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CHAPTER II.

Character of Childhood, its tendencies and aptitude.

THERE are in the human heart primitive tendencies, which being born with it, are imperishable. On these education must commence its work, in order to form the heart in early infancy after the beautiful and attractive model which we have selected.

These primitive tendencies may be reduced to four, each of which has its peculiar direction, and these we shall denominate personal tendency, social tendency, moral tendency, and religious tendency. Under the guidance of the first, we seek our own selfish advantage. The second, drawing us out of our own individuality, without destroying it, interests us in the welfare of our companions in life. The third, rising above the two others, in order to regulate them, leads us to what is right, and just, and honest. We may rebel against it, but we cannot refuse to it our esteem and respect. Lastly, the fourth raises us towards the invisible Author of our Life, and of all things, and by it we experience the need of intercourse with Him.

It now remains for us to prove the existence of these primitive tendencies, and to characterize their nature and developement; and this we shall do, not for the promotion of science, but of education.

Personal Tendency.

An existence free from all the evils that we know of; an existence abounding in all the pleasures that we most highly estimate, and moreover, an imperishable existence this is what we call happiness; and it is towards this object, that our personal tendency urges us incessantly and irresistibly.

Happiness is a vast idea, ever identical in its fundamental principles, ever varying in its details; because the imagination of each individual clothes his own image of

it with the different and variable suggestions of his own experience. It is at the same time one and multiple. It is one, because it naturally recoils from every known evil, and inclines to the good which it values most: it is multiple, inasmuch as the advantages which it seeks ever vary in their nature. They may be divided into four classes, and thus we may trace in our personal tendency four primary inclinations as its four constituent parts.

Enjoyments of the Senses.

We are in continual relation with the organs which envelope us, and which are our agents: we act on them, and they act upon us. Is the body sound, active, vigorous, and regular in all its functions? This we may ascertain by the agreeable impressions which it conveys to us. On the other hand, its derangements and infirmities cause us discomfort and pain. This body, moreover, depends on its surrounding circumstances: it has divers wants, and is thus an endless source either of enjoyment or annoyance to the master-spirit of which it is at once both the abode and the servant.

Το say that we have sensual pains and pleasures is to say no more, than that we naturally hate the former and love the latter. Up to a certain point, we may deny ourselves these pleasures, and submit to pain; but we cannot make pain pleasant, or pleasure disagreeable. Nature, which is the work of God, is stronger than man. By these two classes of impressions, the Author of our being has instructed us in the preservation of our bodily organization, on which depend here below the developement of all our faculties, and the whole apprenticeship of life. What, then, are those moralists dreaming of, who, under the veil of sanctity, advise us to reject all such pleasures? They insult both human nature and its Author. They pretend to improve upon the Gospel, of which they call themselves the Disciples; yet the will of the Gospel is, that man should take due care of his earthly tabernacle; and that whilst using the innocent pleasures which the goodness of his Creator has provided for him, he should enhance the enjoyment of them by gratitude. Never

theless, the love of sensual indulgences must not degenerate into sensuality. This vice shows itself the moment that we prefer pleasure to duty; then the animal predominates over the man, and oft-times the animal will destroy itself. Sensuality also shows itself in a selfindulgent life, which, without falling into gross sins, ever shuns labour and trouble, and only seeks what flatters the Thus self-indulgences stifle all generous feelings, and will never produce any noble deeds.

senses.

Many things are necessary for the wants of our animal life, and many more for its enjoyments, and thence arises the desire of possession and property. This desire is legitimate so long as it respects the rights of others, and keeps itself within due bounds. If it exceeds these, it becomes covetousness, and this last may degenerate into sordid avarice, which is always amassing, never gives, and whilst surrounded by its own hoards, will endure the privations of indigence. In this vice we not only behold a mournful aberration of a legitimate inclination, but a real aberration of mind, in sacrificing the end to the

means.

Intellectual Enjoyments.

The perception of the objects around us is the mainspring of our thoughts, in which consists the life of the mind. Excited by the impressions received from the senses, it looks, listens, tastes, and smells, in order to increase its acquaintance with the things which it perceives. Then it observes, compares, judges, and reasons, adding link to link in the chain of its ideas. It also makes new combinations, which are the work of the imagination. In all this, it is assisted by recollections which arise spontaneously, or which it purposely seeks for in the store-house of the memory.

To think is indispensable to the mind, for thought is its very life, and also its enjoyment. Moreover, this enjoyment is independent of the nature of the objects on which it is exercised. For is it not true that we love to think of past and even present sorrows? We also delight in reciprocal interchange of thought; and thence the

curiosity which shows itself in the child while in the cradle, and still remains with him to old

age.

Now we seek not only ideas but truth, the agreement of thoughts among themselves and with their object. Ignorance, when exposed, brings shame, and our errors when discovered give us concern. And if truth has charms so also has beauty, when we are sufficiently advanced in cultivation to appreciate it. We relish beauty, whether in the works of nature or art; and we seek to produce it, by adding grace to the work whether of our heads or hands. What is ugly inspires us with disgust, and we recoil from it as from what is false.

The love of intellectual enjoyments is never entirely quenched; but its shades are many and various, and the more vivid ones vanish when brought into collision with the urgent wants of animal life. Thence it is that the labouring man lives amidst the wonders and beauties of nature without regarding them; one should say that he was blind and deaf. The great body of the working class circumscribes its intelligence within the narrow sphere in which they earn their daily bread. Then come sensuality and the thirst for gold, which will not allow man to rise to what is true, and beautiful, and sublime. In some the love of intellectual enjoyment is deficient; in others it is excessive; sometimes it sacrifices too much time to science and arts; sometimes it neglects the realities of life, in order to feed upon fictions which indeed amuse the imagination, but too often lead it astray.

Esteem or Self-respect.

This is a powerful spring in the human heart; it is bestowed by the Creator on a being capable of indefinite improvement, and who, being placed on his first entrance into life at the bottom of an immense ladder, which he is to climb, requires a constant stimulus to urge him upwards. This stimulant we have in self-respect.

But here all depends on the standard we form of what deserves esteem; and on this point there is the most striking difference of opinion. Sometimes this standard. overlooks the individual altogether, and merely considers

his adjuncts, such as birth, rank, fortune, dwelling-house, garments, and other things of this kind. Sometimes it stops short at corporeal qualities, and places merit in beauty of form, agility, or strength. Or if it goes a step farther, it does not assign the highest place to moral qualities, but prefers brilliant talents, and is too apt to gloss over faults of conduct, under favour of science, art, valour, or even courtesy and charm of manners and conversation. And thus led astray by a false standard, the stimulant which is bestowed upon us in order to raise us to true dignity, becomes, through our own fault, a degrading snare to us. When guided by truth, we only value ourselves inasmuch as we discover uprightness in our thoughts, and generosity in our feelings and actions. In this respect a boundless career lies open before us; while in the retrospect, we must detect innumerable deviations, weaknesses, omissions, and negligences. Thus true self-esteem is always tempered by humility, which does not allow us to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think. Pride, which feeds on phantoms, is the silly child of ignorance and error. It puffs up the heart of man, erecting him into an unworthy idol, before which he himself bows down, and for which he would fain insist on the homage of others also. In order to obtain this homage, he will often crouch while still cherishing proud, disdainful, and envious feelings. the effect of ambition.

Such is

Terrified at the disorders resulting from inordinate self-esteem, some moralists have thought that it ought to be altogether eradicated by education, and that children. should only be trained to despise themselves. But this is to recommend an impossibility, and in attempting to destroy indestructible nature, they perceive not that they are acting in opposition to its author, whose will education should ever seek to ascertain and to fulfil.

Love of the Esteem and Good-will of others.

We here combine two natural inclinations, which go, as it were, hand in hand, and may be traced up to the two preceding ones; for self-esteem requires the good