CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION. 1. WHETHER I have acted rightly or wrongly in drawing up the following pages, is a point which I shall not aim to determine. My design is to promote the diffusion of sound and modest knowledge amongst the lower orders of society. I have written according to my ability; and I have written nothing, I trust, but what conduces to the glory of God and to the benefit of His creatures. I am perfectly aware that my work abounds with imperfections: but such as it is, I commit it to the public; not without the hope that, through God's blessing, it may be found on another day that it was not altogether a vain and fruitless performance. 2. A temple has a porch: my work must have an introduction. I must, at the very first, make known, (and my readers must see,) what my notions of Education are. And here, in order that I may be as clear and distinct as possible, I shall write on the supposition that I have around me a dozen of the young men of my own parish; a dozen of my young peasants: and I must suppose that they are thoughtful, prepared to hear all that I say to them, with calm and deliberate consideration. 3. You are now to hear me speak of Education: and you may begin to think that I mention a thing which belongs to others, and not to you: I therefore remark at once, that "Education belongs to all men." The proper distinction is B this; one sort of Education belongs to the higher ranks of society, and another sort of it belongs to the lower ranks of it: but Education, properly understood, belongs to all. There is fruit on the tree of knowledge of which all may eat. 4. But what do I mean by Education? Not one thing, but many things: I express it simply thus, To educate a young person is to bring him up and instruct him in all that he ought to know, and in all that he ought to be. Education, if you understand me, is mental and moral discipline: that is, It is the communication of knowledge to the mind, and also, as far as may be, the infusion of sound principles into the heart, and the formation of right conduct and manners. To think that a child is educated because he can read, write, and work a sum in Arithmetic, is perfectly absurd. In vain do we attend to the mind, if we do not attend also to the heart and conduct. Not words, sounds, and mechanism, but ideas, thoughts, principles, feelings, and conduct make the educated person. 5. What is commonly called Education looks at nothing but the gains and advantages of this world. It merely regards man as a member of this world's society. But if we would form a right notion of Education, we must consider man as a spiritual and moral being; we must consider his nature, his relations, his duty, and his final destination: and therefore we have far more to do than to qualify him to act a certain part among men; for we have to train him in all that conduces to his present and to his eternal welfare, as God's accountable creature. 6. Here pause for a moment, and ask yourselves, What is man? What are you? In the first place, Man is a rational and intelligent creature. There is an immortal spirit within him. He his endowed with what we call Intellect, Reason, Mind. In the second place, He is God's creature; made by Him, and also "bought with a price;" and therefore not his In own. He is what we call a moral agent; an accountable creature. He knows right and wrong, good and evil: and he is to give an account of himself to the Judge of all men. the third place, He stands in peculiar relations to his God and Saviour and to his fellow men. Here, in the goodness of God, he is instructed by Revelation; and by this he is informed, that he has certain truths to receive, certain laws to obey, and certain duties to perform. He must act on certain principles, as faith, fear, and love; and he must obey certain rules. In the fourth place, His brief and uncertain sojourn in this world of probation is to be followed by an unending existence, which will be happy or miserable, according to the character of his conversation in the present state. 7. I do not aim to dwell on these weighty truths; but I hope that they will obtain your serious consideration. You may observe, that man is a wonderful creature, placed in the most serious and solemn circumstances. Man, I repeat, is a wonderful creature; such in his make, natural, mental, and moral; such in his endowments and capacities; such in the action of outward things upon him, and in his action upon outward things; such in his high relations to the spiritual world and to an eternal existence. Such thoughts, very probably, are not familiar to your minds; but I hope that you will seriously meditate on them. 8. With regard to Knowledge, it is the prerogative of man to know things; to understand them; not merely to view them outwardly, but to see their nature, parts, structure, and uses. But here at once let us observe What man has to know. And we may remark, that as man is wonderful in himself, so he is placed in wonderful circumstances. In what an adorned and splendid universe, we may exclaim, do we live! What is it but brutish to look out into creation, and not to feel wonder and delight! Here, however, I will give you two hard words: Objective and Subjective. You have |