Litchfield enquirer. [volume] (Litchfield, Conn.) 1829-current, 1833-01-03

rat the request Of several of sabscribefs, 20
she exclusion ofsome other matter, give place 10
the folio wiag article fro I'm the Nsr-EHgfnnd Rerfer.
written by a young gentleman Ofthis village. The
work spoken Of is for sale at the BOokstOres.-Ed.l
2.,sorte an the influence of mental cultivation
mon health. By AmariGh Brigham. Hart
fard, F.. J. Huntington, 1881.
Thc above named work from the pen Of
SudIcinus and accurate observer of men and
things, is precisely such a work as we have
long wanted to see. In this day Of " infant
education and Juvenile precocity, when under
the specious name Of early " improvement"
parents, friends and teachers are all engaged
10 pressing forward the intellect of children,
and tasking their feeble powers beyond their
strength, in the vain hope Of making them
wiser in their childhood than the grayhars Of
their fathers, we have been DESTROYS to see
some one pointing out to them the probable
Consequences Of their well-intended but ILL
Judged efforts. and suggesting To them the in
quiry, whether the great advantages prOpos-
cd are not c0nnterhalanced by some attend
ant eyil. Dir. Brigham I. remarks have pla-
crd the subject fairly hef,re them. and the
appalling picture which his simple statement
Of facts has presented, ought to compel them
20 pause Tor one moment and TO ask them
selves seriously whether, 10 their eagerness
Al, sprinkle their fair intellectual garden with
blossoms Of ealy culture, they are not sowing
with them internationally the seeds Of idiocy,
insanity and death. The author has confned
himself chiefly to the influence Of this cause
ofeducasioao0 the bodily health Of the indi
vidual, dedating from thence those mental
abcrratiohs which to say the least are gene
rally attributed to some other cause than
physical arrangement. Whenwe read in the
firs -secton that " there is much pro9f that the
brain consists Of congeries oforgons, each Of
sehich, in healthy state, naanitssts GParticuiar
faculty Of the mind. and that The po,Uer of each
faculty depends on the size Of its particular or
gdn,'' there appeared SO evident leaning to-
wards materiaiism as embraced in the fash.
ionable science Of Phrenology, that we invol-
unfairly drew ourselves up into the attitude of
critic, as If determined rather TO trample
upon than to submit to such an adversary
But on examining our position at the close of
the Volume, we found that we had uncon-
sciously vPered considerably from our per-
pendicular posture, and were almost tempted
to believe that in this subject there might be
something more than was dreamed of 10
our philosophy" However unsul,staniial or
baseless may be the science If Phrenology,
still we think il undeniahle that there is an TO-
innate connection between the mind and the
body, and that they exercise mutual and
reciprocal influence on each other. A great
error has existed ON this subject in surprising
them independent. The mind is pushed for
ward at an early age, and its expanding vet
feeble powers are bowed down and crushed
beneath an insnpportable load, injuliicIously
heaped upon il by those who suppose that
the rapidity and extent Of its cultivation de-
pend entirely on the degree in which II is
iasked in its infancy. The fact that enc
~. hos hrI T.
be improved in strength and beauty in ad-
vance and al the expense ofthe Others has no;
been supposed applicable to the mind and
body connected, yet experience and obserya-
ton furnish us with numerous examples that
this fact exists not less in the latter than in
the former case. But in the face Of all these.
examples We daily see parents, through an
overwrening pariiaty and fondness, striving
to make their children prodigies of iatellect At
sAhree years Of age, at the hazard of making
them boobies at fifteen, and idiots at twenty
Ave. The great and complicated machinery
ofinfant education in operation a. the present
day. is, 10 say the least, Of very questionable
utility. Its whole object sihe early deveI-
opementof the intellectual powers TO an aston
isning extent. The infant. before he can
walk or speak. must be- carried from its moth.
er To school and taught 10. read. and solve I
pr0bIems in arithmetic. The little boy be-
fore he can have made even preparation to |
learn science, must become a Philosopher, an
acute lngiciap, skilful debater in TheeloGy,]
and y Hippant lecturer on metaphysical alb
straciiuns. Now TO this we have no objec-
.tion. provided these juvenile prodigiss do not
stap here. But fpr SEINE reason or other, the I
nccounts we have of these intellectual won
ders, are almost Invariably in" Me.
rn0irs IL early childhond."- They are beaut- !
FIJI blossoms. hut destined to deck youthful
grave, or il permitted tolingsr little longer,
they serve only 70 show by their faded and
Wi,herrd lrases the i'll effects Of an early hot
bed culture. BY imposing too much 90 the
mindin early life. the body becomes enfeeh!ed.
which ia its tnrn enferhlrs the mind by being
deprived ofthat tone of health and activity,
which alone can support it in its future pro-
gress, and by thus pseying on each other,
they become, instead If mutual supports. but
80 struggling hends which drag each other
down." ne, wish that parents and all who
are engaged 10 the instruction and manage
tnent VI children would read DR.. Rrigham's
hook, and whether they agree with him or
moi As 10 the organic structure and influence
of brain. they vii lat least End many hints
which may he useful "a them ia the discharge
of one III the most important duties Of life.
liberals another class Of readers who may
derive come beneft from the perasal ofthis
work. We refer 10 those pitiahie objects Of
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