Page:Home Education by Isaac Taylor (1838).djvu/25

 by the means of a well-digested system of slow culture, such as, while it animates without expending the early forces of the mind, makes preparation, during the former half of the entire period of education, for the exercises and labours of the latter half.

The full conviction I entertain of the possibility of greatly enhancing the intelligence of individuals, and so that of the community, by giving effect to the principle now spoken of, has been a main motive in impelling me to undertake the present work.

The practical decision which a teacher will be required to come to, when he has made his choice between a hastened and a delayed system of development, must relate principally to the three following questions, namely,—What is it which, at certain stages of the process of education, should be taught, and what is better held in reserve Secondly, How far, in each department of knowledge, when it has been taken on the list, should instruction be carried beyond the rudiments? And lastly, Which of the faculties is it that ought, in compliance with the order of nature, to be early cultivated, or aided in its spontaneous expansion, and which should be held in check, or at least not elicited until a more advanced period?

Now it is the last of these three questions that is at once the .most important, and the most difficult; and in seeking guidance on this. ground it must be confessed that very little comes to our hand that is distinct and practical. Much more has been said and written concerning the things that are to be taught, and the method of teaching them, than concerning the faculties of the mind that are to be trained, and the natural order of their development. In suggesting, as I shall have to do in the following chapters, various hints on this subject, I hope to observe the caution proper to one who is advancing upon a path not much trodden.