fit to release me from the painful situation— though by a method, at present, not the most eligible, as it is the cause of a separation from my children also, and thereby has put it out of my power to attend, in the manner I could have wished, to their education;-a duty that inclination would have led me with equal care and pleasure more amply to fulfil, had they continued under my direction. But as Providence has thought fit otherwise to determine, contented I submit to every dispensation, convinced that all things are ordered for the best, and that they will in the end work together for good to them that fear God, and who sincerely endeavour to keep his commandments. If in these I err, I am certain it is owing to a mistake in the judgment, not to a defect of the will.

Thus have I endeavoured, my dear girl, in some measure to compensate, both to you and to your sisters, the deprivation of a constant maternal care, by advising you, according to my best ability, in the most material parts of your conduct through life, as particularly as the compass of a letter would allow me. May these few instructions be as serviceable to you as my wishes would make them! And may that Almighty Being, to whom my daily prayers ascend for your preservation, grant you his heavenly benediction! May he keep you from all moral evil, lead you into the paths of righteousness and peace; and may he give us all a happy meeting in that future state of unalterable felicity, which is prepared for those, who, by patient continuance in weli-doing, seek after glory, honour, and immortality!

Should any of you, when at liberty to follow your own inclinations, choose to write to me, a direction, To be left for me, at Mr Walter's, Bookseller, Charing-Cross, will always safely convey a letter to my hand.

So many have been the instances of falsehood and deceit which I have met with, where they were least expected, that they may justify a precaution against my name being hereafter made use of without my knowledge;-especially as my promise of a future letter may lay a foundation for such an attempt. That future letter must contain the relation of many events, which, for the sake of the persons concerned in them, I could wish, my heart being really void of all resentment, there was no necessity of making public. If, therefore, I can find a certain means of conveying the narrative to your brothers, sisters, and yourself only, when you are all arrived at a proper age to receive and to understand it, that method will be preferred; if not, I must again have recourse to this channel. But should I, before that intended period, be removed from this state of existence, so necessary does it appear to me to undeceive the minds of my children, and to justify to them, who are so nearly concerned, my injured character, the manuscript is deposited in the hands of a friend, on whom I can safely depend for the publication at the time prefixed. That friend has also some original letters, together with an order of mine, which will be satisfactory vouchers of its being written by me. This precaution will effectually secure you from the possibility of being imposed on by any pretended posthumous letter of mine. The former editions of this address to you, my dear, have always had my manual sign; but so long a time having now passed since its first publication, the number of copies which have been dispersed proving in a manner its authenticity, that trouble to me, I think, may now be dispensed with. I am, your affectionate Mother, S. PENNINGTON.

LETTER

ΤΟ

MISS LOUISA

ON THE

MANAGEMENT AND EDUCATION

OF

INFANT CHILDREN.

I Do not expect to have an hour to myself all this day, my dear Louisa, but will make the most of my time, by commencing the performance of my promise, and, when the post goes out, shall send off what is wrote, however unconnected, without thinking it necessary to apologize for that, or an abrupt conclusion.

In every treatise on education that has fallen in my way to peruse, there have been some excellent rules joined to, what appeared to me, many capital errors. I will not, therefore, pretend to determine which, upon the whole, may be called the best; but will venture to say, that a servile imitation of either must be injurious. Many ill consequences have I seen arise from an injudicious adherence to all the directions of a favourite author, whose system was, perhaps, authenticated to himself by his own success in one particular instance, to which it was peculiarly adapted; but, applied to a thousand others, might produce a thousand diffe rent effects.

Some few general rules may be laid down, that will equally suit all children in the earliest stage of infancy; but these cease to be of use, as soon as the temper, or rather natural dispositions, can be discovered-when those inherent propensities, those predispositions, which every child may, I think, be said to bring into the world with it, must be closely attended to, in order to form an advantageous plan of education. These natural features of the mind are as various as those of the face; and it is as difficult to find two children with whom exactly the same method of instruction, or the same sort of correction will suit, as it is two constitutions that require exactly the same kind and quantity of food and medicine.

The main point, therefore, to be regarded in writing on this subject is, to avoid advancing any maxims that, however good and useful they may be found in particular cases, will not allow of a general application; and to keep so clear of all ambiguity of expression, that the words made use of cannot possibly be taken in any sense but that intended to be conveyed; as the greatest mischief must arise from the misapplying, or misunderstanding of rules, which in that case become a sanction to errors, because the judgment, apt to rest too securely on those rules it has once deliberately adopted, is often so, prejudiced in favour of their utility, as not to see the evident disadvantages that must arise from a general and implicit observance of those particular directions, which may be as pernicious to one disposition, as they are serviceable to another.

As a proof of this assertion, recollect the painful and injurious, not to say cruel, scenes you have been witness to in the families of Lady L-, Mrs I-, and your cousin F-, from a very injudicious

application of those rules, which, in a particular case, Mr Locke might, perhaps, have found eminently useful.

Thus you see, my dear Louisa, I have confined all the beneficial directions that the wisest man could give for the education of a child, whose natural propensities he knew nothing of, to those very few certain invariable rules, which, being equally adapted to all the human species, cannot be misapplied to any. This narrow field we shall

soon travel over.

Let us begin with food and raiment, the two first things necessary. The former I know you will, if possible, administer yourself in the manner nature has intended. Where this happens, by some accident, to be impracticable, which is very rarely the case, cow's milk, diluted by water till it is brought to the same consistence as the mother's, unmixed either with flour, bread, biscuit, or sugar, is by far the best substitute, and, as coming the nearest to what nature intended, will agree the best with every constitution: in hot weather the milk should be fresh drawn, at least once in eight hours, and never given warmer than it comes from the The finest children I ever saw were reared in this manner, without once tasting any thing else for the first twelve months; and, in a single instance, I knew it continued for eighteen months with equal success. This method is undoubtedly preferable to the bare hazard of imbibing ill-humour, or disease, from a woman whose temper and constitution must be very imperfectly known. Here a mother's close inspection is absolutely necessary, it being almost impossible to make the lower class of people, who are hired to take the care of children, believe the utility of this uncommon method; and, consequently, unless the most

COW.