to begin; and the great queftion, whether it shall be conducted at home or abroad, is to be decided. The grounds on which that point is to be determined have been fufficiently difcuffed already; and the degrees of attention respectively due to each of the various objects, to which youthful application is to be directed, have been explained. It is true that the chapter (/) to which I allude pertains exclufively to the education of girls. But the general principles there illustrated may be transferred, without dif ficulty, to the cafe of boys; and will guide the mother in the part which fhe bears in fettling the plan of their education. To fix that plan is an office which belongs jointly to both parents. But the fuperior acquaintance which the husband poffeffes with the habits and purfuits of active life, and his fuperior insight into those attainments which will be neceffary or defirable for his fons in the ftations which they are to fill, and the profeffions which they are to practise, will entitle his judgement to (1) Chap. iv.

the

1

the fame preponderance in determining the scheme of their education, as, for fimilar reasons, he will commonly do well to give to the opinion of his wife with respect to the mode of bringing up his daughters.

If domestic circumftances be fuch, that the girls are to be fent to a boarding-fchool, let not the mother be influenced in her choice by the example of high life and fashion; nor by the practice of her neighbours and acquaintance; nor by a groundlefs partiality for the fpot where she was herself placed for inftruction. Let her remember what are the objects of prime importance in education, and give the preference to the feminary where they are moft likely to be thoroughly attained. Let not the difficulty of ascertaining the feminary worthy of that defcription incline her to acquiefce in one which the ought not to approve. Her child's happiness in this world and in futurity is to be deemed at stake. The fecondary objects of education

may in a competent degree be obtained in almoft every place. And what is the importance of these when compared with that of the others? Be it remembered, that among the parents, who, in the hour of reflection, neither estimate accomplishments above their true value, nor forget the peculiar temptations attached to eminence in fuch acquirements, there are fome whom the contagion of faflion, and an emulous defire of seeing their children diftinguished, lead to a degree of earneftness and anxiety, refpecting the proficiency of their daughters, which could be justified only, if skill in dancing, in mufic, and in French, ought to be the prime objects of human folicitude. Let the opportunities which vacations furnish be watchfully employed in supplying what is defective, in correcting what is erroneous, in strengthening what is valuable, in the inftruction conveyed and the fentiments inculcated at the school. And let the inftructors be encouraged to general exertion, and to the greateft exertion in points of the highest concern, by perceiving that the progress of the pupil in

the

the various branches of improvement is observed with a steady and a difcriminating eye.

It can scarcely be neceffary to obferve

that if a daughter is educated at home,and recourse is had to the affiftance of a governess, much care is requifite in the choice. To meet with a person tolerably qualified, as to mental accomplishments, is fometimes not an easy task. But to find the needful accomplishments united with ductility, with a placid temper, and with active principles of religion, is a task of no fmall labour; and a task deferving of the labour which it requires. Let the affiftant be ever treated with friendly kindness. But let her be kept attentive to the duties of her office by the fuperintending vigilance of the parent. And let the parent, now that fhe is relieved from much of the business of the school-room, be the more affiduous in thofe maternal occupations, in which the governess will probably afford her less substantial aid, the regulation of the daughter's dispositions, and the improvement of her heart.

In the government of children, the principle of fear as well as that of love is to be employed. There are parents, especially mothers, who, from an amiable but extreme apprehenfion of damping filial attachment by the appearance of severity, are defirous of excluding the operation of the former. To work on the youthful mind primarily by means of the latter, and to employ the intervention of fear only in a fubordinate degree, is unquestionably the way to conciliate fondness while authority is upheld. But among imperfect beings, constituted as we are, the maintenance of authority seems ever to require the aid, in a greater or a lefs degree, of the principle of fear. The Supreme Father of the Universe fees fit to employ it in the moral government of mankind. On what grounds are we to hope that love should prove fufficient to fecure to the parent the obedience of the child, when it is not of itself able to ensure the obedience of the parent to his Maker? In proportion as the spirit of religion gains a stronger predominance in the human breaft, conformity

to