TO DEAR SIR, BARON DE MACKAU, THIS Essay, which I beg to dedicate to you, is the development of the ideas I expressed at your hospitable château of Villepatour, when we were conversing on the best means of educating our children. If it assist in improving the present system of instruction, the greater share of the credit will be due to you; for it owes its existence to your kind and reiterated encouragement. Education, whose noble office is to aid and direct the free agency of man, could not have a truer patron than the philanthropist, the enlightened minister, who laid the basis of the emancipation of slaves in the French colonies. In all ages, in all climes, for nations as for individuals, ignorance is identified with slavery, and education with liberty. I have the honour to be, Dear Sir, Your devoted and respectful servant, C. MARCEL. "When Doctrine meets with general approbation, It is not heresy but reformation."-D. GARRICK.* LANGUAGE, of all subjects, deserves attention. Its acquisition commences in the cradle; its practical application terminates only in death. On its perfection depends that of all human knowledge. Through it alone can social enjoyment be had and mental acquirement be made. It need not, therefore, excite surprise, that the most eminent writers and philosophers have suggested means for the acquisition of languages. But, judicious as have been many of the suggestions, their application has not always proved successful; and diversities in method daily increase, because the fundamental principles of the study of languages have not yet been laid down. The process of their acquisition remains, to the present, partial and exclusive. The greatest obstacle to improvement is the apathy not only of teachers, but of those who ought to feel most interested in the progress of education,-parents and rulers. "Custom," says Rollin, "often exercises over minds a sort of tyranny which keeps them in bondage and hinders the use of reason, which, in these matters, is a surer guide than example, however authorised by time." + Owing to the baneful influence of traditional routine, the science of education has advanced but slowly: prevalent systems of instruction and popular modes of teaching languages have, with few exceptions, been founded in total disregard of the structure of mind and the wants of society. It is only lately that the true basis of educational science has been recognised to lie in the • Epigram to Quin. + Traité des Etudes, Liv. i. c. 3. constitution of man, his faculties and social relations. We endeavour, in accordance with this progress, to apply the principles of physiology and psychology to intellectual pursuits and, in particular, to the study of language. Entering, therefore, upon our subject with a rapid sketch of the physical, moral, and intellectual organisation of man, we infer the general principles on which a rational method of instruction ought to be founded. From the natural progress of civilisation the arts and sciences have assumed an importance which they did not possess some centuries back, when classical studies reigned paramount. This fact led us to introduce a general summary of the acquirements which a complete education should comprise, in order to attach to these studies their relative importance, and thereby determine the branches of learning and the departments of language most required at the present day. Until now materials were wanting for this task. It is only in an age like the present, when the highest intelligences have investigated the nature and resources of mind as also the various departments of knowledge, that one could hope, with the aid of these investigations, to bring instruction to a comprehensive and uniform system. The favourable position in which we are placed by the present state of educational science, emboldens us to attack the routine and the prejudices which cramp classical instruction, both as regards the objects and the methods of study. We, consequently, in the First Part of this essay, lay down the principles which should guide in the teaching and acquiring of languages; and, in the Second, we deduce from these principles precepts and processes which will, we trust, be found both rational and practicable. Recent improvements are combined with what has proved successful in long practice; and, throughout, we take for our guide the natural process by which all so unfailingly acquire the native tongue. Thus reason, experience, and nature concur in laying a solid foundation on which the study of languages may rest. In support of our views, and, particularly, when we contend with long established prejudices, we adduce the authority of those who stand high among the ancient and modern writers. Our opinions, often expressed in the words of celebrated men, are thus confirmed by their experience, and will familiarise our readers with the thoughts of those who have meditated most on education. |