"_Mr G._--The householder invited labourers at the eleventh hour;--what

does that teach you?--It teaches us, that God at various seasons calls

people to his church.--It teaches us, that we ought never to despair,

but bear in mind the language of Jesus to the repentant thief on the

cross,--'To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise.'--It teaches us, that

we ought not to boast of to-morrow, since we know not what a day or an

hour may bring forth.--It teaches us, that time is short, and that life

is the only period for preparation and hope.--It teaches us, that we

ought to be prepared,--have our loins girt, and our lamps burning; for

we know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh.--It

teaches us, that we ought to number our days, and apply our hearts to

heavenly wisdom.--It teaches us, that we ought not to put off the day of

repentance; because for every day we put it off, we shall have one more

to repent _of_, and one less to repent _in_.--It teaches us,

'That life is the season God hath given

To fly from hell, and rise to heaven;

That day of grace fleets fast away,

And none its rapid course can stay.'

"Mr Gall here requested the children to pause for a moment, that he

might express the high gratification he felt at the fluency, the

readiness, and the appropriateness of the lessons which they had drawn.

He was only afraid that they had inadvertently fallen upon a passage

with which the children were familiar, by having had it recently under

their notice; and he therefore requested Mr Cameron to state to the

meeting whether this was really the case or not. Mr Cameron rose and

said, that what the meeting now saw was no more than could be seen any

Sunday in the Charlotte Street School. They had not had any preparation

for this meeting; and he did not remember of ever having had this

passage taught in the school. He would recommend that the children be

allowed a little freedom; and when they were done with that

announcement, let any other be taken, for it was the same to them

whatever subject might be chosen.

"Mr Gall accordingly repeated the announcement again, and called on them

to proceed with any other lessons from it which occurred to them. They

accordingly commenced again, and answered as follows: It teaches us,

that we ought to remember our Creator in the days of our youth, while

the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh in which we shall say we

have no pleasure in them.--It teaches us, that we ought to prepare for

death; to gird up our loins, and trim our lamps, lest it be said unto us

in the great day of the Lord, when he maketh up his jewels, 'Depart from

me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his

angels.'--It teaches us so to conduct ourselves, that whether we live

we live unto the Lord, and whether we die we die unto the Lord; and that

whether we live therefore or die, we may be the Lord's; for to that end

Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of

the dead and the living.[22]--It teaches us to improve our time lest we

find that the harvest is past, and the summer ended, and us not

saved.--It teaches us, that we ought to study, in that whether we eat or

drink, or whatsoever we do, we do all to the glory of God.--It teaches

us, that we ought to endeavour to secure an interest in Christ in

time.--It teaches us, that delays are dangerous.--It teaches us, that

the day of the Lord cometh like a thief in the night, and that when

sinners shall say, 'Peace and safety,' sudden destruction cometh upon

them.--It teaches us, that we ought to acquaint ourselves early with

God; and that we ought to walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,

redeeming the time, because the days are evil.--It teaches us, that we

ought to seek the Lord while he may be found, and call upon him while he

is near; that the wicked ought to forsake his way, and the unrighteous

man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, who will have mercy

upon him, and to our God, who will abundantly pardon.--It teaches us to

improve our time; and to bear in mind, that though patriarchs lived

long, the burden of the historian's tale is always, 'and they died.'--It

teaches us, that we ought not to allow pleasures and enjoyments to

interfere with, or overcome, our more important duty of seeking God.--It

teaches us, that we are never too young to pray, and to remember that

God says, 'Now;'--the devil, 'To-morrow.'

"Mr Gall here took advantage of a short pause, and said, 'We shall now

change the announcement. Give me a few lessons from the fact stated in

this parable, that _when the husbandman invited the labourers into the

vineyard at the eleventh hour, they accepted the invitation_.--What does

that teach you?'--It teaches us, that we ought to accept the invitation

of Jesus to come with him, 'Ho! every one that thirsteth, come ye to the

waters, and he that hath no money; come ye buy and eat; yea, come, buy

wine and milk without money, and without price. Seek ye the Lord while

he may be found; call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake

his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto

the Lord, who will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will

abundantly pardon.'--It teaches us, that we ought to show a willingness

to accept the invitation of Christ, since 'he is not willing that any

should perish, but that all should come unto him and live.'--It teaches

us, that we ought to accept the invitation of Christ, since we are

informed in the Scriptures, 'that whosoever cometh unto him he will in

no ways cast out.' It teaches us, that we ought to accept of the

invitation of Christ; for the Bible informs us, that the invitation is

held forth to all; 'for whosoever will, let him take of the waters of

life freely.'--'Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden,

and I will give you rest.'--It teaches us, that we ought not to hesitate

in accepting the invitation of Christ; for God says he will not always

strive with man.

"Mr Gall here again expressed not only his satisfaction, but his

astonishment, at the success with which Mr Cameron had taught the

Scriptures to these children. This exhibited itself in two ways;

_first_, in enabling them to draw lessons from any passage of Scripture;

and _second_, in having so disposed of what Scripture they had already

been taught, that whenever a doctrine or duty was to be brought before

them, scriptural declarations crowded around them 'as a light to their

feet, and a lamp to their path.' He himself had no doubt that the

children were no more prepared upon this passage than upon any other;

but it would exhibit this fact more satisfactorily, if _another_ passage

were selected, which he requested some of the gentlemen present to do.

"The clergymen present accordingly requested Mr Gall to try the

concluding portion of the second chapter of Luke, which details Christ's

visit to Jerusalem at twelve years of age. After having read and

catechised the children on this passage, as he had done on the former,

he proceeded at once to call for lessons. Mr Gall gave us the

announcement that _'Joseph and Mary worshipped God in public_,' and

asked for one or two lessons from this? It teaches us, that we ought to

worship God both in public and in private.--It teaches us, that no

trifles ought to hinder us from worshipping God.--One child quoted the

following verse:--

'Come then, O house of Jacob, come,

And worship at his shrine!

And walking in the light of God,

With holy beauties shine.'

"Mr Gall then said, Let us change the announcement: 'Joseph and Mary

went regularly every year to the feast of the passover?'--What does that

teach you?--That teaches us, that we ought to attend the house of God

regularly.--It teaches that we ought to attend church both times of the

day.--It teaches us that we ought to worship God regularly; for God

loveth order, and not confusion.

"Let us change the announcement again. 'Jesus attended the passover when

he was twelve years of age.' What does this teach you?--It teaches us,

that parents should train up their children in the way they should

go.--It teaches us, that learning young is learning fair.--It teaches

us, that children should never be thought too young to be brought up in

the fear of the Lord.--It teaches us, that children should obey their

parents.--What are we to learn from their 'fulfilling the days?'--It

teaches us, that we should not leave the church until the sermon is

over.--It teaches us, that we ought not to disturb others by leaving the

church."

Remarkable as this exhibition was of the attainment of extraordinary

mental power by mere children, yet it is but justice to say, that the

above is merely a specimen of the elasticity and grasp of mind which

these children had acquired. Some idea of the extent of this may be

formed when it is considered, that all these passages and, subjects were

chosen for them at the moment, and by strangers. And it is worthy of

remark, that if such an amount of mental power, and such an accumulation

of knowledge, of the best and most practical kind, were easily and

pleasantly acquired by children in the lowest ranks of life, of their

own voluntary choice, under every disadvantage, and with no more than

two hours teaching in the week; what may we not expect, when the

principles here developed, are wielded and applied by those who

thoroughly understand them, not for two hours, with an interval of six

busy days, but every day of the week?--The prospect is cheering.

FOOTNOTES:

[22] At this part, the Report of the Experiment contains the following

Note:--"The reader will perceive that some of the lessons diverge at

times from the announcement; but it is of great importance, in an

experiment of this kind, neither to omit nor amend what is wrong, but to

give exactly the words that were spoken. Not the least remarkable

circumstance elicited by this experiment is the fact, that these

children, who know nothing of the rules of grammar, have obviously, by

the mental exercise induced by the system, become pretty correct

practical grammarians. The variations made in many of the passages of

Scripture quoted by them show this."

CHAP. IX.

_On the Imitation of Nature in Teaching the Practical Use of Knowledge

by means of the Moral Sense, or Conscience._

In a former chapter we endeavoured to collect a few facts specially

connected with the moral sense, as exhibited in the young, and the

methods which Nature employs, when conscience is made use of for the

application of their knowledge.[23] We shall in this chapter offer a few

additional remarks on the imitation of Nature in this important

department; but before doing so, it will be proper to clear our way by

making a few preliminary observations.

No one disputes the general principle, that education is proper for

man;--and if so, then education must be beneficial in all circumstances,

and at every period of his life. In particular, were we to ask whether

education were necessary in early childhood, and infancy, universal

experience would at once answer the question, and would demonstrate,

that it is much more necessary and more valuable at that season, than at

any future period of the individual's life. In proof of this, we find,

that enlightened restraint upon the temper, and a regulating care with

regard to the conduct, are productive of the most beneficial results;

while, on the contrary, when this discipline is neglected, the violence

of self-will generally becomes so strong, and the checks upon the temper

so weak, that the character of the child formed at this period may be

such as to make him for life his own tormentor, and the pest of all with

whom he is to be associated.--No one can reasonably deny this; and the

conclusion is plain, that education of some kind or other is really more

necessary for the infant and the child, than it is either for the youth

or the man.

If this general principle be once admitted, and we set it down as an

axiom that the infant and the child are to learn _something_,--it

naturally follows, that we are required to teach them those useful

things for which Nature has more especially fitted them; while we are

forbidden to force branches of knowledge upon them of which they are

incapable. Our object then, ought to be to ascertain both the positive

and the negative of this proposition; endeavouring to find out what the

infant and child _are_ capable of learning, and what they _are not_. Now

it is an important fact, not only that infants and young children are

peculiarly fitted, by the constitution of their minds and affections,

for learning and practising the principles of religion and morals; but

it is still more remarkable, that they are, for a long period, incapable

of learning or practising any thing else. If this can be established,

then nothing can be more decisive as to the intention of Nature, that

moral and religious training, is not only the great end in view by a

course of education generally, but that it is, and ought always to be,

the first object of the parent and teacher, and the only true and solid

basis upon which they are to build all that is to follow. Let us

therefore for a moment enquire a little more particularly into this

important subject.

When we carefully examine the conduct of an enlightened and affectionate

mother or nurse with the infant, as soon as it can distinguish right

from wrong and good from evil, we find it to consist of two kinds, which

are perfectly distinct from each other. The one regards the comfort and

physical welfare of the child;--the other regards the regulation of its

temper, its passions, and its conduct. It is of the latter only that we

are here to speak.

When this moral training of the judicious mother is examined, we find it

uniformly and entirely to consist in an indefatigable watchfulness in

preventing or checking whatever is evil in the child, and in

encouraging, and teaching, and training to the practice of whatever is

good. She is careful to enforce obedience and submission in every

case;--to win and encourage the indications of affection; to check

retaliation or revenge; to subdue the violence of passion or inordinate

desire;--to keep under every manifestation of self-will;--and to soothe

down and banish every appearance of fretfulness and bad temper. In

short, she trains her young charge to feel and to practise all the

amiable and kindly affections of our nature, encouraging and commending

him in their exercise;--while, on the contrary, she prevents,

discourages, reproves, and if necessary punishes, the exhibition of

dispositions and conduct of an opposite kind. This, as every one who has

examined the subject knows, is the sum and substance of the mother's

educational efforts during this early period of her child's

progress;--and what we wish to press upon the observation of the reader

is, that the child at this period is literally incapable of learning any

thing else which at all deserves the name of education. He may be taught

to be obedient; to be submissive; to be kind and obliging; to moderate,

and even to suppress his passions; to controul his wishes and his

will;--to be forbearing and forgiving;--and to be gentle, peaceable,

orderly, cleanly, and perhaps mannerly. Is there any thing else?--Is

there any one element of a different kind, that ever does, or ever can

enter into the course of an infant or young child's education? If there

be, what is it?--Let it be examined;--and we have no hesitation in

saying, that if it be "education," or any thing that deserves the name,

it will be found to resolve itself into some one or other of the moral

qualities which we have above enumerated. If therefore children, during

the earlier stages of their educational progress are to be taught at

all, religion and morals _must_ be, the subjects, seeing that they are

for a long period capable of learning nothing else. And it is here

worthy of especial notice, that in teaching religion and morals, there

is a negative as well as a positive scale;--and experience has uniformly

demonstrated, that if the parent or teacher neglect to improve the child

by raising him in the positive side, he will, by his own efforts, sink

deeper in the negative. Selfishness, as exhibited in the natural

depravity of human nature, will in all such cases strengthen daily; and

all the evil passions which selfishness and self-will call into

exercise, will then be strengthened and confirmed perhaps for life.

But while we perceive that the young are incapable of learning any thing

else than what is properly termed religion and morals, we find it to be

equally true, that they are peculiarly fitted and furnished by Nature

for making rapid and permanent progress whenever religion and morals are

made the subjects of regular instruction and training. Few who have

considered carefully the facts stated above, will question the accuracy

of this assertion in so far as _morals_ are concerned; but there are

some who will doubt the capacity of infants and children to be

influenced by _religion_. Now this doubt arises from not observing the

difference,--and the only difference,--that exists between morality and

religion. A man or a child is _moral_ when he is kind and forgiving for

his own sake, and to please himself or his parents;--but he is

_religious_ when he does the same thing for conscience sake, and to

please God. Now children, by the very constitution of their minds, are

well fitted for receiving all that kind of religious knowledge which

acts upon the feelings, and influences the conduct; while the heart is

peculiarly sensitive, and is disposed to bend under the influence of

every expression of affection and tenderness exhibited by others towards

them. Their faith in all that they are told, as we have seen, is

unhesitating and entire; and the capacity of their lively imaginations,

for comprehending things mighty and sublime, which is too often abused

by the ideas of giants, and ogres, and ghosts, is sanctified and refined

by hearing of the greatness, and goodness, and love of the great Creator

of heaven and of earth. When they are informed of his affection and

tenderness to them individually;--of his mercy and grace in saving them

from the awful consequences of sin by the substitution of his own Son

for their sakes;--of his numerous benefits, and his unceasing care;--of

his constant presence with them though unseen; and of his hatred of

sin, and his love of holiness;--there is no mixture of doubt to

neutralize the effects of these truths; and they much more willingly and

unreservedly give themselves up to their influence, than those who are

older. Hence, the repeated declarations of our Lord, that "unless we

become as little children, we shall in no case enter into the kingdom of

God." A simple enumeration therefore of the benefits they have received

from this kind and condescending heavenly Father, is well fitted to fill

the heart of an unsophisticated child with affection and zeal,--and most

powerfully to constrain him to avoid every thing that he is told will

grieve and offend him, and to watch for opportunities to do what he now

knows will honour and please him. This is religion; and it is peculiarly

the religion of the young;--and that man or woman will be found most

religious, who, both in spirit and in action, shall approach nearest to

it in its purity and simplicity.

From all these considerations we see, that Nature has intended that the

first part of the child's education shall consist almost exclusively of

moral and religious training;--and this we think cannot be disputed by

any one who considers the above facts dispassionately, or who will allow

his mind to act as it ought to do under the influence of ascertained

truth. We shall now therefore offer a few remarks on the manner in which

this may most effectually be carried into effect; or, in other words,

how Nature may most successfully be imitated in the application of

knowledge by means of the moral sense.

1. The first thing to be observed here then is, that the early efforts

of the parent or teacher are to be employed for disciplining the child

under the influence of the executive powers of conscience.--The child is

to be trained to the perfect government of his inclinations and temper,

by a watchful attention on the part of the parent to every instance of

their exhibition in his daily conduct, the regulation of the desires,

the softening down of the passions, the eradicating of evil

propensities, the restraining and overcoming the exercise of self-will,

the converting of selfishness into benevolence, and the cultivating and

strengthening of self-controul within, and of sympathy, and forbearance,

and kindness to all without. These are the great ends which the parent

and teacher are to have in view in all their dealings with the child.

They are, in short, to take care that their pupil be reduced to a state

of enlightened submission, and uniform obedience; and for that purpose,

they are to employ all the means and the machinery provided by Nature,

in the use of which she has afforded them abundant examples.

In the accomplishment of these ends, _the agent_ employed has much in

her power. It is a delicate, as well as an important work; and here,

more than perhaps in any after period of the child's educational

progress, an affectionate and enlightened agency is of the greatest

importance. In that constant watchfulness and exertion, necessary to

check or to controul the unceasing and often unreasonable desires of a

froward child, there is naturally created in the mind of a hireling or a

stranger, a feeling of irritation and dislike, which nothing but

enlightened philanthropy, or high moral principle, will ever be able

thoroughly to overcome;--and these qualifications are scarcely to be

expected in those who are usually picked up to assist the mother during

this important season. In families, Nature has graciously balanced this

effect, and amply provided for it, in the deep-seated and unalterable

affection of the parent. The mother then is the proper agent, selected

and duly qualified by Nature for superintending this important work

during this early period. The out-bursts and irregularities of natural

depravity in the young, must be met by an unconquerable affection,

exhibited in the exercise of gentleness, guided by firmness;--of

kindness and forbearance, combined with a steady and an untiring

perseverance. Irregularity or caprice in the nurse, may be the ruin of

the morals of the child. The selection of assistance here is often

requisite, and yet how few comparatively of those into whose hands

children and infants are placed, possess the high qualifications

necessary for this important occupation?[24] The parent who from any

cause is prevented from taking charge of the superintendence of her

offspring at this period, incurs a serious responsibility in the choice

of her assistant; for if these qualifications be awanting, or, if they

be not exercised by the nurse or the keeper, the happiness and moral

welfare of the child during life are in imminent danger.

2. The child is not only to be trained to think and to act properly, but

he must be trained to do so _under the influence of motives_. If this be

neglected, we are not imitating Nature in her mode of applying knowledge

by means of the moral sense. We have seen, as formerly noticed, that a

child under the influence of conscience, has always a painful feeling of

self-reproach, or remorse, after it has done wrong; and a delightful

feeling of self-approval and joy, when it has done something that is

praiseworthy. These are employed by Nature as powerful motives to

prevent the repetition of the one, and to win the child to the frequent

or regular performance of the other;--and this is their effect. In

imitating her in this part of her educational process, we must in like

manner follow in the spirit of this principle. There must be motives of

action held out to the child; something that will tend to keep him from

the commission of evil, and something that will stimulate and encourage

him in doing good. Both are necessary, and therefore, neither of them

should be neglected. What these motives ought to be, we shall

immediately shew; but at present, we are anxious to establish the fact,

that motives to do good, should be invariably employed with our pupils,

as well as motives to avoid evil. In ordinary life, we generally find

too much of the one, and too little of the other. The fear of punishment

held out to prevent mischief or evil, is common enough; but there is

seldom sufficient attention paid to the providing of proper incitements

to the practice of virtue. Some, indeed, have gone the length of

affirming that there ought to be no such incitement held out to the

young; under the erroneous idea, that actions performed for an

equivalent, or in the hope of a reward, cease to be virtuous. But the

same reasoning would apply with almost equal force to the fear of

punishment in stimulating to duty, or in deterring from wickedness; and

yet they would scarcely affirm, that the child who, for fear of the

consequences, refused to break the Sabbath or to tell a lie, was equally

guilty with the boy who did both. There are, no doubt, some motives to

virtue that are higher and more noble than others, as there are

differences in the degrading nature of punishment employed to deter men

from vice. But both kinds may be necessary for different persons. The

man who forgives his enemy because he seeks the approbation of his Maker

and the reward promised by him, and the man who does so, because he

wishes to live in quiet, and to consult his own ease;--the boy who

refrains from sin lest he should offend God, and another who does the

same from the fear of the rod,--are each influenced by motives, although

they are of a very different kind. But it is plain, that the motives

employed may be equally efficient, and that they ought to be used

according to their influence upon the individual, and his advancement in

the paths of morality and religion. Where the higher motive has not as

yet acquired influence, the lower motive must be employed; but to refuse

the employment of either would be wrong, and the sentiment which would

totally exclude them, has no countenance in Nature, in experience, nor

in Scripture. In Nature, we see the directly opposite principle

exhibited; and find that the remorse of conscience consequent upon

crime, in preventing future transgressions, is not more powerful in

those whose moral status is low, than is the feeling of delight and joy

after an act of benevolence, which excites to new deeds of charity, in

those whose religious attainments are greater. Scripture, and the

history of all those whom Scripture holds out for imitation, unite in

teaching the same sentiment. There are many more promises in the sacred

record given to virtue, than there are threatenings against vice; and

the highest altitudes of holiness are not only represented as having

been attained by the influence of these promises; but the persons who

have already reached them, are still urged to greater exertions, and a

farther advance, by the reiteration of their number and their value.

Moses, we are told, "had an eye to the recompense of reward;" and our

Lord himself, "for the joy that was set before him," endured the cross.

Let us not then attempt a better method than God has sanctioned; and in

our intercourse with the young, let us not only deter them from the

commission of evil by the fear of disfavour or the rod, but let us also

incite them to virtue, by the hope of approbation and of a future

reward.

3. In our enquiry into the practical working of the moral sense, we

found, not only that there were motives of action employed for

encouraging the pupil to virtue, and for deterring him from vice; but we

found also, that these motives referred chiefly to God, to a future

judgment, and to eternity. In our attempts to imitate Nature in this

particular feature of her dealing with the moral sense, we begin more

distinctly to perceive the high value of Religious Instruction to the

young, and are led directly to the conclusion, that the motives to be

employed with children for encouraging and rewarding good conduct, must

be those chiefly of a spiritual kind, referring to God, and to his

favour or disapprobation, rather than to the rod, or to any secular

reward. The importance of imitating Nature in this matter, for giving a

high tone both to the sentiments and to the morals of the young, is very

great. It is now generally admitted, that secular, and especially

corporal punishments, are never required, except in connection with a

very low and degraded state of the moral sentiments; but it is equally

correct with respect to secular rewards for moral actions. They may both

of them at times be necessary, but in that case they are necessary

evils; and, as a class of motives, they should never be the rule, but

invariably the exception.--We must not, however, be misunderstood. We

are no more for abandoning _secular rewards_, than we are for giving up

corporal punishments. We speak not here of their _abandonment_, but of

their _enlightened regulation_;--both of them may be of service. But

what we wish to point out as an important feature in moral training is,

that they are, or should be, but seldom necessary; and that they ought

never to be resorted to except when they really are so. The differences

observable in the results arising from _secular_, and those from _moral_

motives, are very different, both as regards their power in restraining

from vice, and their influence in stimulating to virtue. What, for

example, would we think of the moral condition of a child, or of the

virtue of his actions, if he had to be hired by a comfit, or a piece of

money, to do every act of kindness which he performed; or if he refused

to relieve a sister, or prevent an injury to his companion, unless

similarly rewarded? This secular spirit in morals, when thus exposed in

its deformity, is obnoxious to every sentiment of virtue, and shews

itself to be a mere system of buying and selling. But how very different

does the reward appear, and the feeling which it excites, when that

reward assumes the moral character, and is found to be the desire of

pleasing the parent, and much more when it seeks the approbation of the

Almighty? Every one will see how beneficial and elevating the effects of

cherishing the one must be, and how debasing comparatively is the

influence of the other. That children are capable of being acted upon by

these higher motives, we have already seen; and, when we aim at securing

the effects which they are calculated to produce, we are closely

imitating Nature in one of her most important operations, and may

therefore calculate upon a corresponding degree of success.[25]

4. In the operations of Nature by means of the moral sense, we found,

that the impressions made upon the mind in reference to sin or duty,

were always most efficient, and most permanent, when the sin or duty was

presented to them in the form of example;--that the example increased in

efficiency and interest as it was familiar or near;--and that it became

still more powerful when it was actually seen or experienced.--From

these circumstances we are led to conclude, that the lives and conduct

of men, and especially the narrative parts of Scripture, are the proper

materials to be employed in the moral training of the young; and the

mode of making use of them is also very plainly indicated. The closer we

can bring the lesson taught to the child's own experience, or to his own

circumstances, the more familiar will it become, and the deeper will be

the impression it will make. An instance of infant disinterestedness or

heroism, in the parlour or the play-ground, pointed out, and placed in

connection with corresponding circumstances in the lives or conduct of

those from whom they have previously drawn moral lessons, will render

the latter much more familiar and practical, and will create more

energetic desires, and stronger feelings of emulation with respect to

the former. Or if the conduct of the person of whom the child hears or

reads, can be brought home and applied to his own case and

circumstances; or if he can be made to perceive the very same

dispositions or conduct exhibited in his companions; or if he can be

made to see how he himself can embody in his own conduct those

principles and actions which God has approved, and requires to be

imitated,--the end of the teacher will be much more certainly gained,

than it can be in any other way. This is moral training, conducted by

the proper moral means; and to attempt to gain the same end by means

which do not either more or less embody these principles, will be found

to be much more difficult, and much less efficient. Whoever will

consider what is implied by our Lord's address to the Pharisees who

erroneously blamed his disciples for unlawfully, as they thought,

plucking the ears of corn on the Sabbath, will see this method of

reading and applying Scripture distinctly pointed out. "Have ye never

read," said our Lord, "what David did, and those who were with him?"

This they might have done frequently; but the mere reading could never

answer the purpose for which it was recorded. The moral lesson must be

drawn, and it must also be applied to similar cases of mere ceremonial

observance.

To apply this principle, then, to the moral training of the young by

means of Scripture History, the method is obvious.--The events of the

narrative are to be used as examples or warnings to the child in

corresponding circumstances. If, for example, the teacher wishes to

enforce the duty and the benefits of patience, the history of Job has

been provided for the purpose. When that story is taught, and the

lessons drawn and applied to the ordinary contingencies of life, such as

accident, disease, or distress in a companion; or to circumstances in

which the child himself may hereafter be placed; he will be better

prepared for his duty in such events, or, in the words of Scripture, he

will be "thoroughly furnished" to this good work. If they are to be

taught meekness, the history of Moses, or of other pious men who have

been tried and disciplined as he was, will be found best adapted for the

purpose. And more especially, the life of our Lord, in which all the

virtues concentrate, has been given "as our example, that we may follow

his steps," and which ought especially to be employed in training the

young "to love and to good works." The reason why example is preferable

to precept in teaching children, will be obvious, when we consider the

nature of the principle of grouping, as exercised by the young, and the

difficulty they experience in remembering abstract or didactic subjects.

When a child receives instruction by a story, the imagination is

enlisted in the exercise, the grouping of the persons and circumstances

assists the memory, and the moral and practical lessons which they have

drawn from the narrative, are associated with it, and remain ready at

the command of the will whenever they are required.--It was for this

reason among others, that our Lord taught so frequently by parables;

and, in doing so, has not only set the parent and teacher an important

example, but has, in his teaching, illustrated a principle in our nature

which he himself had long before implanted for this very purpose.

5. In our investigations into the working of the moral sense, we found,

that there was a marked difference between the decisions of conscience

when judging of actions done by _ourselves_, and those which were

performed by _others_. As long as the child is innocent of any

particular vice, he can judge impartially of its nature and demerit; but

when the temptation to commit it has really begun to darken his mind,

and more particularly when he has at last fallen before it, all the

selfish principles of his nature are employed to deceive his better

judgment, and to drown or overbear the voice of conscience within him.

From this we learn the importance of preparing the mind _beforehand_,

for encountering those temptations to which the pupil will most likely

be exposed; not only by teaching him to draw the proper lessons from

corresponding subjects, but by making him apply these lessons to his own

case and affairs. The teacher is to suppose circumstances, in which he,

his parents, and companions, are most likely to be placed, and in which

the lessons drawn from the narrative will be required to weaken or to

prevent the influences of temptation. As, for example, it might be

asked, "If you had accidentally broken a pane of glass, and your parents

asked you who did it, what should you do?" There would in this case,

while it was only supposed, be no temptation to stifle conscience, or to

bend to the influences of selfishness or fear, and the child would

accordingly answer readily, that he ought to confess his fault, and tell

that he himself had done it. When again asked, "From what do you get

that lesson?" he will most probably reply, "From Jacob telling a lie to

his parent;--from Ananias and Sapphira telling a lie;--from the command,

'Lie not one to another,' and 'Confess your faults one to another,'" &c.

By this means the child is forewarned;--he is prepared and fortified

against the sin, if the temptation should occur; but which would not

have been the case without this or some similar exercise.

6. We have also seen, in our investigations into the working of the

moral sense, the deplorable effects of stifling conscience, and of the

child's being permitted to repeat his transgressions; while, upon the

same principle, the most beneficial consequences result from the child's

frequently practising self-denial, self-controul, and acts of

benevolence. In the one case, sin and vice lose much of their deformity,

and gain greatly in strength; while, in the other, every act of virtue

makes vice appear more hideous, and excites to a more decided advance in

the paths of rectitude. From these circumstances we are led to

conclude, that every act of sin in the pupil ought to be carefully

guarded against by the parent or teacher, and, if possible, prevented;

while every exertion ought to be made to induce to the performance of

good and kind actions, however humble or unimportant these actions in

themselves may be. If God does "not despise the day of small things,"

neither should we; and one act of kindness by a child, however trifling,

will most assuredly prepare the way for another. This circumstance also

shews the impropriety of attempting to magnify faults, when perhaps no

fault was designed; and the evil consequences, as well as the injustice,

of refraining to commend a child, when commendation is due. The timorous

fear, in many conscientious parents, of making children _vain_, is the

common excuse for this unnatural conduct. Such persons seem to confound

things _vain_ with things _valuable_, though they are perfectly opposed

to each other. Approbation for any definite quality, excites the

individual to excel in _that_ quality, whether it be worthless or

otherwise. But virtuous deeds are not worthless; and by commending, as

our Lord repeatedly did, those who have done well, they, by that

principle of our nature of which we are here speaking, are strongly

excited to do better. To feed vanity, is to commend vanities; and they

who prize and commend beauty, or fashion, or dress, or frivolous

accomplishments, may be guilty of this folly; but not the parent or the

person who commends in a child those things which are really

commendable, and after which it is his greatest glory to aspire.

7. We have already taken notice of Nature's mode of employing motives

for the prevention of evil, and for the encouragement of the child in

virtue, and how this is to be imitated in the education of the young;

but we have left for this last section, and for separate consideration,

the greatest and most powerful motive of all. This is a view of the

inherent sinfulness and danger of sin, and the means appointed by God

for man's redemption from it. All other motives to restrain men from

sin, and to induce them to follow holiness, when compared with an

enlightened view of this one, sink into insignificance. God's hatred of

sin, and his holy abhorrence of it in every form, when contemplated in

the abstract, may have a response from the head of him who compares it

with his own detestation of meanness, and fraud, and profligacy; but

when this hatred of vice in the Almighty is viewed in connection with

gospel truth, and is contemplated in its effects upon One to whom it was

only imputed, it begins to wear a very different complexion; and, as a

motive to beware of that which God is determined to punish, and which he

would not pass over even in his own Son, it leaves all other motives at

an immeasurable distance. The same thing may be said of God's goodness

and mercy in the gospel, as a motive for us to love him, and to glory in

denying ourselves to serve him. The extent of the danger from which he

has saved us, the amount and the permanence of the glory which he has

procured for us, and the price that was paid for both, will powerfully

"constrain" spiritual minds, to "live no longer to themselves, but to

him who hath died for them."

But the question which will be asked here is, "Are children capable of

all this?"--We unhesitatingly answer, from long experience, that they

are. Whoever doubts the fact has only to try. Can a child not understand

that a distinction ought to be made between the person in a family who

endeavours to make all happy, and another whose constant aim is to make

them all miserable?--Can he not understand, that the parent who refuses

to punish a wicked child, is in effect bribing others to join him in his

wickedness?--Can he not understand that a debt due by one, may be paid

by another?--and that a simple reliance on the word of his benefactor,

followed by submission to his will, may be all that is required to

secure his discharge?--No one will say that a child is incapable of

understanding these simple truths; and if he can comprehend _them_, he

can be made to understand and appreciate the leading truths of the

gospel. The teacher has only himself clearly to perceive them; and then,

divesting the truths of those unnecessary technicalities which are

sometimes, it is feared, used very improperly and unnecessarily, he

ought to convey them to the child, either orally, or by some simple

catechism suited for the purpose. Wherever this is done in effect, there

education will prosper; and when it shall become general among the

young, it will be found to be "as life from the dead."

FOOTNOTES:

[23] See pages 111 to 129

[24] Note X.

[25] Note Y.

CHAP. X.

_On the Application of our Knowledge to the Common Affairs of Life._

There is another point connected with the practical use of our

knowledge, which deserves a separate and careful consideration. It is

the method of applying our knowledge, or rather the lessons derived from

our knowledge, to the common and daily affairs of life. In this exercise

both old and young are equally concerned;--but it is evident that youth

is the proper time for training to its practice.

To acquire this valuable art, the pupils in every seminary ought to be

regularly and frequently exercised in the application of their

lessons;--first, when they have been drawn from a particular subject,

which has occupied their attention for the day; and afterwards

generally, from any part of their previous knowledge. To illustrate what

we mean by this application of our knowledge, let us suppose a person

placed in difficult circumstances, and that he is desirous of knowing

the path of duty, and the particular line of conduct which he should

pursue. If he is to trust to himself for the information required, it is

evident that he must either fall back upon his previous knowledge, and

the instructions he has already received; or he must go forward upon a

mere conjecture, or on chance, which is always dangerous. All knowledge

is given expressly for such cases, and especially Scripture knowledge;

the great design of which is, "that the man of God may be thoroughly

furnished to good works." But if the person has not been trained to make

use of his knowledge in this way and for this purpose, he will be nearly

as much at a loss as if his knowledge had never been received. Hence the

great importance of training the young early and constantly to draw upon

their knowledge for direction and guidance in every variety of situation

in which the parent or teacher can suppose them to be placed in future

life. By this means they will be prepared for encountering temptation,

which is often more than the half of the battle;--they will form the

habit of acting by rule, instead of being carried forward by fashion, by

prejudice, or by chance;--and they will soon acquire a manly confidence,

in deciding and acting, both as to the matter and the manner, of

performing all that they are called upon to do, in every juncture, and

whether the duty be important in the ordinary sense of that term or

otherwise.

For this special mode of applying knowledge, we have not only the

indications plainly given in Nature, which we have endeavoured to

illustrate, but we have also Scripture precept, and Scripture example.

Leaving the numerous instances in the Old Testament, we shall confine

ourselves to a few given by our Lord himself, and his apostles. For

example, he prepared his disciples for the temptations which the love of

worldly goods would throw in the way of their escape from the

destruction of Jerusalem, by enjoining them to "Remember Lot's wife."

Now let us observe how a teacher, in communicating the history of Lot's

wife for the first time, would have prepared these disciples for such a

difficulty in the same way. When they had read, that while fleeing for

her life, the love of her worldly goods made her sinfully look back, so

that she was turned into a pillar of salt; the obvious lesson drawn from

this would be, that "we ought to be on our guard against worldly

mindedness;"--and the _application_ of that lesson to the coming

circumstances would have been something like this. "When you are

commanded to flee from Jerusalem for your lives, and remember that your

worldly goods are left behind, what should you do?"--"We should not turn

back for them." "From what do you get that lesson?"--"From the conduct

and fate of Lot's wife."

In a similar way, the apostle James prepared Christians for humble

resignation and patient endurance under coming trials, by calling to

their remembrance "the patience of Job." He stated the trials to which

they were to be exposed, and then he directed their attention to the

Scripture example which was to regulate them in their endurance of them.

Now it is obvious that a teacher, in communicating the history of Job to

the young, should follow this example, and should make the same use of

it that the apostle did, not only by drawing the lesson, that he "ought

to be patient," but in _applying_ that lesson to temptations to which

the child is likely to be exposed, as James did to the circumstances in

which he knew Christians were to be placed. As for example, when the

child had drawn the lesson, that "we should be patient under suffering,"

the teacher might apply it in a great variety of ways, each of which

would be a delightful exercise of mind to the child,--would impress the

lesson and its source more firmly upon the memory,--and would prepare

him for the circumstances in which the lesson might be required. Were

the teacher accordingly to ask, "If you were confined by long continued

sickness;--or if you were suffering under great pain;--or if you were

oppressed by the cruelty of others, and could not help yourself;--or, if

you were grieved by being separated from your friends,--what would be

your duty?" The answer to each would be, "We ought to be

patient."--"From what do you get that lesson?"--"From the conduct of

Job, who was patient under his sufferings."

The apostle Paul follows a similar plan, in applying the practical

lessons drawn from the conduct of the Israelites in the wilderness, for

fortifying the Corinthians against temptations to which they were likely

to be exposed,[26] and tells them that this is the use to be made of Old

Testament history. These lives are "ensamples," and are "written for our

admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come."--In like manner he

forewarned the Hebrews against discontent and covetousness,[27] by

drawing a _general_ lesson from a _special_ promise made to Joshua; and

then exhorts every Christian to apply it to himself personally, by

employing the language which he puts into their mouths, "The Lord is my

helper, and I will not fear what man can do unto me."

In the same way, when our Lord repeatedly says, "Have ye not read?" and,

"Thus it is written," he gives us obvious indications of the importance

of the duty of thus preparing for temptation, by the application of our

lessons from Scripture. They are each and all of them examples of

practical lessons derived from knowledge formerly acquired, and now

employed in the way of application, to connect that knowledge with

corresponding circumstances as they occur in ordinary life. The lesson,

it will be observed, and as we formerly explained, is always made the

connecting link which unites the two; and without which there is no such

thing as the bringing of knowledge and its use together, when that

knowledge is required. In other words, without the lesson, knowledge is

_useless_; and, without the application of the lesson, knowledge is

_never used_. Both therefore are necessary, and both should be rendered

familiar to the young. It is only necessary here to observe, that in

teaching the children to _draw_ the lessons, the teacher proceeds

forwards from the knowledge communicated, and, by deducing the lesson,

prepares the child for the events in life when they shall be

necessary;--but in _applying_ the lessons, he proceeds backwards, from

the events, through the lesson to the knowledge from which it is

derived. We have a beautiful example of this in the recorded temptations

of our Lord. He was tempted to turn stones into bread; here was the

event which required a knowledge of the corresponding duty; and he

immediately applied the lesson that "we should not distrust God," and

through this lesson, though not expressed, he went directly back to the

source from which it was drawn, by saying, "Thus it is written, Man

shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God." When in like

manner he was tempted to throw himself from the temple, he immediately,

through the lesson "that we should not unnecessarily presume on the

goodness of God," went to the passage of Scripture from which it was

drawn;--and, in the same way, when tempted to worship Satan, there was

precisely the same process;--a lesson, derived from previous knowledge

and applicable to the circumstances, used as a uniting link to make the

duty and the Scripture exactly to correspond.

Of doing all this which we have described above; even children are

capable. This has been again and again proved by repeated experiments,

and now by extensive experience in many schools. The difficulties of

introducing it, even for the first time in any seminary, do not lie with

the children, who in every case have shewn themselves quite adequate to

the exercise; and wherever it has been followed up with corresponding

energy, they have been raised much higher in the grade of intelligence

and mental capacity by its means. This will be evident from the

following, taken from among many examples.

The criminals in Edinburgh Jail during the short time they were under

instruction, acquired considerable facility in this valuable art. The

report states, that "some of them were afterwards exercised on the

application of the lessons. This part consists in supposing certain

circumstances and temptations, to which they may be exposed in ordinary

life, and then leaving them, by a very profitable, and usually a very

pleasant operation of their own minds, in reference to these, to call up

to their recollection, and to hold in review, the whole accumulated

range of their previous knowledge. Among the various classes of things

thus brought in order before the eye of the mind, they are easily taught

to discriminate all those precepts and examples which are analogous to

the cases supposed, from which again they very readily select

appropriate lessons to _guide them in these emergencies_; thus linking

the lessons to the circumstances, which is done in the previous exercise

of deducing them; and then the circumstances to the lessons; and in this

manner, establishing a double tie between the understanding and the

conscience.

"For example, a woman from the Lock-up House, being asked how she ought

to conduct herself when the term of her confinement was expired?

answered, That she ought not to return to her sinful courses, or wicked

companions, lest a worse fate should befal her. When again interrogated

where she got this lesson, she immediately referred to the case of Lot,

who, being once rescued from captivity by Abraham, returned again to

wicked Sodom, where he soon lost all his property, and escaped only with

his life. Another being asked what she should do, when involved in a

quarrel with troublesome companions? replied, That she should endeavour

to be at peace, even though she should lose a little by it; and

produced as her authority the conduct of Abraham, who when Lot's

herdsmen and his could not agree, gave Lot his choice of the country, in

order to secure peace."

The children in Aberdeen also found no difficulty in perceiving the use,

and in applying the lessons to their common affairs. The report of that

Experiment states, that "the most important part of the exercise,--that

which shewed more particularly the great value of this System, and with

which the Meeting were especially struck,--was the appropriate

application of the lessons from Scripture, which they had previously

drawn. They were desired to suppose themselves placed in a great variety

of situations, and were asked how they ought to conduct themselves in

each of these. A few examples may be given, though it is quite

impossible to do justice to the subject. A boy, for instance, was asked,

'If your parents should become infirm and poor, how ought you to act

towards them?' 'I ought,' replied the boy, 'to work, and help them.' And

being asked, 'Whence he drew that lesson?' he referred to the conduct of

Ruth, who supported Naomi and herself, by gleaning in the fields.--A

girl was asked, 'If your mother were busy, and had more to do in the

family than she could easily accomplish, what ought you to do?' Her

answer was, 'I ought to give her assistance;' and she referred to the

conduct of Saul, in assisting his father to recover the asses which were

lost; and to that of David, in feeding his father's sheep when his

brothers were at the wars.--A little boy was asked, 'If your parents

were too indulgent, and seemed to give you all your own will, what ought

you to do?' 'I ought not to take it,' replied the boy very readily; and

added, that it was taking his own will that caused the ruin of the

prodigal son. Another boy being asked, 'If you should become rich, what

would be your duty to the poor?' answered, 'I ought to be good to the

poor; but it would be better to give them work than to give them money;

for Boaz did not give Ruth grain, but bade his shearers let some fall,

that she might get it by her own industry.'"

In the Experiment in London, a child was asked, "When you live with

brothers and sisters who are wicked, what should you do?" and answered,

"I should not join with them in their sins." And when asked where she

got that lesson, answered, "From Joseph, who would not join with his

brothers in their sin."--Another was asked, "When you see others going

heedlessly on in the commission of sin, what should you do?" and

answered, "I should warn them of their danger;" and referred to Noah,

who warned the wicked while building the ark.--Again, "When people about

you are given to quarrel, what should you do?" We should endeavour to

make peace; and referred to Abram endeavouring to remain at peace with

Lot's herdsmen.--"When you have grown up to be men and women, what

should you do?" "We should go to a trade, and be industrious;" and

referred to Cain and Abel following their different employments.--"When

two situations occur, one where you will get more money, but where the

people are wicked and ungodly; and the other, where you will get less

money, but have better company, which should you choose?" "The good

company, though with less money;" and referred to Lot's desire for

riches taking him to live in wicked Sodom, where he lost all that he

had.--"When your parents get old, and are unable to support themselves,

what should you do?" "We should work for them;" and referred to Ruth

gleaning for the support of her old mother-in-law; and another referred

to Joseph bringing his father to nourish him in Goshen.--"When your

parents or masters give you any important work or duty to perform, what

should you do?" "We should pray to God for success, and for his

direction and help in performing it;" and referred to Abraham's servant

praying at the well.--"When we find people wishing to take advantage of

us and cheat us, what should we do?" "Leave them;" and referred to Jacob

with his family leaving Laban.--"Were any one to tempt you to lie or

commit a sin, what should you do?" "We ought not to be tempted;" and

referred to Abraham making Sarah tell a lie in Egypt.--"How should you

behave to strangers?" "We should be kind to them;" and referred to Lot

lodging the angels.--"Were a master or mistress to have the choice of

two servants, one clever, but ungodly, and the other not so clever, but

pious, which one should be chosen?" "The pious servant;" and referred to

Potiphar, whom God blessed and prospered for Joseph's sake.--"When any

one has injured us, what should we do?" "Forgive them;" and referred to

Joseph forgiving and nourishing his brethren.--"When you have once

escaped the snares and designs of bad company, what should you do?" "We

should never go back again;" and referred to Lot going back again to

live in Sodom from which he at last escaped only with his life.

In the account given of the Newry Experiment, the boys were equally

ready in applying for their own benefit the lessons they had drawn from

their knowledge of anatomy and physiology. The account says, that "the

most interesting, as well as the most edifying part of the examination,

and which exhibited the great value of this method of teaching the

sciences to the young, was the _application_ of these lessons to the

circumstances of ordinary life. Circumstances were supposed, in which

they or others might be placed, and they were required to apply the

lessons they had drawn for their direction, and for regulating their

conduct in every such case. This they did with great sagacity, and

evident delight, and in a manner which convinced the audience that the

few hours during which they had been employed in making these

acquisitions, instead of being irksome and laborious, as education is

too often considered by the young, were obviously among the happiest and

the shortest they had ever spent in almost any employment,--their play

not excepted. We shall give a specimen of these, and the answers given,

as nearly as can be recollected.

"The case of walking in a frosty day was supposed, and they were asked

what, in that case, ought to be done? The answer was, That we should

take care not to fall. Why? Because the bones are easily broken in

frosty weather.--When heated and feverish in a close room, what should

be done? Let in fresh air; because it is the want of oxygen in the air

we breathe that causes such a feeling, but which the admission of fresh

air supplies.--When troubled with listlessness, and impeded circulation,

what should we do? Take exercise; because the contraction of the muscles

by walking, working, or otherwise, forces the blood to the heart, and

through the lungs, by which health and vigour is promoted.--Where should

we take exercise? In the country, or in the open air; because there the

air is purer than in a house or a town, where fires, smoke, frequent

breathing, and other things, render the atmosphere unwholesome.--Would

breathing rapidly, without exercise, not nourish the blood equally well?

No; because although more air be drawn into the lungs, there would be no

more blood to combine with its oxygen.--What should be done, when

candles in a crowded church burn dim, although they do not need

snuffing? Let in fresh air; because the air is then unwholesome for want

of oxygen; which, carried to a great extent, would cause fainting in the

people, and would extinguish the candles themselves.--When a fire is

like to go out, what should be done? Blow it up with bellows. Why not by

the mouth? Because the air blown from the lungs has lost great part of

its oxygen, by which alone the fire burns. Why then does a fire blown

with the mouth burn at all? Because part of the oxygen remains, said one

boy; and another added, "and because part of the surrounding air is

blown in along with it."

At the second meeting with these boys, occasioned by the unexpected

circumstances formerly alluded to, they were summarily, and without

previous notice, taken from their school to another public meeting,

without knowing for what purpose they were brought, and had to undergo a

still more searching examination on what they had been previously

taught. Here again they shewed their dexterity in making use of their

lessons, by the application of them, and proved that they had been doing

so to themselves in the intercourse which they had had with their

relations at home. The account goes on to say, that "they were then more

fully and searchingly examined than at first; and there being more time,

they were much longer under the exercise. It was then found, that the

information formerly communicated was not only remembered, but that the

several truths were much more familiar, in themselves and in their

connection with each other, than they had been at the former meeting.

This had evidently arisen from their own frequent meditations upon them

since that time, and their application of the several lessons, either

with one another, their parents, or themselves. The medical gentlemen

were again present, and professed themselves equally pleased. The

lessons, _with considerable additions_, were also given, and the

applications especially were greatly extended. In these last they

appeared to be perfectly at home; and relevant circumstances might have

been multiplied for double the time, without their having any difficulty

in applying the lessons, and giving a reason for their application."

But the most satisfactory of all the experiments on this point, as

implying the possession of a well-cultivated mind, holding at command an

extensive field of useful knowledge, was the one in Leith, although

from accident, or inadvertence on the part of the reporter, a large

portion of it has been lost to the public. The following fragment,

however, will be sufficient to shew its nature and its value. The

examinator wished "to ascertain the power which the children possessed

of applying the passage to their own conduct; and for this purpose, he

proposed several circumstances in which they might be placed, and asked

them to show how this portion of Scripture directed them to

act.--Supposing, said he, that your father and mother were to neglect to

take you to church next Sunday, would that be wrong?--Yes.--From what do

you get that lesson? And when he was twelve years old, they went up to

Jerusalem after the custom of the feast.--Is it right that children

should go to church with their parents? Yes.--Why? Because Jesus went

with his parents.--Would it be right for you to go out of church during

the time of the service? No.--Why? Joseph and Mary remained till the

service was over.

"The next point to be ascertained was, whether the children were able,

not only to perceive what passages of Scripture were applicable in

particular circumstances, but also to find out what circumstances in

life those passages might be applied to. For this purpose, Mr Gall

asked, 'Could you tell me any circumstances which may happen, in which

you may be called on to remember that Joseph and Mary attended public

worship?'--If a friend were to take dinner or tea with us, that should

not detain us from attending church.--Idle amusements should not detain

us from church; and nothing should keep us from it but sickness.

"Mr Gall again expressed his unabated satisfaction at the results of the

examination, in proving the intellectual acquirements of the children.

But so important did the application of the lessons appear to him, that

he must trespass still further upon the time of the meeting by a more

severe test of the children's practical training on this particular

point. It was a test which he believed to be altogether new to them; but

if they should succeed, it will prove still more satisfactorily, that

their knowledge of Scripture has made it become, in reality, a light to

their feet, and a lamp to their path.

"Mr Gall then produced a little narrative tract, which he read aloud to

the children; and after the statement of each moral circumstance

detailed in it, he asked the children whether it was right or wrong.

When the children answered that it was _right_, he required them to

prove that it was so, by some statement in the word of God, because the

Bible should to them, and to every Christian, be the _only_ standard of

what is right and wrong; and so, in the same manner, when they said that

it was _wrong_, he required them also to prove it from Scripture.

"As soon as the children perceived what was wanted, passages of

Scripture, both of precept and example, were brought forward with as

much readiness and discrimination as before. The only exception, was one

or two quotations from the Shorter Catechism in proof of their

positions, which were of course rejected, as deficient of the required

authority."

The concluding remarks by the Right Honourable and Reverend reporters of

the Experiment in Edinburgh, may with propriety be here given, as it is

applicable, not only to prison discipline, but to education in general.

"The result of this important experiment," they say, "was, in every

point, satisfactory. Not only had much religious knowledge been acquired

by the pupils, and that of the most substantial, and certainly the least

evanescent kind; but it appeared to have been acquired with ease, and

even with satisfaction--a circumstance of material importance in every

case, but especially in that of adult prisoners. But the most uncommon

and important feature of it was, the readiness which they, in this

short period, had acquired of deducing _Practical Lessons_ from what

they had read or heard, for the regulation of their conduct. Every

leading circumstance in Scripture, by this peculiar feature of the

System, was made to reflect its light on the various common occurrences

of ordinary life, by which the pupils themselves were enabled to judge

of the real nature of each particular act, and to adopt, or to shun it,

as the conscience thus enlightened should dictate. The acting and

re-acting, indeed, of every branch of the System, upon each other,

interweaves so thoroughly the lessons of Scripture with the feelings and

thoughts of their minds, and associates them so closely with the common

circumstances of life, that it is almost impossible that either the

portions of the Bible which they have thus learned, or the practical

lessons thus drawn from them, should, at any future period, escape from

their remembrance. The evolutions of their future life, will disclose

circumstances which they are prepared to meet, by having lessons laid up

in store, adapted to such occurrences; and especially, when the mental

habit is formed of applying Scripture in this manner, there is scarcely

an event which can happen, but against its tempting influence they will

be fortified by the armour of divine truth.--Their compliance with

temptation, should that take place, will not be done without a

compunction of conscience, arising from some pointed and warning example

that comes in all its urgency before their minds;--and they will, when

seduced from rectitude, have a light within them, and a clue of divine

truth, to guide them out of the dark and mazy labyrinth of error and

crime, into the path of duty and virtue. It is God alone that can bless

such instruction, and render it savingly efficacious; but surely the

inference is fair, that this System furnishes us with an instrument,

which, if skilfully employed, will effect all that man can do for his

erring brother or sister."

FOOTNOTES:

[26] 1 Cor. x. 1-11.

[27] Heb. xiii. 5, 6

CHAP. XI.

_On the Imitation of Nature, in training her Pupils fluently to

communicate their Knowledge._

There is a fourth, or supplementary process in Nature's educational

course, the successful imitation of which promises to be of great

general benefit, as soon as it shall be universally adopted in our

elementary schools. It is, as it were, the door-way of intellect,--the

break in the cloud, through which the sun-light of concocted knowledge

is to find its way, to enlighten and cheer the general community.--We

refer to that acquirement, by which persons are enabled, without

distraction of mind, internally to prepare and arrange their ideas, at

the moment they are verbally communicating them to others.

When this process is analysed, we find, as explained in a former

chapter, that it consists simply in an ability to think, and to arrange

our thoughts at the time we are speaking;--to exercise the mind on one

set of ideas, at the moment we are giving expression to another. Simple

as this at first sight may appear, we have seen that it is but very

gradually arrived at;--that many persons, otherwise possessing great

abilities, never can command it;--that it is altogether an acquisition

depending upon the use of proper means;--but that, at the same time, any

person whatever, by submitting to the appropriate discipline, may attain

almost any degree of perfection in its exercise. The object required by

the teacher, therefore, is a series of exercises, by means of which his

pupils will be trained to think and to speak at the same moment; to have

their minds busily occupied with some object or idea, while their powers

of speech are engaged in giving utterance to something else. For the

purpose of suggesting such an exercise, we shall again attend shortly to

the exhibition of the process, as we find it under the superintendence

of Nature.

An infant, as we formerly explained, can for a long period utter only

one or two words at a time,--not because it is unacquainted with more,

but because it has not yet acquired the power of thinking the second

word, while it is giving utterance to the first. It has to attain, by

steady practice, and by slow degrees, the ability of commanding the

thoughts, while uttering two, three, or more words consecutively,

without a pause. A child also, whose mind is engaged with its toys,

cannot for some time, during its early mental advances, attend to a

speaker; much less can it think of, and arrange an answer to a question,

while it continues its play. It has to stop, and think; it then gives

the information required; and after this it will perhaps resume its

play, but not sooner. When a child can speak and continue its

amusements, it is an evidence of considerable mental power; and as

Nature makes use of its play, for the purpose of increasing this

ability, the teacher, and especially the parents, ought to excite and

encourage every attempt at conversation while the pupil is so employed.

But our object at present is to arrive at one or more regular exercises

that shall embody the principle; exercises which may at all times be at

the command, and under the controul of the teacher and parent, and which

may form part of the daily useful arrangements of the school or the

family. The following are a few, among many, which we shall briefly

notice, before introducing one which promises to be still more

beneficial, and more generally applicable to the economy of literary

pursuits, and the arrangements of the academy.

One of the exercises which assists in attaining the end here in view, we

have already alluded to, as being successfully employed by Nature for

the purpose,--that is, the child's play. Any amusement which requires

thought or attention, is well calculated to answer this purpose,--and

if the child can be induced and trained to speak and play at the same

time, his thinking powers being occupied by the external use of his

toys, the end of the teacher will in so far be gained. Questions put to

a child at that time, and answers given by him while he continues to

exercise his mind upon his amusements, will prepare the way, and greatly

assist in giving him the power of exercising it upon ideas, without the

help of these external and tangible objects. The principle in both cases

is the same, although in the one it is not carried out to the same

extent as it is in the other. And here we cannot help remarking, how

extensive and important a field the working of this principle opens up

to the ingenious toy-man. If a game, or games, can be invented, where

the child must have his attention occupied with one object, while he is

obliged to answer questions, or to make observations, or to detail

facts, or in any other way to employ his speaking powers

extemporaneously, (not repeating words by rote,) the person who does so

will greatly edify the young, and benefit the public.

Another method by which the principle may be called into exercise, is to

tell a short story, or simple anecdote, and then to require the child to

rehearse it again. In doing this, the mind of the child is employed in

communing with the memory, while he is engaged in detailing to the

teacher or monitor, the special circumstances in their order. Upon the

principles of individuation and grouping, too, (the two most important

principles, be it observed, which Nature employs with young children,)

we can perceive, that it will be much easier for the child, and at least

equally powerful in producing the effect, if the teacher or parent shall

confine himself to one or two stories or anecdotes at a time, till, by

repeated attempts, the child can in its own words, and in its own way,

readily and fluently detail the whole of the circumstances to the

parent or teacher, whenever required.

A similar mode of accomplishing the same object, when the child is able

to read, is, to require him at home to peruse a story of some length,

and to rehearse what he can remember of it next day. This ought,

however, in every case to be a narrative, or anecdote, consisting of

groupings which the child can, on reading, picture on his mind. If this

be neglected, there is danger of the child's being harassed and

burdened, without any corresponding benefit being produced. It is here

also worthy of remark, that Dr Mayo's "Lessons on Objects" may be

employed for this purpose with considerable effect. If a list of

qualities, such as colour, consistence, texture, &c. be put into the

child's hand, and he be required to elucidate and rehearse those

relating to one particular object, either placed before him, or, what is

better, one with which he is acquainted, but which at the time he does

not see, the eye and the mind will be engaged with his paper, and in

recollecting the particular qualities of the object, at the same time

that he is employed in communicating his recollections.

Another method for producing the same end, consists in the parent or

teacher repeating a sentence to the child, and requiring him to remember

it, and to spell the several words in their order. Here the child has to

remember the whole sentence, to observe the order of the several words,

to chuse them one after another as he advances, and to remember and

rehearse the letters of which each is composed. The mental exercise here

is exceedingly useful, besides the advantages of training children to

correct spelling. At the commencement of this exercise with a child, the

sentence must be short, and he may be permitted to repeat each word

after he has spelled it, which will help him to remember the word that

follows;--but as he advances, he may be made to spell the whole without

pronouncing the words; and the length of the sentence may be made to

correspond with his ability. Great care however should be taken by the

teacher that this exercise be correctly performed.

Many other methods for exercising the child's mind and oral powers at

the same moment, will be suggested by the ingenuity of teachers, and by

experience; and wherever a teacher hits upon one which he finds

efficient, and which works well with his children, it is to be hoped

that he will not deprive others of its benefit. Such communications in

education, like mercy, are twice blessed. But the exercise which, for

its simplicity and power, as well as for the extent of its application

to the business and arrangements of the school, appears to answer the

purpose best, and which embodies most extensively the stipulations

required for the successful imitation of Nature in this part of her

process, is that which has been termed the "Paraphrastic Exercise." The

exercise here alluded to has this important recommendation in its

practical working, that while it can be employed with the child who can

read no more than a sentence, it may be so modified and extended, as to

exercise the mental and oral powers of the best and cleverest of the

scholars to their full extent. It consists in making a child read a

sentence or passage aloud; and, while he is doing so, in requiring him

at the same moment, to be actively employed in detecting and throwing

out certain specified words in the passage, and in selecting, arranging,

and substituting others in their place; the child still keeping to the

precise meaning of the author, and studying and practising, as far as

possible, simplicity, brevity, elegance, and grammatical accuracy. It

may be asked, "What child will ever be able to do this?" We answer with

confidence, that every sane pupil, by using the proper means, may attain

it. This is no hypothesis, but a fact, of which the experiment in Leith

gives good collateral proof, and of which long and uniform experience

has afforded direct and ample evidence. Any teacher, or parent indeed,

may by a single experiment upon the very dullest of his pupils who can

read, be satisfied on the point. Such a child, by leaving out and

paraphrasing first one word in a sentence, then two, three, or more, as

he acquires ability, will derive all the advantages above described;

and, by advancing in the exercise, he may have his talents taxed during

the whole progress of his education to the full extent of their powers.

It is in this that one great recommendation lies to this exercise,--it

being adapted to every grade of intellect, from the child who can only

paraphrase a single word at a time, to the student who, while glancing

his eye over the passage, can give the scope of the whole in a perfectly

new form, and in a language and style entirely his own. Of the nature

and versatility of this exercise we shall give a single example.

Let us for this purpose suppose that a child sees in the first answer of

the First Initiatory Catechism the words, "God at first created all

things to shew his greatness," and that the teacher wishes to exercise

his mind in the way, and upon the principle of which we are here

speaking, by making him paraphrase it. He begins by ascertaining that

the child knows the exact meaning of one or more of the several terms

used in the sentence, and can give the meaning in other words. As for

example, he should be able to explain that the first word means, "the

Almighty;"--that the words at "first," here signifies, at "the beginning

of time;"--that "created" means, "brought into existence;"--that the

term "all things," as here used, indicates, "all the worlds in Nature,

with their inhabitants;"--that the phrase to "shew," means to "exhibit

to his rational creatures;"--and that his "greatness," at the close

implies, his "infinite majesty and perfections."

Now it must be obvious, that any one of these explanations may be made

familiar to the dullest child that can read; and if _this_ can be done,

the principle may immediately be brought into exercise. For example,

when the child knows that the first word means "the Almighty," and that

"first" is another way of expressing "the beginning of time," he is

required to read the whole sentence, and in doing so, to throw out these

two words, and to substitute their meanings. He will then at once read

the sentence thus: "[The Almighty,] at [the beginning of time,] created

all things to shew his greatness." The same thing may be done with any

one or more of the others; and if the child at first feels any

difficulty with two, the teacher has only, upon the principle of

individuation, to make one of them familiar, before he be required to

attend to a second; and to have two rendered easy before he goes forward

to the third. Each explanation can be mastered in its turn, and may then

be employed in forming the paraphrase; by which means the child's mind

is called to the performance of double duty,--reading from his

book,--throwing out the required words,--remembering their

explanations,--inserting them regularly and grammatically,--and perhaps

transposing, and re-constructing the whole sentence,--at the moment that

he is giving utterance to that which the mind had previously arranged.

The same thing may be done with a sentence from any book, although not

so systematically prepared for the purpose as the Initiatory Catechisms

have been. The explanations of any of the words which may be pointed

out, or under-scored by the teacher, can easily be mastered in the usual

way by any of the children capable of reading them; and if he shall be

gradually and regularly trained to do this frequently, his command of

words, in expressing his _own_ ideas, and his ability to use them

correctly, will very soon become extensive and fluent. The importance of

this to the young is much more valuable and necessary than is generally

supposed. Nature evidently intends that childhood and youth should be

the seed-time of language; and the exercise here recommended, when

persevered in, is well calculated to produce an abundant harvest of

words, suited for all kinds of oral communications.--Its importance in

this respect, as well as its efficiency in fulfilling all the

stipulations necessary for imitating Nature in the exercise of the

principle which we are here illustrating, will be obvious to any reader

by a very simple experiment.

For this purpose the sentence which we have already employed may, for

the sake of illustration, be represented in the following form.--"[God]

at [first] [created] all [things] to [shew] his [greatness.]"--Here each

of the words, which we formerly supposed to be explained by the child,

is inclosed in brackets. Now if the reader will be at the pains of

trying the experiment upon himself, and shall endeavour to observe the

various operations of his own mind during it, he will at once perceive

the correctness of the above remarks. That he may have the full benefit

of this experiment, he has only to fix upon any one--but only one--of

the inclosed words in the above sentence, and having ascertained its

precise meaning as before given, he must _read_ the sentence aloud from

the beginning, following the words with his eye in the ordinary way,

till he arrives at the word he has fixed on. This he leaves out, and in

its stead inserts the explanation, and then goes on to read the

remainder of the sentence.--At the first trial he will perhaps be able

to detect in his own mind some of the difficulties, which the less

matured intellect of the young pupil has to encounter in his early

attempts to succeed in the exercise; but he will also see, that it is a

difficulty easily overcome when it is presented singly, and when the

pupil is permitted to grapple with the paraphrasing of each word by

itself. The reader will also be able to trace the operation of the young

mind while engaged with the explanations, which differ entirely from

the words which he is at the moment looking upon and reading. He will

observe, that when the eye of the child arrives at the word fixed upon,

he has to pause in his utterance for a moment, till the mind goes in

search of what it requires; in the same way, and upon precisely the same

principle, that an infant who has managed to speak one word, has to

stop, and go in search of the next, and then to concentrate the powers

of its mind upon it, before he can give it expression. But if the reader

will repeat the operation to himself upon the _same word_, till he can

read its explanation in the sentence without difficulty and without a

pause; and then do the same with two, then with three, and so on, till

he has completed the whole; he will be able to appreciate in some

measure the importance of this exercise in training the young to such a

command of language, as will enable them, on all known subjects, to

deliver fluently, and in any variety of form, the precise shade of

meaning which they wish to express.

This of itself will be a great attainment by the pupil; but it is not

all. The reader will also perceive what must be the necessary result of

persevering in this exercise, during the time of a child's attendance at

school, in training him to that calm self-possession,--that perfect

command of the mind and the thoughts,--while engaged in speaking, which

the frequent and gradually extended use of this exercise is so well

calculated to afford. All the children of a school, without exception,

may be exercised by its means, and upon the same paragraph; for while,

by the paraphrasing of but one word in a clause, it is within the reach

of the humblest intellect; yet, by the changes and transpositions

necessary in more difficult passages, either to smooth asperities, or to

avoid grammatical errors, it provides an extemporaneous exercise suited

to the talents of the highest grade in any seminary.

The collateral advantages also of this exercise, are both valuable and

extensive. The operation of the principle which supposes double duty by

the mind, enters into the nature of numerous acts in ordinary life,

besides that of thinking and speaking, and which a perfect command of

the thoughts in paraphrasing will tend greatly to facilitate.--For

example, it will greatly assist the pupil in making observations during

conversation, in attending to the weak and strong points of an argument,

and in preparing his materials for a reply, while he is all the time

hearing and storing up the ideas of a speaker.--It will enable him more

extensively, and more deliberately to employ his mind on useful subjects

while engaged with his work, even in those cases where a considerable

degree of thought is required;--and it will greatly aid him in acquiring

the art of "a ready writer," and will be available, both when he himself

writes his own thoughts, or when he requires to dictate them to others.

Many persons who can express their ideas well enough by speech, find

themselves greatly at a loss when they sit down to write them;--and this

arises entirely from the want of that command of the mind which is

necessary whenever it is called on to do double duty. The person cannot

think of that which he wishes to write, and at the same moment guide the

hand in writing; in the same way, and for the same reason, that a child

cannot answer a question and yet continue his play. By the use of the

paraphrastic exercise, however, the pupil will soon be enabled not only

to concoct in his own mind what he intends to write, during the time he

is writing; but the faculty may, by the same means, be cultivated to

such an extent, that he may at last be able to dictate to two clerks at

a time, and sometimes perhaps, (as it has been affirmed some have done)

even to three.

A similar collateral advantage, which will arise from the persevering

use of the paraphrastic exercise, deserves a separate consideration.--It

will gradually create a capacity to take written notes of a subject,

either in the church, the senate, or the lecture room, during the time

that the speaker is engaged in delivering it. It is in the ability to

hear and concoct in the mind one set of ideas, while writing down an

entirely different set, that the whole art of accurate "reporting"

consists. The writing part of the process is purely mechanical; the

perfection of the art consists chiefly in the command which the reporter

acquires over the powers of his mind. The person while so employed has

to hear and reiterate the ideas of the speaker as he proceeds; these he

must remember and arrange, selecting, abridging, condensing, or

abandoning, according to the extent of his manual dexterity in writing.

But it is worthy of remark, that if the person be able to think,--to

exercise his mind,--and to continue to write without stopping while he

does so, the _amount_ of what he writes is a mere accident, and depends,

not upon the state of the mind, but upon the mechanical part of the

operation, which is aided by the arts of stenography and abbreviation.

This mental capacity is most likely to be acquired by the regular and

persevering use of the paraphrastic exercise. It will train the pupil to

that command over his thoughts, which, with a little practice in this

particular mode of applying it, will soon enable him, with perfect

self-possession, to hear and to keep up with a speaker, while he

continues without a pause, to write down as much of what has been said,

as his command of the pen will allow. Without this mental ability, he

could not while listening write at all; but when it has been

sufficiently acquired, there is no limit to his taking down all that is

spoken, except what arises from the imperfection of the mechanical part

of the process,--his manual dexterity. All these collateral advantages

will accrue to the pupils by the use of this exercise; and this latter

one will be greatly promoted in a school by a piece of history, an

anecdote, or a paragraph of any kind, which none of the pupils know,

being read slowly for only a few minutes, while the whole of the pupils

who can write are required to take notes at the time, and to stop and

give them in, as soon as the reading is finished.[28]

It is also here worthy of remark,--and it is perhaps another proof of

the efficiency of the several exercises before enumerated as imitations

of Nature,--that they all, more or less, embody a portion of this

principle of double duty performed by the mind. In each of them, when

properly conducted, the pupil is compelled to speak, and to think at the

same moment. Not a little of their efficiency and value indeed, may be

attributed to this circumstance. In the catechetical exercise, for

example, it is not difficult to trace its operation. For in the attempt

of the child to answer a question previously put to him, the teacher

will be at no loss to perceive the mind gradually acquiring an ability

to think of the original question and of the ideas contained in the

subject from which he has selected his answer, at the very moment he is

giving it utterance. And a knowledge of the fact should excite teachers

in general, so to employ this exercise as to produce this effect.--The

analytical exercise also, in its whole extent, calls into operation the

working of this principle, whether employed synthetically or

analytically. When children are employed with the analytical exercise

proper,--as in tracing a practical lesson backwards to the subject or

circumstance from which it has been drawn, and in attaching that

circumstance to the story or class of truths to which it belongs; or

when, as in the "Analysis of Prayer," a text of Scripture has to be

classified according to its nature, among the several parts into which

prayer is divided;--in all these cases, there is this same double

operation of the mind, searching and comparing one set of ideas, while

the pupil is employed in giving expression to others.

The exhibition of the principle will be easily traced, from what took

place in the experiment in London, where the report states, that "the

third class were next examined on the nature and practice of prayer.

They shewed great skill in comprehending and defining the several

component parts of prayer, as invocation, adoration, confession,

thanksgiving, petition, &c. They first gave examples of each separately;

and then, with great facility, made selections from each division in its

order, which they gave consecutively; shewing, that they had acquired,

with ease and aptitude, by means of this classification, a most

desirable scriptural directory in the important duty of prayer. They

then turned several lessons and passages of scripture into prayer; and

the Chairman, and several of the gentlemen present, read to them

passages from various parts of the Bible, which they readily classified,

as taught in the 'Questions on Prayer,' and turned them into adoration,

petition, confession, or thanksgiving; according to their nature, and as

they appeared best suited for each. Some of the texts were of a mixed,

and even of a complicated nature; but in every case, even when they were

not previously acquainted with the passages, they divided them into

parts, and referred each of these to its proper class, as in the more

simple and unique verses."

But a similar working of the same principle takes place when the

analytical exercise is employed synthetically, and when the pupil is

required to go from the root, forward to the extreme branches of the

analysis, as is done when he forms an extemporaneous prayer, from a

previous acquaintance with its several divisions and their proper order.

In this very necessary and important branch of a child's education, the

"Analysis of Prayer" is usually employed, and has, in thousands of

instances, been found exceedingly effective. During this exercise, the

child has steadily to keep in view the precise form and order of the

Analysis, and at the same moment he has to select the matter required

under each of the parts from the miscellaneous contents of his memory,

to put them in order, and to give them expression. In doing this there

is a variety of mental operations going on at the same moment, during

all of which the pupil will soon be enabled continuously to give

expression to his own ideas, with as much ease and self-possession as if

he were doing nothing more than mechanically repeating words previously

committed to memory. This is a valuable attainment; and yet the whole of

this complicated operation of attending to the several branches of the

analysis, and of selecting, forming, and giving utterance to his

confessions, his thanksgivings, and his petitions, with perfect

composure and self-possession, is within the reach of every Christian

child. It is accomplished by a persevering exercise of the principle

which has been illustrated above, and which is exemplified in the

paraphrastic exercise. Many adults, it is believed, have been enabled,

with ease and comfort, to commence family worship by its means; and

numerous classes have been trained to the exercise in a few lessons. We

shall here detain the reader by only a single example.

The writer having been requested to meet with the Sunday School Teachers

of Greenock and its neighbourhood, about the year 1827 or 1828, paid a

visit to that place, and had the proposed meeting in a large hall of the

town, where he endeavoured to explain to them, practically, a few of the

principles connected with Sunday School Teaching, as more scientifically

detailed in the present Treatise. For the purposes of that meeting,

three children belonging to one of the Sunday Schools, were for a few

hours previously instructed, and prepared to exhibit the working of some

of those principles which, it was hoped, would lessen the labour of the

Sunday School Teachers, and at the same time increase their influence

and their usefulness. These children, (two girls and a boy,) about the

ages of ten or twelve years, were regularly instructed by means of the

catechetical exercise, in the doctrines, examples, and duties of

Christianity; and among other subjects, they were made acquainted with

the "Analysis of Prayer," and exercised by its means, without its being

hinted to them, however, what use was intended to be made of it.

The meeting was a crowded one; where, besides the Sunday School

Teachers, and Parents of the children, nearly all the Clergymen of the

place were present. When the more ostensible business of the meeting had

been concluded, the writer consulted privately with two or three of the

clergymen, and asked, whether they, knowing the general sentiments of

the persons composing the meeting, would think it improper that one of

the three children who had shewn themselves so intelligent, should be

called on solemnly to engage in prayer with the audience before

dismissing. To this they replied, that there could be no objections to

such a thing, provided the children were able;--but of their ability,

they very seriously doubted. On this point, however, the writer assured

them there was no fear; and if that were the only objection, they would

themselves immediately see that it was groundless. The boy accordingly,

without his even conjecturing such a thing previously, was, before the

meeting was dismissed, publicly called on to engage in prayer. He was

for a moment surprised, and hesitated; but almost immediately, on the

request being repeated, he shut his eyes, and commenced, with a solemn

and faltering voice for one or two sentences; when, recovering from

every appearance of trepidation, he proceeded with much propriety and

solemnity of manner, with great latitude, and yet perfect regularity and

self-possession, through all the departments of adoration, confession,

thanksgiving, and petition, in language entirely his own, selecting for

himself, and arranging his sentences agreeably to the Analysis, which

was evidently his guide from the beginning to the end. This Treatise

will, there is little doubt, be read by some who were that evening

present, and who will remember the universal feeling of surprise and

delight, at the perfect propriety of expression, the serenity of mind,

and the solemnity of manner, which characterised the whole of this

uncommon exercise. It did appear to many as a most unaccountable thing;

but when the principle is perceived, as explained above, the wonder must

at once cease, and we can distinctly see, that by using the proper

means, the same ability is within the reach of all who will be at the

pains to make the trial.

This same principle is also exercised to a very considerable extent in

drawing and applying lessons from a previous announcement. A very little

attention to the operations of the mind in that exercise will be

sufficient to shew this. Let us suppose, for example, that an

announcement is made to a child, from which he is required to draw a

practical lesson. This announcement must be distinctly present to his

mind, while he is engaged in considering its meaning, its moral

character, and its bearing on his own sentiments and conduct;--but more

especially, all this, besides the original announcement, has still to be

kept in view, while he is engaged in giving the lesson to the teacher in

his own language as required. But in the application of the lessons, the

principle is still more extensively called into operation. The child is

asked, how he should act in certain given circumstances. These

circumstances must accordingly be kept steadily before the mind, during

the whole of the succeeding mental operation. He has to consider the

lesson, or the conduct which he should pursue in these circumstances,

and then, by the association of his ideas, he must call up from the

whole of his accumulated knowledge, the precepts, the examples, the

warnings, and even the implications, which form his authority for

deciding on the conduct which he ought to pursue. These again must be

kept before the mind, while he is preparing, and giving in his own

language his conclusions to his teacher.

All this was very obvious in the several public experiments, where the

drawing of lessons, and the application of them by the pupils, were

introduced.--In the case of the adult prisoners in Edinburgh County

Jail, it was very observable; and the rolling of the eye, and the

unconscious movement of the head, as if deeply engaged in some mental

research when an application was required, were peculiarly pleasing and

obvious to all the spectators. The reason was, that they had to keep

before their mind, the circumstance, or statement involved in the

question asked, while they had, at the same time, to review the several

portions of their knowledge, chuse out the passage or example which was

calculated to direct them in the duty; and then, still keeping these

accumulated ideas present before the mind, they had to prepare and give

expression to their answers. The same thing had to be done, but to a

much greater extent, by the children in Aberdeen, in London, and in

Newry. But the most satisfactory evidence of the beneficial working of

this principle, in the drawing and applying of lessons, and by this

means in giving even to children a command of language, and a power of

extemporaneous speech which is but rarely attained even by adults, is to

be found in the Seventh Experiment in Leith. The writer feels more at

liberty in descanting upon the extraordinary results of that

investigation with the children, because he had no share in their

previous instruction; the peculiar merits of which belonged entirely to

their zealous and pious teacher. He was a plain unlettered man; and yet

he has trained hundreds of children in his Sunday school, whose

intellectual attainments, for their age and rank in life, the writer has

seldom known to be surpassed. There were exhibited by the children, from

the beginning of the experiment to the end, an amount of knowledge, a

degree of mental culture, a grasp of mind, and a fluency of expression,

which had never before been witnessed in children of a similar class, or

of the same age, by any person then present. The pupils were at the time

quite unprepared for any extraordinary exhibition;--the subjects were

chosen indiscriminately by the clergymen present, and were repeatedly

changed;--and what is still more extraordinary, it was found, upon

investigation, that the subjects were in general entirely new, or at

least they had never been previously used as exercises in the school.

The children, however, with all these disadvantages, were perfectly at

home in each one of them. There appeared to be no exhausting of their

resources; and the ease, and copiousness, and fluency of their language,

were remarked by all present, as extraordinary, and by some as almost

incredible. Many who were present, could scarcely believe that the

children spoke extemporaneously. All these phenomena were simply the

effects of the principle of which we are here speaking, regularly

brought into operation, in the weekly acts of drawing and applying their

practical lessons. The exhibition of so much mental power possessed by

mere children,--and these children collected from the very humblest and

rudest classes inhabiting a sea-port town,--appeared to be a

circumstance altogether new. The official persons present, and the very

Rev. Bishop Russell, who took an active part in the examination,

expressed their decided satisfaction at the results of the whole

experiment; and the effects of these principles, as illustrated by such

children, made the present Lord Murray remark publicly at the close of

the meeting, that it was obviously "a valuable discovery, calculated to

be extensively useful to society."

FOOTNOTES:

[28] Note Z.