THEORY AND PRACTICE OF EDUCATION. 



But these result* are only important an they form the basis 

 on which may bo roared a nobler and more enduring edifice. 

 ligiuu* and moral habits are, doubtless, the principal 

 results of a true and well-oonaidered scheme of education ; and 

 am. n,,' these we may number the love and fear of God, love to 

 man, a hatred and abhorrence of all that in moan, and base, and 

 dishonourable, a love for the true, the just, and good, consci- 

 ii6M, a ready sympathy with the pleasures and sorrows 

 of others, just dealing, truthfulness, honesty, readiness to help, 

 to please and bo pleased, command of temper and choerfulnesa, 

 an. I thu charity which " nufforoth long and is kind, which 

 ::. i.-th not, vauntoth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not 

 behave itsulf unseemly, seoketh not her own, is not easily pro- 

 voked, thinkoth no ovil." 



These results of education which wo have thus rapidly sketched 

 out would, if patiently laboured for by earnest and industrious 

 workers, and attended by the Divine blessing, show themselves in 

 . by the exhibition of still higher, grander, and more benefi- 

 ult*. Chililrrii would honour their parents by a willing 

 and cheerful obedience, brothers and sisters would seek to pro- 

 mote each other's happiness by mutual acts of kindly help, done 

 in the spirit of love ; fathers would seek to train up their sons and 

 daughters in the way that they should go ; better husbands and 

 and better citizens would produce happier abodes and 

 a more prosperous country. Intemperance would cease to 

 -; baleful shadow over our land, and the vast wealth 

 annually worse than wasted in the purchase of tho materials of 

 misery, crime, and shame, would find its legitimate channel in 

 the production of comfort, health, and innocent enjoyment. 

 Are there any of our readers who feel tempted to exclaim at 

 such a picture as that which we have attempted to draw, " Who 

 is sufficient for these things ?" Let them listen to the words of 

 good old George Herbert : 



" Sink not in spirit ; who aimeth at the sky 

 Shoots higher much than he that means a tree." 



The notion, unfortunately very prevalent, that education 

 extends over only a small part of our lives, and then is finished 

 and done with for ever, is a most erroneous and mischievous 

 one, and should bo at once discarded, and its place should be 

 taken by the true and right one that education begins at our 

 birth, and ends only at the grave. May we not venture to 

 believe that it does not cease even there, but that it will bo 

 carried on in the future state as well ; that there we shall bo 

 continually learning, going on from one degree of perfection to 

 another, coming nearer and nearer, in everything that is holy 

 and wise and good, to the Great Source of all perfection ? 



The infant begins its course of education from the first moment 

 of its existence. At first, its senses, bodily organs, and its mental 

 and moral powers are almost in abeyance. But it quickly com- 

 mences the exercise of the most necessary faculties. After a very 

 short time, by the careful and assiduous, though unnoticed, use 

 of its auditory organs, it learns to distinguish the mother's voice ; 

 by its organs of sight, knows her from others about it. Here is 

 a clear advance in the employment of the senses, and a rudi- 

 mentary, though undoubted, exercise of the judgment. From the 

 habit of all infants of putting out the hand to clutch objects too 

 distant to bo reached, it appears evident that in tho outset very 

 young children have no conception of distance, and this specu- 

 lation is confirmed by the now celebrated case of a person blind 

 from his birth, but who was afterwards restored to sight after 

 undergoing a remarkable operation. As far as sight was con- 

 cerned, ho was then very nearly in the condition of an infant ; 

 and it is related of him that at first he saw all objects in one 

 plane, and apparently touching the eye. And as with the sight, 

 so in regard to every other power and faculty of mind and body, 

 the infant has literally everything to learn. But the process of 

 development goes on rapidly and incessantly. Sight, hearing, 

 feeling, smell, and taste, tho locomotive faculty, the muscular 

 sensations, all the qualities of body and mind are rapidly grow- 

 ing and strengthening. The child learns to walk, to talk, to 

 distinguish objects and call them by their names, to discover 

 resemblances and differences, and thus is fairly started in that 

 grand course of education, along which he will travel until his 

 eye closes, his bodily powers collapse, his soul takes its flight 

 into the unseen world, and all that is material about him returns 

 to the earth from whence it came. 



It will now be seen that the education of the human being is 

 far advanced before he is old enough to take his place in school. 



Oar space will not permit us to follow him etop by step during 

 his progress through the various classes and gradations > 

 stage of life, nor is it necessary for our object to do so, since all 

 agree in the statement, that thereat all event* be is, or ought to 

 bo, undergoing the process of education. Let us, then, meet oar 

 young friend at the door of the school, where he has just made 

 his last and perhaps glad farewells, and is panting to start on 

 his trial trip over the fickle ocean of life. How far is he pre- 

 pared for the storm and the conflict ? In many case* scarcely 

 at all ; but grant that he has been industrious, that he has 

 passed through a liberal course in a good school, and under 

 conscientious, skilled, and painstaking teachers, let us take an 

 inventory of his effects. In language, we will assume, he has 

 a, general acquaintance with the laws of grammar, as exemplified 

 in his own tongue. He may also be able to read in French or 

 Gorman, and lay claim to sufficient knowledge of the ancient 

 languages to enjoy a Latin author, and to peruse the pages cf 

 his Testament in the original Greek. With regard to mathe- 

 matics, ho may have mastered the principles and rules cf 

 arithmetic, and the theorems and problems of Euclid, mensu- 

 ration, and land-surveying ; while algebra, natural philosophy, 

 chemistry, geography, history, and other subjects which go to 

 make up tho sum of studies in a liberal education, have all com- 

 bined to enlarge his mind, sharpen his intelligence, strengthen 

 his memory, cultivate his judgment, and thus prepare him for a 

 course of honour, happiness, and usefulness. Thus much we 

 will allow him as to the cultivation of his intellectual powers, 

 and many of our readers will doubtless think that we have 

 not been miserly or parsimonious ; but weighter matters still 

 remain. A person may possess the brightest intellect and the 

 widest extent of knowledge, and yet bo a very useless, nay, a 

 very dangerous, man. There must be an intimate harmony 

 between the mental and moral constitution. All that is intellec- 

 tual in his nature should lend its aid to the cultivation of those 

 principles which bind him to his fellow-man ; and unless the 

 youth we have in view has his conscience active and tender, his 

 will under wise control, and all his actions regulated by the 

 teaching of the Gospel, his attainments will be of little real 

 benefit, and his life little better than a failure. 



But the question now more especially before us is would the 

 youth in question be justified in believing that his education was 

 completed, and that he has no more need of study, no further 

 improvement to make, but may justly and wisely spend his 

 leisure hours in frivolity and waste, in light amusement and 

 absence of serious thought ? Certainly not. In the first place, 

 there will be subjects collaterally connected with his business 

 which it will be well for him to know. For instance : with all 

 clerks, a complete acquaintance with bookkeeping, and a know- 

 ledge of the history of commerce, would be of immense value ; 

 in an assurance office, a knowledge of all matters connected 

 with statistics would be likely to assist his prospects, and the 

 study of some work upon the principles which guide the actuary 

 in his calculations might well employ his hours of leisure ; or, 

 if in a bank, tho knowledge of the laws of the currency and 

 of exchanges would be profitable. Indeed, in whatever em- 

 ployment he might be placed, ho will be sure to find in this way 

 abundant occupation for his extra time and energies. It will 

 be needful for him to keep up his attainments, and even to 

 increase them, if he would maintain and secure his position in 

 society. Not to advance is to fall back. He will, therefore, 

 be acting wisely to secure well the vantage-ground he had at- 

 tained on emerging from tho pupil state. 



As he advances in life, family cares and responsibilities will 

 doubtless come upon him, and the duties of citizenship 

 demand renewed attention, and fresh application of his mental 

 and moral powers. In these circumstances it will, of course, 

 be his desire and delight to superintend the lessens of his 

 sons and daughters, help them over difficulties, and smooth 

 their way while toiling up the hill of knowledge ; and to do 

 this effectually, he will need to keep himself well posted up 

 in the different branches of knowledge, or he will be but a blind 

 guide. 



We credited tho youth whom wo took as an illustration of our 

 reasoning, with great opportunities and unusual diligence during 

 the period of his school attendance, and assumed that he carried 

 away a tolerably large share of acquirements on making his start 

 in life. But comparatively few young men are placed in so 

 fortunate a position. Some from want of diligence, others 



