tag="{http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml}a">The Clergyman

PREFACE.

The following work has been written for the use of schools and families, as well as for miscellaneous readers. It embraces a class of subjects in which every individual is deeply interested, and with which, as a mere philosophical inspector of the affairs of men, he should become acquainted.

They, however, challenge attention by considerations of greater moment than mere curiosity; for, in the present age, a great proportion of mankind pursue some kind of business as means of subsistence or distinction; and in this country especially, such pursuit is deemed honorable and, in fact, indispensable to a reputable position in the community.

Nevertheless, it is a fact that cannot have escaped the attention of persons of observation, that many individuals mistake their appropriate calling, and engage in employments for which they have neither mental nor physical adaptation; some learn a trade who should have studied a profession; others study a profession who should have learned a trade. Hence arise, in a great measure, the ill success and discontent which so frequently attend the pursuits of men.

For these reasons, parents should be particularly cautious in the choice of permanent employments for their children; and, in every case, capacity should be especially regarded, without paying much attention to the comparative favor in which the several employments may be held; for a successful prosecution of an humble business is far more honorable than inferiority or failure in one which may be greatly esteemed.

To determine the particular genius of children, parents should give them, at least, a superficial knowledge of the several trades and professions. To do this effectually, a systematic course of instruction should be given, not only at the family fireside and in the schoolroom, but also at places where practical exhibitions of the several employments may be seen. These means, together with a competent literary education, and some tools and other facilities for mechanical operations, can scarcely fail of furnishing clear indications of intellectual bias.

The course just proposed is not only necessary to a judicious choice of a trade or profession, but also as means of intellectual improvement; and as such it should be pursued, at all events, even though the choice of an employment were not in view.

We are endowed with a nature composed of many faculties both of the intellectual and the animal kinds, and the reasoning faculties were originally designed by the Creator to have the ascendency. In the present moral condition of man, however, they do not commonly maintain their right of precedence. This failure arises from imbecility, originating, in part, from a deficiency in judicious cultivation, and from the superior strength of the passions.

This condition is particularly conspicuous in youth, and shows itself in disobedience to parents, and in various other aberrations from moral duty. If, therefore, parents would have their children act a reasonable part, while in their minority, and, also, after they have assumed their stations in manhood, they must pursue a course of early instruction, calculated to secure the ascendency of the reasoning faculties.

The subjects for instruction best adapted to the cultivation of the young mind are the common things with which we are surrounded. This is evident from the fact, that it uniformly expands with great rapidity under their influence during the first three or four years of life; for, it is from them, children obtain all their ideas, as well as a knowledge of the language by which they are expressed.

The rapid progress of young children in the acquisition of knowledge often excites the surprise of parents of observation, and the fact that their improvement is almost imperceptible, after they have attained to the age of four or five years, is equally surprising. Why, it is often asked, do not children continue to advance in knowledge with equal and increased rapidity, especially, as their capabilities increase with age?

The solution of this question is not difficult. Children continue to improve, while they have the means of doing so; but, having acquired a knowledge of the objects within their reach, at least, so far as they may be capable at the time, their advancement must consequently cease. It is hardly necessary to remark, that the march of mind might be continued with increased celerity, were new objects or subjects continually presented.

In supplying subjects for mental improvement, as they may be needed at the several stages of advancement, there can be but little difficulty, since we are surrounded by works both of nature and of art. In fact, the same subjects may be presented several times, and, at each presentation, instructions might be given adapted to the particular state of improvement in the pupil.

Instructions of this nature need never interfere injuriously with those on the elementary branches of education, although the latter would undoubtedly be considered of minor importance. Had they been always regarded in this light, our schools would now present a far more favorable aspect, and we should have been farther removed from the ignorance and the barbarism of the middle ages.

Were this view of education generally adopted, teachers would soon find, that the business of communicating instructions to the young has been changed from an irksome to a pleasant task, since their pupils will have become studious and intellectual, and, consequently, more capable of comprehending explanations upon every subject. Such a course would also be attended with the incidental advantage of good conduct on the part of pupils, inasmuch as the elevation of the understanding over the passions uniformly tends to this result.

For carrying into practice a system of intellectual education, the following work supplies as great an amount of materials as can be embodied in the same compass. Every article may be made the foundation of one lecture or more, which might have reference not only to the particular subject on which it treats, but also to the meaning and application of the words.

The articles have been concisely written, as must necessarily be the case