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of committing the like again, yet punishment must be inflicted, lest this instance of impunity should encourage other similar offenders. With regard to children, however, an intervening repentance, if sincere, may and ought to be allowed to avert the penalty.The writers then insist on the propriety and necessity of parents and tutors dispensing punishment with justice, uninfluenced by caprice or passion; and that the due measure of the punishment to be inflicted is the smallest possible degree of pain which can produce the required effect.

On the subject of rewards, we shall present our readers with a passage or two, which will perhaps better explain the principles and reasoning here urged, than any analysis which we can give.

Would you encourage benevolence, generosity, or prudence, let each have its appropriate reward of affection, esteem, and confidence ; but do not by ill-judged bounties attempt to force these virtues into premature display. The rewards which are usually given to benevolence and generosity in children frequently encourage selfishness, and sometimes teach them cunning. Lord Kaimes tells us a story, which is precisely a case in point. Two boys, the sons of the Earl of Elgin, were permitted by their father to associate with the poor boys in the neighbourhood. One day the Earl's sons being called to dinner, a lad who was playing with them, said that he would wait till they re. turned: "There is no dinner for me at home," said the poor boy. Come with us then,' said the Earl's sons. The boy refused; and when they asked him if he had any money to get a dinner, he answered, “No.”—"Papa," said the eldest of the young gentlemen when he got home, "what was the price of the silver buckles you gave me?" Five shillings.'"Let me have the money and I will give you the buckles." It was done accordingly, says Lord Kaimes. The Earl, inquiring privately, found that the money was given to the lad who had no dinner. The buckles were returned, and the boy was highly commended for being kind to his companion. The commendations were just, but the buckles should not have been returned: the boy should have been suffered steadily to abide by his own bargain; he should have been let feel the pleasure, and pay the exact price his own generosity. If we attempt to teach children that they can be generous, without giving up some of their own pleasures for the sake of other people, we attempt to teach them what is false. If we once make them amends for any sacrifice they have made, we lead them to expect the same commiseration upon a future occasion; and then in fact, they act with a direct view to their own interest, and govern themselves by the calculations of prudence, instead of following the dictates of benevolence.'

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In rewarding children for their prudential virtues, such as order, cleanliness, economy, temperance, &c. we should endea vour to make the rewards the immediate consequence of the virtues. themselves, and at the same time approbation should be shewn in.. speaking of these useful qualities. A gradation must however always REV. SEPT. 1799.

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be observed in our praises of different virtues; those that are the most useful to society, as truth, justice, and humanity, must stand the highest in the scale; those that are most agreeable claim the next place. Those good qualities, which must wait a considerable time for their reward, such as perseverance, prudence, &c. we must not expect early from young people. Till they have had experience, how can they form any idea about the future? till they have been punctually rewarded for their industry, or for their prudence, they do not feel the value of prudence and perseverance. Time is necessary to all these lessons, and those who leave time out in their calcu lations, will always be disappointed in whatever plan of education they may pursue.'

Chap. 1oth. SYMPATHY and SENSIBILITY.' Here the authors assume, with Dr. Adam Smith, that sympathy is the source of all our moral feelings: but, as this power, without the assistance and education of reason, would render us, if not as incapable of social intercourse as the man without sympathy, at least much more dangerous Beings to society, the present writers recommend great caution to parents in calling this power into action, and respecting the temptations to which they expose it. Above all things they recommend, as the best protection against those errors into which this power is apt to lead mankind, both in childhoo and in manhood, the cultivation of the understanding and of reason.

The remainder of this chapter is occupied with some very sensible animadversions on the absurdity and ill consequences of giving to children a sentimental education; that is, of attempting to develope the social affections by rules and precepts.

Charity to the poor is often inculcated in books for children; but how is this virtue to be actually brought into practice in childhood? Without proper objects of charity are selected by the parents, children have no opportunities of discovering them; they have not sufficient knowlege of the world to distinguish truth from falsehood in the complaints of the distressed; nor have they sufficiently enlarged views to discern the best means of doing good to their fellowcreatures. They may give away money to the poor, but they do not always feel the value of what they give; they give counters: supplied with all the necessaries and luxuries of life, they have no use for money, they feel no privation, they make no sacrifice in giving money a way, or at least none worthy to be extolled as heroic. When children grow up, they learn the value of money; their generosity will then cost them rather more effort, and yet can be rewarded only with the same expressions of gratitude, with the same blessings from the beggar or the same applause from the spectator. Let us put charity out of the question, and suppose that the generosity of children is displayed in making presents to their companions; still there are difficulties. These presents are usually baubles, which at best can enconrage only a frivolous taste. But we must further consider, that even generous

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generous children are apt to expect generosity equal to their own from their companions; then come tacit or explicit comparisons of the value or elegance of their respective gifts; the difficult rules of exchange and barter are to be learned; and nice calculations of tare and tret are entered into by the repentant borrower and lender: a senti mental too often ends in a commercial intercourse; and those who begin with the most munificent dispositions, sometimes end with selfish discontent, low cunning, or disgusting ostentation.'

Chap. 11th. VANITY, PRIDE, and AMBITION.' C In this chapter, the authors consider that every passion of the human breast, when under the proper control of reason, is capable of answering a good end. The utility of those which are the subject of this chapter, in the education of youth, must be obvious to all who have given a moment's reflection to the question. It is the business of the tutor to take care that he uses them with moderation, that he directs them to proper objects, and that he does not encourage them to grow beyond the limits of temperance and reason.

Chap. 12th. Books.' The remarks on this head are commenced with some observations on Mrs. Barbauld's Lessons for Children, and Berquin's Children's Friend. Some objectionable passages in the former, and some improper stories in the latter, are judiciously pointed out. The value of these well-received books is, however, justly appreciated. The practice of sifting books, before they are put into the hands of children, is strongly recommended: this may be done by cutting out, or obliterating, the passages which are not to be read; or, if the book be too valuable to undergo these hypercritical operations, it should be read only in the presence of the parent or tutor; or, if the child can be trusted, the passages which are not to be read may be marked with a pencil. Very strict habits of obedience, however, must be formed, before his curiosity may be safely exposed to such a temptation.-This practice is chiefly recommended on the principle, that children should be preserved from the knowlege of any vice or any folly, of which the idea has never yet entered their minds; and which they are not necessarily disposed to learn by early example.

'Children who have never lived with servants, who have never associated with ill educated companions of their own age, and who in their own family have heard nothing but good conversation, and scen none but good examples; will in their language, their manners, and their whole dispositions, be not only free from many of the faults common amongst children, but they will absolutely have no idea that there are such faults.-Such children should be sedulously kept from contagion; their minds are untainted; they are safe in that species of ignorance which can alone deserve the name of bliss. No books should be put into the hands of this happy class of children but such

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as present the best models of virtue; there is no occasion to shock them with caricatures of vice. Such caricatures they will not even understand to be well drawn, because they are unacquainted with any thing like the originals. Examples to deter them from faults to which they have no propensity, must be useless, and may be dangerous. The love of novelty and of imitation is so strong in children, that even for the pleasure of imitating characters described in a book, or actions which strike them as singular, they often commit real faults.'

These remarks apply principally to children who have been privately educated with regard to pupils intended for a public school, a great nicety in the selection of their books is obviously annecessary. Of sentimental stories, the authors recommend a sparing use, especially in the education of females;

Because, this species of reading cultivates what is called the heart prematurely, lowers the tone of the mind, and induces indifference for those common pleasures and occupations, which, however trivial in themselves, constitute by far the greatest portion of our daily happiness. And besides the danger of creating a romantic taste, there is reason to believe, that this species of reading has an effect directly opposite to what it is intended to produce. It diminishes, instead of increasing, the sensibility of the heart; a combination of romantic imagery is requisite to act upon the associations of sentimental people, and they are virtuous only when virtue is in perfectly good taste.'

Voyages and travels, such as Robinson Crusoe and the three Russian Sailors, should not be early chosen for boys of an enterprising temper, unless they are intended for a seafaring life, or for the army.-Natural history is a study particularly recommended to children, as cultivating their talents for observation, and applying to objects which are within their reach, and are every day interesting to them.-On the subject of historical reading, the authors are of opinion that the plainest chronicles, which contain no political tenet or dogma, are the best histories for children; and that their acquisition of historical knowlege might with great advantage be aided by occasional explanations in conversation, by prints, or by a display of the most distinguished personages in a magic lanthorn, or by the Ombres chinoises. This part of the discussion is interspersed with some very intelligent observations on the false ideas of individual and national character, contained in some even of the best abridgments of history for children.

The remainder of this chapter is occupied by criticisms on the Abbé Condillac's Cours d'étude pour l'instruction du Prince de Parme; in the course of which remarks, the authors ex

*Sec M. Rev. vol. liv. p. 322.

plain their own ideas on the use of metaphysical, poetical, and
critical works, in early education.
[To be continued.]

O.Wood....e.

ART. XV. A Translation of the New Testament from the Original Greck; humbly attempted by Nathaniel Scarlett, assisted by Men of Piety and Literature; with Notes. 8vo. 14s. Boards, on superfine Paper. On fine Paper, 12mo. 10s. 6d. On Common, 6. Sold by the Author, No. 349, Strand, and by Rivingtons. 1798.

IN the present advanced state of biblical knowlege, it is anne

cessary to introduce a work of this kind to the notice of our readers with any general remarks on its importance and utility. Every attempt to recommend and facilitate an acquaintance with the scriptures, and particularly with the New Testament, deserves encouragement; and the publication before us possesses a degree, of merit in this respect, which claims peculiar attention. The Editor informs us, in an advertisement prefixed, that

He has for many years been engaged in this work, in which he has attempted to make many improvements; and whilst he has endeavoured to express the sence of the original in modern language, he has taken care to avoid the two extremes of being too servile and literal on the one hand, and too paraphrastic on the other. Atten tion has been paid to the punctuation, cadence, and other improve. ments which the English language has acquired, since the common translation was made, near two centuries ago.'

Of the principal alterations and improvements introduced into this translation, and of the new plan on which it has been conducted, the Editor has given a brief account in the preface. In some cases, he has merely transposed the order of the words which occur in a sentence; and in others, by the change of a single word, or by a different punctuation, he has altered the sense of particular passages. In the selection of words of the same import, he has adopted those, especially at the close of a period, which favour the cadence, anh are most harmonious to the ear. Obsolete words, and those which seem to be redundant, are omitted; and the Greek particles are variously translated, according to the scope of the context, and as nearly as possible to the English idiom.

The Greek language,' it is observed, admits of an artificial order in the words of a sentence, which the English language does not allow. The Greek text, however, is here rendered as literally as the genius of the two languages would permit; and, where it could be done to any advantage, in the order which the corresponding words and clauses hold in the original. Where this can be done consistently

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