Excerpt from The Biblical Repertory and Theological Review, Vol. 3: July, 1831

Force them out of their place in the great scheme Of infinite wisdom, and the result is invariably injurious to themselves and to society. To be where and what God wills us to be, is our perfection and highest usefulness. It is Of more practi cal importance than men are wont to imagine, thus to eye and follow the divine arrangements. As God has given a diversity of constitution to the sexes, suited to the different purposes they are to accomplish, so he has given to different periods Of life different susceptibilities and powers, which are intimations of his will, and consequently Of our duty, with regard to them. The dependence Of the young on their parents; the feelings Of parents towards their children; the susceptibility of the youthful mind; the quickness Of perception; the tenacity Of the memory and pliability of the feelings, all declare that this is the forming period Of life; that God designs it to be employed and improved as such. This is, indeed, a universally admit ted truth; and education has ever been one of the most absorb ing subjects of interest. Though this be admitted, it is still true that the formation Of character in the young has been, and is still lamentably neglected. The development of the intellect and communication Of knowledge have ever been the grand, if not exclusive objects Of education. How is it, at present, in our schools, academies and colleges? Is not the whole course of instruction directed almost exclusively to these Objects? Is not the cultivation of the social virtues and the religious feelings, in a great measure, left to take care of itself? We cannot but think that there is here a lamentable deficiency in all our systems; that the intellectual, in Opposition to the moral powers Of the soul, are too exclusively the Objects Of as siduous care. N 0 one will pretend that the latter are second in importance to the former. We all admit, that it is the moral nature Of man, which raises him into the Sphere Of im mortal beings, connects him with the infinite, and stamps an incomprehensible value on the soul. The subordinate part, therefore, assigned to the cultivation of these feelings in youth, cannot be accounted for on the assumption Of their inferior im portance. It may be, there is an impression on many minds that these powers are less susceptible, or stand less in need of cultivation. That this impression is erroneous, it needs only a moment's reflection to perceive. Were this the case, it would he an anomaly in our whole constitution. All the other faculties, whether of mind or body, which God has given us, are susceptible Of cultivation, and are dependent on it, for their.

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