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Untitled Article
now acquire in "five . We do an injustice to our argument , however , when we set forth the advantage gained as a matter of * nere quantity ; it is chiefly on the quality of the knowledge acquired , on its tendency to develop anid strengthen the faculties , to create an interest in the pureuit of information ; it is on its immediate applicability to the importaitt concerns of business , the regulation of the affections , the direttton of the conduct , the interests of the commonwealth ; it fe on mis that we ground its claim to be regarded
beyond all pnce . These important studies , however , cannot become general except treatises on several of'the topics mentioned be published with a specific view to the instruction of youth ; treatises iiot manufactured , but composed , —not got up , as many of tfur school-books are , by needy dunces to fiU the pockets of the mercenary bookseller ; but works written by men of sound and extensive knowledge—by men possessed of a truly philosophical spirit , imbued with a love of the work , and writing in a simple , energetic style . These works
should embrace all the important and leading truths of the particular department to which each was devoted , neglecting all refinements on established opinions , and disdaining the idle attempt to gain reputation by an affectation of originality . The place for bringing forward new and , it may be , dubious statements , is not in elementary treatises ; there are other channels for conveying novelties to the public , and other and better means for ascertaining their soundness . By these remarks we do not intend to imply that the treatises in question should contain mere iterations of what had been said a Hundred times before ; for though the matter may be simply that which is
familiar to every one well instructed on the subject , the manner in which it is conveyed may be greatly improved— -in the arrangement of the work for instance , in the connexion and dependency of the several parts , and , above all , in the illustrations given so as to aid the comprehension , there is room for most material and most important improvements . We have laid
particular stress on the illustrations of the several truths which are developed , because we are convinced that the best master is not he who is the most profoundly versed in a science , but he who possesses the greatest power of illustrating ivhat he teaches . A happy illustration , before all things , arrests the attention , carries the truth home to the mind , and fixes it deep in the memory . A series of treatises of this character , on the various sciences , on general
history , on the literary history of Greece and Rome , on the literary history of modern titties , on the history of England in particular , on the British constitution , on moral , on mental , and on political philosophy , &c , would be the most valuable gift that could be made to the youth of Great Britain . In a few instances we are aware something of the kind we recommend has been done . Joyce ' s Scientific Dialogues , for example , is an admirable book , and far superior to other works published more recently ; but tod often the works we possess scarcely rank above nursery literature , and humble
enough are they , regarded even in that character ; whilst , universally , good and bad , they are so expensive , as to be inaccessible as books for general education . In many departments , however , and those by no means of the least consideration , we have nothing suitable ; for instance , in mental philosophy , there is no elementary treatise , with the exception of Taylor ' s Elements of Thought , and that is merely the born-book of the science . The existence of such a work as that of the late Professor Dugald Stewart , though termed the elements of mental philosophy , or that more recently published by Mr . Payne , makes in favour , not against this remark , by shewing , not sup-
Untitled Article
46 Thoughts on Education .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1829, page 46, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2568/page/46/
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