INTELLECTUAL EDUCATION. 



In many cafes the force of words can only be learnt gra- 

 duaUy> by their ufe in various connections ; to attempt to 

 explain conneftives, for inftancc, by aiTigning their abftraft 

 force, would be utterly ufelefs to a child ; the force of them 

 tnuft be (hewn in particular cafes, and from thefe the mode 

 of applying them, and the force of them will be learnt in 

 others. Similar remarks may be made with refpedt to all 

 abilracl terms : and provided we ai-e careful ourfelves to 

 employ them properly, and to take every opportunity of 

 fliewin^ the force of them when level to the capacity or 

 progrefs of the individual, \vc do all which is necelTary, and 

 probably do better than by attempting to do more. 



Though we fully calculate on our readers going along 

 with us, refpetling the abfolute necellity of early accuftom- 

 ing tlie mind to feek for, and to acquire, clear ideas in con- 

 neftion with the figns of ideas, the following remarks of 

 Mr. Locke may fervc to corroborate their opinions ; and, 

 together with what we fliall alfo quote from Mifs More, 

 may lead them to make it an objocl of daily, indeed conftant, 

 aim in the bufmefs of education, not merely as of great mo- 

 ment in intellectual cultures, and to fmowth the way for in- 

 telleftual acquifitions, but as incumbent on every one who 

 kas in view the moral welfare of his child. " Perfotis having 

 been accuilomed from their cradles,'' fays our great phi- 

 lofopher, " to learn words before they knew the ideas for 

 which they ftand, ufjaliy continue to do fo all their lives, 

 never taking the pains to fettle in their minds the determined 

 ideas which belong to them. This want of a precife fignifi- 

 cation in their words, when they come to reafon, efpecially 

 in moral matters, is the caufe of very obfcure and uncertain 

 notions. They ufe thefe undetermined words confidently, 

 without much troubling their heads about a certain fixed 

 meaning, whereby, befidcs the eafe of it, they obtain this 

 advantage, that as in fuch difcourfe they are feldom in the 

 right, fo they are as feldom to be convinced that they are 

 in tlie wrong, it being juft the fame to go about to draw 

 thofe perfons out of their miftakes, who have no fettled 

 notions, as to difpofTcfs a vagrant of his habitation who has 

 no fettled abode. The chief end of language being to be 

 underftood, words ferve not for that end when they do not 

 excite in the hearer the iame idea which they Hand for in the 

 mind of the fpeaker." 



" I have chofen," adds Mifs More, after making the fore- 

 going extraft, " to fhelter myfelf under the broad fanftion 

 of the great author here quoted, with a view to apply this 

 r'lle in philology to a moral purpofe ; for it applies to the 

 veracity of converfation as much as to its correcinefs; and 

 r.s ftrongly recommends unequivocal and fimple truth, as ac- 

 curate and jufl expreffion. Scarcely any one perhaps has an 

 adequate conception, how much clear and corredl expreffion 

 favours the elucidation of truth ; and the fide of truth is 

 obvioufly the fide of morals ; it is in fact one and the fame 

 'caufe ; and it is of courfe the fame caufe with that of true 

 religion alfo. 



" It is therefore no worthlefs part of education, even in a 

 teligious view, to ftudy the precife meaning of words, and 

 the appropriate fignification of language. To this end, 1 

 know no better method, than to accuftom young perfons 

 ■very early to a habit of defining common words and things; 

 for, as definition fecms to lie at the root of correftnefs, to 

 he accuftomed to define Englilh words in Englifh, would 

 improve the undcrllanding more than barely to know what 

 thofe words are called in French, Italian, or Latin. Or 

 father, one ufe of learning other languages is, becaufc defi- 

 nition is often involved in etymology, that is, fince many 

 TEnglifh words take their derivation from foreign or ancient 

 lau^iiaires, 'they tattnot be fo accurately underltcod without 



fome knowledge of thofe Irnguages ; but prccifion of any 

 kind, either moral or philological, too feldom finds its way 

 into the education of women.'' 



If any of our readers wifii for an exemplification of the 

 method of teaching to define, we refer them, with complete 

 fatisfaction, to the excellent little work called " Evenings at 

 Home;" the attentive pcrufal of which muft; furnifh to the 

 judicious parent, many ufeful refieftions and hints calculated 

 to facilitate his views in intellectual education. We may 

 mention in pafiing, that we cannot but confider it as a duty 

 which the i-efpectable author owes to the public, to make 

 thofe alterations in the chemical articles which may adapt it 

 more to the prefent (late of the fcience ; and we are per- 

 fuaded that he could not render a more ufeful fervice to the 

 rifing generation, than by fome fupplementary volumes on 

 other points of natural hillory and phyfiology, and natural 

 philofophy, calculated, as thofe preceding eminently are, to 

 convey clear ideas, and to exercife the ur.dcrftanding, We 

 need fcarcely add, that the mathematical fciences furnilh 

 mod important IciTons in the art of defining, and fome of 

 the fineft and mod ufeful fpecin-.ens of it. 



With refpect, however, to the plan of definitions, we 

 muft again obferve, that in a great variety of inilances we 

 muft reft fatisficd with perceiving that the force of a word 

 is clearly underftood in the particular cafe ; and we muft 

 fometimes require even lefs than this. Words which arc 

 the moft forcible to our minds, in confequencc of numerous 

 aflbciated thoughts and feelings, often can fcarcely affeft 

 the mind of a cliilJ. The force of thofe which reprefent 

 very complex ideas (as moft general terms do), muft gene- 

 rally be acquired flovvly, by tijc imprelTions derived from 

 the manner of their employment, and the inftances of their 

 appHcation. But ^^herever the force of a word can be ex- 

 plained, fo as to be made intelligible, this ftionld be done ; 

 and there can be no doubt that the habit (liould be formed 

 as early as poflibie, of never refting fatisfied without fome 

 ideas connefted with the words v.hich occur in books on 

 converfation. We have ourfelves had an opportunity of ob- 

 ferving the great value and force of this habit. A young 

 perfou, who, in the courfe of his reading aloud with his 

 early inftruCtor, had uniformly been called upon to try to 

 explain the meanings of words, and in cafe of failure had 

 as uniformly been fent to fearch for a I'uitable explanation 

 in a good diflionary which was always at hand, by degrees 

 became fo much accuftomed to this exercife of the under- 

 ftanding, that, when arrived at years of maturity, he felt 

 a kind of internal compulfion to refort to the fame means 

 of information, when he could not othcrwife afcertain to- 

 his fatisfaction the force of a word in a givenfituation, which 

 feehng generally overcame the reluctance of indolence, and 

 even the eagernefs which fo often urges on the ardent mind 

 towards that which is yet unexplored. The efFedt of fuch 

 difcipline upon tlie habit of dilcrimination and clearnefs of 

 intellect need not be pointed out. It can fcarcely fail to 

 bring tlie mind into the right ftate for the fearch after truth ; 

 and even if only defective ideas are thus acquired, yet if 

 corredt as far tiiey go, the grand point is gained. After 

 fuch Iiabitual cuUnro of the mind, the want of fomething upon 

 whicli the underftanding may reft with fatisfadtion is con- 

 (lantly felt ; and if the wliole truth is not grafped, tlie 

 acquifitions adtually made will ufually be on. the fide of 

 truth. 



It appears highly inexpedient to attempt, in the early 

 periods of the mental progrefs, to give the moft compre- 

 henfive meanings of words. The firll bufinefs in the early 

 acquifiticn ot knowledge, is to begin with individuals, and 

 after a fuitabie ac^ viuinlarice has been gained with them, to 



