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cloak on the floor , or , in fine weather , on the lawn ; his mother judging this to be a more favourable position for him than the upright one , or than lying in bed , or on her lap . He soon learned to raise himself upright , and he invented many curious modes of low motion , such as rolling , crawling , &c . before he thought of walking . At last one day he saw a bright coloured
ball on a chair—he rolled to the chair , and helping himself up by its leg , then , for the first time stood upon his own little feet . His mother took the hint , and , by placing various objects on a line of chairs , she induced him to exercise himself in balancing himself , and finally he ran alone . It is true this great event did not occur until he was thirteen months old , but his limbs were
straight , his gait firm , and ^ better than all , he had neither been coaxed , nor threatened into unnatural exertions . How can they say that man is naturally idle ? That free child worked as hard as possible from morn till night , to the very fullest extent of his nature . The tendency of his first efforts seemed to be the attainment of the use of his muscles ; it was just happiness enough for him for the first three months of his life to
lie in the sun and work about his little ivory limbs , and this he did crowing with delight . Then he began to use his eyes very much . His first words after l Papa ' and i Mamma / were ' what is it ? ' he went about the world inquiring ' what is it ?* not ' what is its name ? ' and his mother did on all occasions try to answer him in the spirit of his question . If he pointed to a cow , she would take him to pat it , and see it milked , and drink of its milk—if to a bell , he was allowed to ring it . All his objects
being his own , he understood their value , and worked for them patiently ; thus , from liberty , came industry and true perseverance . When four months old , he sat for an hour trying to unroll a ball which his mother had wrapped up in a sheet of paper , and the little fingers and feet and mouth all worked away , and at last out rolled the ball . Luckily there was no sycophant by , to whine ovit * clever little dear , ' 6 beautiful boy , ' &c . only the
mother ' s eye bent in sympathy down to meet his upturned glance ° * j ° y > and the two understood each other . It was strange , and beautiful as strange , to see the perfect absence of self-consciousness in this young being—third blessed effect of liberty . At first it was the business of life , —serious , and requiring all our energies , —to roll a ball , move a chair round the room , watch the skeleton clock , or touch the notes of a piano ; every moment brou ght its work , and every work increased the power of working , and slowly but harmoniously all the powers developed . No sooner
could he do anything with his mother , than she allowed him his share ; but she most carefully guarded from letting him over fatigue himself , and never insisted upon his doing anything . At first his natural activity , and afterwards the charm that he felt there was about ht > r , and in being with her , made the little occupations she-gave him a delight . She never said to him * ' d ©;
Untitled Article
and Experiments in Education . 481
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1834, page 481, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2635/page/21/
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