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Untitled Article
they write or converse ? Is not , on the contrary > this ignorance of theirs owing to a custom they' have introduced themselves ; or to tbe weakness of their nature ; or to laziness of mind ; or to an inconstancy which will not let them prosecute any long study ; of to a genius they have only to emplby their fingers ; or to the distractibn of family affairs ; or to a natural aversion to all things
serious and difficult ; or to a curiosity far from that which gratifies the mind ; or to a quite different pleasure than that of exercising the memory V Such observations I have heard again and again broached in conversation by many the reverse of the shallow and uninquiring Let me ask what is it moulds the common mind ? Is it not early
impressions and associations arising from family and friends , the gradual and unremitting influence of the manners and customs of class , of the laws and institutions of country , of the . public and private teaching of the preacher and preceptor ? Now and then an instance of gigantic genius rises among us , breaking , like Gulliver , the thousand little threads which tie down ordinary
natures , calling light out of darkness , and , with irresistible power , striking out for itself a new and perfect p ath in the tangled wil * derness of the world . But even these , hampered by circumstances , probably give half their strength to the struggle , instead of being able to give their whole strength to the object of it ; and much as they now accomplish , might , in a . more genial position , accomplish much more . (
Truly says Dr . Bryce , there is in every human being a tendency to conform to the feelings , opinions , modes of expression , tones of voice , and even the very features of those with whom he associates . * * * * This principle , strong in all minds , is peculiarly powerful in those of the young . Papa ' s opinions are implicitly adopted ; mamma ' s code of morality comes in place of the decalogue or New Testament ; the phraseology of nurse
becomes the standard of language ; and the manners of servants and playfellows are copied ^ faithfully , to the no small annoyance of all parties concerned , when children are introduced to strangers / What is the question with parents regarding a son ? What must we make of him ? Some source of independence is decided on ; he is put into a position to receive some mental culture , to secure for himself the free exercise of choice in the disposal of his affections .
What is the question regarding a daughter ? Is she pretty ? The animal is preferred to the moral and intellectual creature , % ttd she is educated accordingly . Her very bread is contingent on her being able to sacrifice her affections to her interests . Let it not be imagined that I come to this subject with the feelings of an ascetic ; that , in the necessity which I see for making wcftom independent , I dream of making them indifferent to love and the domestic duties . It is now that they are so . Women
Untitled Article
M 6 Sketches ofDotnttiio Life .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1835, page 646, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2650/page/18/
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