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Article ESSAYS ON EDUCATION. Page 1 of 3 →
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Essays On Education.
ESSAYS ON EDUCATION .
BY THE REV . II . It . SLADK , D . D . MAN , from the very moment of his birth , may be said to commence his education , and the Mother who hath given him unto life , and whose breast is the source of his subsistence , becomes his earliest preceptor ; while she it is who , studying his desires with the benevolent view to anticipate his wantsdiscovers his primitive inclinations . In an infant
, there exists but sensations , for as he thinks not , so , neither can he reflect : yet it follows that , as he is gifted with the sense of feeling , he must possess , internally , the germs of those passions which are not tardy in giving proof of their existence . I must here be understood as taking the passions in the most extended sense of which the word is susceptible , in respect of all active and impetuous inclination towards whatsoever object—not as we apply it in a more determined acceptation
, to affections of a vicious nature . This established , I maintain that the passions—otherwise those strong and active inclinations—are the causes which mainly conduce to render man either eminently good , or supremely wicked . Hence , obviously of the greatest possible importance is the knowing how to direct them rightly , from the period of their earliest manifestation , towards the great ends it is intended they should keep in view , which are—the happiness of the individual himself , and of the
community of which he is a member , and the glory of his Creator . The failings which , in children , we are prone to denominate caprice , impertinence , and even evil habit , will be found , on examination , to be less the work of nature than nf those individuals who are in the habit of
associating with them . The first fault which we , without reason , lay to the charge of childhood is anger ; for it is by this name that we qualify the cries which the child utters , and the impatience which he manifests , without reflecting that these cries and this impatience are the onl y means the helpless creature possesses of making known his wants and his necessities . As little reason is there to reprehend him when he cries as to applaud him when he laughs , insomuch as both these feelings are dependent on his physical constitution . Hence , as tears depress the heart ,
and laughter cheers it , by weeping the child significantly intimates to us that he is ill , and yet is he left to cry , without any effort or care on our part to relieve him . During the first few months his ill-humour and this indifference go even-handed ; but , as the child continues to progress in strength , his cries are answered by invective , and very frequently by blows . Then , indeed , is converted really into ire what had been previously but a simple expression of grief , and he begins to be wicked in reality , for no other reason than because he has been set a bad example , and irritated by receiving chastisement when , in fact , he should have been consolprl .
From the moment , then , when his nostrils first inhale the breath of life , Man stands in need of education . The question , however , is not that of inspiring him with virtue , since that is supposed to be inherent in him , but of preserving him from vice ; and to attain this very important end , there requires a far greater degree of circumspection , of intelligence , and of talent , than is generally imagined . No trifling good work has been that of a few sages , who by their
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Essays On Education.
ESSAYS ON EDUCATION .
BY THE REV . II . It . SLADK , D . D . MAN , from the very moment of his birth , may be said to commence his education , and the Mother who hath given him unto life , and whose breast is the source of his subsistence , becomes his earliest preceptor ; while she it is who , studying his desires with the benevolent view to anticipate his wantsdiscovers his primitive inclinations . In an infant
, there exists but sensations , for as he thinks not , so , neither can he reflect : yet it follows that , as he is gifted with the sense of feeling , he must possess , internally , the germs of those passions which are not tardy in giving proof of their existence . I must here be understood as taking the passions in the most extended sense of which the word is susceptible , in respect of all active and impetuous inclination towards whatsoever object—not as we apply it in a more determined acceptation
, to affections of a vicious nature . This established , I maintain that the passions—otherwise those strong and active inclinations—are the causes which mainly conduce to render man either eminently good , or supremely wicked . Hence , obviously of the greatest possible importance is the knowing how to direct them rightly , from the period of their earliest manifestation , towards the great ends it is intended they should keep in view , which are—the happiness of the individual himself , and of the
community of which he is a member , and the glory of his Creator . The failings which , in children , we are prone to denominate caprice , impertinence , and even evil habit , will be found , on examination , to be less the work of nature than nf those individuals who are in the habit of
associating with them . The first fault which we , without reason , lay to the charge of childhood is anger ; for it is by this name that we qualify the cries which the child utters , and the impatience which he manifests , without reflecting that these cries and this impatience are the onl y means the helpless creature possesses of making known his wants and his necessities . As little reason is there to reprehend him when he cries as to applaud him when he laughs , insomuch as both these feelings are dependent on his physical constitution . Hence , as tears depress the heart ,
and laughter cheers it , by weeping the child significantly intimates to us that he is ill , and yet is he left to cry , without any effort or care on our part to relieve him . During the first few months his ill-humour and this indifference go even-handed ; but , as the child continues to progress in strength , his cries are answered by invective , and very frequently by blows . Then , indeed , is converted really into ire what had been previously but a simple expression of grief , and he begins to be wicked in reality , for no other reason than because he has been set a bad example , and irritated by receiving chastisement when , in fact , he should have been consolprl .
From the moment , then , when his nostrils first inhale the breath of life , Man stands in need of education . The question , however , is not that of inspiring him with virtue , since that is supposed to be inherent in him , but of preserving him from vice ; and to attain this very important end , there requires a far greater degree of circumspection , of intelligence , and of talent , than is generally imagined . No trifling good work has been that of a few sages , who by their