to  country,  laws  and  institutions,  and 
become  the  strongest  motive  for  the  defense  of  the 
right.  This  presupposes,  of  course,  that  these  laws 
and  institutions,  etc.,  be  based  upon  sound  principles. 
Otherwise  there  might  be  alienation  and  rebellion, 
instead  of  attachment  and  patriotism. 

It  will  readily  be  seen  that  when  the  home  and  its 
surroundings  are  such  as  to  inspire  these  warm  attach- 
ments, the  individual  not  only  derives  the  greatest 
enjoyment  from  them,  but  he  is  cultivating  those 
affections  which  constitute  the  basis  of  true  bravery ; 
for  what  is  that  patriotism  worth  which  has  no  stronger 
incentive  than  mere  mercenary  motives,  or  the  lust  of 


212  THE    SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

power  ?  The  spuriousness  of  such  patriotism  has  been 
fully  tested,  and  the  genuineness  of  its  opposite  fully 
established,  in  contests  between  parties  actuated — the 
one  by  mere  passion  or  the  lower  propensities,  and  the 
other  by  those  lofty  sentiments  of  honor  and  affection 
which  arise  from  this  early  home  attachment,  and 
from  a  consciousness  of  right.  Our  own  country 
affords  examples  of  this,  while  all  history  abounds  in 
similar  testimony. 

Let  home  be  made  the  pleasantest  spot  on  earth, 
and  children  will  instinctively  love  it;  and  in  indulg- 
ing this  natural  desire,  they  learn  to  love  their  country, 
laws  and  institutions. 

SECTION  3 — RELIGION.  —  Nothing  is  more  apparent 
than  that  man  is  prone  to  pay  religious  adoration 
to  some  being,  either  material  or  spiritual.  There  is 
both  a  contrivance,  which  indicates  design,  and  a 
sphere  of  action  to  suit  the  mechanism  of  the  human 
soul,  which  clearly  point  out  its  destiny. 

When  man  was  first  created,  we  can  easily  imagine 
him  to  have  possessed  all  his  faculties  in  a  state  of 
perfection.  Every  power  glowed  in  an  ecstasy  of  de- 
light, and  moved  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  world 
of  beauty  into  which  he  was  introduced.  Not  a  jar, 
nor  a  discordant  note,  was  to  be  heard  in  all  the  glad 
anthems  that  ascended  on  high  "  when  the  morning 
stars  sang  together,  and  all  the  sons  of  God  shouted 
for  joy."  Man  walked  abroad  in  all  his  innocence, 
majesty  and  beauty.  And  such  was  the  exaltation  of 
his  powers — even  the  same  powers  that  he  now  pos- 
sesses— that  he  held  direct  intercourse  with  his  Maker. 
But  in  an  evil  hour  he  put  forth  his  hand  to  disobe- 
dience and  fell  from  his  exalted  position.  A  moral 


MORAL,    SOCIAL,    AND   RELIGIOUS   CULTURE.  213 

night  ensued,  more  dense  and  terrific  than  that,  when 
the  Spirit  of  God  moved  upon  the  great  deep  of  chaos, 
and  brought  light  out  of  darkness,  and  order  oat  of 
confusion.  A  blight  came  over  the  whole  face  of 
nature,  and  the  ground  was  cursed  for  man's  sake, 
requiring  additional  physical  toil  to  subdue  it.  His 
faculties  partook  of  the  general  blight,  descending  to 
a  fearful  depth  of  depravity.  He  goes  forth  to  struggle 
with  his  fortune  and  to  finish  his  career,  but  not 
without  hope  ;  for  no  sooner  had  the  fiat  which  drove 
man  from  the  garden,  gone  forth,  than  preparations 
were  made  for  repairing  the  breach.  Even  the  com- 
mand which  is  supposed  by  some  to  contain  the 
heaviest  curse,  to  wit.,  "  In  the  sweat  of  thy  face  shalt 
thou  eat  bread  all  the  days  of  thy  life,"  etc.,  is  big  with 
mercy,  and  contains  the  very  preservative  element  of 
the  race,  viz.,  labor;  for  without  it,  man  would  sink 
into  imbecility. 

No  sooner  therefore  had  man  fallen,  than  infinite 
goodness  and  wisdom  set  about  devising  his  redemp- 
tion. A  ransom  is  provided  and  promised  in  the 
fullness  of  time,  but  a  struggle  for  his  faith  here  was 
necessary  as  well  as  sweat  from  his  brow  in  the  phys- 
ical world.  The  first  should  win  life  to  his  soul;  the 
second,  bread  for  his  body.  In  this  we  see  not  only 
man's  redemption,  but  his  education  epitomized,  and 
religion,  or  a  reunion  with  his  Maker  and  a  renova- 
tion, and  a  reinstatement  of  his  faculties  are  most 
clearly  recognized;  for  "As  in  Adam  all  die,  so  in 
Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive."  Christ,  or  the  second 
Adam,  therefore  becomes  the  medium  through  which 
man  is  again  to  approach  his  Maker — the  link  that  is 
to  reunite  that  which  was  alienated  by  sin  and  wicked 
works :  for  Christ  who  knew  no  sin  became  sin  for  us, 


214  THE    SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

i.  e.,  satisfied  the  demands  of  a  broken  law,  and  thereby 
reconciled  believers  to  God.  "  He  took  upon  himself 
not  the  nature  of  angels,"  but  assumed  our  humanity 
and  God's  divinity,  that  he  might  effect  this  recon- 
ciliation, which  seemed  impossible  on  any  other  terms. 

Now,  if  this  is  the  nature  of  religion,  why  should 
we  either  fear  it  or  be  ashamed  of  it?  Why  should 
we  esteem  it  lightly  or  even  a  sacrifice,  since  it  confers 
upon  mortals  the  most  exalted  relationship  and  honor 
that  can  possibly  exist,  even  the  relationship  of  sons 
of  God,  and  heirship  jointly  with  Jesus  Christ  the 
Son,  to  "an  inheritance  incorruptible,  undefiled  and 
that  fadeth  not  away."  Such  in  brief,  is  religion,  and 
as  such,  it  now  becomes  necessary  to  inquire  how  it 
can  best  be  inculcated  in  the  hearts  and  minds  of 
children. 

By  referring  again  to  man's  original  or  natural  con- 
stitution, we  find  him  possessed  of  certain  marked 
peculiarities,  which  render  the  inculcation  of  religion 
a  matter  of  necessity,  in  order  to  cancel  all  the  claims 
his  own  desires  have  upon  him.  Man's  whole  affec- 
tional  nature  is  but  a  living  and  perpetual  commentary 
upon  religion ;  and  one  of  the  most  interesting  features 
of  the  home  attachments  and  love  of  country,  etc.,  as 
described  above,  and  of  philanthropy  or  the  love  of 
the  race,  both  general  and  special,  as  described  further 
back,  is  the  ripening  or  culminating  of  these  affections 
into  the  purest,  holiest  and  loftiest  sentiments  that  can 
actuate  the  human  mind — I  mean  the  love  to  God — 
the  crowning  excellence  of  all  love  and  all  affection. 

The  student  should  be  careful  while  investigating 
the  nature  of  man's  affections,  not  to  confound  their 
use  with  their  abuse.  For  instance,  we  speak  of 
philanthropy  or  love  of  the  race,  and  patriotism  or 


MORAL,    SOCIAL    AND    RELIGIOUS    CULTURE,  215 

love  of  country,  etc.  Now  the  legitimate  sphere  of 
these  is  diametrically  opposed  to  that  inordinate  affec- 
tion or  lust  of  power  or  gain,  which  is  denominated 
in  holy  writ,  the  love  of  the  world,  which  is  enmity 
against  God.  This  is  the  very  antipode  of  those 
affections  which  we  shjuld  seek  to  cultivate.  We 
believe  the  world  and  all  that  is  in  it  (sin  excepted),  are 
legitimate  objects  of  love  instead  of  hatred;  that  when 
properly  loved,  they  lead  us  to  the  great  source  and 
fountain  of  love,  and  the  object  of  adoration.  God 
so  loved  the  world  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten 
son  to  die  that  he  might  redeem  it.  And  shall  we 
hate  it? 

The  very  fact  that  those  things  which  were  made 
for  our  comfort  and  happiness,  and  which  should 
be  the  means  or  instruments  of  leading  our  affec- 
tions outward  and  upward,  are  made  objects  of 
suspicion,  dread  or  aversion,  by  a  misguided  appre- 
hension of  sanctity,  constitutes  the  strongest  reason 
why  religion,  the  true  source  of  all  happiness,  wears, 
to  some,  such  a  repulsive  demeanor.  In  consequence 
of  our  ascetic  notions,  .we  often  defeat  the  very 
object  we  wish  to  accomplish,  viz.,  the  inculcation 
and  development  of  religious  sentiments  and  feelings 
in  the  hearts  of  children.  We  do  not  make  it  a  matter 
of  every  day  duty  and  conversation.  We  only  bring 
it  forward  on  extra  occasions,  and  allude  to  it  in  the 
most  awful  gravity  of  style.  This  makes  children 
dread  it. 

Now  I  would  not  divest  it  of  any  of  its  awe  or 
majesty,  or  give  it  any  other  character  than  what  it 
really  has ;  but  I  would  invest  it  with  its  own  lovely 
character.  I  would  connect  all  our  happiness  with  it. 
I  would  make  it  one  of  the  most  attractive  subjects  of 


216  THE   SCIENCE    OF  EDUCATION. 

conversation,  instead  of  one  of  the  most  forbiddint:. 
I  would  make  all  other  interests  and  exercises  beiul 
to  this.  I  would  hallow  life's  duties  with  it.  Indeed, 
I  would  make  it  the  one  great  object  of  life,  and 
mingle  it  with  every  earthly  enjoyment.  It  would 
thus  sanctify  every  other  blessing  and  defend  its 
possessor  against  the  encroachments  of  vice.  It  should 
be  worn  as  a  shield,  rather  than  as  an  amulet.  It 
should  defend  man,  rather  than  that  he  should  defend 
it.  It  should  be  his  strength,  rather  than  his  weakness. 
It  should  be  his  delight,  rather  than  his  aversion.  It 
should  sanctify  him,  rather  than  that  he  should 
sanctify  it.  In  a  word,  it  should  be  the  star  of  his 
hope,  and  the  crown  of  his  rejoicing. 

But  we  can  not  better  illustrate  this  point  than  by 
quoting  a  few  pungent  passages  from  a  little  work 
recently  published,  entitled,  "Life  Made  Happy"  The 
author  is  laboring  to  prove  that  religion  is  happiness, 
not  misery,  when  he  remarks,  in  effect,  that  "there 
is  one  aspect  in  which  asceticism  is  still  more  destruc- 
tive to  the  cause  of  Christianity  than  almost  any  other 
one  thing.  I  allude  to  that  strange  feature  in  the 
character  of  the  great  body  of  Christians — that  their 
religion  does  not  seem  to  set  pleasantly  and  happily 
upon  them.  They  do  not  wear  it  as  they  would  a 
precious  jewel,  where  it  may  be  observed  by  all  that 
meet  them.  They  don't  clothe  themselves  in  it  as  a 
garment  of  every  day.  How  seldom  is  religious  conver- 
sation ever  ventured  upon  on  ordinary  occasions! 
How  seldom  is  it  brought  forward,  except  when  it 
must  be!  How  seldom  do  we  see  a  man  who  enters 
into  religious  conversation  as  freely,  as  easily,  ana 
apparently  as  happily,  as  he  discourses  about  his  busi- 
ness! Why  is  this?  The  reason  is  obvious.  Relig- 


MORAL,    SOCIAL   AND   RELIGIOUS    CULTURE.  217 

ion  is  made  a  very  solemn  and  a  very  gloomy  subject. 
Is  it  not  so?  Does  your  pastor,  does  any  one  address 
you  on  the  subject  in  the  same  tone  of  voice,  with  the 
same  joyous  countenance  with  which  he  addresses  you 
on  other  subjects  ?  Is  not  the  introduction  of  religious 
conversation  a  signal  to  hush  all  joyous  sentiments, 
and  to  call  in  all  the  smiles?  Is  it  not  required?  Can 
it  be  expected  that  our  religion  will  be  worn  by  us 
every  da}7,  if  it  must  be  done  with  a  cloud  on  our 
brow  ?  Or  can  we  be  expected  to  obtrude  it  upon 
others  if  the  effect  of  it  is  to  cloud  their  brows  also  ? 
No !  Religion  can  never  be  an  every-day  matter,  can 
never  enter  into  our  common  conversation, — it  can 
never  be  a  part  of  our  lives,  while  it  assumes  its  pres- 
ent gloomy  character. 

The  gospel  of  Christ  can  never  command  that  suc- 
cess which  it  is  calculated  to  meet  with,  and  will  meet 
with,  until  that  ascetic  dead  weight  is  removed.  No 
man  willingly  chooses  to  be  gloomy  and  sad  himself,  or 
to  be  the  occasion  of  gloom  to  others.  Why  is  it  that 
the  Gospel  of  Christ  has  made  so  little  progress  in 
the  world?  "Why  were  the  apostles,  \vith  theirlimit- 
ed  means,  so  much  more  successful  than  their  succes- 
sors with  steam-presses?  Do  you  not  believe  there  is 
a  defect  somewhere  in  presenting  it  ?  I  submit,  is  it 
not  in  this  gloomy  feature  of  it?  Why  should  not  a 
Christian  be  the  happiest  man  in  the  world,  and  wear 
the  happiest  countenance,  and  talk  joyously  about  the 
blessed  abodes  beyond  the  skies?  Can  we  expect 
that  religion  will  be  generally  embraced  until  Chris- 
tians are  so? 

Why  should  religion  and  religious  subjects  be  so 
gloomy  a  matter?  What  is  there  in  them  to  call  for 
it?  Are  they  any  thing  more  than  discourses  about  a 
19 


218  THE   SCIENCE    OF   EDUCATION. 

final  and  a  happy  home,  and  the  way  there  ?  Ought 
we  not  to  look  upon  those  distant  abodes  as  a  child 
looks  upon  his  distant  home,  when  far  away;  and 
thinks  of  it,  dreams  of  it,  talks  of  it  to  his  compan- 
ions, and  finds  the  theme  ever  bursting  from  his  lips 
before  his  superiors?  Compare  him,  as  with  eye 
brightning  and  countenance  beaming,  he  discloses  his 
young  anticipations  of  delight,  when  emancipated  and 
suffered  to  fly  to  that  home  of  bliss,  with  another  child, 
his  brother,  perhaps,  who  is  alike  exiled  from  home,  but 
who  is  studiously  silent  on  the  subject,  when  excited 
at  all  with  enjoyment,  and  only  brings  it  forward  at 
set  times,  when  he  must  do  it ;  arid  then  it  is  done 
with  a  countenance  and  a  tone  of  voice  betokening 
any  thing  but  its  enjoyment.  Which  of  those  children 
would  soonest  interest  you  in  that  home  of  his? 
Which  of  them  would  soonest  tempt  you  to  partake 
with  him  of  its  hospitalities  and  joys?  and  which  of 
them  would  give  you  the  most  lively  evidence  that 
he  so  loved  that  home  that  nothing  would  tempt  him 
to  forfeit  his  title  there  ?  " 

Such  are  the  views  of  this  author:  and  we  might 
add,  that  while  we  would  not  be  willing  to  become 
responsible  for  all  the  interpretations  that  might  be 
put  upon  them,  yet  we  are  willing  to  vouch  for  the 
general  sentiment. 

Having  thus  pointed  out  some  of  the  characteristics 
of  pure  religion  in  the  first  part  of  this  article,  and 
called  attention  to  some  of  the  obstacles  that  impede 
its  progress,  it  were  sufficient  perhaps  to  add,  that  it 
does  not  consist  in  creeds,  formulas,  confessions,  doc- 
trines and  dogmas,  however  excellent  they  may  be, 
but  in  that  love  to  God,  and  purity  of  heart  which  an 
unclouded  belief  and  a  living  faith  alone  can  inspire. 


MORAL,    SOCIAL,    AND    RELIGIOUS   CULTURE.  219 

It»  results  are  the  peaceable  fruits  of  righteousness, 
and  its  life  is  the  life  of  the  soul.  "  Pure  religion  and 
undefined  before  God  and  the  Father  is  this,  to  visit 
the  fatherless  and  the  widow  in  their  affliction,  and 
to  keep  himself  unspotted  from  the  world."  It  is 
not  all  faith,  nor  yet  is  it  all  works,  but  a  happy  arid 
consistent  blending  of  the  two.  It  may  not  be  amiss, 
therefore,  to  allude  briefly  to  the  manner  in  which  it 
may  be  inculcated. 

It  has  been  shown  that  time  religion  can  flourish  to 
its  fullest  extent  only  when  the  affectional  nature  of 
man  is  fully  developed; — that  universal  benevolence, 
and  the  love  of  home,  country,  and  kindn-d  which 
characterize  the  individual  while  subject  to  these  in- 
fluences, may,  under  proper  training,  be  made  to  con- 
verge all  these  energies  in  the  one  great  object  of 
affection — the  God  of  the  universe — thus  bearing  the 
whole  tide  of  man's  aftectional  nature  to  the  great 
central  point,  where  culminates  every  virtue,  and 
around  which  clusters  every  grace  that  adorns  the 
Christian  character.  Under  these  influences  man's 
esteem  ripens  into  veneration  for  trie  character  and 
goodness  of  the  Creator;  his  reverence  into  adoration; 
and  his  friendship  into  love ;  while  purity  of  motive, 
meekness,  submission  under  the  provocations  of  life, 
and  faith  and  confidence  in  God  may  characterize  and 
possess  the  whole  soul  of  man. 

The  manner  in  which  this  may  be  encouraged  may 
be  briefly  summed  up  or  indicated  thus :  The  child 
loves  its  parents ;  but  by  conversation,  teaching  and 
pure  example,  its  little  mind  may  soon  be  brought  to 
realize  the  fact  that  God  is  its  father  and  the  direct 
source  of  every  comfort  that  administers  to  its  wants, 
and  every  delight  that  swells  its  heart;  and  all  this, 


5520  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

too,  without  at  all  diminishing  the  strength  of  the 
parental  bond.  It  loves  its  brothers,  sisters,  kindred 
and  friends;  and  all  these,  including  its  parents,  are 
the  legitimate  objects  upon  which  the  affections  are 
first  drawn  out ;  but  by  a  mere  gratification  of  a  spirit 
in  man — a  desire  for  an  object  of  worship  higher  than 
mortal — these  desires  take  on  a  higher  development, 
and  attach  themselves  to  the  elder  brother,  even  Jesus, 
and  to  kindred  in  the  skies.  It  ma}-  love  the  brother- 
hood of  the  race;  yet  this  is  not  weakened  but 
strengthened  by  a  love  that  purifies  and  exalts  all 
others — the  love  for  the  Redeemer  and  the  redeemed. 
It  may  love  its  home  and  country;  but  these  are  only 
types  of  that  better  land  where  there  shall  be  a  full 
development  and  fruition  of  every  noble  sentiment 
that  now  swells  in  the  human  heart. 

Now  we  have  shown  in  another  place  that  these 
things  are  teachable,  and  that  just  so  far  as  they  are, 
they  are  placed  in  the  hands  of  parents  and  teachers: 
and  we  here  add,  that  that  system  of  education  that 
does  not  recognize  them  as  cardinal  principles,  will 
never  meet  the  wants  of  the  human  race  as  it  is  now 
constituted.  And  since  it  is  unsafe  to  defer  the  teach- 
ing of  these  things  until  their  opposites  become  estab- 
lished in  the  heart;  we  must  therefore  look  to  the 
family,  the  Sabbath  School  and  the  Common  School, 
to  take  charge  of  these  matters.  Anti  since  the  whole 
subject  is  thus  teachable, and  thus  committed  for  the 
most  part  to  these  institutions,  it  is  their  duty,  at  once, 
to  set  about  classifying  and  arranging  these  subjects, 
so  that  they  may  be  taught  and  inculcated  in  the 
hearts  of  children  at  an  early  age.  Let  lessons  be 
given  regularly,  and  in  due  proportion,  on  those  sub- 
jects;  and  what  is  still  better,  let  them  be  mingled 


MORAL,  SOCIAL,  AND    RELIGIOUS   CULTURE.  221 

with  all  our  teaching  of  whatever  character;  so  that 
every  lesson  may  make  the  child  better  just  in  the 
same  ratio  that  it  makes  him  wiser;  and  let  every 
wo'rd  of  instruction  point  upward  to  man's  higher 
and  holier  destiny,  for  which  alone  this  life  is  a  prep- 
aration. 

Article  2— Conscience. 

The  next  topic  for  consideration  is  Conscience.  And 
however  diversified  and  conflicting  the  opinions  are 
in  reference  to  this  department  of  man's  moral  nature, 
it  is  universally  conceded  by  all,  that  man,  in  his  nor- 
mal condition,  has  a  conscience,  and  that  it  is  subject 
more  or  less  to  the  influences  of  education.  It  is  a 
significant  fact  also,  that  while  conscience  is  the  pecul- 
iar guardian  of  the  sanctity  of  the  soul,  it  is  itself 
subject  to  some  of  the  most  violent  abuses,  from  a 
want  of  education,  or  rather  from  a  wrong  education, 
[t  will  therefore  be  seen,  that  whatever  may  be  its 
ultimate  ingredients  or  nature,  as  a  basis,  it  is,  never- 
theless, subject  to  great  modifications  in  its  manifesta- 
tions, and  only  acts  in  proportion  to  the  light  received, 
and  is  always  true  to  its  own  nature  and  capacity. 
Taking  all  things  in  reference  to  it,  into  consideration, 
we  are  warranted  in  the  assumption,  that  it  rises  no 
higher  in  its  decisions  than  the  ideas  upon  which  it  is 
predicated.  It  becomes  an  infallible  guide  to  right  and 
wrong,  no  further  than  the  light  shed  upon  its  path, 
shines  from  the  orb  of  truth.  Therefore,  the  more 
accurate  this  light,  and  the  more  exalted  these  ideas 
are,  the  more  exact  and  exalted  will  be  these  decisions. 
God  being  the  highest  possible  object,  therefore,  in 
him  all  ideas  of  perfection  center ;  and  from  him  all 
light  shines;  and  these  become,  by  virtue  of  this  ex- 
altation, the  true  basis  of  conscience.  Hence  again : 


222  THE    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

the  more  exalted  and  correct  our  views  of  the  Divine 
Being,  the  more  elevated  our  conscience  and  conduct. 

SECTION  1 — MORAL  SENSE. — The  ideas  of  right  and 
wrong  themselves,  seem  to  originate  from  this  source  ; 
and  it  is  not  claiming  too  much  for  them,  when  we 
say  they  derive  their  peculiar  force  from  these  ideas 
of  God  :  though  I  know,  they  seem  to  exist  from  the 
earliest  dawn  of  intelligence.  They  would  appear, 
therefore,  in  reference  to  some  of  the  more  direct 
operations  of  reason,  to  be  almost  intuitive  :  but  our 
feeble  powers  fail,  doubtless,  to  take  cognizance  of 
all  the  subtle  influences  that,  we  have  reason  to 
believe,  operate  .to  produce  these  strange  results ;  so 
that  we  shall  be  safe  in  concluding  that  all  these 
manifestations  are  referable,  either  directly  or  indi- 
rectly, to  the  causes  named  above.  And  we  might 
add,  with  equal  plausibility,  that  from  the  same  source 
also,  proceed  our  love  for  the  truth,  fidelity,  integrity 
and  every  thing,  in  fact,  that  relates  to  the  moral 
sense.  And  that  these  can  be  cultivated,  we  shall 
now  proceed  to  show.  For  if  they  can  not  be  taught, 
then  must  truth  be  left  to  wage  unequal  warfare  with 
falsehood,  and  to  struggle  against  the  combm-ed  in- 
fluences of  false  teaching  and  false  doctrine. 

Our  ideas  of  God  being  the  true  basis  of  conscience, 
it  might  be  necessary  to  inquire  how  these  ideas  can 
be  brought  to  as  perfect  a  state  as  possible.  A  knowl- 
edge of  the  true  God  is  therefore  necessary.  It  will 
not  do  to  believe  in  any  god,  nor  yet  to  believe  any 
doctrine  concerning  the  true  God  ;  for  our  moral  acts 
partake  more  or  less  of  our  belief,  and  are  affected,  to 
a  greater  or  less  extent,  by  it.  A  corrupt  doctrine  is 
sure  to  beget  a  corrupt  life.  Wrong  theory  leads  to 


MORAL,    SOCIAL,    AND    RELIGIOUS    CULTURE.  223 

wrong  practice.  Believing  a  thing  will  never  make 
that  thing  true  ;  and  universally,  the  greater  the  error 
in  belief,  the  greater  the  crime  of  believing  it;  and 
hence  the  more  disastrous  the  consequences  following 
such  a  belief. 

IsTow,  that  our  belief,  so  far  at  least  as  doctrine  is 
concerned,  is  almost  without  exception,  the  product 
of  education,  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  children,  who 
have  received  any  parental  instruction  at  all,  adopt 
the  belief  of  their  parents;  and  though  they  may 
change  that  belief  in  subsequent  life,  yet  relics  of  it 
will  remain ;  frequently  too  to  the  torment  of  the 
believer.  A  belief  in  ghost  stories  and  hobgoblins, 
early  contracted,  is  an  example  of  this.  Again : 
the  child  often  receives  wrong  impressions  of  God, 
both  from  bad  precept  and  bad  example.  Our  parents 
and  teachers  teach  such  low,  human  ideas  of  God, 
that  he  comes  to  be  regarded  by  the  child,  scarcely 
above  a  human  being,  and  hence  the  attachment  rises 
no  higher  than  the  human  standard.  It  is  compara- 
tively weak.  Some  err  perhaps  as  much  in  an  opposite 
direction,  by  teaching  that  God  is  so  much  a  God  that 
he  never  meddles  with  human  affairs,  but  regards  man 
and  all  his  actions  with  a  stoical  indifference.  Hence 
there  can  be  no  ready  attachment ;  for  an  object  to 
be  loved  must  not  be  a  myth,  but  a  reality,  and  must 
possess  lovely  attributes.  One  teaches  that  God  is  all 
morcy  and  forgiveness,  without  considering  his  attri- 
butes of  wisdom  and  justice;  another  that  he  is  all 
inflexible  sternness  and  vengeance,  according,  usually, 
to  the  predominance  of  the  sentiment  of  love  or  fear 
in  the  mind  of  the  teacher.  This  results,  on  the  one 
hand,  in  an  undue  indulgence  and  a  careless  indif- 
ference, as  to  obedience;  and  on  the  other  hand,  in  a 


224  TUB    SCIENCE    OF    EDUCATION. 

harrowing  dread  of  the  vengeance  of  God,  which, 
unaccompanied  by  love  or  mercy,  must  produce  a 
secret  aversion  in  the  mind  of  the  child,  and  a  desire 
to  be  free  from  such  slavish  restraint. 

Now  the  truth  is  doubtless  found  in  neither  of 
these  extremes,  but  in  the  happy  blending  of  both  into 
that  harmonious  character  which  is  both  the  wonder 
and  admiration  of  angels  and  men.  The  child  should 
be  taught  to  fear  as  well  as  to  love;  but  it  should  not  be 
a  slavish  fear.  He  should  fear  to  offend  as  a  ground 
of  willing  obedience ;  he  should  love  to  obey  as  the 
best  possible  means  to  promote  a  healthy  fear :  and 
both  these  sentiments,  in  their  interchangeable  rela- 
tions, should,  as  far  as  possible,  be  induced  without 
extraneous  force.  The  child  should  be  taught  to  love 
the  right,  for  right's  sake,  and  not  for  pecuniary  re- 
ward ;  and  to  abhor  the  wrong  for  its  own  inherent 
wrongness.  He  should  be  taught  to  love  the  truth  for 
truth's  sake,  and  to  hate  a  lie  for  its  native  deformity. 
He  should  be  taught  to  be  honest,  not  because  it  is 
the  best  policy,  but  because  honesty  and  uprightness 
are  excellencies  far  above  reward ;  notwithstanding 
they  carry  with  them  their  own  reward. 

But  in  all  this  teaching,  it  will  not  be  necessary  to 
attempt  to  conceal  the  rewards  by  any  artifice,  much 
less  should  they  be  held  up  as  motives  to  induce 
action,  but  only  as  the  inevitable  result.  The  child 
therefore  should  be  taught  to  do  right,  to  love  the 
truth,  to  be  honest  and  to  worship  God  from  principle, 
and  not  alone  from  impulse,  let  the  consequences  antic- 
ipated be  what  they  may.  Such  teaching  can  be 
done  in  every  family  and  every  school,  by  simply  taking 
advantage  of  the  common  occurrences  and  every-day 
circumstances  connected  with  other  duties. 


MORAL,    SOCIAL,    AND   RELIGIOUS   CULTURE.        225 

SECTION  2 — MORAL  DUTIES. — It  will  not  be  necessarv 
to  enter  into  a  discussion  upon  this  topic,  since  the 
nature  and  bearing  of  moral  duties  have  already  been 
alluded  to ;  and,  were  it  not  that  their  connection  with 
the  conscience  should  be  pointed  out,  they  would  not 
be  referred  to  again. 

1.  Those  relating  to  the  family  and  social  compact 
are  prominent,  and  constitute  the  basis  of  all  the  rest. 
If  these  are  observed,  if  the  child  is   taught  not  to 
violate  his  own  conscience  in  reference  to  the  social 
ties,  he  will  be  more  likely  to  regard  it  as  sacred,  when 
he  comes  to  operate  in  a  wider  sphere. 

2.  The  next  class  of  duties  of  a  purely  moral  nature, 
are  those  that  relate  to  country,  laws  and  institutions. 
This  arrangement  is  in  keeping  with  the  natural  order 
of  the  development  of  the  affections ;  and  it  will  be  found 
that  these  affections,  under  a  right  system  of  education, 
will  exactly  keep  pace  in  development,  with  the  de- 
mands made  upon  them. 

3.  The  next  relate  to  mankind  in  general,  and  will 
be  found  to  be  no  more  nor  less  than  a  generalization, 
and  a  little  different  application,  of  those  existing  in 
the  family  and  the  school. 

Now  any  violations  in  the  antecedent  relations  of 
any  of  these  duties,  will  only  pave  the  way  for  a  more 
extensive  depredation  in  subsequent  relations.  For 
instance,  if  it  is  esteemed  a  light  thing  to  infringe  the 
rights  of  conscience  in  the  family  and  in  the  school, 
such  infringement  will  be  comparatively  easy  when 
applied  to  society  and  country  ;  and  if  with  these,  then 
with  nations  and  with  the  world  ;  and  hence  wars  and 
national  difficulties. 

Now  we  submit  this  question  for  candid  considera- 
tion, viz. :  Suppose  that  all  these  antecedent  relations 


226  THE   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

•were  guarded  carefully,  and  every  infringement  antic- 
ipated and  apprehended;  and  suppose  honesty  and 
uprightness  in  their  largest  and  most  critical  sense 
were  taught  and  enforced  as  carefully  and  as  rigidly 
as  the  rules  in  grammar  and  arithmetic  are,  would  not 
the  wars  and  contentions  among  nations,  as  well  as  the 
petty  differences  that  arise  among  neighborhoods  and 
individuals,  cease,  or  at  least  be  very  much  circum- 
scribed? Would  it  not  hasten  the  long-looked-for 
Millenium,  as  much  as  all  the  theorizing  of  theologians 
upon  this  subject? 

Again:  the  little  deceptions  and  hypocrisies  which 
so  often  escape  the  eyes  of  the  teacher  or  parent,  and 
which  are  sometimes  practiced  by  teachers  and  parents 
themselves,  are  the  very  beginnings  of  depravity  of  a 
monstrous  growth,  that  develops  itself  in  later  years  in 
the  form  of  thefts,  fraud,  murders  and  similar  crimes. 
How  much  better  "  to  nip  these  things  in  the  bud  "  than 
to  allow  them  to  attain  their  full  growth.  But  with 
this  brief  allusion,  we  leave  this  part  of  the  subject  to 
notice,  lastly,  under  this  division  : 

SECTION  3 — KELIGIOUS  DUTIES. —  These  have  also 
been  discussed  to  some  extent,  and  will  therefore  claim 
but  a  brief  notice  here. 

Unless  Religion  becomes  a  matter  of  conscience,  and 
not  merely  of  convenience  and  commerce,  its  genuine- 
ness and  existence  are  of  doubtful  standing,  to  say  the 
least.  The  duties  she  imposes  have  a  higher  claim 
upon  our  attention,  than  a  mere  matter  of  policy. 
The  discharge  or  neglect  of  them  will  affect  the  con- 
science either  for  good  or  for  evil. 

These  duties  may  be  enumerated  under  the  follow- 
ing heads,  viz. : 


MORAL,    SOCIAL    AND    RELIGIOUS   CULTURE.  227 

1.  Those  that  relate  to  public  and  private  worship, 
including  secret  devotion,  reflection  and  self-exami- 
nation.    And  here  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  remark, 
that  there  should  be  a  portion  of  each  day  set  apart  to 
these  duties,  thus  rendering  them  periodical ;  for  any 
exercise  to  be  profitable  must  be  thus.     But  he  who 
attends  to  none  but  periodic  duties,  will  seldom  grow 
in  the  Christian  life ;  while  he  who  does  not  attend  to 
such,  will  soon  lose  all  life.     Hence  there  is  necessity 
for  both. 

2.  There  is  another  class  which  relates  more  par- 
ticularly to  the  religious  obligations  we  owe  to  our 
neighbor.     "  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself," 
is  no  less  a  command  than  "  Thou  shalt  not  kill ; "  and  so 
far  from  its  being  a  mere  moral  obligation,  it  is  easy  to 
understand  that  a  man  may  be  strictly  moral,  in  the 
light  of  the  human  law,  and  yet  be  entirely  indifferent 
as  to  the  claims  of  this   command.     Again,  we   are 
commanded  "  to  love  our  enemies,  to  bless  them  that 
curse  us,  to  do  good  to  them  that  hate  us,  and  to  pray 
for  them  that  dispitefully  use  us,  and  persecute  us :" 
all    of   which   demands   are    more    than  the  merely 
moral  man  can  do,  for  it  clearly  presupposes  a  heart 
deeply  imbued  with  the  principles  of  piety. 

3.  There  is  still  another  class  of  religious  duties, 
which  seem  to  be  somewhat  distinct  from  those  de- 
scribed above,  viz.,  those  that  relate  to  the  poor  and 
unfortunate.     The  nature  of  this  obligation  is  briefly 
summed  up  in  the  27th  verse  of  the  first  chapter  of 
James,  quoted  in  another  place. 

Now,  whatever  may  be  the  tone  of  public  sentiment 
upon  these  subjects,  it  is  nevertheless  certain  that  they 
embrace  the  great  mass  of  the  principles  and  duties 
of  Christianity,  and  that  their  inculcation  and  practice 


228  THE   SCIENCE   OP   EDUCATION. 

will,  to  a  great  extent,  depend  upon  the  vigilance  and 
fidelity  with  which  they  are  taught  in  our  schools 
and  in  our  families.  They  must  not  be  left  to  chance 
or  the  uncertain  influences  of  the  world.  That  policy 
would  not  be  regarded  as  sound,  which  would  leave 
the  intellectual  training  to  so  uncertain  influences. 
"Well,  the  moral  nature  of  man  is  not  less  subject  to 
control.  "  He  that  soweth  to  the  flesh,  shall  of  the 
flesh  reap  corruption  :  but  he  that  soweth  to  the  spirit, 
shall,  of  the  spirit,  reap  life  everlasting." 

Article  3— The  Will. 

The  nature  and  offices  of  the  Will,  as  a  motive 
power,  are  so  intricate  and  diversified,  that  its  strict 
analysis  will  not  be  attempted  here.  Its  general  char- 
acteristics are  so -well  known,  as  to  render  such  an 
analysis  useless.  Nevertheless,  its  relations,  to  the 
thinking  principle,  and  its  influence  as  a  moral' force 
upon  the  actions  of  men,  are  such  as  to  render  its 
cultivation,  at  once,  an  object  of  great  solicitude. 

Perhaps  as  clear  an  idea  of  the  office  of  the  will  can 
be  gathered  from  the  following  extract,*  as  from  any 
other  source.  "  It  is  the  monarch  of  the  mind,  ruling 
with  despotic,  and  at  times  with  tyrannical  powers.  It 
is  the  rudder  of  the  mind,  giving  direction  to  its  move- 
ments. It  is  the  engineer  giving  course  and  point, 
speed  and  force, to  the  mental  machinery.  It  acts  like 
a  tonic  among  the  soul's  languid  powers.  It  is  the 
band  that  ties  into  a  strong  bundle  the  separate 
faculties  of  the  soul.  It  is  the  man's  momentum  :  in 
a  word,  it  is  that  power  by  which  the  energy  or  ener- 
gies of  the  soul  are  concentrated  on  a  given  point,  ot 

*  "The  Will  as  an  Educational  Power,"  by  Rev.  J.  B.  Bittenger. 


MORAL,    SOCIAL   AND   RELIGIOUS    CULTURE.  229 

in  a  particular  direction  :  it  fuses  the  faculties  into  one 
mass,  so  that  instead  of  scattering  all  over  like  grape 
and  canister,  they  spend  their  united  force  on  one 
point." 

But  it  will  be  sufficient  for  our  purpose  to  consider 
its  several  functions  under  the  following  heads  :  1. 
Motives  and  purposes.  2.  Intentions  and  choice.  3. 
Executive  volitions.  We  shall  content  ourselves  with 
pointing  out  some  of  its  prominent  characteristics,  in 
connection  with  some  modes  of  culture. 

It  will  readily  be  seen  that  the  operations  of  the  will 
are  intimately  allied  to,  and  somewhat  dependent 
upon  the  action  of  other  mental  powers ;  that  while  it 
is  itself  the  motive  power,  it  awaits,  in  its  executions, 
the  light  of  the  understanding  and  judgment,  itself 
moving  these  powers  to  action,  at  the  same  time  that 
if-  is  dependent  upon  them  for  the  light  that  guides  it. 
It  is,  in  one  word,  that  power  which  the  whole  mind, 
as  a  unit,  has  to  direct  its  own  energies,  bringing  all 
the  powers  under  its  control,  and  making  the  body,  as 
well,  its  special  servant.  Viewed  in  this  light,  the 
mind  itself,  according  to  the  author  just  quoted,  as- 
sumes the  following  threefold  functional  classification. 
"The  intellect  is  the  legislative  department,  the 
sensibilities  are  the  judicial,  and  the  will  the  execu- 
tive." But  it  will  be  necessary  to  understand  this  with 
some  latitude  ;  for  it  may  not  be  easy  to  see  how  the 
sensibilities,  for  instance,  aid  the  understanding  and 
judgment,  the  two  faculties  most  concerned  in  forming 
conclusions.  Viewed  in  its  automatic  relations,  how- 
ever, the  will  is  the  blind  Samson  of  the  mind,  which 
must  needs  have  other  eyes  to  guide  it ;  or  else  like 
him,  it  knows  not  where  to  exert  its  strength.  It  is 
like  him  in  another  essential  respect.  When  it  tamely 


230  TUB   SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

and  basely  surrenders  its  power  to  appetite  or  passion, 
it  is  soou  shorn,  like  Samson  in  Delila's  lap,  of  its 
locks  of  strength,  and  then  like  him  again,  it  becomes 
itself  the  slave,  bound  hand  and  foot,  powerless  to 
remonstrate  successfully,  against  the  imperious  de- 
mands of  the  passions. 

How  important,  therefore,  that  the  will  be  educated, 
and  that  the  perception,  understanding,  judgment, 
imagination  and  memory,  the  natural  eyes  of  this 
faculty  of  the  mind,  be  trained  with  reference  to  their 
psychological  relations  to  the  Will ! 

SECTION  1 — MOTIVES  AND  PURPOSES. — No  intelligent 
act,  however  trifling,  is  ever  performed  without  a  mo- 
tive or  a  purpose.  These  do  not  constitute  the  ener- 
gizing principles  of  the  will,  nor  yet  are  they  the  food  : 
they  only  serve  as  the  occasion  for  action.  And  the 
more  exalted  and  intelligent  these  motives  and  pur- 
poses are,  the  more  definite  and  determined  become 
the  operations  of  the  will.  Hence,  instruction  in  mat- 
ters of  right  and  wrong,  at  least,  becom.es  a  necessity  in 
order  to  secure  an  intelligent  and  harmonious  action. 
This  need  not  be  different,  at  least  in  manner,  from 
ordinary  instruction.  It  would  comport  perhaps  with 
"moral  suasion,"  and  thus  afford  the  necessary  light 
to  the  executive  functions. 

There  must  also  exist  a  desire  to  promote  the  right  and 
the  general  welfare.  This  will  be  induced  in  right  in- 
struction, and  will  thus  become  not  a  mere  blind  im- 
pulsive distemper  of  the  mind,  but  a  noble  sentiment 
characterized  by  intelligence  and  wisdom.  But  in 
order  best  to  promote  right  motives  and  right  pur- 
poses, especially  in  the  youthful  mind,  it  is  necessary 
to  induce  a  trust  or  faith  in  the  rectitude  of  a  Higher 


MORAL,    SOCIAL,    AND    RELIGIOUS    CULTURE.  231 

Power.  Here  seems  to  be  the  very  point,  most  acces- 
sible to  the  teacher,  arid  upon  which  he  should  seize, 
in  order  that  he  may  become  master  of  the  will.  Chil- 
dren are  themselves  dependent.  Parents  or  instructors 
are  usually  the  objects  in  which  such  dependence  cen- 
ters. The  main  object,  therefore,  is  to  so  mold  and 
fashion  these  motives,  etc.,  as  that  they  shall  superin- 
duce the  proper  volitions.  This  will  apply  to  the  in- 
tellectual culture  as  well  as  to  the  moral.  But  the 
modes  of  culture,  as  far  as  they  relate  to  the  motive 
power  of  the  will,  in  directing  the  application  of  the 
intellectual  faculties,  will  be  noticed  in  the  Art  of 
Teaching,  under  the  topic  of  "  Modes  of  Study." 

SECTION  2 — INTENTIONS  AND  CHOICE. — No  sooner  are 
motives  judiciously  placed  before  the  mind,  and  the 
proper  desires  and  confidence  inspired,  than  it  at  once 
sets  about  forming  intentions  which,  under  the  influ- 
ence of  the  reasoning  and  judging  powers,  soon  ripen 
into  determinations  and  well-defined  choice,  one  of 
the  primary  functions  of  the  will.  These  may  exist 
at  first  in  the  shape  of  half-formed  purposes  of  action, 
and  may  be  weak  or  strong,  according  as  the  cast  of 
mind  varies  and  as  the  motives  have  been  feeble  or 
powerful.  In  a  mind  uncultivated  and  unused  to 
grapple  with  the  difficulties  of  contending  interests 
and  forces,  the  great  danger  will  be  that  the  will  will 
be  tempted  to  yield  those  determinations  or  resolutions 
without  making  the  necessary  effort  to  maintain  them. 
Hence,  such  a  will  needs  encouragement  and  strength- 
ening by  every  laudable  inducement  that  can  be  placed 
before  it.  Nothing  is  more  disastrous  to  the  will  than 
the  habit  of  forming,  or  rather  half  forming  resolu- 
tions and  then  breaking  them.  It  soon  refuses  to  give 


232  THE    SCIENCE   OF    EDUCATION. 

heed  to  the  «calls  of  those  premature  and  irresolute 
determinations,  and  grows  weaker  and  weaker  at  every 
successive  attempt  and  failure,  until  finally  it  ceases  to 
act  at  all ;  and  the  intentions  fall  to  the  ground  as  fast 
as  they  are  formed.  The  moral  effects  of  this  prac- 
tice are  ruinous.  See  to  it  then,  that  no  resolutions 
are  formed,  whose  fulfillment  will  be  doubtful,  and  that 
those  which  are  formed  are  carried  out  at  almost  any 
sacrifice. 

It  often  becomes  necessary  however  to  interpose 
authority :  and  here  the  will  should  be  taught  to  bend 
to  a  higher  power.  Stubbornness  and  willfulness  are 
as  much  to  be  deprecated  as  feebleness  and  vascilla- 
tion.  Obedience  to  law  should  be  a  cardinal  point  in 
all  instruction,  since  a  willing  submission  to  properly 
constituted  authority,  is  as  essentially  a  noble  act  of 
will,  as  resistance  to  tyranny  and  oppression. 

Another  mode  of  cultivating  the  will,  as  a  moral 
force,  should  not  be  overlooked,  viz.,  the  submission  to 
suffering  and  privation.  Nothing,  perhaps,  has  a  hap- 
pier effect  upon  the  human  heart  than  the  lessons 
affliction  and  suffering  teach,  provided  we  show  proper 
submission.  To  rebel  against  these  has  the  opposite 
effect.  It  creates  a  petulance  that  very  much  aggra- 
vates our  difficulties.  To  bear  the  ills  of  life  patiently, 
is  one  of  the  noblest  virtues;  and  one,  too,  that  re- 
quires as  vigorous  an  exercise  of  will,  as  to  resist  the 
encroachments  of  wrong.  The  virtue  of  endurance  is 
nearly  allied  to  that  of  perseverance.  Children  should 
be  taught  to  bear  the  yoke  in  their  youth. 

SECTION  3 — EXECUTIVE  VOLITIONS. — We  come  now 
to  consider  the  will  in  that  sphere  of  action  where 
it  exhibits  some  of  its  strongest  characteristics,  viz., 


MORAL,   SOCIAL,    AND    RELIGIOUS   CULTURE.  233 

its  volitions.  These  constitute  its  executive  force,  and 
are  the  great  motors  in  all  the  operations  of  mind  and 
body.  To  regulate  these  forces  would  seem  to  be  one 
of  the  first  objects  of  education.  Some  possess  this 
power  in  a  very  feeble  state,  while  others  are  gifted 
with  more  than  would  appear  to  be  necessary  for  ordi- 
nary purposes.  Hence,  there  is  a  necessity  for  both 
restraints  and  stimulants.  These  of  course  should  be 
administered  judiciously.  It  will  not  answer  for  us  to 
interpose  our  restraints  or  stimulants  too  freely,  where 
the  voluntary  volitions  act  in  reference  to  opinions  and 
belief.  While  it  might,  in  general,  be  denominated 
direction  and  control  by  superior  force,  it  would  imply 
of  course,  nothing  more  than  the  regulating  influence 
which  a  wise  teacher  would  throw  around  his  pupil. 

But  one  of  the  most  powerful  educators  of  executive 
volitions,  is  the  actual  encounter  with  difficulties  and 
temptations.  The  will,  or  executive  volitions  of  the 
child,  can  no  more  be  cultivated  while  the  teacher  or 
parent  studiously  avoids  bringing  him  into  actual  con- 
tact with  trials,  than  can  his  mathematical  powers 
be  developed  without  calculation.  The  child  will  no 
more  become  a  strong,  determined  man,  under  these 
circumstances,  than  he  would  become  a  good  soldier 
while  he  was  always  kept  out  of  danger.  But  to  cul- 
tivate this  power,  he  must  enter  the  field  and  engage 
in  the  actual  conflict  with  difficulties.  He  must  grap- 
ple, single-handed,  with  trials  and  hardship.  He  must 
meet  temptation  face  to  face,  and  conquer  his  own  de- 
sires to  sin,  if  he  would  realize  all  the  glory  of  a 
conquest. 

This  brings  us  to  notice  energy  and  perseverance  in 
duty,  the  last  topic  which  we  shall  attempt  here,  and 
the   crowning   excellence  of  a  well  regulated   mind. 
20 


234  TUB    SCIENCE   OF   EDUCATION. 

The  necessities  for  these  virtues  are  sufficiently  obvious, 
as  their  opposites,  irresolution  and  indolence,  are  noto- 
rious. To  cultivate  these  virtues  requires  care  and 
patience.  It  should  be  commenced  early  in  life,  and 
continued  gradually  until  the  habit  is  established. 
Nothing  should  be  demanded  which  can  not  be  per- 
formed ;  and  nothing  that  is  attempted,  should  be 
abandoned  unperformed.  It  may  require  encourage- 
ment and  even  absolute  authority,  as  incentives ;  but 
the  energies  should  never  know  they  could  yield  ex- 
cept to  impossibilities.  That  which  seems  difficult 
will  thus  often  prove  easy ;  and  the  list  of  impos- 
sibilities will  be  reduced  to  a  mere  "  shadow,"  pro- 
vided the  energies  of  a  living  soul  are  aroused  and 
arrayed  against  them  by  an  indomitable  will. 

For  further  and  particular  modes  of  culture  of  this 
department  of  man's  nature,  the  reader  is  referred  to 
modes  of  study,  recitation  and  government,  as  de- 
Bcribed  in  the  Art  of  Teaching. 


ECLECTIC  EDUCATIONAL  SERIES. 

VAN  ANTWERP,  BRAGG  &  CO.,  Publishers,  Cincinnati  and  New  York. 

THE  ECLECTIC  SYSTEM  OF  DRAWING. 

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DESCRIPTION. — The  Eclectic  System  of  Drawing  is  complete  in  nine  num- 
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THE  ECLECTIC  MANUAL  OF  METHODS. 

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HAILMAN'S  EDUCATIONAL  LECTURES. 

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THE   ECLECTIC    QUESTION    BOOK    AND    TEACHER'S 
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SMART'S     MANUAL      OF      FREE     GYMNASTICS     AND 
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KRUSI'S  LIFE  OF  PESTALOZZI. 

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ECLECTIC  EDUCATIONAL  SERIES. 

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NORTON'S  PHYSICS. 

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SCHUYLER'S   LOGIC. 

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ANDREWS'S  CONSTITUTION. 

Manual  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  Slates.  Designed  for  the 
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