104 REGARD TO THE FUTURE SPHERE OF ACTION. highest degree of perfection, of which it is capable. In the same manner, as such a proceeding, on the part of the gardener, would spoil all the different sorts, except the one he has fixed upon, so, likewise, our education must decidedly ruin the different sorts of minds, in proportion as they differ from the universal standard, which we have arbitrarily set up; even if it were, as it is not, a perfect one: whereas, on the contrary, if we paid regard to the measure, and peculiar combination of the faculties of every individual, we should see a far greater number of original minds, and, in general, a higher degree of capacity, than is now observable. Next to this distinction, founded upon the psychical organization of the individual, there is another necessary, according to the external circumstances in which he is, and probably will be placed. This distinction, it is plain, can have nothing to do with the degree to which each faculty is to be cultivated, as this depends on the inherent power of the faculty. We must, therefore, inquire, what relation, generally, our external position bears to our mind; and we shall find, that the station in which we are placed, whatever it be, is the sphere in which the mind is exercised. Our outward circumstances are not, nor should they ever be, considered as any more than the scope of action appointed to us by Providence. Thus, for instance, the engagements of an agriculturist present altogether a different sphere of life, although, perhaps, for the exercise of the very same faculties, from those of an artisan, or of a manufacturer. The contact which a gardener has with nature, is very different from that of a sailor, or of an astronomer; and yet the same faculties are called into action in every one. That to these differences some attention should be paid, and adequate distinctions introduced, is unquestionable; but it ought to be done subsequently and subordinately to the distinction founded upon the difference of power in the different faculties, from reasons, into which I forbear entering here, as this subject will again come under consi WHAT DISTINCTIONS OUGHT TO OBTAIN. 105 deration. For the present, I will sum up the result of what has been said, in the following manner: 1st. The different faculties, which constitute man's mind, call for corresponding branches of instruction, as the means of developing and cultivating those faculties; and as the latter are essentially the same in all individuals, it follows, that the chief branches of instruction should be common to the education of all. 2d. The degree of power in which each faculty is to be met with in every individual, determines the degree of cultivation which it ought to receive, comparatively to other faculties; and as the former varies in different individuals, and with reference to different faculties, so must the latter. 3d.—The station in society in which the individual is placed, determines the sphere in which his faculties will have to act, and, therefore, the department of each branch of knowledge, which is to be appropriated to their cultivation, and which must vary, for different individuals, according to their different stations. Thus, then, all men are to be instructed essentially in the same branches of knowledge, but in different degrees, and in different directions. Having so far ascertained, where distinctions ought to be made, and where not, it will now be necessary that I should proceed to a short sketch of the human faculties, in order to ascertain what cultivation they require. In my last lecture, I have called your attention to the important distinction, which is to be made between the faculties themselves, and the two agents by which they are impelled to action, the one the good spirit of God, and the other the evil spirit of man; and I shall now have to introduce another distinction between different sorts of faculties, according to the different provinces of life to which they are appropriated. In this respect, they are to be divided into three great classes, viz. :– - 106 CLASSIFICATION OF THE FACULTIES. 1.-Faculties appertaining to our existence, as physical beings. 2.-Faculties appertaining to our existence, as human beings. 3.-Faculties appertaining to our existence, in and with God. Through the first class of faculties we are made subject to what is called physical necessity; that is to say, the absolute manifestation of the law and power of God in nature. They are the first, whose activity becomes manifest in childhood; for, although the simultaneous but latent working of the others, is constantly attested by experience, yet a decided predominance of life is observed in the former. Through them the infant is first brought into contact with the Divine will, and subjected to the influence of its operations; the necessity which pervades those operations on one hand, and the helpless and unconscious condition of the child on the other, co-operate to produce, at the dawn of life, a state of submission. The rebellious soul then first learns, that it is unable to perform, or to obtain, all that it willeth and wishes; from its natural state of absolute lawlessness, it is, in some degree, brought into subjection to law, and prepared for the period, when another law will be set before it, with freedom to obey, or to disobey. As the first preparatory step to the subduing of self-will in the soul, the intercourse of the child with nature, and with every other influence that reaches him through his senses, is of the greatest importance, and ought to be carefully cultivated, with a view to render it conducive to that purpose. Unfortunately, however, we disturb that intercourse, instead of facilitating it; we interfere between the child and nature, instead of contenting ourselves to direct the movements of the former. We have not learned for ourselves to view nature as a rich source, not only of instruction for the intellect, but also of moral discipline; we look upon it as a field of gratification and enjoyment for ourselves, and PHYSICAL AND MORAL EDUCATION CONNECTED. 107 we do all in our power to put our children into the same false position, and to nurture in them the same false spirit. Thereby we render them slaves of their sensual nature, and, through it, of the outward world, instead of educating them to that dominion over the earth, for which man is intended. This dominion, which ought to be sought in subjection to the law of God, and with a view to the glory of God, is claimed in bondage to the law of selfwill, and with a view to self-gratification. The relation in which man is to stand to one part of creation, is, from the beginning, deranged; and, of course, as a proper direction of the child, in this relation, would have had a beneficial influence upon the development of other faculties, so the mismanagement of this first step of education has a prejudicial effect upon the subsequent periods. Nothing can be more erroneous than the common notion of separating physical from intellectual and moral education, as if the former had for its object, only, the physical nature of the child. This is one of the consequences of that oversight of the original unity of purpose, on which I have enlarged in my last lecture. If that unity was apprehended, and the faculties were all cultivated in reference to it, the physical education of the child would, as it ought to do, form the beginning of its intellectual and moral education. We should then watch, with solicitude, the first conscious movements of the child's eye and hand; the first attempts at articulated sound; we should study both, the spontaneous impulses of his self-activity, and the tendency manifested in the manner, in which he yields and attends to the impressions made upon him. Thus, to instance one of the many important considerations, which we ought to keep in view, we might ascertain the proportion, which spontaneity and receptivity, activity and passivity, bear to each other, in general, and in the exercise of each particular faculty; and we might be enabled to judge, likewise, which of the two agents before mentioned presides, at different times, over different operations. 108 FEELING AND INTELLECT. It is not so difficult, as might be supposed by some, to discover whether the child, when exerting his energies, is impelled by the power of life, directing him to such objects, and such experiments, as will become to him a source of instruction and discipline, and fill his soul with the heavenly satisfaction of having recognized, or expressed, something divine;—or, whether he is swayed by the evil spirit of self, inciting him to an endless, and impassioned exercise of his powers, from which he can only derive the momentary gratification of having indulged a wanton caprice, and, as an immediate consequence of it, the dissatisfaction of internal restlessness. The same distinction is to be made, when the child is passive, lending itself, as it were, to the activity of others; in one case, there is a look of calm delight, or of anxious inquiry; in the other case, the expression of greedy desire. Another impcrtant point, for the knowledge of the human character, is, the proportion in which intellect and feeling are combined, in every individual, and by which the preponderance of some faculties over others is determined. For, whilst spontaneity and receptivity are inherent in every faculty, rendering it capable] of the two different, though sometimes simultaneous, operations of giving and receiving, of pouring forth and imbibing:-the two other opposites, and, at the same time, correlatives, intellect and feeling, divide between themselves, with a few exceptions, the whole range of the faculties, and, consequently, their opposition and co-operation is observable at the earliest period of infancy. The faculty for the perception of space, for instance, appertains to feeling; whilst that for the apprehension of time, is an intellectual faculty. For the reception of all the impressions, conveyed through space, we have two faculties; the one belonging to feeling, whose object is light, and its modifications, shade and colour; the other, an intellectual one, appropriated to the conception, or, if spontaneously exerted, to the creation of form and shape; and, in the same manner, there are two faculties, corresponding |