The Sun.
London, England, 1851-12-10 00:00:00

DON'T ! ''
(From Elixa Cook's Journad :'• -
"Don't, my love; don't 101 l about in Ec, ~ :"..m.
that way ! I never saw such and a'vvkA';e- • i
The child sat erect in boarding-school trini—back
straight and hands in her lap,--precise and prim.
"Now, Charles, don't ! How you do fill your
mouth, and stuff it out in the most vulgar possible
way. Don't take such large bites, I beseech you."
Charles was more moderate for the next few mouth-
fuls ; but Jane had by this time relapsed, and reclined
in her chair for a rest.
" Girl, you are lolling again ! Go out of the room
this minute."
And Jane vanished in tears, though relieved from
the restrrint of the perpetual " Don't."
The mother was not done yet. " Don't make such
a noise, children ? Can't you sit down quietly, and
learn your lessons ? John, you'd never be anything
but a dunce, unless you get on."
Charles was slinking out of the room to enjoy the
liberty of the back-lane, but again the mother's
"Don't Charles," called him back.
And so the round of useless annoyance went on,
till the children, sad and soured, were sent to bed.
This is an instance of " governing too much,"—
imposing prohibitions which are only felt to be such,
their temper
--a limitation of freedom which makes even little
children wince under it as a despotism.
These children, though they do not reason, are
quick to feel such little grievances. They work into
if they do not
The " 't',
hearts .don and ~ Don't
guidance ; but when
soon finds a response in their own
, and make them querulous and bitter.
y It
All unnecessary interference with children's liberty
is a positive evil. . bother me," is what they think
Restraintsthere must be, and
companied by prohibition
shiest every movementyt is ac-
corrected, and ever • y action criticized—they feel that
interference is beio
g Pushed beyond reasonable
bounds, and they
Prohibitions that are im
become "stupid," irritated, or
positively rebellious.
imposed
only
yry
tiot lebewodridsreis.
disregarding authority. The
;chbiulsd sees little faults
garded are positive evils.
ty induce a habit of
pornolyhibbietioenlucraetpedulsiionn.freeld,oh
and tend only to disorder.
reiteration of " don't" you have in
melhespirit of a child can
each insubordination,
the constant
afchthe eduwelattohrthise
and great faults subject indiscriminateolyanlliyt.etb:e.ndslegn::
to re-
sam e
disregard. condemnation,
T hl learns nthis
et to treat
power each
lost, and in course of time becomes impotent
press any real fault.
" Don't" teaches nothing : it reduces the child to a
machine, which is not the best way of qualifying it
for a recipient of knowledge. " Don't' makes him
timid and suspicious, and tired of a self-government
which has no certainty and no satisfaction in it. It
perplexes his moral sense, and incapacitates him
doing right of his own accord. It habituates him to
from
subjection to others' wills, and hinders the growth of
self-reliance and the capacity of self-government.
"Don't" implies badness : it is an imputation of
wrong-doing, else why the prohibition. It is a slur,
it is a restraint, and it may be an insult. It means
coercion, and all coercion is blighting in its effect.
It begets resistance in streng characters, which may-
ripen into a despotic and overbearing will, the fruit-
ful cause of unhappiness to itself as well as to others.
Thus bad training
is propagated—harsh commands
issue in harsh consequences—the voice of coercion
Theand prohibition i
t pr o
a
l wa
dy us ce sis
lendingoolyantemeephoorainryi.ts,,psubojn,tect;
prohibits the deed, but does not deal with the feeling
in which the impulse to it arose. The disposition and
state of mind which stimulated to the deed remain
the same, and unless the character be improved, it will
next time work by stealth and in aecresy. " Don't,"
threats, and the stick will never humanize a child, no
more than theywill a grown man. They may forci-
bly mould the external into a coarse semblance of
order; but can never create that improved internal
state out of which alone better deeds can arise. Coe
ercion and restraint may make hypocrites, but they
can never develope nor educate true character. It is
a notorious fact that the most severely restrained chil-
dren almost invariably grow up the worst and wildest
men.

"Don't " runs through all our systems of legisla-
tion. It builds prisons, hires policeman, and freights
convict-ships. We do not educate men ; but we
punish them. We do not prepare them for self-go-
vernment, but make laws by which they are governed
and punished. Society leaves its children to pick
their morality from the gutters ; but when they grow
up to be men it draws strict lines around them which
they are too blind to see, and then calls out " Don't
cross there ; if you do so it is at your peril ! " Society
allows about half its members to grow up to man-
hood unable to read, but nevertheless expects of them
the self-command of well-cultured beings. It matters
not that they cannot read the laws ; they must obey
them. If they listen not to the harsh "Don't " which
" Don't " which is cried out to them from all sides,
the policeman has at once his hand upon their collar.
" Don't " sets man-traps and spring-guns for
poachers, and trains gamekeepers and bloodhounds
for their apprehension ; it places custom-house
officers at our ports, and sets the coast•guard on the
look-out for smugglers. "Don't " employs armies of
soldiers and policemen, and keeps a host of tax-
gatherers in its service. " Don't" aims at repression
always. It is constantly " putting down?' It is
always at work with new projects, not for improving
men's character or instructing their minds, but for
coercing them by punishment or penalty into obe-
dience and external conformity to the law. If not
"Don't," then it is, " Thou must not," or " Thou
shalt not." And if any disobey, it calls forward a
policeman, and gives the offender in charge. .
"Don't " pervades society in all ways—it con•
stantly standing in the path, turn where you will.
It prescribes the boundaries of fashion, and hedges in
custom and habit. It is the favourite phrase of
Mrs. Grundy. It is even the religion of many.
"Don't" laugh—" Don't " believe suoh a thing—
" Don't profess so-and-so. You must profess and
believe what is set down for you by your betters.
But you say you are free, and desire to think freely.
Nothing of the kind. There is the law which says
" Don't ;" which imposes disabilities because of your
thinking differently from those who administer it;
and makes you pay for your departure from the
ways of thinking and believing which wiser men than
you have established.
Repression and hindrance there must be vrhere
freedom leads to crime and infringments on the well-
being of others. That must be admitted. But let us
be careful, lest by our own arrangements we origi-
nate the cause of those very crimes and infringe-
ments. Make men criminals, or place them in cir-
cumstances where a criminal tendency becomes their
normal state, and prohibitory laws avail nothing. They
will be broken through like cobwebs, and then you
have a criminal class. Refuse education to the
poor, or attach to it certain conditions which
are to
them irksome and odious, and be not surprised if you
have an ignorant adult population, who regard your
laws, which they cannot read or understand, as so
regulations
a
onesdes forvised the,no intsfloicrion of
uchfoprunthisehruet
uponpre-
servation
nan
yr
egof o
them. Measures to make men good e andwro
wrong
intelli-
gent t ee 1
nl
gent citizens ought righteously to precede laws of
repression and punishment. To begin with the en-
forcement of the latter is beginning at
Itd.
Prohibitionsou rsles of justice
punishment
arere i lv eenvges.
indicative of
other, and, it may be, greater evils. For, where
conduct is as it should be, there is no need to pro-
hibit or to coerce. Well then, the true course is—to
begin by removing the cause of the evil—to deal with
the formation of the character and the habits—to
make these good in the first place—to aim at a care-
ful development and culture of the whole nature—in
short, to thoroughly well educate the individuals, be
they rich
or be they poor, of which society consists.
Until this is done, prohibition and punishment must
be obnoxious to the imputation of either folly or
cruelty—perhaps both.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
SIR,—You are making a good use of the Arctic Blue-
book, which the Admiralty have seat you and others of
tne public press. Your articles on this subject have been
much noticed, and will materially serve the cause of
humanity and justice. It is too true that Captain Penny
is sacrificed to profession jealousy, and yet to him alone
we owe all that has been or that will be done. Nearly
connected myself with the navy, and having friends ou
thanks,i()r d the
whichmissing i
i ships,
ot
Abl feel
CONSTANT b
loeus bound
atcoee ptender
RtaEblA youREADER.
eEt Ram: y
my name may not happen to be known to you. se
I am, Sir, you obedient servant,
London, Dec. 8, 1851.

---...,
HURRICANE IN THE BAT Or BENGAL.—BY the
arrival of the extra Calcutta steamer to Suez and thence to
Southampton, we have received intelligence
of a terrific and
moat disastrous hurricane which swept over the Bay of
'Bengal on the 26th of October. The gale commenced from
the south-eastward, and blew in tremendous gusts for 12
hours, extending along the whole of the eoast from Madras
to the mouth of the Hooghly. At the latter place several
light ships were driven on shore, as also the Precursor
steamer, although riding with two heavy anchors. A
French and one or two English ships of some
size
driven from their anchors, and but little hope was
wary
enter-
tained for their safety. 'The coast in that portion of the bay
was literally strewed with the wreck of the
_.ships and dead
bodies, many of whom were Europeans. The gale, after
lulling for half an hour, veered round with
north-west, and continued to blow for several
off
Precursor being on a mud bass
her rudder. Fier passengers and
el
they
on board the Erin, in
From the perfect calm which P
doubt that the centre of the cycloid
the bay.
A LIVERPOOL —E
GERY:=Mr. John Dean.
on a charge of. forgery, underwent
yesterday morning
1 the magistrates privets
the present IttliZes• hours. The
(quill force to the
with the loss of
k was
screff were eventually pat
came on to Suez.
whichv revailed there can be little
passed over the head of
rr ADESBIAN COMMITTED FOR FOR
who, was remanded on Friday last
underwent a second examination
before Mr. Mansfield and Mr. Booth, in
room, and was committed for trial at