PHILOSOPHY, MENTAL. 



be offered with respect to the filial, fra- 

 ternal, and even the parental affections ; 

 and it might be hhewr. that they are only 

 gradually disinterested ; bat at the same 

 time the natural tendency is to jdisinte- 

 restedness : and that it is only wKere dis- 

 interestedness is opposed by the culture 

 of wrong affections, (affections which, 

 when become ultimate, are ever selfish,) 

 and by neglect of those which are in all 

 their stages worthy, and which hasten 

 the progress almost indefinitely, that the 

 mind stops at partial disinterestedness, or 

 sinks into confirmed selfishness. In op- 

 position to these views, however, it may 

 be advanced by some, that children are 

 usually more disinterested than persons 

 who have had experience in life. We 

 shall make some observations on this 

 point, which will at the same time throw 

 some light on the progress of the filial af- 

 fections. Children often appear disinte- 

 rested where they are not really so, be- 

 cause we do not take into account the 

 quick changes of their feelings ; some- 

 times setting a light value upon what a 

 few hours, or even minutes, before they 

 were delighted with, and at other times 

 the reverse. Hence they are readily in- 

 duced to give away what they have be- 

 fore been delighted with, and to make 

 what we erroneously think sacrifices with- 

 out an effort. But again, we are apt to 

 think them disinterested when they give 

 up what they really like, only, or princi- 

 pally, because they thus have a greater 

 share of the pleasures resulting from 

 their obedience to their friends' praise, or 

 other rewards. Now the approbation of 

 their friends is to children a thing of such 

 value, that praise affords them some of 

 their greatest pleasures. And therefore, 

 when, for the sake of that approbation, 

 they give up play-things or niceties, or 

 any other objects of pleasure, so far from 

 being disinterested, they are eminently 

 self-interested; but their self-interested- 

 ness is of a better kind, one which with 

 due care will prove a most powerful en- 

 gine in the moral and religious culture of 

 the mind, by increasing the influence of 

 the parent and instructor. Again, chil- 

 dren are in general influenced more by 

 present objects than by future objects, 

 however far superior in their value and 

 durability. Few children early attain 

 such command over themselves as volun- 

 tarily to give up a present source of plea- 

 sure for a future one ; and where it is 

 done, it is rather in compliance with the 

 wishes and injunctions of their friends, 

 than from any comprehensive conception 



of the future good. It is an excellent 

 thing to obtain the sacrifice by means of 

 any worthy feeling ; all we wish to ob- 

 serve is, that children do not feel the va- 

 lue of future pleasures, and therefore 

 easily yield to that which is most power- 

 ful at the time. Hence therefore they ap- 

 pear disinterested, because they cannot 

 calculate the value of the good which 

 they relinquish ; and do in reality prefer 

 the greatest present pleasure, or rather 

 they are in reality actuated by the great- 

 est present pleasure. We do however 

 cheerfully admit that children very often 

 are disinterested ; for instance, will obey 

 their parents, will tell the truth, will en- 

 deavour to increase the comforts of others, 

 without any reference direct or indirect 

 to any personal gratification ; and we ad- 

 mit too that these same children too fre- 

 quently as they grow up become more 

 selfish, and sometimes the constitutional 

 readiness with which they have in some 

 instances become disinterested, will be 

 the cause of their becoming selfish, and 

 that to a degree which those of less pro- 

 mise never experience. All this may be 

 easily explained, but we must confine 

 ourselves to the fact, that children in a 

 very early period shew great marks of 

 disinterestedness. Now this may easily 

 occur, especially where there has been 

 proper culture on the part of the parent. 

 Where the approbation of the parent has 

 been made the greatest good, by being 

 uniformly given to that which will pro- 

 mote the real happiness of the child ; and 

 where, consequently, prompt and cheer- 

 ful obedience has been early and steadily- 

 cultivated, a tendency to obedience will 

 soon become so habitual as to leave 

 scarcely a wish to deviate even in cases 

 where obedience requires real sacrifices, 

 and in general to prompt to propriety of 

 conduct, without any reference even to 

 the increase of parental affection, or to 

 the occurring of parental approbation. 

 Obedience is then disinterested : and the 

 affection on which it is founded the de- 

 sire of doing whatever a parent directs, 

 is become ultimate. Where this is con- 

 firmed by other worthy feelings, the 

 highest effects may be reasonably ex- 

 pected in the moral character ; and the 

 foundation will have been laid for that 

 regard to the will of God, which is the 

 beginning and the end of wisdom. But 

 we need not for this resort to any opinion 

 of innate disinterestedness. Let us ob- 

 serve how it arose from firm but tempe- 

 rate decision on the part of the parents, 

 from an enlightened wish on their part 



