Tea end of education is to render the individual, as much as possible, an instrument of happiness, first to himself, and next to other beings.
The properties, by which he is fitted to become an instrument to this end, are, partly, those of the body, and, partly, those of the mind.
Happiness depends upon the condition of the Body, either immediately, as where the bodily powers are exerted for the attainment of some good ; or mediate ly, through the mind, as where the condition of the body affects the qualities of the mind.
Education, in the sense in which itis usually taken, and in which it shall here be used, denotes the means which may be employed to render the mind, as far as possible, an operative cause of happiness. The mode in which the body may be rendered the most fit for operating as an instrument of happiness is ge nerally considered as a different species of inquiry, and is thought to belong to physicians and others, who study the means of perfecting the bodily powers.
Education, then, in the sense in which we are now receiving it, may be defined, the best employment of all the means which can be made use of by man, for rendering the human mind to the greatest possible degree the cause of human happiness. Every thing, therefore, which operates, from the first germ of ex istence, to the final extinction of life, in such a man ner as to affect those qualities of the mind on which happiness in any degree depends, comes within the scope of the present inquiry. The grand question of education embraces nothing less than this—namely, What can be done by the human powers, by aid of all the means which are at human diaposal, to render the human mind the instrument of the greatest de gree of happiness ? It is evident, therefore, that nothing, of any kind, which operates at any period of life, however early, or however late, ought to be left out of the account. Happiness is too pre cious an effect, to let any cause of it, however small, run to waste and be lost. The means of human hap piness are not so numerous that any of them can be spared. Not to turn every thing to account, is here, if any where,_ bad economy, in the most emphatical sense of the phrase.
The field, it will easily be seen, is exceedingly com prehensive. It is everywhere, among enlightened men, a subject of the deepest complaint, that the business of education is i11 performed ; and that, in this which might have been supposed the most in teresting of all human concerns, the practical pro ceedings remain far behind the actual state of the human mind. It may be remarked, that, notwith
standing all that has been written on the subject, even the theory of education has not kept pace with the progress of philosophy; and it is unhappily true, that the practice remains to a prodigious distance be hind the theory. One reason why the theory, or the combination of ideas which the present state of know ledge might afford for improving the business of edu cation, remains so imperfect, probably is, that the writers have taken but a partial view of the subject; in other words, the greater number have mistaken a part of it for the whole. And another reason of not less importance is, that they have generally content ed themselves with vague ideas of the object or end to which education is only useful as means. One grand purpose of the present inquiry will be to ob viate all these mistakes ; and, if not to exhibit that comprehensive view, which we think is desirable, but to which our limits are wholly inadequate; at any rate, to conduct the reader into that train of thought which will lead him to observe for himself the ulti mate boundaries of the field; and, conceiving more accurately the end, to form a better estimate of what is desirable as the means.
1. It has been remarked, that every thing, from the first germ of existence to the final extinction of life, which operates in such a manner as to affect those qualities of the mind on which happiness in any degree depends, comes within the scope of the present inquiry. Those circumstances may be all, according to the hackneyed division, arranged un der two heads : They are either Physical or Moral ; meaning by Physical, those of a material nature, which operate more immediately upon the material part of the frame; by Moral, those of a mental na ture, which operate more immediately upon the mental part of the frame. What are those physical and moral circumstances which may be made to operate upon the mind in such a manner as to ren der it a better instrument or cause of happiness, is, therefore, one object of the present inquiry, 2. In order to know in what manner things ope, rate upon the mind, it is necessary to know how the mind is constructed. Quicjuid recipitur, recipitur ad modum recipientis. This is the old aphorism, and no where more applicable than to the present case. If you attempt to act upon the mind, in ways not adapted to its nature, the least evil you incur is to lose your labour.