General Education, 225 



contained in four thousand octavo pages, for 1 T*., witli numerous original 

 and admirably executed figures, and giving some interesting quotations from 

 the recent historical treatises, the reviewer thus concludes : " Upon these 

 things we fondl}^ dwell. They are worthy of the society. If to teach 

 men the sciences which help them in their ordinary pursuits to better their 

 condition, or afford them innocent recreation, or elevate and improve their 

 minds, be to impart useful knowledge; assuredly it is conferring no less 

 precious a blessing upon the species, ^radically to inculcate those prin- 

 ciples, and to cherish those feelings, which, if they prevailed generally, in 

 but a small degree of the intenseness wherewithal they glow in the bosoms 

 of the wise and the good of all sects and all parties, would banish from the 

 earth cruelty and oppression, but chiefly war — the worst enemy of human 

 happiness, and, to every effectual improvement, the insurmountable ob- 

 stacle." {Edinburgh Review, Sept. 1828.) 



The Master-Principle of Pestalozzi, with respect to the application of 

 knowledge, is, that the poor are our brethren. His great maxim is, that 

 no man, be his station ever so humble, or his life ever so laborious, ought 

 to be without knowledge, nay, without science ; and that the pleasures of 

 philosophy are both accessible to all classes, and reconcilable with the habits 

 and hardships of the most hard-working men. {Ed. Rev., Jan. 1828.) Pes- 

 talozzi's system of instruction is essentially the same as that of Bell and 

 Lancaster; a system evidently produced'by the demands of the age, since 

 it appears to have been invented about the same time by three individuals 

 in different parts of the world, and unknown to each other. Pestalozzi 

 added, or attempted to add, the manual labour of the pupils, partly instead 

 of recreative amusements, and partly with a view to pay the expense of in- 

 struction. It appears that his plan has been modified a little in America, 

 and found successful ; and Dr. Duncan a/pears to have introduced it in the 

 neighbourhood of London. It seems peculiarly adapted for the children in 

 public asylums and charitable institutions. 



Infant Schools. — The advantages which infants derive from example, 

 from exercise, amusement, and occupation for the mind and feelings, in the 

 society of each other, under the guidance of a kind teacher, and with some- 

 thing like the privileges and duties of a community, are so numerous and 

 conspicuous, that we shall soon have the nurseries of Moray Place, Charlotte 

 Square, and Great King Street, converted into infant schools; those who have 

 large apartments, and qualified governesses, making interest to have the chil- 

 dren of their less wealthy or less fortunate friends or acquaintances sent to 

 their houses for common instruction. The influence of the sympathy of 

 numbers, in restraining the more dangerous, and strengthening all the better 

 feelings, as well as in agreeably stimulating to the acquisition of knowledge, 

 during infancy especially, is very great {Scotsman, Jan. 17. 1829.) 



Reading, as a means of educating the Feelmgs, or forming the taste, should 

 never at any one time be pushed to an extent beyond what is agreeable to 

 the feelings. Science must be dealt with in a different manner. It must 

 be followed out as a task ; and the difficulties to be overcome, the labour 

 to be endured, have a salutary effect on the individual subjected to them, 

 not oppressed by them. History should also be read steadily and upon sjs- 

 tem. {Ibid., Feb. 18. 1829.) 



Paintings and Engravings, as Means of Instruction. — Painting, were 

 the use of it universal, would be a powerful means of instruction to children 

 and the lower orders ; and were all the fine surfaces, which are now plain, 

 and absolutely wasted, enriched with the labours of the art, if they once be- 

 gan to appear, they would accumulate rapidly ; and were the ornamented 

 edifices open to all, as freely as they ought to be, a wide field of new and 

 agreeable study would offer itself. A person, who thoroughly understood 

 the well-chosen subjects, and was qualified to explain them to a stranger, 

 Vol. V. — • No. 1 9. 2 



