From this circumstance one of the two following conclusions must be drawn; either that the system of education pursued in the higher schools is very faulty and imperfect, or that the fears of those persons are entire groundless.
If the first be true, then it cannot be denied that the consequences feared by the richer classes must necessarily take place, if, either from prejudice or apathy, they continue the same faulty and imperfect method of education, which, by the expression of these fears, they positively declare is usually pursued in the higher schools; but the remedy is easy. Let the same good principles of tuition be introduced into nurseries, and into those schools to which the children of the rich are sent, and the latter will not fail to maintain their patrimonial ranks in society. They need then have no fear least the poorer classes should become too intellectual, but, on the contrary, they will soon find that their own welfare, security, and happiness will not only be insured, but will increase in proportion as the poorer classes gain knowledge; for by the method of instruction pursued in the Infant Schools, the knowledge there acquired is necessarily accompanied by the practice of industry, sobriety, honesty, benevolence, and mutual kindness; in fine, by all the moral and religious virtues.
That the system of instruction recommended in the foregoing pages is equally applicable to the children of the rich as to those of the poor, there can be no doubt; and it might be adopted either in schools established on its principles or in the nursery. It is, indeed, obvious that it might be carried to a much greater extent, where the means of so doing would not be wanting. Many things might be taught, which it is neither advisable nor practicable to teach in the schools established for the instruction of poor children.
Whilst the elements of number, form, and language, may be taught by the means and after the manner recommended in the preceding chapters on the respective subjects, there are other branches of knowledge which might enter into the scope of nursery instruction with great advantage to the children.
As an introduction to botany, I would make the children acquainted with the progress of vegetation, not from words, but from observation. I would have three or four garden-pots filled with mould, introduced into the nursery at a proper season of the year; the children should be asked, what is in the pots.—"Dirt," or "mould," will of course be the reply. They should then be shewn the seeds which are to be deposited in the mould, and assuming in the eyes of the children a prophetic character, the mother or governess should inform them of the process of vegetation, and that about a certain time a pretty flower will make its appearance in the pots: the seeds should then be deposited in the mould, and the pots placed in a proper situation. It would not be improper to let the children themselves sow the seed; thus convincing them of their power of being useful, and becoming the instrument of so great a wonder, as the transformation of a seed into a flower. During the time the seed is lying unperceived beneath the mould, the children should frequently be sent to look "if the pretty flower has come up," or questioned as to what they were told concerning it. At length the green shoot will make its appearance, just peeping above the mould, to the no small surprise and gratification of the little observers. They will mark with attentive eagerness the progress of its growth, the appearance of the bud, and the gradual development of "the pretty flower," till they are fully convinced of the wisdom of the parent or teacher who foretold all which has happened, and made acquainted with the process of vegetation, not from words, but from observation. Certain it is, that such a lesson could not be wholly useless. In the first place it might be made the means of impressing them with ideas of the Almighty power, highly conducive to piety; secondly, it would beget a habit of observation; thirdly, it would be likely to produce a love of flowers and the vegetable world, favourable to their future pursuits in the science of botany; and, lastly, it would inspire their little breasts with a love and respect for the parents or teachers who were wise and kind enough to teach them so many true and wonderful things.
As an efficient and amusing introduction to natural history, I would have every nursery provided with a microscope, by means of which the minds of the children might be excited to wonder and admiration at the amazing beauty and perfection of the insect world, and the astonishing construction of various substances, as seen through this instrument. So far would this be from begetting habits of cruelty, that it would be very likely to check them. Many children who would be loath to torture a large animal, such as a cat, a dog, or a bird, feel no compunction at ill-using a fly, because it appears to them so insignificant an animal; but had they once witnessed, by means of a microscope, the wonderful and perfect conformation of the insect, I am persuaded they would be less inclined to make the distinction.
Various devices might be made use of to teach the first truths of astronomy. So simple a device as an apple, with a wire run through its centre, turned round before a candle, might serve to explain the phenomena of day and night; whilst the orrery, with the accompaniment of a simple and familiar lecture—(it should be much more so, indeed, than any I have heard or read)—would make them acquainted with those stupendous facts which strike us with as astonishment and awe. It has been well observed by Dr. Young, with respect to the wonders of astronomy—
"In little things we search out God—in great
He seizes us."
One thing I would here notice—that it should be a constant practice to remind the children, that in the apple and the orrery, they see only a resemblance to the earth and the heavenly bodies, that they are vast in size and distance, beyond their comprehension; at the same time leading them to an actual observation of the heavens by means of a telescope. This would be a high treat to the children, and productive of correct notions, which are but too apt to be lost where we are under the necessity of teaching by signs so infinitely unlike, in size and nature, as the candle and the apple, and the brass balls and wires of the orrery, to the earth and the heavenly orbs.
For giving the children their first lessons in geography, I would have a floor-cloth in every nursery, painted like a map, but of course not filled up so perfectly as maps for adults necessarily are. It should contain a correct delineation of the position of a certain space of the globe, we will say, for instance, of England; let the children then be told to proceed from a certain spot, to go through certain counties, towns, &c., and to fetch a piece of cloth from Yorkshire, or a knife from Sheffield, cheese from Cheshire, butter from Dorset, or lace from Huntingdonshire, &c., &c. The lessons thus given would be at once amusing and instructive both to the governess and children. If preferred, these maps might be painted of a less size, to cover a table. No difficulty would be found to get a set of such table-covers or floor-cloths painted, if the public would once encourage the plan.