6. In the next place, all confidence among intelligent beings would be completely destroyed. Disappointment would invariably attend every purpose and resolution, and every scheme we wished to execute, if it depended in the least degree upon the direction or assistance of others. We durst not taste an article of food which we received from another, lest it should contain poison; nor could we ever construct a house to shelter us from the storm, unless our own physical powers were adequate to the work. 7. Were we living in Edinburgh, we could never go to Musselburgh and Dalkeith, if we were previously ignorant of the situation of those places; or were we residing in London, it would be impossible for us ever to find our way to Hommerton or Hampstead, unless, after a thousand attempts, chance should happen to direct us; and, when we arrived at either of these villages, we should still be in as much uncertainty as ever, whether it was the place to which we intended to direct our steps. 8. Confidence being destroyed, there could be no friendship, no union of hearts, no affectionate intercourse, no social converse, no consolation or comfort in the hour of distress, no hopes of deliverance in the midst of danger, and no prospect of the least enjoyment from any being around us. 9. In such a case, the mind would feel itself as in a wilderness, even when surrounded by fellow-intelligences; and wherever it roamed over the vast expanse of nature, or among the mass of living beings around it, it would meet with no affectionate interchange of feelings and sentiments, and no object on which it could rest for solace and enjoyment. Every one would feel as if he were placed in the midst of an infinite void, and as if he were the only being residing in the universe. 10. In such a case, we would flee from the society of men, as we would do from a lion or a tiger when rushing on his prey; and hide ourselves in dens, and forests, and caverns of the earth, till death should put a period to a cheerless and miserable existence. 11. All social intercourse and relations would cease;families could not possibly exist, nor any affectionate intercourse between the sexes; for truth, and the confidence which is founded upon it, are implied in all the intercourse of husbands and wives, of brothers and sisters, and of pa rents and children;--and, consequently, the human race, dropping into the grave, one after another, like the leaves of autumn, without any successors, would, in a short time, be extirpated from the earth. 12. In such a state, kindness and affection would never be exercised; trade and commerce, buying and selling, social compacts and agreements, would be annihilated; science, literature, and the arts, could not exist; and, consequently, universities, colleges, churches, academies, schools, and every other seminary of instruction, would be unknown. 13. No villages, towns, nor cities would be built; no fields cultivated; no orchards, vineyards, nor gardens, planted; no intercourse would exist between different regions of the globe; and nothing but one dreary, barren waste would be presented to the eye, throughout the whole expanse of nature. LESSON LXXIX. What is Education? 1. "WHAT is education?" asked a teacher of a class of girls. Young persons, when asked such general questions, do not reply promptly. They have no thoughts on the subject, and therefore have nothing to say; or, their thoughts not being arranged, they are not ready to answer; or they may be too diffident to answer at all. On this occasion, half the girls were silent, and the rest replied, "I don't know, sir." 2. "Oblige me, girls, by saying something," urged the teacher. "The word is not Greek-surely you have some ideas about it. What is your notion of education, Mary Bliss?" 3. "Does it not mean, sir, learning to read and write?" Mary Bliss paused, and the girl next her added, "and ciphering, sir, and grammar, and geography?" 4. "Yes, it means this, and something more. What is your idea of education, Sarah Johnson?" 5. "I did not suppose education meant much more than the girls have mentioned, sir. Mr. Smith said, at the Lyceum Lecture, that the great mass of the people received their education at the common schools; and the girls have named nearly all that we learn at the common schools." 6. "Does not education mean," asked Maria Jarvis, "the learning young men get at colleges? I often hear people say of a man that he has had an education,' when they mean merely that he has been through college." 7. "You are right, Maria, in believing this to be a commonly received meaning of the term 'education;' but it means much more; and as it is important to you to have right and fixed ideas on this subject, I earnestly beg you all to give me your attention, while I attempt to explain to you its full meaning. 8. "A great man, Mr. Locke, said, 'that the difference to be found in the manners and abilities of men is owing more to their education than any thing else.' Now, as you are all acquainted with men who have never seen the inside of a college, and yet who are superior in manners and abilities' to some others who have passed four of the best years of their lives there, you must conclude that education is not confined to college walls. 9. "You are born with certain faculties. Whatever tends to develope and improve these, is education. Whatever trains your mental powers, your affections, manners, and habits, is education. Your education is not limited to any period of your life, but is going on as long as you live. 10. "Whatever prepares you to be a profitable servant of God, and a faithful disciple of Christ; whatever increases your reverence, and love of your Maker; all that in Scripture is called the 'nurture and admonition of the Lord,'—is a part of your religious education. Whatever you do to promote your health, to develope and improve the strength and powers of your body, is a part of your physical education." 11. "What, sir!" interrupted little Mary Lewis, "do you mean that running, and jumping rope, and trundling hoops, "and clambering over rocks, is a part of education?' 12. "I certainly do; but why do you laugh, my dear child?" 13. "Because, sir, I never knew that education meant any thing so pleasant as that. I wish my mother could hear you, sir; she would let me play more, instead of studying all the time, if she only knew that driving hoop was called education." 14. The teacher smiled, and proceeded-" Whatever calls forth your affections, and strengthens them; whatever directs and subdues your passions; whatever cultivates your virtues; and whatever improves your manners,-is a part of your moral education." 15. "Then," said the same lively little girl, "that is what my mother means when she says, 'There is a lesson for you, Anne!' every time any one of the family does any good thing. It seems to me, I am educating all the time." 16. "You are, Anne-the world is your school, and good examples are your very best lessons. Whatever unfolds the faculties of your mind, improves your talents, and augments your stores of knowledge, is a part of your intellectual education. 17. "Whatever improves your capacity for domestic affairs, or for business of any sort, is a part of your economical education. Now, you will perceive, from what I have said, that education is not confined to schools and colleges, but that, as Anne has very well remarked, we are 'educating all the time.' Nor is the conduct of education confined to professed teachers; we are educating one another. 18. "While I am teaching you geography and arithmetic, you are perhaps trying my patience, or, by your own patience, calling forth my gratitude. If I make progress in these virtues, you are helping on my moral education. 19. "The knowledge you impart to one another, the kindnesses you receive, the loves you exchange, are all a part of your education. When you learn to sweep a room, to make a bed, or a cup of tea, a shirt, or a loaf of bread, you are getting on in your education. 20. "Every thing around us, my children, may help forward this great work. The sun, the moon, and the stars, teach their sublime lessons. Day unto day uttereth knowledge.' The seasons make their revelations. The rain and snow, dews and frost, the trees and rocks, fruits and flowers, plants, herbs, the very stones and grass we tread upon, are full of instruction to those who study them. 21. "All the events and circumstances of your lives are contributing to your education. Your class-mate, Lucy Davis, has been absent from school the last two months. Reflect on what I have been saying to you, and then tell me whether Lucy, during this time, though she has not looked into a school-book, has made any progress in her education." 22. The girls were silent and thoughtful for a few moments. Maria Jarvis spoke first. "Lucy's 'economical educa tion,' as you call it, sir," she said, "has been going on, for she has had the care of the family, and every thing to do, through all her mother's illness." 23. "And I guess she has been going forward in her 'moral education,' ,"" said little Mary Lewis, "for I never saw any body so patient as she was with her mother's cross baby." 24. "And she has not lost this opportunity for improving in her 'religious education,'" resumed the teacher. "You all saw her yesterday at her mother's funeral, subduing the grief of her little sisters, by her quiet resignation, and affectionate devotion to them. Ah, she has been taking lessons in more important branches of education, than are taught in schools. 25. "So you see, my dear children, that life is a school -a primary school; and that we are all scholars, and are all preparing for a day of examination, when the infallible, all-seeing Judge will decide how we have profited by our means of education." LESSON LXXX. Scenes at Sea. 1. AMID the numerous discomforts of a long sea voyage, one is thrown upon his own resources, both for improvement and pleasure. But the mind accustomed to view with intelligent and devout contemplation the works of God, can seldom be without materials for lofty and purifying thought. And surely, the wide ocean and wider sky present a rich field for the expatiation of our noblest thoughts. 2. Pacing the deck, or leaning against the bulwarks, toward the setting sun, it would seem as though the most gross and thoughtless mind must rise, and expand, and feel delight. Far and near rolls "old Ocean." Before Jehovah spread out the fairer scenery of the dry land, these restless billows swelled and sparkled beneath the new-made firmament. Thousands of years their wide expanse remained a trackless waste, 66 Unconquerable, unreposed, untired, And rolled the wild, profound, eternal bass, |