Page:The Cottagers of Glenburnie - Hamilton (1808).djvu/406

 and sagacity than the males of the same age; and could no otherwise account for this, than by supposing that their education had been more neglected. This, as far as schooling was concerned, was not the case; but while the boys, by being constantly engaged either in observing the operations that were going on without doors, or in assisting in them, had their attention exercised, and their observation called forth, the girls, till able to spin, were without object or occupation. After the first week, the labour of the wheel became mechanical, and required no exertion of the mental faculties. The mind, therefore, remained inert, and the power of perception, from being so long dormant, became at length extinct. The habits acquired by such beings were not easily to be changed; for nothing is so intractable as stupidity. But Mrs Mason having discovered the root of the disease, judiciously applied the proper remedies. It was her first care to endeavour to rouse