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    the developement of those faculties also , whidi we may not for the present conceive to be very essential for his future calling or station in life . . * * * * * * We do not find , in the vegetable or the animal kingdom , any species of objects gifted with certain qualities which are not , in some stage of its existence , called into play , and contribute to the full developement of the character of the species . in the individual . Even in the mineral kingdom , the wonders of Providence are incessantly manifested in the numberless

    combinations of crystallization ; and thus , even in the lowest department of created things , as far as we are acquainted with them , a constant law , the means employed by Supreme Intelligence , decides upon the formation , the shape , the individual character of a mineral , according to its inherent properties . Although the circumstances under which a mineral may have been formed , or a plant may have grown , or an animal been brought up , may influence and modify , yet they can never destroy that result which the combined agency of its natural energies or qualities will produce . Thus education , instead of merely considering what is to be imparted to children , ought to consider first what they may be said already to possess , if not as a developed , at least as an

    involved faculty capable of developement . Or if , instead of speaking thus in the abstract , we will but recollect , that it is to the great Author of life that man owes the possession , and is responsible for the use , of all his innate faculties , education should not only decide what is to be made of a child , but What he should be qualified for ? What is his destiny , as a created and responsible being ? What are his faculties as a rational and moral being ? What are the means pointed out for their protection , and the end held out as the highest object of their efforts by the Almighty Father of all , both in creation and in the page of revelation ?

    " To these questions the answer must be simple and comprehensive . It must combine all mankind—it must be applicable to all * * * It must acknowledge , in the first place , the rights of man in the fullest sense of the word . It must proceed to shew , that these rights , far from being confined to those exterior advantages which have from time to time been secured by a successful struggle of the people , embrace a much higher privilege , the nature of which is not yet generally understood or appreciated . They embrace the rightful claims of all classes to a general diffusion of useful knowledge , a careful developement of the intellect , and judicious attention to all the faculties , of man , physical , intellectual , and moral . "—Pp . 86—88 .

    Now , this is what " Libraries of Useful Knowledge , " or " Mechanics ' Institutes , ' * valuable as in many respects they may be , cannot do , because these institutions presuppose a degree of developement whieh scarcely exists in any class . They bring in arwndant materials ; but let us never lose sight of the grand desideratum , a real education for the people . Let us no longer pursue the plan of partial improvement , whether of the mental , the

    moral , or the executive powers . Perhaps it would be better even to have a , universal mediocrity , if such a thing were possible , than to let in the unhappiness and oppression which often accrue to individuals and communities from exclusive cultivation . Pestaloazi exercised , and with success , all the powers of his pupils . He taught them physical exercises : accustomed them to examine and describe outward objects accurately , to practise mental calculation , to attach distinct ideas to words , and appropriate words to ideas ;*

    • " I know not of one single exception I would make to the principle that a child should , as early as possible , be led to contract an intimate acquaintance with , and make himself perfectly master of , his native tongue * * . The mind is deprived of its first instrument or organ , as it were , its fufictions are interrupted , and its

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    46 R 4 oiet 0 . —4 * e $ ialoz $ i on Early Education .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1828, page 46, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2556/page/46/