Page:Home Education by Isaac Taylor (1838).djvu/154

 unsound logic of the teacher: a moment's pause, on his part, might enable him, as well to correct a personal error, as to save his pupil an unmerited reproof.

If there be room to hope that mankind will, in a coming age, reach a more advanced position on the road of genuine wisdom, than has as yet been attained, so desirable an event is likely to be favoured by a greater care, on the part of teachers, in managingth emanaging the [sic] first spontaneous expansion of the reasoning faculty. Too often the worst prejudices are authoritatively forced upon the young, which the feeble-minded retain through life as shackles; but which the strong resentfully throw off, to the peril of all faith and principle.

An intelligent agent is capable of liberty only so far as he possesses some excess of force, available at his discretion. But we have just said that this excess is proportionately greater during the years of adolescence, than at any other time of life: the capability of liberty therefore must be so much the greater; and the question is—How far it may be safely indulged. At school, absolute restraint, and absolute liberty, or something like it, take their turns in the course of every day. But at home, the two elements are mingled more, and are together spread over all hours; a greater range of discretion being allowed during seasons of restraint, and rather more restraint being imposed during intervals of liberty. Yet this intermixture would in itself tend to break down a little the force of the mind, or to render the habits indefinite, if it were not compensated by eliciting some higher motives of conduct; such as may render it safe to grant to the home-bred youth a much wider scope than is allowed to the school-boy, of the same standing. There must be more license, counterpoised by more principle; and thus a degree of steadiness of character may be secured, which is to come in the place of the school-boy's rude energy. At home we cannot have precisely