TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.

"I think I may say that of all the men we meet with, nine parts out of ten are what they are, good or evil, useful or not, by their education."-Locke.

THE long period which elapses between the birth of man and that of his arriving at maturity, would seem to be designed to afford ample time for the cultivation of those faculties with which he is peculiarly endowed; and as upon the manner in which education is conducted depends in great measure the individual and national well-being, it has ever been the object of much attention and solicitude on the part of the public, and of governments, in civilised countries. There can, therefore, scarcely be a subject more universally important than this; and in proportion to the more general diffusion of knowledge, and to the progress of the human mind, is there a greater degree of interest excited respecting it, and alterations in accordance with this progress are more imperatively called for. A number of works treating of education (particularly of female education) have consequently been published within the last few years, and the demand for these works affords a sufficient proof of the inefficiency of the ordinary methods, of which the prejudicial results are every year becoming more severely felt. The great influence which women are called

upon to exert on society, has in fact not been of late sufficiently considered; hence their education is too often conducted in a manner but little calculated to promote their happiness, and that of those connected with them by the nearest ties. What was formerly said by one of our poets, is still not inapplicable to some of the modes of education adopted at the present day.

"We slight the precious kernel of the stone,
And toil to polish its rough coat alone;

A just deportment, manners graced with ease,
Elegant phrase, and figure form'd to please,
Are qualities that seem to comprehend

Whatever parents, guardians, schools intend."*

Many persons, however, are now beginning to perceive that to the too partial cultivation of certain qualities, which are thought (though often erroneously) most likely to conduce to advancement in life, much of the unhappiness that exists is attributable; and a medical author of great experience, whom I have had occasion to quote, says, with reference to the influence of this exclusive cultivation in the production. of mental diseases,-" While cultivating the mind of childhood, we should at the same time form the heart, and we should bear in remembrance that education consists less in that which is learnt, than in the acquisition of good habits of thinking and feeling, and of the actions of life. If the education be neither religious nor moral; if the child meets with no obstacle to his will, to his caprices; if everything yields to his desires, how can he be expected to accommodate himself to the contrarieties which he must meet with in life? We should not force the springs of sensi

* Cowper.

bility and of the intellect, by fatiguing the brain at an early age with too hard lessons; we should avoid the errors of regimen, which frequently from the most tender age predispose to mental alienation; we should repress and direct the passions of young people," &c.*

"It is a deplorable circumstance," says the author of a recently published work, "that the statistical data of hospitals and prisons of Europe demonstrate that infirmities, mental aberration, and crimes, have increased with increased instruction and the pretended progress of enlightenment. Governments would, I think, obtain a diametrically opposite result, if they attached themselves to cause all the faculties of man to be cultivated in a harmonious manner; if, while his limbs were becoming more vigorous, they were gradually to develope his sentiments with his intelligence, taking for a fixed point the religious element, the only firm basis of morality and of a solid education.

"The rule," continues this author, "which is applicable to individuals, likewise applies to nations, those great families primitively united by the same beliefs, the same interests, the same customs. From the time that the links which constituted their power are broken, and each individual erecting his own doctrines into a law, makes for himself a religion of egotism, of intemperance, of luxury or of cupidity, their approaching decline, or their retrogradation towards a state of barbarism may be confidently looked for, unless Providence, always merciful even when chastising, should send some destructive scourge which constrains them to revert to pure and generous sentiments." +

*Esquirol, Des Maladies Mentales.

+ Dr. Descuret, La Médecine des Passions. Paris, 1842.

The English may with truth, be said to possess collectively a greater share of blessings than any other people; and there are certainly none who are naturally more preeminently gifted, with the combination of corporeal advantages, and of those qualities of heart and mind which, properly directed, are most conducive to happiness and greatness. It is, however, a melancholy fact that, after the period of childhood, habit and example, those two great powers in education, by which the harmonious cultivation of these qualities might be rendered easy, are too often the means by which its purposes are counteracted. Hence the reason why children blest with the happiest dispositions, are so frequently altered for the worse; or become vicious and egotistical as they grow up; but let the above-mentioned principle be more attended to, and we should see the beneficial results in the more universal prevalence of a conduct and tone of manners conformable to the precepts, which as children we are taught to revere and act upon; the acerbity of party would be lessened; the spirit of sectarianism and of coterie would subside, and with it its attendant heart-burnings, isolation, and other reactions upon health; the amount of individual and general happiness, as well as of true religion, would increase with the increase of knowledge; the national prosperity would rest upon a firmer basis; and strong in union, with a calm reliance upon the Providence which has heretofore protected and so abundantly blessed our country, we might contemplate the clouds gathering around, feeling a confident assurance for the future, from the experience of past times, that

"Nought shall make us rue,

If England to itself do rest but true."