£74 
EDUCATION. 
worfe in his moral character than he was on his depar¬ 
ture. It is a known fact, that they who, at too early 
an age, fpend much time on the continent, feldom retain 
that religion in which their good forefathers lived and 
died. They commonly become the difciples of the fa¬ 
shionable philofophers, and are led aftray by the falfc 
lights of falfe wit, or loft amidft the clouds of metaphy¬ 
sics. So many, indeed, are the dangers attending foreign 
travel, that they whole Situation and circumstances will 
not permit them to engage in it, need not repine. Our 
own country abounds with objects Sufficient to excite, 
and amply to repay, the labour of inquiry. And to prove 
that foreign travel is not absolutely necedary to give the 
full improvement to the human mind, we may recolleCt 
many eminent perfons who have been richly adorned with 
every accomplishment of the gentleman, and furnifhed 
with all the lights of the man of fenfe and extenfive 
knowledge, though they never left their native Shore. 
We.Shall now conclude, by drawing the attention of 
our readers to the long-agitated question, “Whether pub¬ 
lic or private education be the molt advantageous for the 
riling generation ?”—And we think, that no one will he- 
fitate to decide in favour of our public Schools, when to 
what has been already fuggefted in the preceding pages, 
is added the following incontrovertible remark of Dr. 
Barrow, in his E(fay on Education, published in 1803. 
“ There is a further advantage refulting from a fcholajtic 
education, of more value to the future man, than will at 
tirSI fight be easily fuppoSed; the power, by which, 
whatever can be done, can be done at once ; by which in¬ 
tellectual wealth can be immediately produced in current 
■coin ; that Self-poSIelTion, by which he can at all times de¬ 
termine and perform what the occafion requires; that 
promptitude of thought and action, fo effentially necef- 
fary to eminence in any public profession; that ready and 
Xpontaneous eloquence, which is no lefs ufeful in bufinefs, 
than pleafing in conversation ; that command over his in¬ 
clinations and paffions, which enables him to convert to 
his own purpofes the paffions and inclinations of others; 
that confidence in himfelf and his own Strength, which 
guards him againft furprife, and leads him to meet diffi¬ 
culty or danger without difmay ; thefe advantages, with 
all their various branches and dependencies, are, not in¬ 
deed univerfally and exclusively, but the mofl: early, the 
moft frequently, and the moSt effectually, obtained from 
the difcipline, the Studies, and the amufements, of a large 
and well-regulated public School. It is the observation 
of Bacon, that ‘ Reading makes a full man, conversation 
makes a ready man, and writing makes an exaCt man.’ 
But unlefs the foundation of thefe various excellencies 
be laid in the ufual feafon of inStruCtion, a Superstructure 
is feldom afterwards erected of much beauty or utility.” 
For a more ample difcuffion of this question, and for a 
complete view of the opinions of all the moft eminent 
writers on the instruction of youth, we beg leave to re¬ 
commend to all parents and Scholars, an attentive perufal 
of the Liberal Education of Dr. Vicefimus Knox, from 
which valuable work this treatife has been principally 
Selected. 
On FEMALE EDUCATION. 
Many prejudices are entertained againft the character 
of a learned lady ; and perhaps, if all ladies were pro¬ 
foundly educated, fome inconveniencies might arife from 
it ; but it does not appear that a woman will be rendered 
lefs acceptable in the world, or worfe qualified to perform 
any part of her duty in it, by having employed the time 
from fix to Sixteen, in the cultivation of her mind. Time 
enough will remain, after a few hours every day Spent in 
reading, for the improvement of perfonal accomplish¬ 
ments. The ladies, and their inStruCtors, want no direc- 
'tions in matters of external ornament, the end of which 
is to pleafe on intuition. However Self-Sufficient the men 
have been in their claims of Superiority., they have ufuallv 
allowed the ladies the pofieffion of a delicate tafie In the 
improvement and perception of all kinds of beauty. 
The literary education of women ought indifputably 
to be varied according to their fortunes and their expec¬ 
tations. Much refinement, and a tafie for books, will 
injure her, whofe time, from prudential motives, mud be 
entirely engrolfed by economy. To thefe, arithmetic 
and book-keeping would often be molt ufeful, and tend to 
preferve the eftates of families. Wives are often the befi: 
Stewards, not only in commercial, but in genteel life. 
Few women are indeed exempted from all attention to 
domestic cares. But the unmarried, and thofe who enjoy 
opulence, find many intervals which they devote to Some 
Species of reading. And there is no doubt, but that the 
reading would be Selected with more judgment, and would 
afford more pleafure and advantage, if the tafie were 
formed by what may be termed a claffical education ; we 
mean, that they Should be well and early acquainted with 
the French and the English dallies. As foon as young ladies 
can read with fluency, let them begin to learn Lowth’s 
or Aihe’s Grammar, and to read at the fame time fome 
eaSy and elegant author, with a view to exemplify the 
rules. They Should learn a part in grammar every morn¬ 
ing, and then proceed to read a lGfon, jufi in the manner 
observed in claffical Schools in learning Latin. After a 
year Spent in this method, if the fuccefs is adequate to 
the time, they ffiould advance to French, and Study that 
language exaCtly in the fame mode. In the French gram¬ 
mar, it will not be neceSTary to go through thofe particu¬ 
lars which are common to the grammars of all languages, 
and which have been learned in Studying English. Seve¬ 
ral years ought to be Spent in this elementary procefs ; 
and when the fcholar is perfectly acquainted with ortho¬ 
graphy and grammar, (lie may then proceed to the culti¬ 
vation of tafie. Milton, Addifon, and Pope, muft be 
the Standing models in English ; Boileau, Fenelon, Fon- 
tenelle, and Vertot, in French; and thefe Should be at¬ 
tended to for a considerable time. Many inconveniencies 
arife from engaging young minds in the perufal of too 
many books at a time. After thefe authors have been 
read with attention, and with a critical observation of 
their beauties, the fcholar may be permitted to feleCtany 
of the approved writers of France and England, for her 
further improvement. She will now be able to feleCt 
with fome judgment, and will have laid a foundation 
which will bear a good fuperftruCture. Her mind, if She 
has been fuccefsful in this courfe, will have imbibed an 
elegance which will naturally diffufe itfelf over her con¬ 
versation, addrefs, and behaviour. It is well known, 
that internal beauty contributes much to perfeCt external 
grace. It will alfo be favourable to virtue, and will ope¬ 
rate greatly in reftraining the fair fex from any conduit 
grofsly indelicate and obvioufiy improper. Much of the 
profligacy of female manners has proceeded from a levity 
occasioned by the want of a proper education. She who 
has no tafie for well-written books, will often be at a lofs 
how to fpend her time ; and the confequences of fuch a 
Slate are too frequent not to be known, and too fatal not 
to be avoided. 
Whenever a young lady in opulent circumstances ap¬ 
pears to poffefs a genius, and an inclination for learned 
purfuits, She ought, if her fituation and connections per¬ 
mit, to be early inttruCted in the elements of Latin and 
Greek. Her mind is certainly as capable of improvement, 
as that of the other fex. The instances which might be 
brought to prove this, are all too well known to need 
citation. And the method to be purfued muft be exactly 
the fame as that which is ufed in the private tuition of 
boys, when judicioufly conducted. And though we might 
difapprove, for the moft part, of private tuition for boys, 
yet it might be recommended for girls, with little excep¬ 
tion. All fenfible people agree in thinking, that large 
feminaries of young ladies, though managed with all the 
vigilance and caution which human abilities can exert, 
are 
