INTELLECTUAL EDUCATION. 



on him, without any exagsfTation arifing from liis own pe- 

 culiar habits. But to a man of an ill-regulated ioiagiiiation, 

 external circumilaiiccs only ferve as hints to excite his own 

 thoughts, and the conduct he purfucs has, in general, far 

 lefs reference to his real iituation, than to fome imaginary- 

 one, ill which he coneeives himfelf to be placed ; in confe- 

 quence of which, wliile he appears to himfelf to be afting 

 with the moil perfect wifdom and confi'.lenoy, he may fre- 

 quently exhibit to others all *he appearances of folly." 



XIII. In every branch of iiillruftion, and in the mode of 

 conveying ir, our lirlt conlideratinn fliould be, its effect upon 

 the underdanding. The mental habits formed, rather than 

 the number of ideas acquired, fliould be conhdered as the 

 leading objedt of attention. We have already inlimated, 

 that in a fubiequent article we (hall have an opportunity of 

 fuggelting fome obfervations rel.itive to the manner of com- 

 municating knowledge, particularly of the fcientific clafs ; 

 and \ve flwtl conclude our prefent article with fome remarks 

 which may affill in the appreciation of the value of the com- 

 mon objects of inllruclion in farthering the cultivation of the 

 intellect, fuppofing that the bed modes of conveying them 

 to the mind have been fuccefsfully afeertained. We fliall 

 not attempt to follow the natural order of them ; but fliall 

 be guided by that which appears moll fuitable to our ob- 



Ihe acquifition of the dead languages forms a leading em- 

 ployment in education ; and we trull it will belong before it 

 ceaics to be fo, though we cannot but regret that, it Ihould 

 ever be made an exclufive object. Thofe who know the 

 intimate connection which fubliils between the real command 

 of words, and the noblell exercifes of the underllanding, 

 will readily allow that the iludy of language forms a moll 

 important auxiliary in hitellectual culture. We fliall have 

 occafion to fpecify hereafter to what plans of education the 

 iludy of the dailies fliould be limited ; and this will lead us 

 to enter more at large into the importance of the object. 

 We fliall content uiirfelves therefore, in this place, with 

 lilting, that the general advantages of this branch of in- 

 ftruction are, the cultivation of the habits of patience, of at- 

 tention, of invelligation, of accuracy, of difcrimination, and 

 of ingenuity ; the poflefilon of a key to the ideas contained 

 in thofe languages ; greater power in the ufe of our own ; 

 and the acquiiition of numerous data for that branch of men- 

 tal philoiophy which refpeCts language. 



Geography exercifes the memory, and were it only for 

 its fublerviency to hiltory, woidd be highly valuable ; but 

 it has other advantages. It may be made the vehicle for 

 various topics of information, and from tliefe adjuncts, it 

 acquires a rank in the fcale of utility, to which, feparately 

 confidered, it would not be entitled. Independently of this, 

 the habit of affociating names with things, and of arrange- 

 ment, which fecn.s likely to be formed by learning geo- 

 grapliy, entitle it to a place in the early part of education. 



We ufe the word in its exadt though confined fenfe ; and 

 confidered as comprehending its adjuncts, the ftudy of it is 

 very important. It leads the mind beyond the narrow fphtre 

 of its own obfervatioH, enlarges its comprehenlion, and 

 weakens its prejudices ; it forms an interelling link between 

 mere fenfation and abftradt fpeculation ; it raifes the mind 

 above the former, and cultivates and ftores it for the latter. 

 Here, however, it obvioufly borrows its principal utility 

 from what rather comes under the head of civil or natural 

 hiflory, or of natural and mental philofophy. 



Natural hillory, in its various branches, being principally 

 .oncerned about things, is well adapted for the early llagc's 

 •f mental culture. The It^dy of if forms habits of obie--- 

 • ation, of attaching dillincl conceptions to words (and coii- 



VoL. XIX. 



fequently of ufing words correflly), of clalTification, and 

 of attention to objefts not connected with felf. In all 

 the llages of mental culture, ihefc ends are anfwered ; it 

 gives additional intcrell to furroundlng objects, and leads us 

 to view them as the works of the great Author of nature. 

 We mull add here the words of one of our ableil naturalills, 

 in his introduction to his favourite fcicnce. " I would re- 

 commend botany for its own fake. I have often alluded to 

 its benellis as a mental exercifc, nor can any exceed it in 

 railing curiolity, gratifying a tafte for beauty and ingenuity 

 oi contrivance, or fliarpenmg the powers of difcrimination. 

 What, then, can be better adapted for young perfons I The 

 chief ufe of a great part of our education is no other than 

 what I have ju!t mentioned. The languages and the ma- 

 t-liematics, however valuable in themfelves when acquired, 

 are even more fo as they train the youthful n.ind to thought 

 and obfervation. In Sweden, natural hiftory is the ftudy of 

 the fchools by which men rife to preferment ; and there arc 

 no people with more acute or better regulated minds than 

 the Suedes." 



Mathematical fcience forms a higher ftep in the gradation 

 of mental culture. The loweit branch of it is arithmetic. 

 Learnt merely as an art, it is not without its utility in the 

 culture of the mind. We, however, confider « as more 

 comprehenfively Hudied, or rather as tavght with further 

 views. The commencement of habits of clear perception, 

 of abltraclion, of regidarity and correftnefs in practice, of 

 acutenels, of ufing definite means in order to obtain definite 

 ends, and of aCting upon general rules, may reafonably be 

 expected from the proper mode of learning this fcience. It 

 thep becomes an introduction to fciertilic invelligation; and 

 in this view it is peculiarly valuable, from the cxadl ar- 

 rangement of our notation, and the certainty of the refults 

 of our operations. Algebra pofleifes nearly the fame ad- 

 vantages, and in addition to them, others more important 

 to a higlier degree of mental culture. It generates the 

 power of invention and combination, and it acculloros the 

 mind to general reafoning, at the fame time leaving it the 

 power to check and coneCt that reafoning at every Hep. 

 Geometry forms a habit of clear and cautious reafoning It 

 ferves as a corrective to the wild flights of imagination, and 

 gives proportional vigour to the judgment. The higher 

 branches of mathematical fcience rcfemble, in their efl'ects 

 upon the mind, the one of thefe elementary branches v.hicii 

 they moll refemble in their mode of invelligation. " It there 

 were nothing va'uable in the matiiematical fciences for the 

 ufes of human life, yet they are well worth our Itudy ; for 

 bv perpetual examples they teach us to conceive with cleac- 

 ncfs, to connect our ideas in a train of dependance, to rea • 

 fon with ilrcngth and demonllratiop, and to dillinguifli 

 between truth and faliehood. Somctiiing of thefe fciences 

 fli;.uld be iludied by every one ; and tnat, as Mr. Locke 

 expreffes it, not fo much to make us tfiathematicians, as to 

 make us reafonable creatures." 



Another fource of the utility of the mathematics, is their 

 fubfervicncy to natural philofophy. To defcribe the phe- 

 nomena of the univerfe, to inveltigate their caufes and the 

 connection of thefe caufes, ai-e the principal ohjofts of this 

 fcience. To mention thefe objedts, is nearly all which is 

 necedary to indicate its valuable effects on the mind. The 

 habits of accurate and pcrfevering obfervation, of invelliga- 

 tion, of abilraflion, and of correct reafoning, are more or 

 lefs produced and cultivated by the iludy of the philofophy 

 of nature. It furniflies abundant fcope for the moll fublime 

 fpeculations, and calls forth the noblell exercifes of the 

 imagination^ yet reftrains the mind witliin the limits of 

 , reality. It carried us bevond the boundaries of fenle, and 

 ' L 1 Icllens 



