INTELLECTUAL EDUCATION. 



tions, in a fomewhat advanced Rate of mental culture, are 

 ufually perceptions, any perfon may fatisfy hinifelf, by con- 

 fidering tliat fenfations are ufually accompanied either with 

 an idea of an external objeift caiifing them, or (if they are 

 merely the effcft of the (late of the bodily fyftem) with an 

 idea of the fenfatio'i being in that part of the body, in which 

 the cnufe of h-' fenfation exills ; both of which are com- 

 plex ideaSj :or;;„ d from a i^reat number of imprefTions, and 

 which could in no.inftancc be produced by any exertion of 

 the foniitive power alcne, but neceffarily require the exercife 

 of tlie retentive and aflbciative powers. 



Confidering man as an intellectual beine, the correftnefs 

 and extent of his perceptions are of the lirll moment. They 

 are, in faft, the materials of all knowledge refpetling ex- 

 ternal objefts ; and in the early ftages of mental culture 

 are the only objefts of the underilanding. Now, the cor- 

 reftnefs aad extent of the perception depend upon the 

 vividncfs and efiicaciouinefs of the component fenfations, 

 and the number of them received from the fame sr fimilar 

 objeds in difFereiit fit lations, and through the medium of 

 difterent fenfes. One leading object, therefore, in the educa- 

 tion of the human being, fhndd be to invigorate and ex- 

 ercife theorgans of fenfe. Independently of the effecls of 

 the general healthinefs of the fyftem, it appears decidedly 

 probable that the organs of fenfe arc capable of being im- 

 proved by proper exercife. It is a grand law of our 

 frame, that moderate exertion increafes the power of exer- 

 tion ; and there are facls which lead to the fame conclu- 

 fion in this particular cafe. But this may be fafely left to 

 the natural efft ft of varied exercife. What is principally 

 to be done is, to afford children the opportunity of exer- 

 cifing their fenfes on a variety of objefts, and in a variety of 

 iituations. We fliould think it defirable to proceed a little 

 farther on the cultivation of the organs of fenfation ; but 

 fome obfervations on this fubjeft will properly form a part 

 of what we fliall have to fay under the head of Physical 

 Education. 



II. By the law of affociation, many ideas, received direftly 

 from fenfible objedls, through the medium of different fenfes, 

 become connefted, and at lall blended together, fo as to 

 form one very complex, though apparently uncompounded, 

 idea; and this complex idea is ofien recalled to the mind 

 by a correfponding fenfation ; and by affociation it becomes 

 fo connected with that fenfation, that the complex idea it- 

 felf is often millaken for a part of the fenfation. For in- 

 ftance. the fenfation produced by the iniprefTion made by a 

 globe on the fenfe of fight, is, as can be proved, nothing 

 more than that produced by a circle, with certain varia- 

 tions of light and Ihsde : yet, immediately on the fenia- 

 lion being received, the ideas of the folidity of the objetl, 

 of its hardnefs, of its magnitude, and of its being fome- 

 thing external to onefelf, (all of which have been derived 

 from the fenfe of touch, in conne6iion with this object, or 

 others i;i fome refpeft fimilar.) immediately rife up in the 

 mind in one blended form ; by their complete coalefcence 

 they appear to be one, and by their immediate and conftant 

 comieftion with the fenfation, they appear to the mind as a 

 part of the fenfation. The fenfation thus connetted with 

 the complex idea is the perception : and by the faculty of 

 perception we underlbnd that compound power (or rather 

 comljination of powers) by which perceptions are received 

 from external objefts. The accuracy and vividnefs of the 

 fenfation depend upon the fenfitive power and its organs : 

 the accuracy and vividnefs of the perception depend j-artiy 

 upon the accuracy and vividnefs of the component fenfa- 

 tions, and partly upoa the adivity of the retentive and al- 



fociative powers. Suppofing the powers of fenfation to 

 be in a found and vigorous ftate, yeX. it is obvious that the 

 perceptions will vary very greatly in different individuals, 

 and in the fame individual, at different periods. The per- 

 ception is in faift tlie fum total of all the notions ^ich the 

 individual has of the objeft. How much the perceptions 

 of the fame objeft vary in different individuals, may be 

 underllood from a fimple inftance. Suppofe a watch to be 

 fubjeiled to the obfervntion of three perfons, whofe organs 

 of fcnfa are alike healthy and vigorous, the one a very ig- 

 norant perfon, totally unacquainted with its purpofes and 

 movements ; the fecond a well-informed perfon, not how- 

 ever poffeffed of any acquaintance with the particular 

 mechanifm; the third an artill, minutely and completely ac- 

 quainted with it : the fenfation may be precifely the fame 

 in all in'.lances ; the pifture upon the retina may convey to 

 the mind an equally imprelTive notice of the object ; but 

 how different the perception I The firfl fees a number of 

 minute objects, which attraift his attention perhaps by their 

 beauty and regularity ; but nothing more : he has no idea of 

 their fubferviency to each other or of their general ufe ; 

 there is little more in his cafe than fenfation, indeed we 

 may fay, nothing more than fenfation befides tliofe affo- 

 ciated perceptions which fo foon become connefted with 

 every imprefTion from external objefts, and to which we 

 have already referred. The fecond, from his general know- 

 ledge of mechanifm, has fome ideas excited by the fenfatioR 

 of ufe and connection, but he cannot difcern the fpecific 

 kind of connection, nor how each part tends to anfwer the 

 end of the whole. If he fets about to ftudy the mecha- 

 nifm, he fubjedts each part to minute examination in its 

 flructure and conneftions ; and by degrees may acquire an 

 acquaintance witli the whole, which, on a fubfequent in- 

 fpeftion, would give him an immediate, diftinct perception 

 of the parts and purpofes. What he thus acquires by la- 

 borious and patient examination, the third faw at once. His 

 perceptions have long been cultivated by daily attention to 

 the movements and their dependencies, by lludying their 

 defects and excellencies, by the aftual formation of various 

 parts, and the conftrudtion of the whole : and a great num- 

 ber of the ideas produced by fuch obfervations and opera- 

 tions, become fo intimately united with the fenfation, that 

 at laft this at once excites them, and thus he fees (or» 

 more correctly, perceives) what lies totally out of the 

 reach of the obfervation of others. 



From this brief account of the perceptive power, we may 

 readily derive the molt eflential confiderations as to its culti- 

 vation. To render the fenfations efficacious in forming dif- 

 tinct ideas, and to connect thefe ideas already derived fro.Ti 

 any objett with the new imprefTions, depends principally 

 upon the degree of attention (or fixed diredion of the 

 mind) which the fenfations receive. Hence thofe who have 

 the care of infants and young children, /hould give them 

 every opportunity to keep their attention direfted to the 

 objects of their fenfes ; and every means Ihould be employed 

 to lead them to fuch attention. An infant, intently gazing 

 upon an objeft, or examining it with its httle hands and 

 lips, is as ulefiilly employed in the cultivation of inlclleft as 

 the fondeft parent can wi(h. In the early periods of mental 

 culture there is, however, more to be done in this connexion 

 by allowing a child full fcope for its own cfl'orts, than by 

 any direit exertions which can be made by others. When 

 its attention is fixed upon any objeft, let it remain fo ; if 

 poiuble let the objects of fenfe be brouglit into view under 

 different afpecis, and expofed to the examination of different 

 fenfes. Bifore words become to a child the Cgn-i of vo- 



luolary 



