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    tion of their youth , under one roof and in nearly the like circumstances . To say nothing of the opposition in the state of their minds , as to vigour and attainments , how contrary are their dispositions , tastes , and moral character 1 This man is mild and gentle : that , passionate and impetuous . The former has a turn for active , the

    latter , for retired , life . One is frank and ingenuous , the other , sullen and reserved . And the difference extends to qualities and habits which are of yet higher moment .

    Though , in general , a similar education may be expected to produce similar results , yet the exceptions are numerous and striking . In attempting to assign the principal causes of them ,

    something , I presume , should foe allowed for a difference in the constitutional disposition of different individuals . I cannot otherwise explain varieties in talent , inclination and

    character which make their appearance at a very early age , and have a mighty influence upon the situation and happiness of men . Who , indeed , shall limit the power and wisdoni of the

    Creator ? Who will venture to say that it was neither possible nor fit for the members of his human family to be formed with some original diversity in mind ? A little reflection may convince us of the error of this

    sentiment . By what reasoning do we prove that the objects around us , bespeak a skilful , designing cause ? Is it not this—that , while they denote unity of purpose , they exhibit a variety in means ? That unity destroys the supposition of chance ; since chance is

    infinitely capricious and irregular : that variety excludes the idea of fate ; since fate is one blind , undeviating impulse . Why then should not this argument be applied to the characters of men as much as to the rest of the

    works of God ? But , while the different effects of wvhat is called a similar education may in some measure be accounted for from a constitutional difference ( with the seat of which , nevertheless , and with the manner of its operation , we are not distinctly acquainted ) , the fact before us admits of further and

    yet more satisfactory explanation . Although it be true that , in the sense which I have stated , God distributes to men their peculiar gifts , still , much of the difficulty remains unsolved :

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    for , could it , be completely removed by this consideration , the uses and the power of education would indeed be limited .. Besides , ^ if all or most of man ' s habits , both moral and inte ] lectual , be mainly attributable topre * uiu uuii /> tuu

    |^ vuu j . * a wiidl / HUllUH yJl DOfjv and mind , I see not how we can resist conclusions which are equally at variance with observation and experience , with the divine perfections and government , and with th * i * n ^

    discoveries and declarations of the scriptures . Physiological systems and hypotheses invented for the purpose of illustrating mental phetiOmeaa , ought to be viewed with the utmost caution .

    Most of those who speak of the different effects of the same education use the word education in too confined an import , and often keep out of sight the first impressions made upon the infant ' s senses , the earliest bias given to his faculties . Nor do they include in this tenti the whole

    course of discipline to which the rising generation are subjected before they arrive at their maturity . Education may in some great features be alike , and in many others , which are less prominent , be entirely dissimilar . From the moment of his

    birth , a child seems capable of being influenced by surrounding persons and objects ; and I am satisfied that his temper is formed in no slight degree by the dispositions and manners of those who receive him in their

    arms . If the countenances of his attendants beam with unfeigned affection and benignity , he reads these qualities in their looks : he is sensible to the glances and the accents of kindness : and , in common , he reflects these properties . But if he behold those to be about him who give

    inconscious signs of a want of generosity , or of mildness , or of sincere regard ; and , still more , if he be treated with caprice and needless seventy and harshness ; he soon becomes the

    slave of his humours and passions , practises deceit , when his understanding dawns , and is cold , distrustful and suspicious .

    To imagine that children are in n ° sense and degree the proper subjects of education till some few years after they have come into the world , i& a gross and dangerous mistake . In " * existence or the absence of the efforts

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    212 Essay on the different Effects " of a similar Education .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1815, page 212, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1759/page/12/