time, so imperfect is the knowledge of nature possessed by children without our aid, that they must constantly have recourse to us for information, to enable them to form any distinct notions of the objects around them. Indeed language cannot be taught, without explaining that it is merely a system of signs, and pointing out the object which each sign is intended to represent. If, therefore, language is not only necessary for facilitating the mutual intercourse of men, but is even indispensable for enabling us to obtain some knowledge of external nature; and if the knowledge of language has a natural tendency to advance our knowledge of things, to acquaint ourselves with language must be regarded as an object of the first importance, and one of the first objects to which the attention of children ought to be directed.

For the very same reasons which evince the necessity of teaching children the use and value of those vocal signs or words, which we employ to denote certain ideas, it becomes proper to teach them the use of those other signs, by which we express the same ideas in writing.

When a boy has made such progress as to be able to read with some correctness and facility, it becomes an object of importance, and of no small difficulty, to determine what books are to be put into his hands, and in what manner his literary education is to be conducted. These ought perhaps to be only such as are descriptive of the actions of men, of the scenes of external nature, and of the forms and characters of animals. With these he is already in some measure acquainted; they are the objects of his daily attention, and beyond them his ideas have never ranged,; other subjects would, therefore, it is probable, render his task disagreeable to him. Besides, as the present object is to teach him words with their signification, until he shall have acquired a considerable knowledge of language, and laid up a fund of simple ideas, it will be im

possible

possible for him to speak or read with understanding, profit and pleasure, on any other subject: and instead of being particularly anxious to communicate by instruction, moral or religious information, let this be done by our own exam, ple, and by causing the child to act in such a manner as we judge to be proper. In this way, by his own observation, he will soon become capable of understanding all we intend to communicate: but let us not be hasty, the boy cannot long view the actions of mankind, and observe the economy of the animal and vegetable world, without becoming capable of receiving both religious and moral in struction, when judiciously communicated.

As soon as the pupil can read and spell with tolerable facility, and has acquired sufficient strength and management of his hands to govern a pen, he may be introduced to the art of writing. If this art is not made disagreeable to him by the manner in which his application to it is required, he will learn it without difficulty. The natural desire of chil dren to imitate, particularly whatever depends on manual operation, will render this art peculiarly easy and pleasing to them, when they are neither harshly forced to apply to it, nor suffered to perform their task with haste and negligence,

In this, as in all other branches of education, it requires the most cautious prudence, the nicest delicacy, the most artful address, to prevail with children to give a cheerful and attentive application to what they consider as an appointed task. If you be stern and rigid, in enforcing application, you may seemingly obtain your object; the child sits motionless, with his eye fixed on his book or copy; but his attention you cannot command; his mind is beyond your reach, and can elude your tyranny; it wanders from the present objects, and flies with pleasure to those scenes and objects in which it found delight. Thus, you are disappointed of your purpose, and besides inspire the pupil

with such aversion both to you, and to those objects to which you wish him to apply, that perhaps at no future period of his life will he view learning otherwise than with disgust.

On the other hand, gentleness and the arts of insinuation will not always be successful. If you permit the child to apply just when he chooses to do so, if you readily listen to all his pretences and excuses, in short, if you yourself seem to consider learning as a matter not of the first importance, and treat him with kindness while he pays but little attention and makes but slow progress; the consequences of this behaviour in you, will be scarcely less unfavorable than those which attend imprudent and unreasonable severity. It is impossible to give particular directions how to treat children, so as to allure them to learning, and at the same time to command their attention: but the prudent and affectionate parent, and the zealous and judi cious tutor, will not be always unsuccessful, since there are so many circumstances in the condition of children, and so many principles in their nature, which subject them to the will of those around them.

The principles of arithmetic ought to make a part in the boy's education, as soon as his reasoning powers appear to have attained such strength and quickness as will enable him to understand them. Arithmetic affords more exercise to his faculties than any other of those branches of learning which are taught in the early years; and if the child's attention be directed to it at a proper period, if he be allowed to proceed slowly, care being taken to make him comprehend fully, the principles upon which cach particular operation proceeds, it will contribute much to increase the strength and acuteness of his understanding.

From arithmetic the pupil may proceed to the practical branches of the mathematics; and in these, as in all other parts of learning, what he is taught will be best reniembered,

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bered, and more thoroughly understood, if opportunities are afforded of applying his lessons to real use in ordinary life.

Where the acquistion of the learned languages is regarded as an object deserving attention, the boy is generally initiated in them about this period, and frequently earlier and here another question occurs.-Is the time usually spent in learning the languages usefully employed?-What advantages can our British youth derive from an acquaintance with the languages and the learning of Greece and Rome?-Were we to listen to many parents and tutors of the present day, they would persuade us that the time which is dedicated to grammar-schools, and to Virgil, Cicero, Homer, and Demosthenes, is foolishly thrown away, and that no advantages can be gained from the study of classical learning. They wish their children and pupils to be not merely scholars; they wish them to acquire what may be useful and ornamental, when they come to mingle with the world; and for this purpose they think it much better to teach their young people to smatter out French, to dance, to fence, to appear in company with invincible assurance; and to dress in such a manner as may attract the attention of the world. Besides this, the humanity, the tenderness of these persons are amazing: they are shocked at the idea of the sufferings which the poor boys undergo, in the course of a classical education. The confinement, the harsh language, (to say no more), the burdens laid on the memory, and the pain occasioned to the eyes, during the dreary period spent in acquiring a knowledge of Greek and Latin, affect them with horror, when they think of them as inflicted on children. They, therefore, give a preference to a plan of education, in which less intense application is required, and less severity employed.

Again, there are other persons who are less warm in their commendation of a classical education, and no less industrious in recommending the study of the Greek and Latin,

than

than the former are eager in their endeavours to draw neglect on the polished languages of antiquity. With this second class, if an adept in Greek and Latin, you are a learned and a great man; but without those languages, your ignorance is contemptible. They think it impossible to inspire the youthful mind with generous or virtuous sentiments, to teach the boy wisdom, or to animate him with courage, without the assistance of the ancient philosophers, historians, and poets.-Now, with which of these parties shall we agree? or shall we mediate between them? Is it improper to call youth to the study of the languages? Is it impossible to communicate useful knowledge without them? er are they, though highly useful, not always indispensably necessary ? To give satisfactory answers to these querics it may be necessary to examine a little into the real utility of acquaintance with the dead languages, and what is called classical learning.

To begin then, it may be observed, that the cultivation of classical learning has a favorable influence on the living languages themselves; it has a tendency to preserve their purity from debasement, and their analogy from irregula rities. In studying the dead languages it is necessary to give more attention to the principles of grammar than in acquir ing our mother-tongue. We learn our native language without attending much to its analogy and structure. Of the numbers who speak English throughout the British dominions, but few, comparatively speaking, are skilled in the formation of its nouns and verbs, or able to distinguish between adverbs and conjunctions. Desirous only of being mutually understood, they are not anxious about purity or correctness of speech: they reject not an expression which occurs to them, because it is barbarous or ungrammatical: as they grow up they learned to speak from their parents, their nurses, and others about them; they were soon able to make known in words their wants, their wishes, and their observations:

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