Monongalia mirror. [volume] (Morgantown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1855, 1853-11-05
Original.
COMMUNICATED.
HINTS on EDUCATI0N.-.Ne. 8.

Mr.. Editor
Every careful observer of
tho customs and manners Of socle,y
must t.c convinced Of the fact that there
are but fnw families where truly en-
ligh'ene,l policy is pursued in regard t"
the work Of raising children. Yet this
is no, owing To the want Of desire on
the par, of parents to do that which is
right, but 10 lack Of the opportunity
and means of infnrming their minds IN
relation To the nature and real wants OF
the little ones committed to their care.
Sumo seem to think of nn,hing but tho
reariug of wurk.hanjs,--lley have al
ways had To work aud intend 10 make
their children work loo--ihat they do;
and so these tender plants of immor-
tality have to drudge on from early
dawn ill evening twilight, all through
their youthful days; while the soul is
left to withcr and droop in the gloomy
prison of ignorance, with nothing to
nuurish it but the insipid thoughts of
olher minds as little expanded as its
own,-Ano,hers class thinks of ne,liing
. I'm, s,he mind Health--eyery...ihin
else is sacrificed at the shrine of intel
lec,ual improvement. Their children
shall not be slaves to labor-not at all /;
they are going to eascate them, And
what is the consequence They grow
up dwarfsh, deathly looking objects,
with too little strength Of body to par'
sue successfully their studies, or to dis
play the mind after all its cultivation.
Again, there is another class who bend
. all their efforts to the religious educa-
tiun of their chiltlren-,o training them
to think nn every thing as they do,
T':ry ere unwilling for kiem TO read OF
asar any thing that is not in strict ac'
cnrlance with their notions of ortho.
doxy; aud so they grow up with mar
row minds and darkened understand.
ing; aud, being incspabic,of reasoning
unless their hearts are really under the
inHarncr Of divine grace. arc very east
y led by skeptics into disbelief OF
those very principles which their parents
took so much rsius to inslill.-And
there is ye, another class who do not
seem to trouble themselves. 81 all about
their children, any further than to feed
aud clolhe them. They let them grow
up idlu, ignorant and reckless, Such
children are allowed to go where they
please, mingle in what company they
please, spend the Sabbath as they please
and take frnm others what they please
nnd when they becomo men aud wo
men. they generally continue t" folio"
their .wn pleasure till it leads them tc
the prison or the gallo%s.
Now in order to correct these errors
in education, the constitution Of maj
must be studied. II must be retnem
bered thai he ia body and spirit united
Iha, he Is physical, social, inteIlectua
and accountable being; and thai his use
falncss and happiness in this life de
pend upon the proper and harmonious
devclupement Of all his powers. u
the body is feeble and diseased, 'h'
mind which is the thinking faculty u
the spirit, is more or less affected byit
and il tho soul is in rrnnhle, The bod.
ulsn parIakes Nf its sutftrings, aud II"
unfrequen;Iy is brought to dissolution
by them. Hence We ses the imp"rtanc'
of ncgIecing neither in the great worI
or education. SEBA.