ment, is little short of a libel on the common sense and the Christianity of our country.

In throwing out the preceding hints on the errors and deficiencies of the present system of education, let it be carefully remembered, that I am far from attaching blame indiscriminately to that respectable body of men who superintend the parochial and other seminaries in this country. It is indeed to be regretted, that there are too many persons employed as teachers who consider themselves as sufficiently qualified for the office, if they can write a tolerably good hand and cast accounts. But, on the other hand, it is one of the pleasing signs of our times, that the characters and qualifications of teachers are rapidly advancing in respectability, and our public schools are in general filled with men of learning and talent. It is to the system of teaching,--and not to the respectable individuals who act under it,—that these strictures more particularly refer. I am fully aware of the difficulties and the opposition which teachers have to encounter when they deviate from the common mode-arising from prejudices in favour of established practices, the ignorance of parents, and the foolish and unchristian modes by which many children are trained under the domestic roof. Many of our intelligent teachers perceive the evils of the present system, but they are obliged, in the meantime, to act under it. In their individual and insulated capacity, unsupported by public patronage, they cannot remove its essential defects, nor attempt any material or important improvement, in consequence of the current of popular opinion; and their deviation from established practices would, in certain cases, tend to injure their pecuniary interests. I have known instructors of youth who have attempted improvements similar to some of those above hinted at, who were afterwards constrained to throw them aside, owing to the causes now specified. I knew one in particular, who selected the most simple and interesting reading-lessons, and caused his pupils to give an account of every leading idea contained in them-who likewise attempted.to explain the meaning of every question, Psalm and passage, which was to be committed to memory, and consequently, a very small portion only was prescribed, that it might be clearly understood and accurately repeated. But this plan could not be endured by those who estimate the quantity of instruction by the number of unmeaning lines and vocables which their children can vociferate. persons consider the repetition of three or four pages of mere words without ideas, as of far more importance than the communication of a hundred well-defined notions. He also caused the children, after their lessons were prepared and rehearsed, to

Such

write upon slates-letters, triangles, parallelograms, and other mathematical figures and diagrams, in order to keep them fully employed while in school; and occasionally permission was granted to scratch whatever they pleased on their slates-men, horses, houses, windmills, or any other fancy, as a reward for the attention they had previously bestowed. But he was obliged to desist from the prosecution of these and other plans, in consequence of "the hue and cry" which was raised about such "trifling modes of tuition.'

It is, therefore, pretty obvious, that no general or extensive improvement in the system of education can be expected, till a strong conviction be produced in the minds of the intelligent public of the necessity of a more rational and efficient system being adopted, and till a powerful and simultaneous movement take place among all classes, in order to the erection and endow ment of seminaries calculated to produce a moral and an intellectual education. For many of the principles which pervade the present mode of tuition require to be completely reversed, and a system organized which shall form the foundation of the future progress of the human race-which will bear the test of succeeding and enlightened ages-which will render the acquisition of knowledge pleasant and desirable to the young-and which will embrace every thing that is interesting to man as an intellectual being, as a member of society, and as a candidate for a blessed immortality.

In the meantime, I am fully convinced, (however extravagant and paradoxical the sentiment may appear,) that the great majority of our youth acquire more real and substantial knowledge, during their play hours, and in their various amusements and intercourses with each other, than they acquire during the formal process of teaching while in school. At these times they acquire a rude knowledge of the appearances and qualities of various objects; of some of the laws of Nature and its general scenery; of the forms, economy, and varieties of vegetables,-of the habits and instincts of animals; of the application of several mechanical powers; and of the various modifications of human temper and action. Their games at shuttle-cock, nine-pins, marbles, balls and tops-their exercises in swimming, running, climbing, swinging and jumping-their visits to museums, menageries, and other exhibitions of natural and artificial curiosities-their views of the shipping, and the operations connected with it in seaport towns— their occasional excursions to the delightful and romantic scenes of the country, and the daily spectacle of the ebbing and flowing of the sea, of the sun shining in his glory, and of the moon walk

ing in brightness among the host of stars-convey to their minds fragments of useful knowledge, more diversified and practical, than any thing they acquire from their catechisms, spelling-books, grammars, and "English Readers," in the manner in which they are generally taught. In school they acquire, indeed, the means of knowledge, in being taught the arts of reading, writing, and arithmetic; but as they are seldom taught to apply these means to their proper ends, little knowledge is thereby acquired; and, in the majority of instances, they depart from school, and pass the remainder of their lives, without ever thinking of making the further cultivation of their minds even a subordinate object of pursuit―glad that they are at length released from the confinement and drudgery connected with scholastic discipline. As a proof of this I need only appeal to the ignorance, the prejudices, the foolish opinions and the wayward passions, which still pervade the greater portion of the inferior ranks of our population, and even of the middling and higher classes-and the disinclination which so generally exists to rational investigations, and to prosecuting the path of mental improvement.

Much has of late been said on the subject of abolishing corporal punishment in schools; and it is certainly a highly desirable object, which we should endeavour to promote by every means in our power. But we can have little hope that this will ever be fully attained while the present plan of education continues in operation, and while the majority of children are so injudiciously trained, as at present, by their parents and guardians. If, however, the evils complained of in this chapter were removed; if the books which are put into the hands of children were interesting and level to their comprehension; if they were taught to understand the lessons they read and commit to memory; if the understanding and the affections were as frequently exercised as the memory; if the mechanical drudgery of grammar were postponed to a period when they could enter into its spirit and applications; if the processes of arithmetic were more frequently illustrated by sensible objects and representations; if interesting experiments and representations, calculated to illustrate the operations of nature and art, were frequently exhibited; if ample and agreeable accommodation were furnished, both within and without doors; if they were not too long confined in school; if a spirit of conciliation on the part of teachers, and a disposition to bestow merited commendation, were generally exercised; if every branch of education were taught at separate hours, and the attention of the pupil completely engaged while in school; and if a system of moral training were to form a prominent object in the business

of education-we have good reason to believe that corporal punishment, might be almost, if not altogether superseded; and the employment of teaching in crowded promiscuous schools-instead of resembling Paul's "fighting with beasts at Ephesus," might become a rational, interesting, and delightful employment, both to the teacher and to the scholars.*

CHAPTER III.

Hints in reference to a comprehensive and improved system of Education.

THE education of human beings, considered in its most extensive sense, comprehends every thing which is requisite to the cul

* The preceding strictures, chiefly written in 1821, were published in the Edinburgh Christian Instructor, for March 1822, and February 1823. The Author has good grounds for stating, that they proved a stimulus to the active mind of its learned Editor, the late Dr. A. Thomson, in exciting to those arrangements which were afterwards made in St. George's Parish, over which he presided, for establishing schools on a more enlightened system, both for the children of the higher and the lower ranks within that district. In the autumn of 1823, the author had several conversations with the Doctor, by special request, in reference to this subject, in which he unfolded his leading ideas on what he considered the true principles of education and the improvements that required to be introduced, which in general met the Doctor's approbation, and appeared to coincide with the views he had lately adopted on the subject. He showed the author, at the same time, a variety of natural and artificial objects, which he had partly purchased, and partly received as donations from certain benevolent ladies, with the view of introducing them as part of an improved system of tuition which he intended soon to establish; and urgently requested him to continue his disquisitions on education, in the Christian Instructor, at certain moderate intervals between the appearance of the different essays, in order that the subject might be kept for some time before the view of the public. The intended communications, owing to certain circumstances, were never published; but the substance of what was then intended to be communicated will be found in the following pages. The schools established by Dr. Thomson, alluded to above, along with the Edinburgh Sessional School, under the superintendence of Mr. Wood, are material improvements on the usual mode of scholastic instruction, and though deficient in many important particulars, approximate, in a considerable degree, to the true intellectual mode of tuition. The strictures thrown out in the preceding pages, more particularly apply to the parochial and other schools in Scotland, for the instruction of the middle and lower classes; but most of them are likewise applicable to the general modes of tuition in England. Since the period stated above, when they were first written, a few schools on more improved plans, have been established; but their number does not, perhaps, exceed twenty or thirty throughout the whole of North Britain; so that the preceding remarks will still apply to the modes of instruction generally practised in our country.

tivation and improvement of the faculties bestowed upon them by the Creator. It ought to embrace every thing that has a tendency to strengthen and invigorate the animal system-to enlighten and expand the understanding-to regulate the feelings and dispositions of the heart—and, in general, to direct the moral powers in such a manner as to render those who are the subjects of instruction happy in themselves, useful members of society, and qualified for entering on the scenes and employments of a future and more glorious existence. The series of instructions by which these ends are to be attained, ought to be continued, not merely for five or six years, or less than the tenth part of the period of human existence-but during the whole of that interval which lies between the cradle and the grave.

It is a very common but absurd notion, and has been too dong acted upon that the education of our youth terminates, or should terminate, about the age of thirteen or fourteen years. Hence, in an article on this subject, in one of our Encyclopedias, education is defined to be "that series of means by which the human understanding is gradually enlightened, between infancy and the period when we consider ourselves as qualified to take a part in active life, and, ceasing to direct our views to the acquisition of new knowledge or the formation of new habits, are content to act upon the principles we have already acquired." This definition, though accordant with general opinion and practice, is certainly a very limited and defective view of the subject. In the ordinary mode of our scholastic instruction, education, so far from being finished at the age above stated, can scarcely be said to have commenced. The key of knowledge has indeed been put into the hands of the young; but they have never been taught to unlock the gates of the Temple of Science, to enter within its portals, to contemplate its treasures, and to feast their minds on the entertainments there provided. Several moral rules and maxims have been impressed on their memories; but they have seldom been taught to appreciate them in all their bearings, or to reduce them to practice in the various and minute ramifications of their conduct. Besides, although every rational means were employed for training the youthful mind till near the age of puberty, no valid reason can be assigned why regular instruction should cease at this early period. Man is a progressive being; his faculties are capable of an indefinite expansion; the objects to which these faculties may be directed are boundless and infinitely diversified; he is moving onward to an eternal world, and, in the present state, can never expect to grasp the universal system of created objects, or to rise to the highest point of moral excellence.