them every difficulty, require from them a degree of effort proportionate to their strength. In this case, the means are of more consequence than the end; and application without any result is of far more use than result obtained without application.

Besides, why should the sacrifices which duty often requires from us in this world be concealed from children? Why deceive them into a persuasion that life is only a series of pleasures? Will they by this means be better prepared for encountering its trials? Let us not present either virtue or learning to them with any false embellishments; let them appear in all their natural charms, rendered still more apparent by our own evident appreciation of them; and if we add to these our approbation, our esteem, our conf dence, we shall find that we are pursuing the onl path which leads to the end we have in view, and at the same time affords a correct idea of the condition of human life.

It is almost always injurious to hold out the promise of pleasure in education; we are not certain of being able to fulfil the promise; and even when we can do so, the previous expectation of it tends to diminish the actual enjoyment. Bestow on your children as much pleasure as you please, but do not talk about it. It is good, and even necessary for them; tending as much to the support of their moral energy as food does to their physical strength. Let there be pleasures-well chosen ones-in abundance;

but do not give them an artificial value, nor let them occupy the thoughts of children too constantly. If they have been always accustomed to consider pleasure as the great end of life, it will not be an easy task to substitute the idea of duty as their proper object. Leave instinct to its natural course, and do not purposely augment its power by the avowed assent of the will.-MADAME N. DE SAUSsure.

9. Of Conscious Obedience.

The docility of infancy, unless it afterwards lead to a voluntary and premeditated obedience, will tend only to produce feebleness of character, indifference, or an inclination to be guided entirely by the opinion of others. But when the child's submission arises from a sacred feeling of duty, no such results are to be apprehended. Inspired with such sentiments of piety as are adapted to his age, he will soon understand that all human beings have certain duties imposed on them, and that his, individually, consist in conforming to the laws of parental authority. Obedience, founded on such a conviction, becomes itself a virtue: it requires a certain degree of firmness, and rather augments than diminishes the energy of his character; for the child who resists a temptation, that he may not transgress the commands of his parents, shews not only submission, but strength of mind also.

But it is not by assigning a reason for every command that such an effect will be produced; it must be the result of the impression made on the child by your whole life; by the rectitude which he observes in your conduct towards others, and the affection which he sees bestowed upon himself. By constantly justifying your commands, you seem to allow that they require an excuse, you appeal to the judgment of the child, and tempt him to seek for objections. And if you afterwards assume a tone of authority, which admits of no remonstrance, you are guilty of inconsistency; for if your argument is too strong to be disputed, why have recourse to commands, and thus shew a want of confidence in that very reason to which you had appealed? It would have been much better never to have brought it forward.

In the endless explanations attending such a plan, the motive generally held out, in order to enforce our wishes, is the personal advantage of the child. But this only serves to weaken the argument; for in this case, (as in the one formerly alluded to, of instruction,) if you allege his present pleasure, he denies it; and if you speak of his future advantage, he cares little about it; or at any rate believes that he shall have ample time to provide for it hereafter. He will also be often tempted to think that it is enough if he conform to the spirit of your laws, without obeying them literally. Suppose, for in

stance, you have forbidden him to eat fruit, because it will make him ill. As he knows that a small quantity will not produce this effect, he feels no hesitation in disobeying your commands to a certain degree; but obedience, unless it be entire and exact, is of no value.

And not only must it be exact, but immediate. Let our commands be given in few words, but let there be no appeal from them. Every moment that intervenes between an order and its execution is an attempt at rebellion, instigated by self-love. The more we wish our system of education to be governed by a spirit of gentleness, the more necessary it is that it should also be conducted with firmness.-MADAME N. DE SAUSSURE.

10. Of the Use of Words.

Have those teachers who would confine their pupil's attention entirely to things, reflected sufficiently on the great power of words? Have they considered that real objects,-objects even present to our senses, -will often remain unknown to us, if their names be not brought to our recollection? Suppose, for instance, we accidentally meet a person whom we remember to have seen before, and whose appearance and voice are quite familiar to us; we see and hear him, yet all our ideas concerning him are confused and imperfect, when suddenly his name recurs to us, presenting us with

a key to unlock the storehouse of our memory, and we immediately recollect the time and place of our former meeting, with all its concomitant circumstances. By this singular and mysterious property of language, all the adjuncts of an object, though refusing to associate themselves with the object itself, are readily connected with its name; and thus by means of the symbol we obtain what we were unable to acquire from the thing itself.

We have only to attend to the discussions of any deliberate assembly, in order fully to comprehend the great importance of an accurate memory for words. How often is a noisy declaimer put to silence at once by a clear and correct exposition of names or dates! and how much injustice is frequently caused by the expressions of one speaker being inaccurately quoted by another! And yet, the habit of paying a proper degree of attention to the words in which any subject is expressed is one which will never be contracted, if the pupil have been taught to consider only the meaning of phrases, without any regard to the language in which they are couched. -MADAME N. DE SAUSSURE.

11. Of Guiding a Child's Mind.

If we were to attempt to divine the secret of a prosperous management of children, perhaps it would resolve itself into the simple fact of a quick

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