an unanswerable one it is) which can aloue be used with propriety by the advocates of the frail fair ones, when pleading in extenuation of their foul offences in our courts of justice.

"Were this argument to be adorned, as it might by the eloquence of an Erskine, or a Garrow, it would do more towards opening the eyes of the public to the consequences of an education merely ornamental, than all that can be written upon the subject by the divine, or the moralist."

After a severe censure upon inattentive mothers, our author proceeds, "Without judgment there can be no knowledge of first principles; without first principles, there can be no rule of conduct or of duty. How, then, can creatures be said to transgress against principles which they never had it in their power to comprehend? They were taught, that the sole duty of woman was to be amiable. That, in order to be amiable, must be accomplished and genteel; that is to say, that they must learn to dance, and dress, and nickname GoD's creatures; to talk sentiment, to affect sensibility, and to follow fashion into whatever follies she may lead Have they pot done all this? and now mark the inconsistency of man! They are accused of inning against the laws of GOD and of their country; when they can call GOD, their country, and their parents, to witness, that their judgment was never sufficiently cultivated to pronounce upon the truth and propriety of a single precept, moral or divine. They were taught to look on personal admiration as the chief good; when they found it was no longer to be expected from the husband, were they to blame for seek ing it in the admirer? Of all that they were taught to believe amiable, they are still possessed, for no one estimable quality of the heart or understanding was in the catalogue. Sensibility and sentiment comprised their only notions of virtue; and by giving way to sensibility and sentiment they became adultresses, or to speak in the more delicate terms of modern refinement, amiable unfortunates.

"To the effects of a pernicious education, and not to the frailty of the sex, ought the natural consequences of a want of principle to be assigned. Such a change in the mode of education as would expand the powers of intellect, enable the

mind to embrace truth, to perceive the utility and advantage of moral rectitude, and to regulate the passions and affections of the heart by the laws of piety and wisdom, would do more towards putting a stop to the career of vice, in every rank and station in society, than all the laws and punishments the legislature can devise." p. 212-215.

The proposition, "that the same cause will always produce the same effect," the author says, may, in its words, be unintelligible to children; yet it may be explained by some simple actions. Miss Hamilton instances first in objects familiar to the senses, and then applies the same principle to morals.

"Never, in all our researches, shall we find an instance, where unostentatious benevolence, justice, wisdom, and piety, were refused the esteem and approbation of mankind, unless where party hatred, by its deadly poison, blinded the eyes and envenomed the heart. By this was the furious multitude influenced against the Saviour of the world! By this have many who call themselves his disciples, been inflamed to cruelty and vengeance against their more deserving brethren.

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The analyzation of party spirit can never take place in the moment of fermentation; but when that has sufficiently subsided to permit us to examine it minutely, it will appear compounded of fear, hatred, pride, envy, malice, and cruelty. As it operates most violently upon ignorance, there can be no better preservative from its attacks, than a strong and cultivated judgment, together with conceptions so clear, acute, and accurate, as to embrace the whole of the arguments, and to perceive the whole of the errors, on both sides of every question that is agitated.

"Nothing can be more inimical to the cultivation of judgment, than an early initiation into party prejudices. By these the conceptions are misled, and the judgments concerning right and wrong must consequently be often erroneous. It is, at any time of life, fatal to the integrity of the moral character, to approve or disapprove according to the dictates of affection. The habit of doing so is to the young particularly injurious; it not only warps the judgment, but depraves the heart." p. 221, 222.

In neglecting the cultivation of this faculty, it is observed, "Thus we produce a race of praters, who know nothing; of talkers, who never think; of light, trifling, and fantastic beings, alike destitute of intellectual vigour and of solid principle." p. 228.

Letter VIII. Observations upon the Method to be pursued in reading History. -Premature Cultivation of Imagina tion hurtful to Judgment.-Other Obstacles to its Improvement.-Mode of Female Education formerly adopted, more favourable to Judgment than the modern.-Examples.

In a former letter an objection is made to the use of abridgments of history, in the instruction of children, which is in this thus explained: Hence it appears to me, that the judgment will be exercised to more advantage by a minute investigation of a detached period of history, judiciously chosen, than by the perusal of the abridged history of ages. Fully apprised of the narrow limits of its information, the mind will be in no danger of that shallow conceit which constantly attends the superficial. It will be prompted to acquire further knowledge for itself; and, by having been put upon the method of exercising judgment upon every subject it investigates, its inquiries will never fail to be attended with advantage." p.232. The second topic in this letter is intended to prove the danger which arises from the perusal of those works which address the imagination only, and exemplifies their effects in the characters and manners of the natives of the East.

Novels, in the next place, fall under the severe censure of our author; she describes their fascinating nature, and baneful influence, in stupifying the mental faculties; and introduces a contrast between a novel reading Miss and the young lady whose attention is engaged in the perusal of works calculated to inform her mind, and cultivate her judgment; the pleasures of each are described, with the peculiar advantages derived by the latter.

The first obstacle to the improvement of the judgment is by trusting to the evidence of sense; this is illus trated by the erroneous opinions formed by mankind in the infancy of science, concerning the system of nature, in judging the world to be an

extensive plain, &c." And though more enlightened notions. are now made familiar to children, even in the nursery, than was former→ ly known to sages, still by trusting to the evidence of their senses, children are liable to errors of judgment, which, if not attended to, may lay the foundation of future prejudice." The credulity natural to youth is another fruitful source of erroneous judgment. On this topic our author observes: "It is only the imbecility of ignorance, or the vanity of scepticism, that supposes any thing to exist without a cause. A sensible child will soon be convinced that it is impossible; and the mind cannot be better exercised in early life, than in discovering the causes of appearances with which it is familiar, but for which it knows not how to account. A boy observes that his top spins as long as it is kept in motion; tell him, when he asks you why it does so, that it is the nature of all tops,' or that it spins because it is whipped,' and you lay the foundation for indifference or credulity. But if, instead of giving these foolish answers, you explain the real cause, and teach him to look out for similar examples of the operation of the laws of gravitation, you will probably be doing the faculty of judg ment a greater service than it could have received from the longest and most laborious task." p. 247.

Another very ample source of erroneous judgment is found to proceed from that arrogant confidence which frequently attends the consciousness of quickness of parts. Miss H.'s arguments here are too pertinent and impressive to be omitted; she says, "All mothers wish their children to be distinguished by a quick capacity; but dearly do they sometimes pay for the accomplishment of this wish! Soon does the child perceive the mother's incapability of affording it information. She seeks to engage its affections by indulgence-by indulgence it learns to despise her authority. She is solicitous for the improvement of the genius in which she glories; every step which the child advances in the path of knowledge, is a degradation to the mother in its esteem. Her admonitions are without weight, her injunctions without authority. If it be a son whom she thus sees exalted to a superior, she

may, perhaps, be proud to acknowledge the superiority; and though she feels herself neglected and despised, rejoice in the world's acknowledging her son for a man of genius; but if it be a daughter, whom she has thus taught to look down upon her, deep and many will be the wounds of her heart.' p. 248, 249.

"Another source of error, concerning which it behoves us to be upon our guard, is that disposition to rest upon authority, which, if we do not take care to prevent it, may spring from that confidence in our superior wisdom and knowledge, which it is essential that the pupil should possess.

"It requires, I confess, great delicacy of conduct to impress the pupil with perfect confidence in our judgment, and at the same time to lead him to exert his own as if he had no such authority to rely upon."

To promote this principle, the following exemplification is used as a motive." This reliance upon authority is represented by some writers as the very essence of female virtue.

GoD is thy law-thou mine; to know no

more,

Is woman's happiest knowledge, and her praise,'

So said Milton, but so said not a higher authority than Milton, when in emphatic language he commended the better part' taken by Mary, who, not contented with hearing the words of truth and wisdom at second hand, gave her whole soul to the attentive consideration of the divine doctrines it was her happiness to hear delivered. According to the common prejudices of society, the praise was Martha's due. Her attention was solely directed to the objects within her proper sphere. Enough for her to hear the heads of her divine master's discourse related by her brother, on whose better judgment she might implicitly rely for explanation of all it was necessary for her to believe or practise. And so certain was she of acting with propriety, that, confident of her own superior merit, she did not scruple to appeal to our Lord upon what she thought the faulty conduct of her sister. The rebuke she received establishes it not only as a privilege, but as a duty, in the sex, to hear, to inquire, and to judge for themselves. The contrary is evidently Anti-Chris

tian doctrine; and, like all others of the same stamp, is found by experi ence to be repugnant to the principles of common sense.

"To the being who is taught to receive all opinions from authority, judgment is an useless gift. In such beings, therefore, judginent will lie for ever dormant; and without judgment, how is she to choose the authorities that are to be her guide? If her early associations of good and evil have been erroneous, they must remain erroneous for ever; for it is by these associations that her choice of authorities will be directed. If the clearest, the most momentous truth be delivered from a quarter, against which she has been preju diced, the truth is contemned as falsehood. If the most flagrant and fatal error has been embraced by the authority she esteems, she receives it as truth of holy writ'." p. 256-260.

Letter IX. Further Illustrations on the Method of cultivating the Judgment. -Education of the lower Orders.Religious Instructions of the Poor and of the Rich.

An explanation of the nature and use of those things which are within the sphere of the observation of the children of the lower order, is recommended as a principal mean for their instruction. The use of the Scriptures is enjoined, as of high importance in the instruction, both of the rich and of the poor, selecting and explaining such parts as are suitable to the apprehension of children, and calculated to impress the mind with ideas of the wisdom, power, and goodness of God manifested throughout the works of creation. On this interesting subject is the following reasoning: "As we do not profess to have one religion for the poor and another for the rich, whatever upon this subject applies to one class applies to all. It was the emphatic description given by our Saviour to prove his divine mission, that to the poor the gospel was preached, and by the poor it was ordained, in the wisdom of Providence, that the glad tidings of salvation should be first dispensed throughout the world.

"Before our religion the distinctions formed by human pride vanish; in its presence worldly pomp and world. ly honours are annihilated. Stript of his adventitious greatness, man

appears as he is: whatever be his station, the frail child of dust!-however humble his lot, the heir of immortality!

While all those ideas of equality, which philosophical or interested speculatists have endeavoured to establish,tend to inspire hatred,envy, pride, and discontent, the equality taught by the Gospel inspires the purest benevolence. It teaches humility to the rich, and contentment to the poor; and fraternizes (if I may so express myself) the human race." p. 287, 288.

Letter X. IMAGINATION AND TASTE. Imagination defined. Necessity of its Operations being guided by Judgment.-Illustrations.—Definition of Taste.--Mistakes concerning the Culvation of this Faculty.-Union of Conception and Judgment essential to its Cultivation. Illustrations.

Miss Hamilton's definition of imagination. By imagination, in the sense to which I have confined my self, is understood that power of the mind, which is exerted in form ing new combinations of ideas. The power of calling up at pleasure any particular class of ideas is properly denominated fancy. A creative imagination implies not only the power of fancy, but judgment, abstraction, and taste. Where these are wanting, the flights of imagination are little better than the ravings of a lunatic." #.301, 302.

Among the illustrations of this subject we present the following to our readers: To produce a work of genius, the power of imagination must be possessed in a very eminent degree; but unless a certain portion of the same imagination be possessed by the reader, the works of genius will never be perused with delight. Nothing can be relished but in proportion as it is understood; and thoroughly to understand an author, we must be able, with the rapidity of thought, to enter into all his associations. This can never be done by those who possess a very limited stock of ideas. The beautiful allusions, which at once illustrate and adorn the works of the learned, are lost upon those who are unacquainted with classical literature; and we may be assured, that many of the beauties of the antient orators and poets, are in like manner lost upon the learned of our days, from their ignorance of

the associations which produced them. A small number of ideas will, indeed, suffice to pursue a simple narrative, and accordingly we find that narrative, either of real or fictitious events, is the only sort of reading which is relished by the uncultivated mind. Do we wish to inspire a taste for studies of a higher order? Then let us lay a solid foundation for such a taste, in the cultivation of all those faculties which are necessary to the proper exercise of the imagination. Let us by the exercise of the reasoning powers, as well as of the conception and the judgment, produce that arrangement in the ideas, which is alike favourable to invention and to action. In such minds the trains of associated ideas are, if I may so express myself, harmonized by truth. The ideas being numerous, distinct, and just, are called up in proper order; and as arrangement in our associations is the true key of memory, every idea that is wanted obeys the call of will. It is then that the power of imagination comes forth to irradiate the mind, and to give a new zest to the charm of existence. The combinations which it then presents, arranged by judgment, selected by taste, and elevated by the sublime ideas of divine perfection, give an exercise to all the intellectual powers.' p. 307-309.

Our author describes taste as the peculiar privilege to perceive and to enjoy whatever is beautiful or sublime in the works of nature or of art; and in pursuing the subject, observes, that "The more deeply we examine this curious subject, the more fully shall we be convinced, that the emotions of taste entirely depend on the train of ideas which are called up in the mind, by certain objects of perception. If the mind has not been previously furnished with a store of ideas that can be thus associated, the finest objects of sublimity or beauty will never give a pleasurable scnsation to the breast. They may be viewed with wonder, with admiration, but will never produce emotions of sublimity or beauty.

"The above observations may be further illustrated, by reflecting on the manner in which a taste for the beauties of the material world, and for the beauties of poetry, enhance each other. A young mind, accus tomed to the contemplation of rural