Review: Book on the Soul. By Rev. T. H. Gallaudet [pp. 145-157]

Book on the Soul.
faculties may be invigorated, and habits of distinct and correct thinking established. It is, in our estimation, a common and pernicious error in education, that the first and
principal object should be to store the mind with knowledge:
for the chief end at which we should aim is, to prepare
it for the acq,lisition of lktnowledge. Until the faculties are
developed, exercised, and invigorated, the communication of
knowledge, to any consi(leral)le extent, is impossible. The
menmory may, indeed, be loaded with ideas on a great variety
of subjects; but this is not the vway to acquire useful knowledge: The mere accumulation of ideas in the memory,
tends rather to weaken than to strengthen the mind. Even
the best books are in a great measure useless, until the mind,
by various exercises, becomes so disciplined, as to be susceptible of improvement from the writings of profound thinkers. Injudicious parents are often misled on this point.
They hear a particular author extolled b)y persons in whose
judgment they repose great confidence; and without considering the age or improvement of their children, they insist
upon their studying the work which has been so highly recommended. Even grave instructers often faill into this error, and put into the hands of children, books which, however excellent at a future period, can be of no mannef use
at the present. We have k vowxn a case, where a ioy of
twelve years of age, feeling a desire to begin a course of useful reading, upon applying to his reverend instructer, had
the Tatler put into his hands, which'e found he could neither understand nor relish. In going into the house of a friend,
we observed a little girl poring oeve;' an octavo volume; and
upon inquiry, found that she was studying "'Vv atts on the
Improvement of the Mind." Oftcni such works as Locke on
the Understanding and Butler's Analogy are read when they
can be of no real use to the pupil, andi when the only effect
produced is a distaste for those authors, which cannot after wards be overcome, without great difficulty. Education is
thus far a mere matter of experiment: and we are restricted
from making new experiments which might lead to impor tant discoveries, by the preciousness of the material on which
we operate. No man, who is wise, is xwiiiing that his son or
daughter should be conducted along some untried course, to
verify some new hypothesis. Still there are many empirics
who profess to work wonders with the human mind; and
there are parents foolish enough to credit their pretensions;
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