Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1866-04-12
.-,,s sru,r11. ON EDUCATION.

MISS sEwELL ON EDUCATION.
H., pr;,ciple, Of Education, by Miss
sewell, published by the Appletons' Is a
work which no parent or teacher can read
wi,hou, benefit. Happy would it be for
thousands of young people did those who
have the care of them study a work OF
this kind. Although written in England,
and applied to Female Education in the
Upper Classes" it is q sort Of work quite
as applicable to the education Of most
young people in every walk Of life, and in
great measure of both sexes. 1t is written
as the result avowedly of much expert
ence. It is eminently religious, but there
is no cant about it. In fact there is a
just, keen use of reason, combined with a
constant appeal to the authority Of the
Book of ages, which adds SO much to the
weight both Of reason and revelation in
the guidance of the wise upon all practi-
cal subjects. Perhaps one of the best
chapters in the book is the fourth, in which
she boldly and clearly discusses the great
first question Of all government, "Why
should l obey:" A young mother will
declare, II always make my child attend
to what l say. l had a struggle with it
yesterday for a quarter of an hour, but l
was conqueror in the end" This is not
the true notion of obedience. delay in
obedience is disobedience," and should
be punished as such, however gently"
and there will be no necessity for insist
ing on obedience the second time" or
having contests" with children while
both are perhaps excited. IL never speak
twice." she thinks the best rule. "Sharp,
instant punishment" she thinks, twill be
less irritating than penalties long delayed,
though more gentle" But her illustra-
ton Of this is rather queer, i. e. that send
ing a young person to her room for two
hours at once will be better than telling
her that she must 60 to bed half a n hour
earlier at night. The two houis Of sulk
in solitude does not seem a very instanta-
neous way of Furnishing.
In fact, Miss Sewell is, after all, a pre-
cisioniss and a clergyman's sister, and
both of these are rather too conspicuous.
As Blackwood well said in reviewing this
work, there are too many precise rules.
| There must, however, be something higher
than o parents authority-a law upon
which that law rests-and il the mother,
whilst enforcing obedience desires also to
enforce principle, she must continually
lead the child's mind beyond herself, and
show that her commands are imperative
from the obligation Of a superb law. Or,
in other words, that law, not will, is the
fundamental principle of moral govern
ment. This assertion carries us back very
far, even to a point at which human rea-
son fails, "the mystery of the being and
acts of the Most High" And being, as
we have, said, a clergyman's sister, she
traces the subject back by nothing less
than the Ene quotation from Hooper, de-
clariug, They err, who think that of the
will Of God to do this or that there is no
reason besides his will /; many times no
reason known to US, but that there is no
reason thereof, I hold to be most unrea.
sonable TO imagine, inasmuch as he work.
eth all things, not only according to his
own will, but the counsel Of his own
will" Hence she infers that every parent
ought to be well assured that each COM
mand rests not upon her W will, but
that law which is the eternal fitness OF
things.
Perhaps there is too much an air Of
preachment in this volume, but her rea-
soning is so generally sound on every
practical point, that the parent or teacher
who reads through what she says will al
ways find herself stronger, clearer, better,
and with a higher sense Of the moral fit
ness OF her counselS.
In her chapter on Human Faith, indeed,
she says it is common "to make faith the
foundation Of obedience, and reason only
the instrument for the confirmation Of
faith" But she doubts If faith can really
exist apart from reason, for faith is trust
trust in a person, q character-and there
fore implies a recognition of that charac-
ter, which canno. be without the aid of
reason. THE God Of the Christian never
demands Of his creatures faith which has
not reason for its foundation" Sir W.
Hamilton says that all reason is founded
on certain original faiths. But she is
liberal and yet full Of faith and all her
thoughts are worth reading.