INTELLECTUAL EDUCATION. 



Jintary action, all that can be done is to expofe it to fen- 

 fations, and to allow them to fix the attention ; but after- 

 wards more direft efforts may be made, and the attention 

 may be fixed by various other means befidc the mere aftion of 

 tlic fenfations thcmfelves. 



Children of quick fenfations, for the proper cultivation 

 c f the perception, require to be frequently induced to ob- 

 fcrvc minutely the objeds of perception. We do not ven- 

 tire to go fo far as to aifert, that it is of no confequence 

 \v!i ;t they obfcrve, provided that they do carefully obferve 

 it ; but there can be no hefitaUon in faying, that when the 

 fenfations are conftitutionally \-ivid, every inftance of clofe 

 obfervation given to objedls which are within the fcope of 

 the comprehenfion, is cultivating the perception, and con- 

 tributing to the (lock of materials on which the higheft 

 efforts of the underftanding are to be exercifed : and how- 

 ever trifling, in common ellimation, thofe objefts may be, 

 yet the mind is receiving a ufeful employment, and every 

 thing is going on as effeftually as could be wiflied. It is a 

 mofl erroneous idea in education, that nothing is done 

 except when children are engaged in the ufual rudiments of 

 indruftion. A child watching the motions of objedts around, 

 obferving their figure and founds, examining their ftrutture, 

 is employed in a work which it fhould be our aim as much 

 as pofiible to aid and encourage, and from which we may 

 expeft very valuable refults both on the faculties and furni- 

 ture of the mind. 



The leading point with refpeft to thofe whofe phyfical 

 fenfibihtics are lively, is to engage them to fleady obfer- 

 vation of the objedts of perception ; with refpefl ta thofe 

 whofe fenfations are by their conftitution dull, our efforts 

 muft be directed to the awakening of the percejitive power. 

 Whatever is found to ftimulate the mind to the excrcife of 

 the power, mult there be employed. It does not much 

 fignify in this cafe whether, in the firft inftance we fuc- 

 ceed in producing ideas which will be permanently ufeful ; 

 if the perception is exercifed, it will become more vigorous, 

 and by degrees the original dulncfs of fenfation may be in 

 fome meaiure remedied, by the influence of affociated feel- 

 ings. But, in general, dulnefs of perception does not arife 

 from dulnefs, and dill lefs from deficiency, in fenfation ; 

 but from the inefHcient employment of the organs of fenfe. 

 Many lively children are found to be dull in their percep- 

 tions ; and on the other hand, children whofe phyfical fen- 

 fibilities are far from vivid, fee what their companions fee 

 not, and hear what they hear not : the former glance over, 

 and fee at a glance, the moft impreflive objects, or features 

 ofanobjeil, but the more minute parts, or the lefs pro- 

 minent, and brilliant objects, they do not fl;ay to notice, and 

 though thtfe affeCl the organs of fenfe, they make no im- 

 prefGon on the mind ; the latter more readily dwell on the 

 objefts of their fenfations, which allows the various parts to 

 call up affociated ideas, and in other ways to affect the 

 mind, and thus to make their fenfations efficacious. 



III. The habit of accurate obftrval'ton depends, in a great 

 degree for its foundation, upon the manner in wliich the per- 

 ceptive power has been early cultivated, while at the fame 

 time it invigorates the perceptions : indeed, in fome points 

 of view, it may be regarded fimply as the employment of 

 the perceptive power. This habit depends alfo, efpecially 

 for its utility, upon the cultivation of the judgment, and upon 

 the aifociatious which become connedtcd with the objects of 

 fenfe. A child obferves, in the firll inftance, becaufe the 

 notice of the mind is excited by the plcafure or pain accom- 

 panying the fenfation.; afterwards a''fo, throug^h the influence 

 «f csicr.'sal iKoiiveSj that is, aiTociatcd plcafurcs or gains. 



When the underftanding is fo far deyeloped aS to perceive th'e 

 ufes of different objects, this again increafes the motives to 

 obfervation, aud makes it fubfervient to much valuable culti- 

 vation of tlic intellect Every faft which is intelligible and 

 interefling to a child refpefting the objects of perception, 

 excites the notice of the mind to thofe objects, at the fame 

 time that the communication, reception of it in the mind, 

 and repetition of the ideas, increafes the llock of know- 

 ledge, and exercifes the memory and judgment, and often 

 the reafoning pov.-ers. 



Yet here, as in every branch of education, by aiming to 

 do too much, we may make our bed direded exertions inef- 

 feftuiil. To obferve with effeft, requires patient and fre- 

 quently repeated attention. To obferve is not merely to fee, 

 but to fee fo as to perceive that, whatever it be, of which 

 the ever active principle of affociation has made the vifual 

 fenfation the fymbol or index ; and the more the obfervation 

 is well employed, the more will be brought into the view of 

 the mind by thofe fenfations which to another would not lead 

 on one link in the chain of thought. To force the obfervation 

 is theref ire impofPiblc. We may make our children parrots, by 

 giving them words ; but the growth of ideas muft be gra- 

 dual The obfervation mufl firil be employed upon direftly 

 fenfible qualities alone ; the more theie are noticed, and 

 the ideas of them affociated together, (in other words, the 

 clearer the perceptions,) the better foundation is laid for fu- 

 ture knowledge. By degrees, and as it is perceived that the 

 mind will bear it, thofe circumflances and qualities which 

 imply fome of the fimpleil exercifes of the underflanding, 

 fhould be brought into view ; and from thefe the fkilful in- 

 flruiftor (or rather inftruclrefs, for we prefu.me that in gene- 

 ral the early intellectual education is chiefly conducted, as it 

 will be beft conducted, by the female fex) will proceed to 

 others which are flill more remote from mere fenfation. It 

 will ufually be found that children who have been educated 

 in the country, or have had continual opportunities of being 

 in fields and gardens, (other things being equal,) acquire 

 much more completely tlie habit of obfervation than thofe 

 who have been bred up in large towns. In the works of 

 nature there is much more than in the work« of art to excite 

 the obfervation of children, much more in ijeneral than can 

 be made the fubjects of plealing inftruCtion ; but the judicious^ 

 parent will not be at a lofs to find numerous objefls within- 

 doors to excite the obfervation and exercife the perceptive 

 powers ; and provided that the obfervation is aflivelv cm- 

 ployed, and correct perceptions are acquired, the mental 

 culture in this effential point is fuccefsfuily going on. 



The habit of obfervation depends in part upon the general 

 culture of the mind, efpecially upon the aflbciated thoughts 

 and feelings connected with external objects. The poor 

 plough-boy, with all the advantages th.at his ruftic employ- 

 ments afford him for the excitement of his obfervation, wiH 

 often be found extremely deficient in that habit ; his percep- 

 tions are dull, aud his mind is fcarcely awakened. Senfa- 

 tions often repeated, without any alTociations being formed 

 with them, ceafe to excite the notice of the mind ; and where 

 the work of infl^rudlion has been totally neglefted, as un- 

 happily it fo often i<; among the poor in country fituations, the 

 noble [lowers of tlie mind lie dormant ; there isnothing to ronfe 

 its capabilities fepar.ate from the narrow round of the daily 

 employments ; thefe foon become mechanical and ceafe to 

 excite its exertion ; and as far as intelleft is concerned, the 

 fituation is furely lefs favourable than that of the untu- 

 tored favage, whofe ingenuity and obfervation are itimulated 

 by the neceJTities of life. — As the mind, tlicrefore, is capable- 

 of. receiving tliem, fucli ideas fhoiJd be communicated in con- 



ntdtioa 



