Bes 
A 
be of no ufe, either in the invefigation 
or the decifion ; but it may be of fome, 
to have hinted it to thofe who can. 
I remain, your’s fincerely, 
Nov. 17,1796. 
— 
To ihe Editor of the Monthly nate 
SIRS 
in tas up a child in the way He 
fhould 20 and when he is old he 
will not depart from it.” A fentiment 
of more importance or of more truth ne- 
wer fell from the pen of Solomon; but 
Solomon, who here fo excellently ad- 
vifes, knew not himfelf how to profit by 
the admonition. ‘+ Who fpares the red, a 
faid the king, “ fpoils the child;” it is 
reafonable to imagine, that the wil om 
of Solomon praétifed what he preached : 
we can cnly judge of the tree by its 
fruits; and the fon of Solomon, thus 
educated and thus correéted, was that 
Rehoboam, from whofe tyranny fprang 
the wees outcry, ‘* To your tents, 
O Ifrael !’ 
“> * An ancient Greek author, whofe name 
has perifhed, after expatiating on the ad- 
vantages of knowledge, concludes with a 
fentim nt not unlike that of the royal 
wife cone. Learning,” fays he, **" is a 
Holedion of which no force can bereave 
us. It renders us placid ; it is the ‘itaff 
of life.» He enumerates ae of .its 
aay jantages, but he adds,‘ 
not been sae ogged ts not learned.” 
- Our feminaries for the Cee 
e found and orthodox learning, as they 
open to us the. ftores of ancient peed 
ture, feem to have adopted preju- 
dices of ancient fcholafticity. 
At atime when the young mind be- 
comes capable ‘of receiving what form 
the mould of inftruétion {hall apply, it 
is deemed improper to fuffer. it to re- 
main in ignoi 
might poflibly difer from the maxims of 
polithed fociety. A well judged precau- 
tion ; for ill will he be fitted to ‘* make 
his way in the world,” who is permitted 
to imbibe thofe punciples of benevolence, 
humanity, and independence, infeparable 
from goodnefs of difpofition and guick- 
ne{s of perception. Ufually, therefore, 
at this age, and on this accoun t, the 
child is taken from his parents. 
i will noc infpeét the various femina- 
ries and academics: whofe fign-potts ftare 
us in the face on every road from Lon- 
don, and whofe bills of fare adorn the 
chimney- -pieces of every inn in the coun- 
try: I fhall examine the education of a- 
4 
ie 
} 
tne 
f 
rah id On Education. 
* he who has 
rance, or gather ideas wh: che 
public fchool, Let it be remembered 
that, in ufing ghis word, J do not include 
fach-as combine the evils of both, with- 
out poflefling the advantages of either. 
‘Pitre child, at eight, ten,-or twelve 
years Of age, if his education till that 
period has been any-wife tolerable, may 
be imagined at leaft free from vice; but 
if he has been foftered in his mother’s — 
bofom, and accuftomed to receive the’ 
leffons of paternal affection, it is reafon- 
able to fuppofe, thar the only ideas yet 
impreffed upon his mind are thofe of — 
piety, duty, and love. 
He has been 
taught to bluth at falfehood, to feel for 
the worm he may unwittingly have trod- 
den on; and is perhaps unwilling to lie 
down at night without thanking that 
power who has proteéted him thrcune 
the day. 
With a mind thus trained, balield him 
placed at a public fchool. Scarcely has 

he taken poffeflion of his new habita-— 
tion, than the fummons of fome defpot 
of fixteen calls him from his rational and 
innocent employments, to make a fire or 
clean fhoes ; an au k ward’ ditcharge of of- 
fices to which he is fo totally unaccuftom- 
ed, is recompenfed by blows and> curfes. 
A lye ma perhaps fave him: from this ; 
and thus the child has-to encounter Bes 
ftrongeft poflible temptation to falfehcod. 
Aecuftomed to the purity of domeftic 
life, | 
If he can lufh, the con- 
veriation is renewed with added obfce- 
nity ; if he cannot, he has already pro- 
ited i public education. 
he perfecution of decency is‘ follow- 
ed ‘by that. “of humanity. The impaled 
cock-chafer, and the mangled cat, are 
daily prefented to his eyes; and thefe 
barbarities, which at firft agonize the | 
human heart, lofe that efleét by requ 
repetition ° 
ais ear is affailed by grofs and hor--— 
-rible ribaldry. 
Learning is made altogether a talk to™ 
hiny. “Steep as is ‘the path of icienge, 
oe ye the difficulties of the afcent to be © 
increafed ? ought the path to be perplex- 
ed by weenieiet intricacies ? 
he is diligent, he 1s affailed by ridicule. 
‘They who are. deftitute of 
the moft paltry of virtues, are yet pof- 
{efled of envy, its vt connected vice. 
Youth muft naturally be averfe to harfh 
and unpleafant duties. ‘Po counteraét 
his own playful propenfities. and his 
comrades’ malicious railleries, what in- 
emulation, ~ 
if, however, © 

ducements are held out by the fatherly 
attention of the preceptor * Is the cup 
fugared > one argument is ufed, be bh 
ol 
idle, be he ftupid ; 3 proceed the fault from 
dilgut 


