1825.) 
For the Monthly Magazine. 
Of the Inruuvence of Earty Impres- 
sons on the FururE CHaractrn. 
By Tuomas Jarroip, mM. p.—Read 
before the Literary and Philosophical 
Society of Manchester. 
(Continued from No. 408, page 196.) 
WE have mentioned the second stage 
of civilization, that of shepherds; and 
now inquire, how far early impressions 
constitute their character. 
The nations that overran the Roman 
empire illustrate this subject. They 
not only had flocks, but they also prac- 
tised a rude and imperfect husbandry ; 
the task was irksome, and before them 
lay the rich provinces of the Roman 
empire: they thirsted for conquest, to 
relieve themselves from the toils of agri- 
culture; they succeeded, and trampled 
under their feet all that was elegant and 
refined: they were too low in civiliza- 
tion to comprehend their worth. Some 
ef the tribes that embarked in this 
enterprize lived almost under the walls 
of the capital, and had become familiar 
with all the customs of the Romans, 
They had seen the productions of their 
industry, and had witnessed the endear- 
ments and blandishments of their state 
of society; but all they saw was foreign 
to their feelings and their desires, and 
excited no interest.. Rome sent them 
ambassadors, and maintained a friendly 
intercourse with them, but they never 
adopted a Roman custom. Had these 
Vandals been open to the influence of 
reason—had they even been susceptible 
of impressions, after those of infancy, 
they must have civilized: every thing 
around them was capable of instructing, 
or of exciting admiration ; and had this, 
in any degree, been the case, one person 
would have imitated one object ; a se- 
cond would have been charmed with 
another; ideas would have been ex- 
changed, and the mind strengthened by 
this collision of thought—by this direc- 
tion of the judgment. No two persons 
see objects in the same light, who see 
so as to be interested by them. But the 
mind of the Vandal was sealed; no 
thought could enter it, and be made his 
own. The impressions of the child 
formed the character of the man: blind, 
headlong and morose, reason was in 
subjection to the instinct. 
Contrasted with the indifference and 
obstinacy of the Vandal, are the anxious 
gaze and enraptured exclamations of the 
most uncultivated peasants of a civilized 
nation on a visit to a city. A few only 
will be so absorbed by their first im- 
Influence of Early Impressions on the Future Character. 
301 
pressions as to return to their hamlet 
without having seen something to ad- 
mire; others would be charnied with 
every thing, and desire to remain. Had 
a few Vandals felt thus, Rome had not 
been conquered. I ask, why there ex- 
ists so great a difference in persons 
equally unlettered 2 The advantages of 
instruction of the Vandal have been 
greater than those of the peasant, be- 
cause he had visited Rome. The peasant 
prefers the kitchen to the parlour, as 
his residence; but the Vandal rejects 
the bed: the peasant fills one station in 
society, which he quits by degrees, and 
ascends in social habits; the Vandal re- 
jects the bed, and pertinaciously ad- 
heres to customs, which place him only 
one degree above the brute in the com- 
forts and accommodations of life. The 
ereat difference in the two characters, is 
in their first impressions—in that bent 
and turn of mind, which their parents 
imposed in their infancy. The difference 
between the child and the man,in neither 
case, is very great: they both know, at 
six years old, all they know at forty; 
the growth of the body has only enabled 
them to practise what they know, and 
to pursue what they desire. But, in the 
one case, the impressions are few and 
instinctive; in the other, they are 
more in number, and consequently more 
diversified ; and thus the mind is not so 
completely closed. 
But we quit the hunter and the shep- 
herd, with minds incapable of emulation, 
and advance another step in the pro- 
gress of civilization. Here Russia, 
Madagascar, and part of Africa, present 
themselves. In these countries, civiliza- 
tion is sufficiently known to be desired. 
Reason has more influence, and conse- 
quently the mind is more at liberty. The 
first impressions are more varied and 
more expanded, and directed more: to 
personal exertion than to selfish feeling: 
consequently the mind is not bound 
down to barbarism; but, as the child 
grows up, he is enamoured of the civili- 
zation he does not possess, and, there- 
fore, is open to instruction. It is not 
the age of reason, but of imitation—a 
period through which all civilized na- 
tions have passed. Nothing is origi- 
nated—but every thing is copied: they 
honour, and therefore imitate, the indi- 
vidual who has been better instructed 
than themselves. It is an age when 
merit is more respected than in any 
other. The king of Madagascar has sent 
several youth to this country for instruc- 
tion; three of them are placed sal 
the 
