CHAP. II. The Inconveniences of the common Methods of Education.
IT is owing to ignorance that a girl is weary of herself, and knows not how to relieve that languor by innocent employments: when she is arrived to a certain age without ever having applied to things solid, she is void of taste or esteem for them; every thing serious is sad; every thing that requires a continued attention is fatigue; the biass of pleasure, so strong in the days of youth; the example of other persons of the same age, plunged in amusement, tends to create an abhorrence of a life of regularity and diligence. In these early days, she wants the experience and authority necessary for superintending any thing in her father’s house; she is not so much as sensible of what importance it is to apply herself that way, unless her mother has happened to take care to point out to her the several particulars. Is she of rank? she is exempt from working with her hands: she will not work therefore, except for some little time in the day, because she was heard say, she knows not why, that it is reputable for ladies to do something: but this is often mere pretence; she cannot accustom herself to application.
In this situation what will she do? The company of a mother who watches all her motions, and is chiding her incessantly, who thinks she brings her up well in excusing nothing, who looks grave upon her, who forces her to endure her humours, who seems ever burdened with domestic cares, is what both constrains and dispirits her; she has about her a set of flattering females, who, with a view to insinuate themselves, by a base and pernicious complacency, fall in with all her fancies, and entertain her with every thing that is likely to give distaste to what is right. Piety appears a tiresome business, a rule incompatible with every idea of pleasure. What then will she be doing? Nothing serviceable; and this very inapplication grows at length into an incurable habit. In the mean time, behold a void which there is no hopes of filling up with things solid; therefore the frivolous must take place. In this idle state, a young lady abandons herself to laziness, the languor of the soul, and inexhaustible source of irksomeness.
She uses herself to more sleep than is confident with true health: this serves but to weaken her, to make her tender and more liable to bodily indisposition; whereas moderate sleep, with the use of regular exercise, produces liveliness, vigour, and strength, in which undoubtedly a perfect state of body consists, not to mention the advantages resulting to the mind.
From this union of softness and idleness, with ignorance, proceeds a pernicious sensibility for diversions and public shews; nay, it excites an indiscreet and insatiable curiosity. People versed and occupied in things of a serious nature, have in general but a moderate degree of curiosity; the knowledge they possess gives them a contempt for many things they do not know; they perceive the inutility, the ridiculousness of the most part of those things which little minds that know nothing, and have nothing to do, are eager to be acquainted with: on the contrary, the imagination of girls, ill instructed and unattentive, is perpetually wandering for want of solid nourishment; their curiosity turns with eagerness upon objects of an empty and dangerous nature. Those of genius set themselves up for extraordinary women, and read all the books that can feed their vanity; they are passionately fond of romances, of plays, of stories, of chimerical adventures, wherewith much profane love is intermixed; they give a visionary turn to their understanding, by using it to the magnificent language of the heroes of romance; they even spoil themselves for the world, because all these fine airy sentiments, these generous passions, these adventures which the author of the romance has invented merely to please, have not the least relation to the real motives of action in the world, or to those that decide its affairs, nor yet to the false views discoverable in every undertaking.
A poor girl, full of the tender and the marvellous which have so charmed her in her studies, is astonished not to find the world afford any real personages resembling her heroes. She fain would live like the imaginary princesses, ever charming, ever adored, ever above all wants: alas! what mortification for her to descend from a state of heroism to the little cares of domestic life.
Some give their curiosity greater scope, and take upon them to decide on religious subjects, though beyond their reach: some with an understanding not large enough to entertain these ideas, have others proportionate to their capacity; they are violently inquisitive concerning what is said, what is done, about a song, a piece of news, an intrigue; eager to receive letters, to read those received by others; they will be told all, they will tell all; they are vain, and vanity makes them talkative; they are light, and lightness obstructs reflection, which would often teach them to be silent.
CHAP. III. What are the first Grounds of Education.
TOwards remedying all these evils, it is of great advantage to be able to begin the education of girls from their earliest infancy. That age which is often given up to the direction of women indiscrete, and sometimes depraved, is nevertheless the age which receives the deepest impressions, and which consequently affects their whole life.
Infants, before they can speak plain, may be prepared for instruction: some may think this is saying too much; let us only consider what a child does before it can speak: it learns a language, which it will shortly speak with more accuracy than scholars can the dead languages they have so painfully studied in riper years. Now what is learning a language? is it not to register in the memory a great number of words? It is moreover, saith Augustin, to observe the sense of each of those words: an infant, saith he, amidst its noises and play, takes notice of what object each word is the sign, and this he does sometimes by observing the natural motion of bodies that come into contact, or that shew the objects spoken of; sometimes by being struck with the frequent repetition of the same words, denoting the same objects: true it is, the temperament of the brain of infants affords a wonderful facility for receiving all these images; but how great attention of mind must there be to distinguish and connect them each with its object?
Consider next how much infants, even at that age, take to those who humour them, and dislike those who oppose them: how well they know when to cry and when to be still, in order to gain their ends: how cunning, how jealous they can be even at this time. I have seen, saith Austin, a child full of jealousy; though not yet able to speak, he eyed with furious looks, and a pale countenance, the child that sucked along with him. Hence then one may conclude that they have more sense at that time than is generally supposed; so that it is possible by means of words, assisted by proper tones and gestures, to give them an inclination rather to be with the decent and virtuous part of those they see, than with other indiscrete persons whom they may be in danger of loving. Thus by the different air of your face and tone of voice, may you represent to them with horror the behaviour of persons, they have beheld in a transport of anger, or any other disorder; and, on the other hand, assuming the softest tones and accents, and mildest looks, act over with admiration whatever passages they have seen, wherein wisdom and modesty were observable.
I do not mean to set forth these little matters for important, but yet such distant preparations are beginnings not to be neglected; and this early prevention sensibly forms them to receive their education. If there remains any doubt of the influence of first prejudices upon men, let us but observe how lively, how affecting, the remembrance of things we loved in our childhood, remains in our advanced age: if, instead of inspiring children with vain terrors of apparitions and spirits, which by too violently shocking the brain, yet tender, serves only to weaken it; if instead of suffering them to be directed by every fancy of their nurses, to objects of their love or aversion, we were to make it our care to give them a pleasant idea of what is good, and a frightful one of whatever is evil, this prevention would in its consequence greatly facilitate their progress in all the virtues. Quite contrary to this, they are taught to be frightned at a priest dressed in black; the word Death is never mentioned unless to scare them; they are told how dead people walk at night in horrible shapes; the consequence of all which is to make the mind weak and fearful, and prejudice it against better things.
In the first years of infancy, no greater service can be done the child than to manage its health; to endeavour to furnish it with a mild blood, by a well chosen diet, and simple regimen; so to regulate its meals that it may eat nearly at the same hours, and as often as is requisite; but not between meals, for that is loading the stomach again before digestion is perfected; not to eat seasoned things, that will provoke him to eat more than he has occasion for, and give a disrelish for the sort of victuals most wholsome for him; in fine, not to supply him with variety, for a variety of food in succession keeps up the appetite after genuine hunger is satisfied.
Another thing of great moment is to wait till the organs are grown strong, without pressing instruction upon him; to avoid all occasions of rowzing the passions; to use him, with gentleness, to being deprived of such things as he has shewn himself too eager for, this will prevent the confidence of obtaining his desires.—If their dispositions be in any degree good, it is possible by these means to render them docile, patient, steady, gay, and tranquil: on the contrary, where this early age is neglected, they become violent and restless all their lives, their blood heats, habits are formed in the young and tender body; the soul as yet unbiassed takes a bent to evil, a sort of second original-sin springs up, which is to prove the source of a thousand disorders, as they grow bigger. From the moment they arrive at the age wherein reason has unfolded itself, nothing should be said but what hasa tendency to give them a love for virtue, and a contempt of all dissimulation: therefore ought we to use no feints, in order to appease and bring them to do as we would have them; for that would be to teach them a cunning they will never forget: let us as much as possible lead them on by reason.
We will take a nearer view of the state of infants, in order to see more particularly what is proper for them: the substance of their brain is very soft, it hardens day by day; as for their mind it knows nothing: this softness of brain is the reason why every thing makes strong impressions, as is the surprise of noveity why they are so apt to admire and be inquisitive. It is also true, that the brain by its humidity and softness, together with much heat, is given to be in continual motion; whence proceeds that restlessness in children, whereby they can no more confine their minds to one object than their bodies to one place: on the other hand, infants, while yet incapable of thought or action of themselves, remark all that passes, and they speak but little, unless we use them to talk much, which we ought carefully to avoid doing; for the pleasure taken in pretty children helps frequently to spoil them. We accustom them to venture to speak whatever comes into their thoughts, and of things of which hitherto they have no distinct comprehension: from this they acquire a lasting habit of judging with precipitation, and of talking on subjects of which they have no clear ideas; this forms a mind of a very bad stamp—this pleasure has yet another effect, a pernicious one, children perceiving that people look on them with complacency, take notice of all they do, and are pleased to hear all they say, get a custom of believing they shall ever be the concern of the world. During this age of applause, and unacquainted with contradiction, chimerical hopes are conceived, which open a way for infinite mistakes through life. I have known children, who, whenever persons were talking in private, always concluded they were the subject, because they had observed it to be often so; they imagined every thing in themselves to be extraordinary and admirable: therefore they ought to be taken care of, without being suffered to know that we think much about them; shew them that it is out of kindness, and through their great need of assistance, not from any admiration of their qualities, that we are so attentive to their conduct.
Be content to form them step by step, as occasions naturally offer. Even when it is possible to bring the understanding of a child very forward without surcharging it, we should be cautious of doing this; for the danger of vanity and presumption is always greater than the fruits of theie forc’d educations, that make so much noise.
We should be content I say, to follow and assist nature; we should not urge them to talk. As they are very ignorant, they have a multitude of questions to ask, and do ask a great many; suffice it to answer them with precision, adding sometimes certain little comparisons, to make our explanations the easier comprehended. If they pass judgment upon any thing without thoroughly understanding it, embarrass them by some new question, which may shew them their fault, without roughly confounding them; and at the same time, one should let them see, not by vague commendations, but by some effectual mark of esteem, that we much more approve of their doubting and enquiring into what they are ignorant of, than of their very best decisions.
This is the true way of forming their minds, after a polite manner, with a genuine modesty, and a thorough contempt of those disputations so common among young people a little enlightened.
As soon as their reason has apparently made some progress, it will be proper to make use of that very experience to arm them against presumption. You see, may one say, you are more a master of reason at this time than a year ago, in another year you will perceive things which at present you cannot; if a year ago, you had undertaken to judge of things, which now you are well acquainted with, but then was not, you must have judged weakly. You would have been much to blame in pretending to know what was then out of your reach; and thus it is with regard to things you are still to learn: hereafter you will discover how imperfect your present judgment is; in the mean time rely upon the judgment of those who judge now as yourself will do, when arrived at their age and experience.
The natural curiosity of children is the forerunner of instruction; fail not to profit by it, for example, in the country they see a windmill, and want to know what it is, we ought to describe to them by what method the food of man is prepared. They observe mowers at work; we should explain what they are doing, how corn is sown, and how it encreases upon the ground. In the city they behold shops, where many arts are carried on, and various sorts of merchandise sold: we ought never to think their questions troublesome; they are overtures which nature makes for the readier admission of instruction: shew you take a pleasure in them, and by this means you will insensibly teach them, how every thing is prepared that is useful for man, and upon which commerce is founded.
By degrees, and without making a study of it, they will come to understand the best manner of executing things of use, and the true value of each, which is the sure ground of oeconomy. This knowledge, which no one ought to despise, because it is very fit people should not be deceived in their expences, is more especially necessary for young women.
[To be continued.]
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