mTELLECTUAL EDUCATION. 



neftlon with the objefts of fenfation as are calculated to keep 

 up the interell which tlie mere feiifations at firft excite ; and 

 thus to continue that attention to them which may graduallf 

 render the obfervation habitual. 



It will not be fuppofcd that we would wifh the obfervation 

 to be cultivated, to the exctufion of refleftioii ; the two 

 lubits ot sniiid arc not in any refpecl in oppofition, in the early 

 periods of education ; but, on the contrary, the one materially 

 aids the other. The reflec'tion may be well and fuccefsfully 

 exercif,:d upon the ideas which liave been left by the abfent 

 objecl^s of fenfe ; and indeed it is only upon thefe that, 

 at firil, it can be properly exercifed. It' this be done, the 

 inlereil by which the" obfervation is ftimulated will be kept 

 up ; and, what is not lefs important, the employment of the 

 Obfervation will be rendered effectual, and will afford mate- 

 rials for af:er-refled!on. The exercife of thought refpect- 

 ing the occurrences of the day, refpetling thofe tilings 

 which have been the fubjecl of direcl obfervation, in fliort 

 refpecling any objecl of fenfation, is in various points of 

 view of great value ; and the more this is employed, the 

 more the mmd is prepared for farther obfervation. 



Neverthelefs, tlie period of childhood is more the period 

 of obfervation than of refleftion (or lleady attention to our 

 own thoughts and feelings) ; and it is the former tliat, in the 

 preparatory parts of education, we (hould make the primary 

 ■objeft. It JG of elTentiai value in every branch of education, 

 and in every department of hfe. The fuccefsful acquifition 

 of every fcience depending upon experiment ; indeed the ac- 

 quifition of knowledge of every kind which depends upon 

 the exercife of the perceptive power, the cultivation of the 

 ta(te, the common concerns of life, the intercourfes of civi- 

 lity, and the eiforts of benevolence, require the conitant exer- 

 cife of the habit of obfervation ; and fo long as the obfer- 

 vation of a child does not reft merely with the immediate ob- 

 jects of perception, but continues to conneft with them that 

 information which the inllruftor communicates, or which lias 

 been derived from pafl obfervation, it is very ufefuUy em- 

 ployed. Whatever method is found to invigorate and cor- 

 rect the obfervation, (hould be frequenily made ufe of; till 

 the un^erftanding has made confiderable progrefs, this fliould 

 be a leading object in the intelleClual culture ; and in every 

 period of it, the habit (hould be frequently brought into ex- 

 ercife. By a proper cultivation of it, the memory and 

 judgment are diredily cultivated ; and while it ftrengthens 

 and roufes the energy of the mind, it furnilhes it with fome 

 -of the moft ferviceable materials for the underltanding and 

 imagination. 



Thofe who have been at all engaged in the bufinefs of 

 education, well know in what different degrees accuracy and 

 quicknefs of obfervation are found, and how important it is 

 •for the progrefs in intelledual acquirements, and often for 

 the moral culture, that the habit ihould be early and fteadily 

 cultivated : and we here wifh to exprefs our decided opinion, 

 that the character of the intelleft and affeCtions, however 

 much it may be modified by future cultivation, receives its 

 {lamp from the employment of the firft few years of life ; 

 that the education of the nurfery is of almoll incalculable 

 inoment in the mental and moral culture ; that by the neglect 

 ot it, years of labour may be rendered requifile to tonipen- 

 fate in fome degree tor it ; and that by a proper attention to 

 it, a foundation is laid for a clear and vigorous underilanding, 

 and Hvely and pure affections. 



IV. uilUntio7i is an elTential conftituent part of the habit of 

 obfervation, and is ncceffary to every obfervation of the mind 

 in its firi ftage. Many corporeal, and ^ven meiUjil opera- 



tions may, when become thoroughly habitual, go on with., 

 out exciting the attention of the mind ; and this we have no 

 helitation in faying, notwithftanding the great authority of 

 Dugald Stewart to the contrary : but this is not the place 

 for the difcufhon of this point ; and what more immcdiatelv 

 concerns our purpofe is, that before any operation of mind 

 is become habitual, the exercife of it requires the direft no- 

 tice of the mind, that attention is requilite to render fenfa- 

 tions efficacious, that every exercife of the underftanding re- 

 quires it, and that the habitual power of employing it in the 

 direftion which the judgment points out, may be regarded 

 as what is moft neceifary for the attainment of the higheft 

 degi-ees of intelledtual culture. In this perfect iiate it ib very 

 rarely to be met with ; but in a conliderable degree it is 

 frequently acquired ; and fome good portion of it is fo im- 

 portant in every Itage of the mental progrefs, that the 

 formation of the habit cannot be begun too early, nor the 

 cultivation of it made too ileady an object. 



Attention is now not unfrcquently fpoken of as a dillinct 

 faculty of the mind ; and the philolopher to whom we re- 

 ferred in the preceding paragraph ha< greatly contributed to 

 this change of nomenclature, if he did not begin it. It may 

 perhaps be regarded as a mere verbal dillinftion if we deny 

 it the appellation ; but, in fact, it appears to be, in its fimple 

 ftate, merely tlie notice of the mind, which in various m- 

 ftances is involuntary, but which by degrees may be coii- 

 nefted with volition, and direfted by habitual tendency, or 

 direft motives, even in oppofition to the llrongeft impreflions 

 from external objects. We may very correctly fpeak of the 

 power of the mind over its attention, and, by abbreviation, 

 of the power of attention ; but the true point of view in 

 which the attention is to be regarded, buth when it can be 

 fixed by ftimuli of different kinds without the diredt inter- 

 vention of volition, and when it is capable of being produced 

 by direct volition, is as a ftate or habit, which we would in 

 the one cafe fpeak of fimply as a ftate or habit of attention, 

 in the other as the habit of voluntary attention. In very 

 young children the attention is entirely involuntary ; the fen- 

 fible excitements of various kinds which we employ attract 

 the notice of the mind ; and the attention is directed to the 

 moft imprelTive excitement. This is very much the cafe in 

 every ftage of education ; but under judicious management 

 the ftate of mind which we call attention may be early pro- 

 duced by the influence of motives without fenfible ttimulus ; 

 and the foundation is then begun for the habit of voluntary 

 attention. 



The attention produced by fenfible ftimulus begins even 

 with the very firft fenfation which is received. It is a beau- 

 tiful provifion of Providence, that fenfations which give pain, 

 while they are the moft imprefiive, are of rai-e occurrence; 

 and that thofe which are of moft frequent occurrence, or 

 which it is important for the mind to feek for, are attended 

 with pleafure. It is probable that no fenfation is at firft in- 

 different ; and therefore in the commencement of tlie growth 

 of intellect, every fenfation will excite all the attention which 

 is requilite to give it the degree of efficacy which is necef- 

 fary for the period. All we tiieii have to do, is to allow the 

 attention to remain where the fenfation calls for it. " It is 

 unfortunately in the power of a fooHfli nurfe," fays Mifs 

 Hamilton, (vol. ii. p. 47.) " to retard the natural progrefs 

 of the mind, by perpetually interrupting its attention. A 

 child that is much danced about, and much talked to, bv a 

 very lively nurfe, has many.more ideas than one that is kept 

 by a filent and indolent perfon. A nurfe (hould be able to 

 talk nonfenfe in abundance ; but then Ihe (hould be able to 

 J^aow when to Hop.'.'. And the fame very reipecta^k writer 

 S adds 



