-
Articles/Ads
Article ESSAYS ON EDUCATION—No. IV. Page 1 of 4 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Essays On Education—No. Iv.
ESSAYS ON EDUCATION—No . IV .
BY THE REV . 11 . It . SIiADE , I > . D . ALTHOUGH it cannot be denied that the noise and restlessness of a child prove oftentimes troublesome to his parents' guests , does it therefore follow that we should condemn to banishment an amiable and interesting being whose vivacity , from its being peculiar to his age , can be considered neither as a vice nor a defect ? Let us no longer entertain this error : it is necessary that children indulge in laughternor
, less so that they prattle , cry , and keep in a state of continual movement , insomuch as this constant agitation enters into the designs of nature as an indispensable requisite for developing as Avell the physical , as the moral faculties of the individual . The tender lad manifests its joy in the midst of the flock by a thousand sportive leaps and gambols ; while the cub of the most ferocious species—the wolf's whelp—sports in freedom round its dam ; and shall we desire to keep a child nailed to his
seat without allowing him the liberty of speech , or else remove him from the society of his parents simply because he may chance occasionally to incommode ? In other words , shall we , in order that an idle and , perhaps , insipid conversation may not be interrupted , or that some patientless female acquaintance may be spared a trifling inconvenience , afflict a poor little innocent being by the enjoining him to an irksome silence , or , on the other hand , expose the tender susceptibilities of his heart and understanding to the chances of contamination ancl every possible species of danger , by banishing him to the society of servants ? Would she who could do this be worthy of the name of mother ?
But I go even further . Is it , I would ask , a well established fact that the company of children is really so intolerable as to be endured only by their parents ? So far from such being my belief , I am , on the contrary , persuaded that here , as in many other circumstances , we are apt to blame the innocent for faults essentially bur own , not observing , or perhaps not caring to observe , that if the child is impertinent , restless , it is because we have ourselves , in unguarded moments , inculcated these '
evil habits in him Avithout reflecting on the consequences . In proof of this observation , we need only inquire how he is treated . The moment he makes his appearance , he becomes the object of general attention ; every one calling to , and making much of him—while caresses and endearing terms are lavished on him in abundance . Hence , in the midst of so much obsequiousness , he scarcely knows whom he shall attend to firstand relishing with a degree of pride the venom of adulationhe
; , begins already to consider himself a person of some importance , who shall always experience similar treatment , and bask in the same sunshine ; ignorant , poor innocent , that favour is a thing at once excessive , fragile , and of short duration . Enthusiasm speedily subsiding , the idolators become indifferent , and soon forget their late idol , whothereupon begins putting forth , his endeavours to draw attention to himself , and thinks to achieve his object bthe practice of noise and violence .
y Nevertheless , as his transitory reign is already over , his utmost efforts prove abortive ; and hence , by the display on one side , of forgetfulness and indifference , on the other , of vexation and uneasiness , the flames of discord are not long in being kindled . The result remains to be considered : the weak becoming necessarily sacrificed to the strong , that
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Essays On Education—No. Iv.
ESSAYS ON EDUCATION—No . IV .
BY THE REV . 11 . It . SIiADE , I > . D . ALTHOUGH it cannot be denied that the noise and restlessness of a child prove oftentimes troublesome to his parents' guests , does it therefore follow that we should condemn to banishment an amiable and interesting being whose vivacity , from its being peculiar to his age , can be considered neither as a vice nor a defect ? Let us no longer entertain this error : it is necessary that children indulge in laughternor
, less so that they prattle , cry , and keep in a state of continual movement , insomuch as this constant agitation enters into the designs of nature as an indispensable requisite for developing as Avell the physical , as the moral faculties of the individual . The tender lad manifests its joy in the midst of the flock by a thousand sportive leaps and gambols ; while the cub of the most ferocious species—the wolf's whelp—sports in freedom round its dam ; and shall we desire to keep a child nailed to his
seat without allowing him the liberty of speech , or else remove him from the society of his parents simply because he may chance occasionally to incommode ? In other words , shall we , in order that an idle and , perhaps , insipid conversation may not be interrupted , or that some patientless female acquaintance may be spared a trifling inconvenience , afflict a poor little innocent being by the enjoining him to an irksome silence , or , on the other hand , expose the tender susceptibilities of his heart and understanding to the chances of contamination ancl every possible species of danger , by banishing him to the society of servants ? Would she who could do this be worthy of the name of mother ?
But I go even further . Is it , I would ask , a well established fact that the company of children is really so intolerable as to be endured only by their parents ? So far from such being my belief , I am , on the contrary , persuaded that here , as in many other circumstances , we are apt to blame the innocent for faults essentially bur own , not observing , or perhaps not caring to observe , that if the child is impertinent , restless , it is because we have ourselves , in unguarded moments , inculcated these '
evil habits in him Avithout reflecting on the consequences . In proof of this observation , we need only inquire how he is treated . The moment he makes his appearance , he becomes the object of general attention ; every one calling to , and making much of him—while caresses and endearing terms are lavished on him in abundance . Hence , in the midst of so much obsequiousness , he scarcely knows whom he shall attend to firstand relishing with a degree of pride the venom of adulationhe
; , begins already to consider himself a person of some importance , who shall always experience similar treatment , and bask in the same sunshine ; ignorant , poor innocent , that favour is a thing at once excessive , fragile , and of short duration . Enthusiasm speedily subsiding , the idolators become indifferent , and soon forget their late idol , whothereupon begins putting forth , his endeavours to draw attention to himself , and thinks to achieve his object bthe practice of noise and violence .
y Nevertheless , as his transitory reign is already over , his utmost efforts prove abortive ; and hence , by the display on one side , of forgetfulness and indifference , on the other , of vexation and uneasiness , the flames of discord are not long in being kindled . The result remains to be considered : the weak becoming necessarily sacrificed to the strong , that