without his being able to distinguish his right hand from his left, the eyes of his understanding would be open to reason at your first lesson; void both of habit and prejudice, he would have nothing in him to operate against your endeavours; soon under your instructions he would become the wisest of men. Thus, by setting out with doing nothing, you would produce a prodigy of education.'*

Exercise his body, his senses, faculties, powers, but keep his mind inactive as long as possible. Distrust all the sentiments he acquires, previous to the judgment which should enable him to scrutinise them. Prevent or restrain all foreign impressions; and in order to hinder the rise of evil, be not in too great a hurry to instil good: for it is only such when the mind is enlightened by reason. Look upon every delay as an advantage: it is gaining a great deal to advance without losing anything. Let childhood ripen in children. In short, whatever lesson becomes necessary for them take care not to give them to-day, if it may be deferred without danger till to-morrow.'†

'Do not, then, alarm yourself much about this apparent idleness. What would you say of the man,

⋆ La première éducation doit donc être purement négative. Elle consiste, non point à enseigner la vertu ni la vérité, mais à garantir le cœur du vice et l'esprit de l'erreur. Si vous pouviez ne rien faire et ne rien laisser faire; si vous pouviez amener votre élève sain et robuste à l'âge de douze ans, sans qu'il sût distinguer sa main droite de sa main gauche, dès vos premières leçons les yeux de son entendement s'ouvriraient à la raison; sans préjugés, sans habitudes, il n'aurait rien en lui qui pût contrarier l'effet de vos soins. Bientôt il deviendrait entre vos mains le plus sage des hommes; et, en commençant par ne rien faire, vous auriez fait un prodige d'éducation.

+ Exercez son corps, ses organes, ses sens, ses forces, mais tenez soh

who, in order to make the most of life, should determine never to go to sleep? You would say, The man is mad: he is not enjoying the time; he is depriving himself of it: to avoid sleep he is hurrying towards death. Consider, then, that it is the same here, and that childhood is the sleep of reason.'*

Such is the groundwork of Rousseau's educational scheme. His ideal boy, of twelve years old, is to be a thoroughly well-developed animal, with every bodily sense trained to its highest perfection. His ideas,' says Rousseau, are confined, but clear; he knows nothing by rote, but a great deal by experience. If he reads less well than another child in our books, he reads better in the book of Nature. His understanding does not lie in his tongue, but in his brain he has less memory than judgment; he can speak only one language, but then he understands what he says; and although he may not talk of things so well as others, he will do them much better. He knows nothing at all of custom, fashion, or habit; what he

;

âme oisive aussi longtemps qu'il se pourra. Redoutez tous les sentiments antérieurs au jugement qui les apprécie. Retenez, arrêtez les impressions étrangères: et, pour empêcher le mal de naître, ne vous pressez point de faire le bien; car il n'est jamais tel que quand la raison l'éclaire. Regardez tous les délais comme des avantages: c'est gagner beaucoup que d'avancer vers le terme sans rien perdre; laissez mûrir l'enfance dans les enfants. Enfin quelque leçon leur devient-elle nécessaire, gardez-vous de la donner aujourd'hui, si vous pouvez différer jusqu'à demain sans danger.

* Effrayez-vous donc peu de cette oisiveté prétendue. Que diriezvous d'un homme qui, pour mettre toute la vie à profit, ne voudrait jamais dormir? Vous diriez: Cet homme est insensé; il ne jouit pas du temps, il se l'ôte; pour fuir le sommeil il court à la mort. Songez donc que c'est ici la même chose, et que l'enfance est le sommeil de la raison.

did yesterday has no influence on what he is to do to-day; he follows no formula, is influenced by no authority or example, but acts and speaks just as it suits him. Do not, then, expect from him set discourses or studied manners, but always the faithful expression of his ideas, and the conduct which springs naturally from his inclinations.'* Furthermore, this model child looks upon all men as equal, and will ask assistance from a king as readily as from a foot-boy. He does not understand what a command is, but will readily do anything for another person, in order to place that person under an obligation, and so increase his own rights. He knows also no distinction between work and play. As a climax to this list of wonders, I may add that his imagination has remained inactive, and he only sees what is true in reality.

The reader will probably have concluded, by this time, that no child can possibly be so educated as to resemble Émile, and, perhaps, further, that no, wise father would so educate his son, if it were possible. A child who does not understand what a command is, and who can be induced to do anything for

Ses idées sont bornées, mais nettes; s'il ne sait rien par cœur, il sait beaucoup par expérience; s'il lit moins bien qu'un autre enfant dans nos livres, il lit mieux dans celui de la nature; son esprit n'est pas dans sa langue, mais dans sa tête; il a moins de mémoire que de jugement; il ne sait parler qu'un langage, mais il entend ce qu'il dit; et s'il ne dit pas si bien que les autres disent, en revanche il fait mieux qu'ils ne font. Il ne sait ce que c'est que routine, usage, habitude; ce qu'il fit hier n'influe point sur ce qu'il fait aujourd'hui: il ne suit jamais de formule, ne cède point à l'autorité ni à l'exemple, et n'agit ni ne parle que comme il lui convient. Ainsi, n'attendez pas de lui des discours dictés ni des manières étudiées, mais toujours l'expression fidèle de ses idées et la conduite qui naît de ses penchants.

THREE KINDS OF EDUCATION.

103

another only by the prospect of laying that person under an obligation; who has no habits, and is guided merely by his inclinations-such a child as this is, fortunately, nothing but a dream of Rousseau's. But fantastical as Rousseau often is, the reader of his Émile' is struck again and again, not more by the charm of his language than by his insight into child-nature, and the wisdom of his remarks upon it. The Émile is a large work, and the latter part is interesting rather from a literary and philosophical point of view, than as it is connected with education. I purpose, therefore, confining my attention to the earlier portion of the book, and giving some of the passages, of which a great deal since said and written on education has been a comparatively insipid decoction.

,

'All things are good, as their Creator made them, but everything degenerates in the hands of man.'* These are the first words of the Émile,' and the keynote of Rousseau's philosophy.

'We are born weak, we have need of strength; we are born destitute of everything, we have need of assistance; we are born stupid, we have need of understanding. All that we are not possessed of at our birth, and which we require when grown up, is bestowed on us by education.

"This education we receive from nature, from men, or from things. The internal development of our organs and faculties is the education of nature: the use we are taught to make of that development is

*Tout est bien, sortant des mains de l'Auteur des choses; tout dégénère entre les mains de l'homme.

the education given us by men; and in the acquisitions made by our own experience on the objects that surround us, consists our education from things.** 'Since the concurrence of these three kinds of education is necessary to their perfection, it is by that one which is entirely independent of us, we must regulate the two others.' +

Now to live is not merely to breathe; it is to act, it is to make use of our organs, our senses, our faculties, and of all those parts of ourselves which give us the feeling of our existence. The man who has lived most, is not he who has counted the greatest number of years, but he who has most thoroughly felt life.' +

The aim of education, then, must be complete living.

But ordinary education (and here for a moment I am expressing my own conviction, and not simply

* Nous naissons faibles, nous avons besoin de forces; nous naissons dépourvus de tout, nous avons besoin d'assistance; nous naissons stupides, nous avons besoin de jugement. Tout ce que nous n'avons pas à notre naissance, et dont nous avons besoin étant grands, nous est donné par l'éducation. Cette éducation nous vient ou de la nature, ou des hommes, ou des choses. Le développement interne de nos facultés et de nos organes est l'éducation de la nature; l'usage qu'on nous apprend à faire de ce développement est l'éducation des hommes; et l'acquis de notre propre expérience sur les objets qui nous affectent est l'éducation des choses.

+ Puisque le concours des trois éducations est nécessaire à leur perfection, c'est sur celle à laquelle nous ne pouvons rien qu'il faut diriger les deux autres.

Vivre ce n'est pas respirer, c'est agir; c'est faire usage de nos organes, de nos sens, de nos facultés, de toutes les parties de nous-mêmes qui nous donnent le sentiment de notre existence. L'homme qui a le plus vécu n'est pas celui qui a compté le plus d'années, mais celui qui a le plus senti la vie.