Page:The Mothers of England.djvu/57

52 as if he had accomplished a drawing of his own, however rude and unattractive to the mere observer.

It seems rather hard upon mothers who have never acquired the art of drawing, even in the humblest manner, to urge this point so strongly; and there are probably few who have not, on reading the valuable remarks on this subject contained in "Home Education," felt painfully their own incapacity for carrying out the admirable system there laid down; but if, because this generation is peculiarly defective in one branch of learning, the next must inevitably remain so too, we are indeed in a hopeless condition; and I write at the greater length on this subject, because I believe, that most persons who never draw, are under great misapprehensions as to the talent or faculty required to enable them to do so. Hence they complain that they have no taste, which generally means that they have no inclination, for drawing; and this no doubt arises from their not being convinced of its extensive utility; nor, in the case of women, of the boundless resources it will place within their reach, if ever they should have children to amuse and instruct. Others again complain of their want of talent, which arises from their never having been taught in the right manner; for as all persons can be taught to write that is, with greater or less facility, so there is no doubt but all persons could be taught to draw simple, distinct, and familiar objects, if they were not, by the process of instruction, pushed on too rapidly to obvious and immediate results. Perfection in the art either of drawing or painting, so as to design with taste, and execute with effect, is a totally different matter—an art belonging unquestionably to the distinguished few, and the practice of which would in most cases be obviously at variance with the duties of a mother.

In conducting the affairs of the nursery, it is of essential importance to understand that the minds of children must always be at work. As it is necessary to the bodily health of an infant that it should always be in motion except when asleep, and as nature has provided for this requirement by a perpetual restlessness, often complained of by those who are unacquainted with its relative advantages; so the mind is perpetually using, in some way or other,