E D U C l 
rendered fubfervient to Valuable purpofes. Parental au- 
thority may then intcrpofe to confirm the inftrirCtions of 
the preceptor. It may inftil religious and moral princi¬ 
ples, which can fcarcely fail to be well received from an 
afteCtionate father and mother. Something of graceful 
behaviour, and a knowledge of the world, may be ac¬ 
quired by feeing the company which vilits in the family. 
But let it always.bp remembered, that no acquifition of 
ill's kind can compenfate the lofs of the fober habits and 
fentiments acquired in a judicious courfe of fcholaltic 
discipline. 
As to drefs, an unity and fimplicity of materials fitou 1 d 
be preferred ; if not grave, certainly not gay ; as it is 
more genteel, more njanfy, more Liited to the ftudious 
life, more exprefiive of a mind intent upon,learning and 
inquifttive after knowledge, and of a contempt of what 
the effeminate and illiterate are wont to admire. There 
are, it may be, times and places, wherein, if one be not 
too much pleafed with fine clothes, one may be allowed 
to be fine without cenfure.' But finery amongft fcholars, 
in a fc ho lair, and whilft he is profelfedly in purfuit of 
thofe improvements which adorn the mind, is, even in a 
perfon of fortune, an impropriety, if not an abfurdity. 
Neither is it to be confidered as an ornament to fpendm 
great deal of money. For frugality, which is fober and 
temperate, which avoids as well carelefs and unneceftary 
as vicious and vain expences, that there may be always 
wherewith to be juft, and good, and beneficent; that there 
may be no want, nor temptation to do mean or wicked 
things through neceflity.; is one great part of a liberal 
education. "All our academical inftitutions have this 
view ; they all tend this way. A plainnefs of diet, made 
acceptable by-evening fobriety and early riling, and this 
in a moderate portion at ftated times, is the univerfal rule 
of fchools, and is of Angular ufe, whether it be confidered 
as a help to the contemplation of the ftudious, or as a 
prefervative of health to the fedentary, or as a guard to 
the innocence of young men whofe paftions are pretling 
with force upon them. For any young gentleman, there¬ 
fore, to diftipate a great deal of money in fo needlefs, fo 
improper, fo culpable, an expence, becaufe he is rich 
enough to afford it, or vain enough to affeCt it; and there¬ 
by to introduce into places of education a reluCtance to 
comply with the frugal methods of life propofed and re¬ 
quired ; a nicety and elegance in eating and drinking, dif- 
politions to luxury and idlenefs, and the natural confe- 
quences thereof; is not to adorn a fociety or perfon, but 
to debauch both. 
With regard to the lenity and feverity of fchools, rea- 
fon informs us, that extreme rigour is not only to be re¬ 
probated for its cruelty, but likewife for its inutility in 
promoting the purpofes of education. The heart is in¬ 
jured by it in a degree not to be compenfated by any im¬ 
provement of the underftandirtg, even if it were found to 
contribute to improvement. In all defeats'of intellect, 
fuch as natural ftupidity,- or habitual depravity, it were 
happy if teachers would be difmterefted, or parents im- 
•partial enough, to lay afide all thoughts of farther in- 
ItruCtion, and to deftine their charge to fome occupation 
which requires little or no preparatory difeipline. The 
difficulty conlifts in determining the exact time at which 
the trial (hall be concluded. And this is a difficulty not 
eafily overcome ; for parental fondnefs will not eafily be 
led to defpair of a Con’s abilities; and it is, it mull be 
owned, a painful tafk to convince a parent of fo difagree- 
able a truth. In fuch a circumftance the teacher will 
at leaft add a merciful part, to let the boy proceed unmo- 
lefted as well as he can, and not corredt him for involun¬ 
tary omiflions and natural defects. He will then comply 
with the rule preferibed by common fenfe and juftice, to 
do no harm where he can do no good. Parents- have 
fometimes fo far overcome their feelings, by their defire 
of promoting what they judged the welfare of their chil¬ 
dren, as to require feverity in the extreme. It is an un- 
reafonable demand upon a man of liberal education, whofe 
\ T I O N. m 
difpofition has been foftened by the (Indies of humanity. 
No emolument can recompenfe hint for that degradation 
which he mult endure by accnftoming himl’elf to inflict 
bufferings on a fellow-creature at that tender age, which 
cannot poflibly deferve exceftive rigour. The fcripturnl 
remark, indeed, .that “ he that fpareth the rod (poileth 
the child,” comes from too high an authority to be con¬ 
troverted. Fie that fpareth a moderate ufe of the rod on 
proper occafions, indisputably does an injury to the of¬ 
fender, becaufe he encourages, by impunity, the repeti¬ 
tion of his crime. But this paflage, like mojt others', has 
been mifapplied ; and more evil, if undeferved fullering 
be included, has refulted from the too liberal than from 
the too fparing ufe of the rod. 
Human nature is, at every ftage of life, prone to evil ; 
particularly prone at a time, when to inherent corruption 
are added imbecility of underftunding and want of expe¬ 
rience. Idlenefs is alfo difficult to be avoided at an age, 
when the el lefts of exertion are unknown, or too remote 
to affeCt the mind. A very young boy is commanded to 
commit a certain portion of his grammar to memory. 
The tafk he finds painful. Enticements to neglcft fur- 
round him ; and the benefit to be received by^performing 
the talk is diftant, and of a nature which he cannot com¬ 
prehend. Difpofitions. the molt amiable, and the molt 
likely to fucceed in literature, are perhaps, at the boyifin 
period of life, under the ftrongeft temptations to idlenefs, 
and improper behaviour. To fuffer a fertile foil to be 
over-run with weeds, or to lie uncultivated, is lamenta¬ 
ble. What then can be done ? Some method mu ft be 
devifed of influencing the hopes arid fears ; and this mult 
be accommodated to the difpofition. On a meek and 
tender mind, very (light marks of difpleaftire or approba¬ 
tion will produce a powerful effedt ; an angry look or 
word will fucceed better as a corrective on fuch an one, 
than ftripes on the back of the unfeeling. On a truly 
ingenuous mind, praile and Ihame will at all times have 
the delired a tie ft. On the intermediate forts, thole who 
are neither remarkable for tendernefs of feeling nor ge- 
nerofity of fentiment, and who conftitute the common 
mafs,' it will be fometimes indifpenfably neceflary to in- 
fliCt corporal punilhment. To inveigh againft it, is no 
new topic. Long and conftant experience has decided 
on its abfolute neceflity. Yet, even on the more har¬ 
dened, there are a few methods which may be tried pre- 
viotifly to the infliction of extreme feverity. They may 
be confined from play on a holiday ; they may be debar¬ 
red a meal; they may be fent to their chamber before 
their companions ; their battlings may be retrenched ; or 
an additional talk may be afligned. The frequency of 
thefe, however, deftroys their erfeCt; and, in many cafes, 
it is not poflible to avoid the ufe of the rod. Capital 
offences, fuch as immoral aCtions, which, from the early 
depravity of the human heart, often abound in fchools, 
muft meet a capital punilhment. The greateft degree of 
terror and dijgrace attends it, when inflicted with a few 
concomitant formalities, which fometimes operate when 
the pain would be difregarded. After all, they who are 
converfant with hoys, know that there fometimes arife 
individuals fo hardened by nature or habit, that they can 
bear every pain with alacrity, and glory in their Ihame. 
For fuch fpirits, a fea-life opens the only refuge. 
Lenity, however amiable its motive, when ill-judged 
and exceftive, is in effect cruelty. Itiseafyto enlarge 
in its praife, and almoftany thing advanced in recommen¬ 
dation of it will meet with extenfive approbation. But 
when fpeculation is reduced to practice, the fober deci- 
fions of experience muft fuperfede the flouriflies of fan¬ 
ciful opinion. Artificial rhetoric may adorn any quality 
and recommend any conduct ; but nothing is permanently 
advantageous, or can be confidently relied on, which has 
not the fanCtion of the mother of wifdom, experience. 
Some degree of feverity is, and has ever been, adopted 
in out* belt Seminaries ; and'bodily punilhment is ap¬ 
pointed by the ftatutes even of our univerfities, though, 
2 indeedj 
