we give at first an unhappy direction to the thoughts; a direction but too frequently occurring, not easily changed, and which tends to hinder the development of true religious feeling, and to make that an exercise of the understanding which ought to be the devotion of the heart.-MADAME N. DE SAUSSURE.

4. Of Disputatious Religious Teaching.

I have before stated how much I disapprove of teaching religion by means of proofs or arguments. They should be avoided were it only on this account, that any feeling of religion already existing will be injured by them, and that if not yet in existence, its formation will be retarded. But there is still another reason for not employing them. A proof necessarily implies a doubt; and has often the power of raising one, without being able to dispel it. Were the truth we seek to establish self-evident, we should not take the trouble to prove it: in order therefore to shew the necessity of the proof, the opposite opinion must be placed in a strong light. Hence arises a double task. We must state the error in order to refute it; and we must explain the truth in order to impress it on the mind. But the former is, to say the least, a useless task, and often leaves behind but too strong an impression. For example, if, when we wish to prove the existence of God, we say that the beautiful order which reigns in the universe could not be the work of chance, we bestow a sort of reality and

consistency on the imaginary being whom we so designate. We are obliged to make it something, in order to prove that it is nothing; but, as we have before remarked, the imagination of children is of such a nature, that it is much easier to raise a phantom in their minds than to lay it again.

When we wish to communicate knowledge of other kinds to children, how do we begin? We do not wait for them to understand the demonstration of the proposition, before we tell them that the earth is round; nor do we enter into any discussion as to the validity of historical testimony, before we place in their hands, as a true narrative, the history of past ages: we simply declare facts as such; any inquiry into their accuracy is deferred to a later period. Why should we pursue a different plan with respect to religious instruction? In appearing to submit to the examination of children questions above their comprehension, we deceive them as to the extent of their faculties; and by leading them to decide without sufficient knowledge, we mislead their judgment much more than by merely declaring to them our own conviction of the fact. After all that we can say or do, they will still only believe because we do. However we may pretend to enlighten their faith, it will remain the same,nothing but an implicit reliance on us, and on our opinions. As it is then only by our persuasion that they are influenced, why make use of a host of arguments, the strength of which they are unable to

appreciate? Why not content ourselves with simply declaring to them such truths as are admitted by the most sublime philosophy?—MME. N. DE SAUSSURE.

5. Of the Insufficiency of mere Instruction.

If the instructor be himself strongly impressed with the importance of religious principles, he sees everything in a right point of view. A soul of heavenly origin is to be trained; and to develop its immortal faculties, and prepare it to return to the bosom of its God, adorned with those gifts, the seeds of which were sown by Him, is the end which he proposes to himself. In this respect, the views of the wise and the religious coincide. But those of mere superficial observers are widely different. Little concerned about either the soul or its faculties, they are entirely occupied in the communication of mere learning, and neglect the cultivation of the intellectual powers. Children, they say, are ignorant, and therefore must be taught; they must acquire the most necessary information. This important, and indeed indispensable object, though it ought, at the same time, to be subordinate to a still higher, is the only one which engages their attention. And as the faculties may be cultivated in some degree by the mere communication of knowledge, it seems to them that, in employing the most efficacious means for enlightening the ignorance of children, they have done all that is necessary.

Such is the course generally pursued; and it is the more natural, because mankind in general keep a pretty exact account of the extent of their acquirements, whilst they have little or no idea of that of their intellectual powers. They propose to procure for their children what they feel they are deficient in themselves; and hence a greater or less degree of instruction becomes with them the measure of a more or less careful education; and teaching each individual what he ought to know, appears to them to be the cultivation of the intellect.

This view of the subject is, however, only so far false as it is much too exclusive. It is true enough that every fresh acquirement of knowledge must add to the cultivation of the faculties; but it is equally true, that our being more occupied in merely storing the mind with information, than in the full development of all its powers, is the cause of the greater part of the defects of instruction.

We see, then, that the exclusive importance attached to the mere acquisition of knowledge forms one of the dangerous snares of education. We are enticed by it to choose expeditious methods, and to avoid difficulties. The child appears to make a certain progress; he knows the things which you have taught him; he performs what you have shewed him how to perform; but try him in a different direction, require from him some new exercise of his faculties, and he is quite at a loss. And even when arrived at manhood, this may continue to be

the case, almost without our being aware of it. By the help of memory and imitation, we often see people make their way tolerably well. The degree of civilization at which we are arrived has created a form for almost everything; a mechanical education extends its influence over the whole course of life; and hence it is that the number of insignificant beings is so great; beings who increase numerical amount without adding to value-examples of that useless species, the common-place characters of their age and country.-MADAME N. DE SAUSSURE.

6. Of Teaching the Natural Sciences.

One great advantage which children derive from the study of the natural sciences is, that it teaches them to arrive with certainty at the truth; and were it only on this account, these studies would be invaluable. As everything in them depends on facts on real and sensible objects-children perceive at once the connexion of cause and effect: they gain a habit of searching thoroughly into a subject; and are not contented, as is too frequently the case in the study of abstract ideas, with mere words. In what, then, consists the danger of these studies? There would be none at all, if they obtained only their proper share in the division of the different parts of instruction. No harm can possibly arise to the pupil from the observation of the visible world in which he is placed, so long as he is not allowed to forget that there is also an invisible