neration could be brought up without prejudices, the world must return to the infancy of knowledge, and all the beautiful fabric which has been built up by fucceffive generations must be begun again from the very foundation. Your child has a claim to the advantage of your experience, which it would be cruel and unjuft to deprive him of. Will any father fay to his fon, "My dear child, you are entering upon a world full of intricate and perplexed paths, in which many miss their way, to their final mitery and ruin. Amidst many falfe fyftems, and much vain fcience, there is allo fome true knowledge; there is a right path; I believe I know it, for I have the advantage of years and experience, but I will initil no prejudices into vour mind, I shall therefore leave you to find it out as you can; whether your abilities are great or fmall, you must take the chance of them. There are various fyftems in morals; I have examined and found fome of a good, others of a bad tendency. There is fuch a thing as religion; many people think it the most important concern of life: perhaps I am one of them: perhaps I have chofen from amidst the various systems of belief, many of which are extremely abfurd, and fome even pernicious, that which I cherish as the guide of my life, my com fort in all my forrows, and the foundation of my dearest hopes: but far be it from me to influence you in any manner to receive it; when you are grown up, you muft read all the books upon thefe fubjects which you can lay your hands on, for neither in the choice of these would I prefume to prejudice your mind; converfe with all who pretend to any opinions upon the fubject; and whatever happens to be the refult, you must abide by it. In the mean time, concerning thefe important objects you must keep your mind in a perfect equilibrium. It is true you want thefe principles more now than you can do at any other period of your life, but I had rather you never had them at all, than that you should not come fairly by them." Should we commend the wifdom or the kindnefs of fuch a parent? The parent will perhaps plead in his behalf, that it is by no means his intention to leave the mind of his child in the uncultivated state I have fuppofed. As foon as his understanding begins to open, he means to dif cufs with him thofe propofitions on which he wishes him to form an opinion. He will make him read the best books on the fubject, and by free converfation and ex plaining the arguments on both fides, he does not doubt but the youth will foon be т tory, if he has fuch knowledge, muft, according to the books he has read, have already given him a prejudice on the one fide or the other; fo must the occafional converfation he has been witness to, the appellations he has heard ufed, the tone of voice with which he has heard the words monk or priest pronounced, and a thoufand other evanefcent circumftances. It is likewife to be obferved, that every question of any weight and importance has numerous dependences and points of connexion with other fubje&ts, which make it impofible to enter upon the confideration of it without a great variety of previous knowledge. There is no object of investigation perfectly infulated; we must not conceive therefore of a man's fit ing down to it with a mind perfectly new and untutored; he must have passed more or lefs through a courfe of ftudies, and, according to the colour of thofe ftudies, his mind will have received a tincture, that is, a prejudice. But it is, in truth, the most abfurd of all fuppofitions that a human being can be educated, or even nourished and brought up, without imbibing numberlefs prejudices from every thing which paffes around him: a child cannot learn the fignification of words without receiving ideas along with them; he cannot be impreffed with affection to his parents and thofe about him, without conceiving a predilection for their taftes, opinions, and practices. He forms numberless affociations of pain or pleafure, and every affociation begets a prejudice; he fees objects from a particuhr fpot, and his views of things are contracted or extended according to his pofition in fociety: as no two individuals can have the fame horizon, fo neither can any two have the fame affociations; and different affociations will produce different opinions, as neceffarily as, by the laws of pepective, different diftances will produce different appearances of vifible objas. Let us confefs a truth, humiliating Perhaps to human pride; a very finall part only of the opinions of the cooleft philofopher are the refult of fair reafoning; the reft are formed by his education, his temperament, by the age in which he lives, by trains of thought directed to a particular track through fomne accidental affociation -in fhort, by prejudice.-But why after all fhould we wish to bring up children without prejudices? A child has occafion to act long before he can reafon. Shall we leave him deftitute of all the principles that Bald regulate his conduct till he can difcover them by the strength of his own genius. If it were poffible that one whole geMONTHLY MAG. NO. 56. enabled enabled to judge fatisfactorily for himself. I have no objection to make against this mode of proceeding: as a mode of inftruction, it is certainly a very good one; but he must know little of human nature, who thinks that after this process the youth will be really in a capacity of judging for himfelf, or that he is lets under the dominion of prejudice than if he had received the fame truths from the mere authority of his parent; for molt affuredly the arguments on either fide will not have been fet before him with equal ftrength or with equal warmth. The perfuafive tone, the glowing language, the triumphant retort, will all be referved for the fide on which the parent has formed his own conclusions. It cannot be otherwife; he cannot be convinced himfelf of what he thinks a truth with but wishing to convey that conviction, nor without thinking all that can be urged on the other fide weak and futile. He cannot in a matter of importance neutralize his feelings: perfect impartiality can be the refult only of indifference. He does not perhaps feem to dictate, but he wishes gently to guide his pupil, and that with is eldom dilappointed. The child adopts the opinion of his parent, and feems to himself to have adopted it from the decifions of his own judgment; but all thefe reafonings must be gone over again, and thefe opinions undergo a fiery ordeal, if ever he comes really to think and deter mine for himself. The fact is, that no man, whatever his fyftem may be, refrains from inftilling prejudices into his child in any matter he has much at heart. Take a difciple of Rouleau, who contends that it would be very pernicious to give his fon any ideas of a Deity, till he is of an age to read Clarke or Leibnitz, and afk him if he waits fo long to imprefs on his mind the fentiments of patriotifin-the civic affection. O no! you will find his little heart is early taught to beat at the very name of fiberty, and that, long before he is capable of forming a fingle political idea, he has entered with warmth into all the party fentiments and connections of his parent. He learns to love and hate, to venerate or defpife, by rote, and he foon acquires decided opinions, of the real ground of which he can know abfolutely nothing. Are not ideas of female honour and decorum impreft first as prejudices; and would any parent with they fhould be fo much as canvaffed till the most fettled babits of propriety have rendered it fafe to do it? `In teaching firit by prejudice that which is afterwards to be proved, we do Stil it will be urged that man is a ra tional being, and therefore reafon is the only true ground of belief, and authority is not realon. This point requires a little difcuffion. That he who receives a truth upon authority has not a reasonable belief, is in one fenfe true, fince he has not drawn it from the refult of his own enquiries; but in another it is certainly falfe, fince the authority itfelf may be to him the bit of all reafons for believing it. There are few men, who from the exercife of the best powers of their minds could derive to good a reafon for believing a mathematical truth as the authority of Sir Itaac Newton. There are two principles deeply implanted in the mind of man, without which he could never attain knowledge; curiofity, and credulity; the former to lead him to make difcoveries himself, the latter to dispose him to receive knowledge from others. The credulity of a child to thofe who cherish him is in early life unbounded. This is one of the most useful instincts he has, and is in fact a precious advantage put into the hands of the parent for itoring his mind with ideas of all kinds. Without this principle of affent he could never gain even the rudiments of knowledge. He receives it, it is true, in the shape of prejudice. but the prejudice itself is founded upon found reafoning, and conclufive though imperfect experiment. He finds himself weak, helplefs, and ignorant; he fees in his parent a being of knowledge and powers more than his utmoft capacity can fathom; almoft a god to him. He has often done him good, therefore he believes he loves him; he finds him capable of giving him information upon all the fubjects he has applied to him about; his knowledge feems unbounded, and his information has led him right, whenever he has had occafion to try it by actual experiment; the child does not draw out his little reafonings into a logical form, but this is to him a ground of belief, that his parent knows every thing, and is infalible. Though the propofition is not exactly true, it is fufficiently fo for him to act upon; and when he believes in his parent with implicit faith, he believes upon grounds grounds as truly rational as, when in after life he follows the deductions of his own reafon. But you will fay, I wifh my fon may have nothing to unlearn, and therefore I would have him wait to form an opinion til he is able to do it on folid grounds. And why do you fuppofe he will have lefs to unlearn if he follows his own reason than if he followed your's? If he thinks, if he enquires, he will no doubt have a great deal to unlearn, whichever courfe you take with him; but it is better to have fome things to unlearn, than to have nothing learnt. Do you hold your own opinions to loosely, fo helitatingly, as not to think them fater to abide by than the fift refults of his stammering reason? Are there no truths to learn fo indubitable as to be without fear of their not approving themselves to his mature and well directed judgment? Are there none you esteem so useful as to feel anxious that he be put in poffeffion of them. We are folicitous not only to put our children in a capacity of acquiring their daily bread, but to bequeath to the riches which they may receive as an inheritance. Have you no mental wealth you with to tranimit, no stock of ideas he may begin with, instead of drawing them all from the labour of his own brain? If, moreover, your fon fhould not adopt your prejudices, he will certainly adopt thofe of ether people; or, if on fubjects of high interest he could be kept totally indifferent, the confequence would be, that he would conceive either that fuch matters were not worth the trouble of enquiry, or that noring fatisfactory was to be learnt about them: for there are negative prejudices as well as pofitive. Let parents therefore not fcruple to use the power God and nature have put into their hands for the advantage of their offspring. Let them not fear to imprefs them with prejudices for whatever is fair and honourable in action-whatever is ufeful and important in fyftematic truth. Let fuch prejudices be wrought into the very texture of the foul. Such truths iet them appear to know by intuition. Let the child never remember the period when he did not know them, Instead of fending him to that cold and helitating belief which is founded on the painful and uncertain confequences of late inveftigation, let his conviction of all the truths you deem important be mixed up with every warm affection of his nature, and identified with his most cherished recollections the time will come foon enough when his confidence in you will have received a check. The growth of his own reafon and the development of his powers will lead him with a fudden impetus to examine every thing, to canvals every thing, to fufpect every thing. If he finds, as he certainly will find, the refults of his reafoning different in fome refpects from thofe you have given him, far from being now difpofed to receive your affertions as proofs, he will rather feel difinclined to any opinion you profefs, and struggle to free himself from the net you have woven about him. The calm repofe of his mind is broken, the placid lake is become turbid, and reflects diftorted and broken images of things; but be not you alarmed at the new workings of his thoughts, it is the angel of reafon which defcends and trou. bles the waters. To endeavour to influence by authority would be as ufeless now as it was falutary before. Lie by in filence, and wait the refult. Do not expect the mind of your fon is to resemble your's, as your figure is reflected by the image in the glais; he was formed, like you, to ufe his own judgment, and he claims the high privilege of his nature. His reafon is mature, his mind must now form itself. Happy must you efteem yourself, if amidst all lefler differences of opinion, and the wreck of many of your favourite ideas, he still preferves thofe radical and primary truths which are effential to his happinefs, and which different trains of thought and oppofite modes of inveftigation will very often equally lead to. Let it be well remembered that we have only been recommending thofe prejudices which go before reason, not those which are contrary to it. To endeavour to make children, or others over whom we have influence, receive fyftems which we do not believe, merely becaufe it is conve nient to ourselves that they should believe them, though a very fashionable practice, makes no part of the difcipline we plead for. Thefe are not prejudices but impofitions. We may alfo grant that nothing fhould be received as a prejudice which can be easily made the fubject of experiment. A child may be allowed to find out for himself that boiling water will fcald his fingers, and muttard bite his tongue; but he must be prejudiced against rats-bane, because the experiment would be too coftly. In like manner it may do him good to have experienced that little inftances of inattention or perverfenefs draw upon him the displeasure of his parent; but that profligacy is attended with T 2 lofs lofs of character, is a truth one would rather with him to take upon truft. There is no occafion to inculcate by prejudices thofe truths which it is of no importance for us to know till our powers are able to investigate them. Thus the metaphyfical queftions of space and time, neceffity and free-will, and a thousand others, may fafely be left for that age which delights in fuch difcuffions. They have no connection with conduct, and none have any bufinefs with them at all but thofe who are able by fuch ftudies to exercife and fharpen their mental powers: but it is not fo with those truths on which our well-being depends; thefe must be taught to all, not only before they can reafon upon them, but independently of the confideration whether they will ever be able to reafon upon them as long as they live. What has hitherto been faid relates only to infilling prejudices into others; how far a man is to allow them in himself, or, as a celebrated writer expreffes it, to cherish them, is a different queftion, on which perhaps I may fome time offer my thoughts. In the mean time I cannot help concluding, that to reject the influence of prejudice in education, is ittelf one of the most unreafonable of prejudices. To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. SIR, or May, and that the fpurious forts prevail in common at almost every other time; and, as the fpring is now advancing, I fhall have it in my power to affift you. Believe me, Sir, that the Cow Pox mania is as great in the country as in the metropolis. Perhaps you would like to know how we carry on the Vaccine Inoculation. Almoft every cobler, shepherd, and cow-boy are confummate and experienced adepts in this new specific art. I will, with your leave, make a few remarks, to fubftantiate what I mean to advance. At Steeple Clayton, a village five miles from Winflow, great numbers have been inoculated for the Vaccine difeafe, by the most illiterate of all beings in human fhape, the cow-boys and thepherd boys, without any prior or fubfequent medicine whatever. At Weftbury, Shenley, Tattenhoe, and a number of villages round our neighbourhood, the fame. At Finmere, Mr. Holt, the clergyman, who is fpoken of in the Medical and Philofophical Journal (a neighbour of ours, no more than nine miles off), does adminifter fome trifling medicine, fuch as falts, &c. People are inoculated and inoculate themfelves indifcriminately, fuch as farmers, dairy-people, &c. with impunity, without any preparation, fubfequent purification, or making application to any medical perfon whatever. Yesterday I faw a man inoculate a family with a cobler's awl dipped in another's arm; others do it DERMIT me, through the medium of with a penknife ground like a lancet point, For the Monthly Magazine. needles, infected Vaccine matter. I am a great advocate for the Vaccine Inoculation, I acknowledge and believe it to be a great acquifition and discovery; and confequently, ultimately a great blefing to the community at large, and do not doubt of its fuccefs. The well attefted facts that you and others affert, prove it indubitable. But greatly do I lament that fome de lufion, or some secret myfterious means have not been put in force, to prevent its being in any other hands than medical men. The Small Pox Inoculation is now rapidly declining, and probably in a few years may be known no more. I am forry to say that fome of our ruftics appear to understand the Cow Pox better than many of our country medical fraternity. I may add, Farewei Thittle ForestFarewel Primrofe Hill-Stanton House! &c.* AM informed by our dairy people that the Cow-Pox is fizicotic, chiefly in the fpring, among cows about April Inoculating Houles of great repute. *The houfes alluded to are Small-Pox N. B. N. B. The proprietors of the above houses deny the Vaccine difeafe to be a spécifie for the Variola, but the interpretation is easily developed, viz. becaufe the new inoculation will not fupply them with patients. I was treated with fome derifion the other (and am every) day: the perfon faid, that, as he had inoculated many for the Cow Pox, he knew the complaint and its treatment better than myself. Quere, Whether or not Fame with her babbling tongue (fome future time) may not convey ruftic Vaccine intelligence to fome metropolitan friends, and fo overturn your excellent inftitution, which I am informed (by the Medical Mifcellany) is on the tapis. I am, &c. Winflow, Bucks. J. TURNER. For the Monthly Magazine. ANALYSIS of all the permanently valuable Papers which have appeared in the JOURNAL DE PHYSIQUE, from its Commencement to the prefent Time; continued from our last Magazine, page 38. On the Method of EXTRACTING the different kinds of TURPENTINE, GALIPOT, COLOPHONY, &c. By M. MONENGLANE. Tom. xxxi. HE Pine from which thefe fubftances operation till it be thirty years of age. The extraction is begun in February and continued to the end of October. Incifions are made with an hatchet, beginning at the foot of the tree on one fide, and rifing fucceffively: they are repeated once or twice a week, the fize about one finger's breadth acrofs, and three or four inches long. During the four years in which it is continued, the incifions have ren to about eight or nine feet. Then the incifions are begun on the other fide, and daring this time the old ones fill up and may be again opened after fome years, fo that a tree on a good foil, and well managed, may yield turpentine for a century At the bottom of the tree, under the incifion, a hole is dug in the ground to receive the refin which flows from the tree. This refin is called terebinthine brut, is of a milky colour, and is that which flows during the three fummer months; it requires further purification. The winter crop is called barras galipot, or white refin: it ticks to the bark of the tree, when the heat has not been strong enough to let it flow into the trough in the ground. It is fcraped off with iron kLives. PURIFICATION OF THE TURPENTINE This is done in two methods: that at Bayonne is to have a copper cauldron which will hold 300lb. of materials fixed over a fire, and the flame circulating at the bottom of the copper. The turpen tine is put in, melted with a gentle heat, and when liquid it is ftrained through a ftraw-basket made for the purpose, and ftretched over a barrel, which receives the ftrained turpentine. This purification gives it a golden colour, and may be per formed at all times of the year. The fecond manner, which is practifed only in the mountain of De Buch, near Bordeaux, confifts in having a large tub, feven or eight feet fquare, and pierced with fmall holes at the bottom, fet upon another tub to catch the liquor. This is exposed to the hottest fun for the whole day, filled two-thirds with turpentine, which as it melts falls through the holes, and leaves the impurities behind. This pure turpentine is lefs golden-coloured, and is much more efteemed than the other. This procefs can only be done in the fummer. OIL OF TURPENTINE. (Huile effentielle de Terebinthine.) An alembic, with a worm like what is. ufed by the diftillers, is employed here. It generally contains 250lb. of turpentine, boiling point till no more oil paffs, when the fire is damped. This generally gives 6olb, of oil, and the operation lafts onc day. RESIDUE OF THIS DISTILLATION. give no more oil, is tapped off from the still The boiling turpentine, when it will and flows into a tub, and from thence into fered to cool for at leaft two days without a mold of fand, which it fills, and is fuf. difturbing it. This refidue is known under the name of bray-fec, or colophony, colophonie. It is of a brown colour and very dry. It may be made clearer and adding hot water to it before it is tapped nearer in colour to that of the refin, by off the ftill, and ftill boiling and ftirring the water well with it, which is done with for rofin, but is little efteemed, as it cona befom of wet ftraw; and it is then fold tains no effential oil. |