The Massachusetts spy, and Worcester County advertiser. [volume] ([Worcester, Mass.]) 1825-1831, 1826-02-15
communication.
For the Massachusetts, spy.J
EDUCRTION.-No. 3.

Ii is to the plastic power of the parents anc
| the school-teachers, that the child owes hi
| turn OF thought and mould of character. By
them he is taught TO descend or aspire b
them he is made shrub or a towering OAK
a dtrdrf or giGnt-a .fend or an angel. Sc
much can be done by the coalition of parent:
and school-ma sters. t'Men commonly owe
their uirtue or their race to education, as much
as to nature" "Almost all, says Chief J us.
| tlce Parker, 4" we see of rectitude in the opin-
ions and conduct of the man, may be attribut.
ed to early instruction and continued example
IN childhood and yOufhn Neither learning
nor religion can flourish amidst disputes and
war. Minerva retreats and hides hers II
when the din OF Mars approaches. As lera-
| lure scorns to enter into partnership with the
love OF money, or noisy distinction, luxury
and hcen'lousness; so angry passions and
chickering's and petty strites are her foes and
arerston. Shells cot belhge,o Gus, hut pacific
she vegetables and brightens il the warm sun
ny rays. but she carrot live like The salaman-
der IN the fire. Therefore. all her deyotees
must be sedate, pure, docile, emulous, liberal,
ingenious, exalted. At the vestibue of her
| temple 10 Inscribed, s'Procul. @, procul este
Protanr'-be Tar away, We 'grovelling, low
minded and vicious-ye (dctiOns and profane :!
Concord must reign here. The temple is at
length built-let nothing rend it in twain.
That this little seminary may be prosperous
and fertile. our hands and our hearts must be
united and our thoughts apd,actions in unison.
Old roots of bitterness and disunion must per-
lsh, and with this new and capacious edifce,
Harmonious sentiments arise.
The Muses. are represented with hands en-
twined and dancing IN chorus to intimate the
near and indissouhIe connection which exists
between the liberal ais and sciences and we
should be SO blended with them, that our
n1orenaents may be in concert.
Though the father can do much in giving
| complexion and bent TO the unhedged mind
OF his offspring, still it rs the mothers prerog-
alive and province 10 fix the stamina of the
child. While the disposition is plant as the
| osiar, and the powers of the intellect are I'M
stamped, the mother may give it .feribihty
and an impress which shall lead it forever in
paths Of rectitude and immortal honor. 1.-THE
| care of the mother,'' says Bishop Watson,
"precedes that of the school-master, and may
stamp upon the rasa tabula, the smooth sur
lace Of the infant mind, characters of rirtate
and religion, which no time can efface." On
this earle blanche, this unsullied sheet, the
mother writes her signature and makes i'm
| be legihle and no time expunge.
| Habits of industry and obedience to au-
| thority must be early formed and inculcated.
man who gives his children habit of in
dustry, provides for them better than by CIV
ing them stock of money" I" An infallible
way to make your child miserable, is to salts
fy all his demands. Passion swells by gratif-
cation, and the impossibity Of satisfying
every one of his desires. will oblige you TO
stop short at last after he has become head
| Sfrong.'
Graceful and respectful manners should be
taught and enforced on the child, commencing
with his first requirements. Without decent
! and engaging behavior, the possession of lit
| erary accomplishments has little attraction,
AID even morality and religion, without the
ornament of a winning address and amiable
department, lose half their infGepcc and half
! their charm. Manners" says The great and
eloquent Edmund Burke" are OF more lmpor-
lance than ld,Cs. Upon them 10 a great meas
nre the laws depend The law touches us
but here and there, and noW and then. Man
MRS are what veX or sooth, corrupt or purify,
exalt or debase, barbarize or refine US, by
constant, steady, uniform, insensible opera
! ton, like that of the air we breath IN. They
give their whole form and colour to our lives.
| According to their quality, they aid morals,
they supply them or totally destroy them"
So important is il, that those who furnish the
root should give it depth and stability
the flexible shoots, perpendicular and soar
ing direction-and tenderIy and skilfully pIune
| superintendent twigs and branches.
In conjunction with the instructions of
fathers and mothers, how needful IL is, that
school-masters and mistresses should cherish
and mature what parents have tceH begun.
That they do not eradicate, crook, dis6gure,
mutilate or cut down the beautiful and thrifty
sapllng, but strengthen and embelish it in all
its parts. Whatever dignifes and euriches,
fertlllzes and purifies the human mind, should
be instilled and recommended by precept and
by example. None should oe employed 10 in.
struct, but those who are models of excel
lence, and exemplars in principles, morals,
and manners. Then useful and ornamental
knowledge would be taught and relished !;
genius would break forth, and captivating de-
| meanor appear. The friends of science and
| literature would be the friends Of morality and
| religion, and the friends of morality and relig-
ion would be friends of science and literature,
In close alliance mutually supporting and sup
ported, they would be to each other auxiliaries
and advocates, and form a most lovely and
useful association.
Learning has borne such fruit in other days
On all her branches; pety has found
Friends in the friends of science, and true PRAYER
Has flow'd from lips wet with Castaian dews."
Such may the teachers and patrons of learn
ing be, who shall be connected with and in
terested in this nursery of the rising generation
Let me assure you, parents, you cannot be
TOO seasonable and assiduous 10 the formation
and improvement of the minds of your chill
dren. On this very momentous subject let
me appeal to you in the pathetic and persua-
slve language of most eloquent and elegant
wrNer-" y that could open to you the little
breasts OF your offspring,and show you the grad
ual and certain process which is carried on from
the moment Of birth There might YOU see dis.
positions forming, passions generating, preiu-
dces starting into life, and all the future
character bound up in the narrow comnass NJ