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Article ESSAYS ON EDUCATION.—No. II. ← Page 3 of 4 →
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Essays On Education.—No. Ii.
it the most corrupt , is , in appearance the most honest , Avhicli isall that we require at an age when we are incapable of seeing and of judging save only by appearances ; and , inasmuch as a child can have no matters upon which to enter , or subjects to discuss ivith those by whom he is surrounded , it is of little consequence to him that they be really upright men ; all that he can require being that they should seem such . Needing onlgood leshe finds them in the company of persons
y examp , , either really virtuous , or assuming for worldly purposes , the outward garb of virtue . I am , of course , here assuming that the parents themselves be honourable and judicious persons , admitting into the interior of their dwelling none but Avho are equally , or appear to be so . It is alone , indeed , for such individuals as these that Ave can write upon the subject of education , insomuch as others of a different stamp would be utterlincapable of understanding us
y . Vainly should we seek this burnish of honour and of virtue , as well as of good breeding in persons ivho have never possessed it ; and although true it is that servants are oftentimes at bottom less vicious than their superiors : still , at least , to appearance , they are worse , for they know not how , neither elo they care to dissemble . They speak , for the most part , as they think , without detour , or the garnishment of chosen phrases : and as the grossest expressions are generallthe most energetic , it follows ,
y as a consequence , that the childacquiresthem with correspondingpromptitude , and retains them without difficulty on the tablets of his memory . Such , tlren , are a few of the dangers to ivhich the culpable neglect of parents exposes the hearts of their children ; neither less sensibly felt is the fatal impression that pre-possession and error contribute to stamp
upon their minds . If death lay his icy hand on any member of the family or of the immediate neighbourhood , ive may be sure that for many days afterwards the engrossing topics of conversation amongst the child ' s attendants will be the departed , and souls writhing in purgatory ; for these are tlie favourite themes of persons of this description . Each individual delivers his peculiar version of the story , the most marvellous and terrible obtaining the greatest share of attention , and receiving the most implicit belief ; whilein the midst of the profound silence ivhich
, is preserved by all during tlie harroAving recital , the mere creaking of a door , or falling of a key suffices to fill ivith trepidation tbe heart of the most courageous child , and begets immediately a dispute as to who is bold enough to go and ascertain what has happened . If , from a corner of the apartment , we could at this moment behold the poor affrighted infant , Ave should see him ivith his outstretched eyes rivetted on the countenance ofthe speakerbis mouth distendedhis cheek blanched with fear
, , , and himself , from the horror with which his mind is filled , scarce venturing to breathe ; while placing our hand upon his heart , we should discover by its palpitations the internal agony he is enduring . AVith night commences a task of no little difficulty , that of inducing the scared youngster to retire to rest ; but even then a considerable time elapses before he can compose himself to sleep , which is , after all , doomed to be broken bhideous dreams wherein again appear before him all the
y horrors he had previously imagined , so that he may be heard venting his soul ' s agony in sighs , and the most piteous lamentations , if indeed he be not half suffocated with fear . Many are the years which must of necessity elapse ere he can succeed in convincing himself by the exercise of his own reason that , never do the departed take delight in re-visiting the earth with the view to terrify the living .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Essays On Education.—No. Ii.
it the most corrupt , is , in appearance the most honest , Avhicli isall that we require at an age when we are incapable of seeing and of judging save only by appearances ; and , inasmuch as a child can have no matters upon which to enter , or subjects to discuss ivith those by whom he is surrounded , it is of little consequence to him that they be really upright men ; all that he can require being that they should seem such . Needing onlgood leshe finds them in the company of persons
y examp , , either really virtuous , or assuming for worldly purposes , the outward garb of virtue . I am , of course , here assuming that the parents themselves be honourable and judicious persons , admitting into the interior of their dwelling none but Avho are equally , or appear to be so . It is alone , indeed , for such individuals as these that Ave can write upon the subject of education , insomuch as others of a different stamp would be utterlincapable of understanding us
y . Vainly should we seek this burnish of honour and of virtue , as well as of good breeding in persons ivho have never possessed it ; and although true it is that servants are oftentimes at bottom less vicious than their superiors : still , at least , to appearance , they are worse , for they know not how , neither elo they care to dissemble . They speak , for the most part , as they think , without detour , or the garnishment of chosen phrases : and as the grossest expressions are generallthe most energetic , it follows ,
y as a consequence , that the childacquiresthem with correspondingpromptitude , and retains them without difficulty on the tablets of his memory . Such , tlren , are a few of the dangers to ivhich the culpable neglect of parents exposes the hearts of their children ; neither less sensibly felt is the fatal impression that pre-possession and error contribute to stamp
upon their minds . If death lay his icy hand on any member of the family or of the immediate neighbourhood , ive may be sure that for many days afterwards the engrossing topics of conversation amongst the child ' s attendants will be the departed , and souls writhing in purgatory ; for these are tlie favourite themes of persons of this description . Each individual delivers his peculiar version of the story , the most marvellous and terrible obtaining the greatest share of attention , and receiving the most implicit belief ; whilein the midst of the profound silence ivhich
, is preserved by all during tlie harroAving recital , the mere creaking of a door , or falling of a key suffices to fill ivith trepidation tbe heart of the most courageous child , and begets immediately a dispute as to who is bold enough to go and ascertain what has happened . If , from a corner of the apartment , we could at this moment behold the poor affrighted infant , Ave should see him ivith his outstretched eyes rivetted on the countenance ofthe speakerbis mouth distendedhis cheek blanched with fear
, , , and himself , from the horror with which his mind is filled , scarce venturing to breathe ; while placing our hand upon his heart , we should discover by its palpitations the internal agony he is enduring . AVith night commences a task of no little difficulty , that of inducing the scared youngster to retire to rest ; but even then a considerable time elapses before he can compose himself to sleep , which is , after all , doomed to be broken bhideous dreams wherein again appear before him all the
y horrors he had previously imagined , so that he may be heard venting his soul ' s agony in sighs , and the most piteous lamentations , if indeed he be not half suffocated with fear . Many are the years which must of necessity elapse ere he can succeed in convincing himself by the exercise of his own reason that , never do the departed take delight in re-visiting the earth with the view to terrify the living .