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Article ESSAYS ON EDUCATION.—No. II. ← Page 2 of 4 →
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Essays On Education.—No. Ii.
Nature , than of man himself , ivho does not always impel in a right direction the first energies of inclination . He who works evil , does it not , because in his heart he prefers evil to good , but simply because he thinks it will prove to him a source of greater profit . No child will continue to be a liar when he knows that truth will be more useful to him than will falsehood ; hat for this , it will be necessary ( hat he see not lying indulged in by othersand that his personal interest excite him to
, speak , at all times , the truth . By a steady adherence to this precaution , there will no longer exist a necessity for bringing before him the horror of a vice of which he could not form even an idea . AVe know full well , that precept is easy , and practice difficult ; hut it is this very reason which venders still more imprudent our trusting implicitly to unskilful and unrefined hands . Can ive , forsooth , reasonably expect from the caee of a strange female , or of a common servant , the results which the
utmost vigilance of a mother ivill not accomplish without a world of labour ? Better ivould it be to confess honestly that pleasures , ( more especially amongst people of fashion ) , are , for the most part , held in higher estimation than are obligations ; and that they are infinitely less anxious to mould the minds and manners of their progeny , than to revel in what ate usuall y termed the pleasures of society . It must , however , be admitted that , notivithstanding its prevalence amongst those matrons , even who pique themselves the most upen being exemplary models , such a line of conduct is , to say the least of it , highly reprehensible .
The whole root of the evil is their not duly reflecting on the importance of the obligations appertaining to their condition , and on the misfortune they expose themselves to , by abandoning those obligations in the manner they are wont to do ; thereby leaving the tender susceptibility of childhood exposed to the contact of the most evil propensities .
Finally , hoivever , let us by way of argument , suppose that the female to whom a mother entrusts her child , be gifted with every virtue . Let us suppose her to be a lively , without being of a boisterous disposition ; to be good , although not weak ; to be upright , but not severe ; to be condescending , without being abject ; still no progress would be made , insomuch as it would be impossible to prevent her from associating either at home or abroad , with other individuals of her own rank . And
Avhat a school , truly , is this for the rearing of a child ! One , thinking by this means to please , flatters , and loads him with the grossest adulation : another , either for sheer amusement , or from malice , opposes him in every trivia ! thing he does , and derives pleasure from witnessing the impotency of his rage ; while some there are not wanting whose entertainment consists in provoking him to launch out in imprecations , oathsanel other expressionsof a nature equally reprehensible . With
, , all this , however , such pastimes as these are not always tire u-orst : because , how can ive be exact from persons devoid alike of education and of knowledge , to what degree , soever , we may suppose them to be gifted with the good qualities peculiar to their condition , that they be exempt from ' the vices that are so rife and prevalent in those assemblies , even which ive hold to be of the most cultivated and refined ?
Ave ive to seek in the anti-chamber for virtues which are not , at all times , to be met with in the drawing-room ? Nevertheless , it must be OAvned that in the latter , at least , observances are better adlierred to than in the former ; it . also , not unfrentiently happening that he who in realitu
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Essays On Education.—No. Ii.
Nature , than of man himself , ivho does not always impel in a right direction the first energies of inclination . He who works evil , does it not , because in his heart he prefers evil to good , but simply because he thinks it will prove to him a source of greater profit . No child will continue to be a liar when he knows that truth will be more useful to him than will falsehood ; hat for this , it will be necessary ( hat he see not lying indulged in by othersand that his personal interest excite him to
, speak , at all times , the truth . By a steady adherence to this precaution , there will no longer exist a necessity for bringing before him the horror of a vice of which he could not form even an idea . AVe know full well , that precept is easy , and practice difficult ; hut it is this very reason which venders still more imprudent our trusting implicitly to unskilful and unrefined hands . Can ive , forsooth , reasonably expect from the caee of a strange female , or of a common servant , the results which the
utmost vigilance of a mother ivill not accomplish without a world of labour ? Better ivould it be to confess honestly that pleasures , ( more especially amongst people of fashion ) , are , for the most part , held in higher estimation than are obligations ; and that they are infinitely less anxious to mould the minds and manners of their progeny , than to revel in what ate usuall y termed the pleasures of society . It must , however , be admitted that , notivithstanding its prevalence amongst those matrons , even who pique themselves the most upen being exemplary models , such a line of conduct is , to say the least of it , highly reprehensible .
The whole root of the evil is their not duly reflecting on the importance of the obligations appertaining to their condition , and on the misfortune they expose themselves to , by abandoning those obligations in the manner they are wont to do ; thereby leaving the tender susceptibility of childhood exposed to the contact of the most evil propensities .
Finally , hoivever , let us by way of argument , suppose that the female to whom a mother entrusts her child , be gifted with every virtue . Let us suppose her to be a lively , without being of a boisterous disposition ; to be good , although not weak ; to be upright , but not severe ; to be condescending , without being abject ; still no progress would be made , insomuch as it would be impossible to prevent her from associating either at home or abroad , with other individuals of her own rank . And
Avhat a school , truly , is this for the rearing of a child ! One , thinking by this means to please , flatters , and loads him with the grossest adulation : another , either for sheer amusement , or from malice , opposes him in every trivia ! thing he does , and derives pleasure from witnessing the impotency of his rage ; while some there are not wanting whose entertainment consists in provoking him to launch out in imprecations , oathsanel other expressionsof a nature equally reprehensible . With
, , all this , however , such pastimes as these are not always tire u-orst : because , how can ive be exact from persons devoid alike of education and of knowledge , to what degree , soever , we may suppose them to be gifted with the good qualities peculiar to their condition , that they be exempt from ' the vices that are so rife and prevalent in those assemblies , even which ive hold to be of the most cultivated and refined ?
Ave ive to seek in the anti-chamber for virtues which are not , at all times , to be met with in the drawing-room ? Nevertheless , it must be OAvned that in the latter , at least , observances are better adlierred to than in the former ; it . also , not unfrentiently happening that he who in realitu