property, and regulations concerning it are understood. Lectures on loving others as one's self, or the principles of social compact will have little influence, when the whole character has been early formed on the practice of appropriating as much as possible to one's self.

The passion fear or terror, though manifestly not an innate instinct, often acquires a very injurious influence in forming the disposition and character. It is early imbibed, and long endures. Too much care cannot be used in guarding its entrance into the imagination. In infancy it is often productive of disobcdience, deceit, and ill humor. It frequently gets possession of the mind, no one can tell how, and appears sometimes associated with familiar objects. The child may, perhaps, at some time have been troublesome, and the nurse to hush it, might cry hark! hush! making a show of terror in her countenance, which the child, catching by sympathy, becomes alarmed, though quite unconscious of any cause, but the terror may be associated with the place or any thing about it, and if taken from the place before appeased, and the fright forgotten, it will probably, on being again brought there experience similar alarm, while no possible cause will appear. Whenever such terror is found associated with any particular situation, it must be eradicated by the same process as would be instituted to cure a young horse. That is, something agreeable must be contrived in the same place, to engross the attention, occasionally withdrawing the pleasant subject, that consciousness of the place be not lost, until the agreeable ideas take the place of those of terror.

Terror may in some instances have been originally induced by some strong impression made on the tender organs of sense by any sudden or violent noise, or rare, striking sight, accompanied with positive bodily pain; hence the recurrence of any one of these circumstances may produce the same terror; but it is probably most commonly caught by sympathy, and imitating the muscular contortions of others. But from what cause soever induced, let it by every means be exterminated. No man would permit a young colt to grow up under its influence, and is not deliverance from causeless alarms as desirable in a man as in a horse? Children, as they acquire the requisite understanding, should be made acquainted with the real dangers to which they are exposed, and a prudent caution sedulously instilled. Caution is a most important good, terror a most formidable evil.' Children had better suffer the lesser inconveniences to which they may be exposed, such as slight

falis, burns or bruises, than to be terrified by shrieks and alarms to prevent them, and thus rendered all their life subject to the remediless horror of fearful apprehension. The best preventative of this horror, is, that the mother herself be fearless; but if, through early mismanagement, she be subject to these tremulous alarms, for any cause, or for no cause, let her by all means keep the knowledge of it from her children. By this effort to seem unconcerned, she may indeed do much toward curing the infirmity. Above all things let not fear be made an instrument of obedience. If bears, robbers, the beggar-man, and black man be made substitutes for love and reverence to the parent, by what means are proper love and reverence of the Deity to be inspired? Could obedience be thus obtained, still the terror would produce a thousand ills to one good. Let children understand that any thing is not necessarily evil because not understood. The uncorrupted mind should naturally expect every person and thing to be good, until experience prove them. A credulous disposition is incomparably to be preferred to a suspicious one. Terror, fear, suspicion, jealousy, envy, malignity, &c. are all relatives of the same family, and succeed each other in a connected train. we shut out robbers, murders, and mad dogs, let us speak much of the good things we enjoy, taking no notice of the inconveniences we suffer, or the unpleasant accounts we hear of others. Yet let us avoid mystery; all appearance of wishing to conceal any thing, exciting at once both alarm and curiosity.

As

Forbear threatening,' is an apostolic injunction that should not a moment be forgotten by the parent; whenever it is necessary to annex a penalty to any offence, let it be specilic in its nature, time, and place, and perfectly comprehended by the child, and soon to be executed; and above all let it be punctually performed. The angry parent threatens, what the calm one is too tender to execute.'

Much stress is usually laid by moral writers on subduing the will, but prevention is better than cure. The first care of the parent should be to subdue himself. Perhaps the greatest difficulty in the management of children grows out of the parent's inability to conduct with firmness, and moderation, where all circumstances concur to agitate him. But having secured to himself the power of conducting with calmness, and given the child time to cool, and reflect, if it still persist in maintaining its perverseness, it must certainly be brought to yield; but putting one's own will in opposition is not the most effectual or

useful mode of accomplishing it. Sympathy is the ruling principle; if the child see, or think he sees, that gratification of will is the object of the parent, he yields only because he is forced to submit to power, but with increased desire of maintaining his own point. It must be obvious to any one how exactly the temper of the parent is reflected by the child.

Whenever coercion is undertaken, let the case be such as the child must perceive the reasonableness of without entering into argument, and let him see that the parent would willingly grant his desire if it were not inconsistent. Children have a quick perception of justice and injustice in our dealings with them, and perhaps their obstinacy often arises from a consciousness that we and not they are in the wrong. This contest for mastery would rarely become necessary if children were not immoderately caressed and flattered in early infancy. Let it be decided as early as possible, and the child accustomed, as a thing entirely of course, to follow the direction of the parent. No species of coercion can secure that voluntary submission that grows naturally out of entire confidence. Let the mother secure this, and she may lead, in most cases, without opposition. Let them be accustomed to tell her all their little secrets, as they would a kind school mate; let her enter into their feelings, as far as good; and if they reveal any thing censurable, let no notice be taken of it at the instant, as that would bar further confidence; but take the first opportunity to tell them she is very glad she was told of that circumstance, because they being little could not know how improper, unjust, or injurious it was; and how much more discreet, correct, or suitable it would have been to say or do thus or so. Assuring them that they will not be likely to act very wrong while they acquaint their parents with all their conduct. It is generally better to consider the faults of children as little, and the consequence of their few years and inexperience, and ground upon it a motive to acquire information, than to censure with severity. They should rarely be called naughty, and when they are, let it be with great seriousness. When a child has acquired a reputation for roguery he will play a thousand tricks merely to show his skill. Securing their confidence will prevent deceit and indirect means for concealing their faults; and all crimes of which they are liable to be guilty, are light and trifling compared with habits of deceiving. Children are naturally open and candid; it requires art to deceive. Yet they early acquire a disposition to excite astonishment or admiration, unless they

have been uncommonly well managed, that induces them to exaggerate facts, and represent things in the most striking manner. This hyperbole should be prevented by never expressing surprise and astonishment at their news; and by requiring them to state expressly, each individual article, in its exact limits. Dr Johnson says, that if a child say any thing happened at one window, when it actually took place at another, it must not be suffered to pass. For the error may be a trifling fault, yet remember that a bad habit is a great one.'

Prevention is better than cure. The power of early impres sion is acknowledged by all, yet perhaps it is not generally understood by it, that impressions of a certain character, create an aptness to receive others similar, rather than of another class. On this principle terror, fear, suspicion, jealousy, &c. introduce each other; admiration, astonishment, horror, cruelty, and revenge, and the like, seem also allied; the first tendency is therefore to be suppressed, and every attempt to exaggerate truth reprobated as a lie; for there is little use in softening down the hard name of a base vice, that it may be retained under a more harmless appellation. We should be careful at all times to speak with warmest approbation of people of strict integrity, who preserve it under trying temptaBut virtues easily and ordinarily practised should never be treated as extraordinary, but entirely as things of course. Many pious pathetic tales written for children are faulty in this respect.

As we must forbear threatening, so must we be sparing of reproof-too frequent censures harden rather than amend. Forbear also to make promises, still more forbear to exact them. Children acquire a contempt for truth by the habit of breaking their word. That is their promise to be good and never do so wrong again.' Instead of requiring a promise, if they offer to make one let them know how sacred is the obligation of one's word, and that it will not perhaps be so easy to keep it as they think, that when forfeited they lose our confidence, that we cannot trust, because we love, but that trust must be proportioned to merit.

Let punishments or corrections be varied in character, according to the character of the offence, and let it seem a natural consequence, lest the child become hardened by a repetition of the same thing; should one for instance, behave ill at table, (which is a proper place for forming the manners,) let him leave it, because we cannot be incommoded by such conduct;

the consequences of transgression should fall on the guilty, and not on the innocent.

It is

Vanity is another destructive passion early infused into the infant mind, and too little regarded. We have hinted at its origin in that self consequence inspired by over attention in the parent to the infant, and calling the attention of all present to its pretty play, and half articulated phrases. It is no matter of surprise that a charming child (and such to the parent they doubtless all appear,) should be an object of pride, and even vanity to its fond mother; it is natural; but it were to be wished that her own gratification would suffice, and that no artificial means should be used to render the child vain of itself. People appear to think too lightly of this many headed hydra. really a most unjust expression of self love, and insinuates itself into every department of the soul. Let us take early and constant care to turn the attention of children from self. The principal rule to be observed is to let them alone; let them find their own amusement. Permit them to divert and employ themselves in their own way, with their own simple pleasures; and as they proceed to learn a variety of things, let their attention be directed to something pleasing in the subject, and not to the praises and admiration they are to receive for the acquisition. Levity of character,' says Madame de Stael, 'is the inseparable concomitant of vanity, and may lead to every thing bad in the world.' Suffer children to be children, no art can make them half so attractive.

These remarks are meant to apply to the earliest years of life; if the first seven years are regulated with due care and judgment in health, temper, dispositions, and passions, the succeeding process may be conducted with comparative ease. [To be continued.]

Letters of Pestalozzi on the Education of Infancy. [The Paris Journal of Education and Instruction, mentioned in another article, contains, in its successive numbers, a series of letters with the above title, which we hope to see finished, and which we shall endeavour to give to our readers. The originals were in the German language, and were addressed by that celebrated philanthropist, in the last years of his life, to a Mr Greaves of England. A copy of them was forwarded