carefulness, and steadfastness. The seeds of perseverance may be sown, by insisting on a child's remaining satisfied with one plaything for a reasonable space of time; and a power of abstraction may be conferred by accustoming it to fix its attention on the object before it, even when surrounded by other attractions. Such a habit would also prevent envy or discontent. A child who is early accustomed to be satisfied with its own allotment will scarcely be discontented at a later period. A love of order may be encouraged by the habit of putting the various toys in their respective places after use, and such a habit eventually leads to systematic carefulness and economy.

We now come to a most important part of education. The teaching of the practice of virtue-the instilling a permanent love of goodness, a hatred of evil.

Children who look upon their parents as the sources of their happiness (and all parents have the power of inculcating this feeling) will reverence their words and actions, and seek to follow their example; (we presuppose the early training we have recommended to have been pursued for three or four years;) they will also be delighted to please their parents, and grieved to vex them. Here then affection becomes one great stimulus, and a powerful instrument.

The practice of self-control, of truth, obedience, and gentleness, should be rewarded not by gifts, but by affectionate praise and encouragement; and all contrary conduct should be reproved by disapprobation, and the expression of sorrow. Rewards and punishments must occasionally be resorted to at all ages, but they should be used sparingly, and, as we have before remarked, be made to grow out of the circumstances which call them forth. The pleasure afforded by self-approbation, and the approval of those whom we love and esteem, ought to be the greatest pleasure that a child can receive. When this is attained, the main difficulty is overcome.

We must, however, insist on the power of habit. The reasoning faculties are stronger in some children than in others, but the force of habit is great in all. Before reason assumes much influence, (and it exists earlier than is generally believed,) habits may be acquired; subsequently, appeals may be made to reason and affection.

If a child has been accustomed to find discomfort an uncailing consequence of misconduct, it will avoid misconduct as anxiously as it would avoid the fire after having been once burned. When it begins to reason, it will perceive the effect of misconduct in others, and here the parent has the means of strengthening a dislike of evil by illustrative tales, either read or repeated, showing the advantages of virtue, and the disadvan

tages of vice. A judicious selection will have the double effect of leading the child to a love of information. But again, we must urge upon the instructor, that nothing which is beyond its comprehension or is incapable of explanation should be presented. Everything vague ought to be avoided. We should teach a child (whether it be by precept or by fictitious example) to do, or not to do, particular things, such as not to practise falsehood or deceit, but to be sincere and open on all occasions: general admonitions as to virtue and vice, doing right and doing wrong, &c., have little effect.

In the employment of the influence of affection, great prudence must be exercised, lest the feeling be deadened by too much use; or, on the other hand, lest the child be habituated to submit the judging power, which in after life is the main motive of action, to the less certain guidance of sympathy and affection uncontrolled by reason: both evils, though of an opposite character, may we think arise from the injudicious use of the principle of affection. We might also caution mothers against the constant reiteration of such phrases as the following:-Don't do this; be quiet; let that alone; you are very naughty. The child soon comes to regard them as mere idle words, and often ceases even to hear them.

As implicit obedience is one of the first objects to be obtained, so no command should be given the fulfilment of which cannot be, and is not, insisted upon. The moment that evasion is found possible, it will be practised. There is no need of violence, no necessity for force, either in language or action, nothing but quiet, firm determination until the command be obeyed; approbation or displeasure may follow in proportion to the resistance that has been offered. We repeat, that every child must be taught the utter hopelessness of having its own way, before strict discipline can be maintained. Still we should be careful not to let our commands be of that description which may encourage obstinacy and resistance. For example, if a child has not obeyed a certain command, it may often be better to inflict a positive punishment, such as confinement, or the deprivation of some little pleasure, than to make the punishment continue till the child has obeyed the command. If we make the child's punishment continue till he has done what he is ordered to do, there is danger, with some children, of a stubborn resistance. If we punish for disobedience to the command, the lesson will not be without its value; and if the punishment be repeated as often as the offence is committed, there is not much reason for doubting that the parent will finally be successful.

As there are various tempers to be contended with, so must

the system vary with regard to each. Passion, obstinacy, fretfulness, sullenness, and timidity, are the chief varieties. With the first we should recommend summary punishment, and that of a somewhat harsh character: for instance, solitary confinement, or bodily restraint, such as limitation to so small a space that movement is difficult or uneasy; and the entire privation of the object which has caused the excitation for hours or days, according to the age of a child.

Obstinacy is often fostered, rather than checked, by opposition. Wherever it is possible, the parent must endeavour not to perceive the assumed ignorance or incapacity, which are the usual forms which obstinacy takes in children. If they refuse to repeat a thing, say it over and over again yourself calmly, as if you were only anxious to remove their ignorance. If they refuse to do a thing, if it be practicable to move their limbs gently into the necessary action, do so, and let the matter end, never alluding to it at any subsequent period. If both these methods be unavailing, or not practicable, tie the hand behind the back, or attach it by a string to a hook in the wall, so as not to inflict pain, but merely so as to occasion inconvenience until the obstinate fit is over. But the child must never know that it is stubborn; nor must it ever perceive that it has the power to disturb the serenity of its guardian.

Fretfulness generally proceeds from physical causes, and eventually becomes habitual. The evil is more easy to prevent than to remedy; a little extra attention to the amusements of the child so afflicted (for a great affliction it is) will do much. An increase of tenderness, (we do not by this mean false indulgence,) accompanied by a firm determination not to grant the object which is longed for, are perhaps the best checks.

Sullenness can only be repressed by the privation of all society, all sympathy, and all amusement. The delinquent must be practically taught, that, when under the influence of such feelings, he is unfit for communication with his fellows, and unworthy of their regard. Timidity is perhaps more a defect of character than of temper; and, what seems an anomaly, is generally accompanied by vanity. Shy men are usually conceited. It proceeds from a false view of one's self and of others; of both persons and things. Encouragement must here be blended with particular attention to the reasoning faculties.

The influence of body over mind is too apparent to need comment, and yet how seldom is this fact considered and acted upon. Locke has wisely insisted upon the necessity of the formation of healthy habits, in order to ensure the success of education. Regularity is most essential, as far as regards the

hours allotted to sleep and nourishment. The want of sufficient sleep during the day, especially in very young children, induces, besides many bodily defects, a restlessness and fretfulness which are unquestionably moral evils. Hunger or satiety will produce the same results. Undue exposure to cold destroys the energies of a child, and exposure to heat weakens them a proper temperature is of great importance. We insist upon these points here, because it is undeniable that they involve both the moral and intellectual education of the child. Exercises which call forth the free action of the limbs, also induce free action of the mental faculties. The animated laugh, the merry phrase, the childish imitation, are best heard and seen in the midst of active and healthful sport. Some persons restrict children in these matters, because they fear they may induce boisterous and vulgar habits of speech and manner. But this again depends upon the parent's superintendence. Mirth does not mean noise: exercise does not infer coarse actions. Nature shows incessant motion to be the means by which infants attain all their bodily and even their perceptive powers, and while youth lasts it cannot be unduly restrained without injury. Fresh air and exercise, judicious diet, and regular hours, are the best prescription which a mother can act upon to secure the bodily and mental health of her offspring.

When once a love of virtuous conduct has been instilled, and made habitual, the intellectual education may begin; but it is not to be commenced with books, nor by the alphabet. Before knowledge can be beneficially acquired, its value must be felt, and a desire of attainment must be inspired and manifested. This is not a difficult task, but it can only be fulfilled by those who have studied the capabilities, and the powers of the intellect which is to be cultivated.

The forms of expression employed by children are those which they best comprehend, and in these, as we have before observed, they must be addressed. Great truths may be illustrated by small words. A fact is not the less valuable or interesting because it is clothed in simple language; on the contrary, it can only be really valued when it is understood. Before children have attained their fourth year, some peculiar mental organization is developed, requiring direction, restraint, or encouragement. Upon a false or correct estimate of this organization will depend the moral and intellectual welfare of the individual. In some characters, imagination is predominant, in others, quick perception; and in a few, for this perhaps is the rarest, the reasoning powers are most active.

Great imagination frequently exists with no power of language, and children are distinguished by this mingled excellence

and defect, equally with adults. Because they cannot express their thoughts intelligibly, they are judged to have no ideas at all, or condemned as stupid. A patient investigation will discover the injustice of the sentence, and in such cases the child's deficiencies should be remedied, care taken to increase his stock of words, and to habituate him to a clear and correct expression of his ideas. The same excess of imagination gives rise to that dreaming state which assumes the appearance of laziness, (and the effects are equally injurious;) the imagination is indeed busy, but it is active to no end; the other faculties are lying dormant, and their want of exercise will finally become incapacity. These imaginative minds often affix their own definitions to words, inducing such erroneous conceptions, and such distortions of facts, that a child has not unfrequently been deemed idiotic; whereas, upon a minute examination of the various trains of thought, the misconceptions have evidently arisen from a vivid imagination acting upon misinterpreted expressions occasioned by the similarity of sounds, or by some association. For instance, a conversation has passed in the presence of a child, in which anecdotes or events are related, parts of which only are intelligible to him; to these parts he affixes his own meaning; this affords ample food for an active imagination, and when at some future time a term or name previously heard is used, the child associates with it the former facts, the original train of ideas return, and he appears to be talking of something totally irrelevant, when, in fact, the connexion is intimate, and the deduction fair, according to the premises he had made for himself. Such minds delight in improbabilities and tales of wonder: the marvellous to them is more attractive than truth, and if they be not checked, the judgment is sacrificed, and the reasoning powers almost destroyed. Nothing tends to the fostering of this quality of the mind more than ordinary prints. An excess of imagination is either the cause or effect (most probably the former) of mental indolence; and where it prevails, the child will prefer gazing on a print to informing itself of the reality of the subject which the print illustrates. In an inquiring mind, an engraving will create a desire to know more, and when the facts are acquired, the defects or improbabilities of the illustration will be detected. An imaginative mind takes all upon trust, it does not wish to inquire, it believes. Good engravings, by which term we mean correct representations, judiciously employed, are of great assistance in education; but children's books often contain illustrations which absolutely contradict the impression that the words convey, and create incorrect ideas and associations which it is impossible wholly to eradicate.

In contradistinction to this superabundance of imagination,