The attention requisite for preserving cleanness, and neatness, and order, awakens the perceptions, and gives them perpetual exercise. The consequence is, that the daughter of the cleanly peasant, having been taught from infancy to observe every slight alteration produced in the appearance of the objects around her, by any casual spot or stain, and having been compelled to attend to the proper place and situation of every article that pertains to the homely dwelling, acquires habits of observation and activity, which remain with her through every period of life. Destired as she is to labour for subsistence, those By the cultivated state of habits are to her of obvious advantage. her perceptions, she is enabled quickly to learn, and accurately to perform, every species of domestic work, as far as the performance of it requires only the use of her hands and eyes; and though, in many branches of household economy, there is so much minute detail, and the objects of attention are so numerous, as to seem, at first view, extremely intricate, we find from experience, that where the perceptions are quick and accurate, none of those various branches escape attention.' pp. 67, 68. ·

The subject of educating the lower classes, has, within the last few years, been so much agitated, and the improvements which the indefatigable benevolence of an individual, (or of individuals,) has recently introduced, are so general, that it is less needful to enter largely into it, than it would lately have been. Nevertheless, we cannot but recommend the following observations to those whom they most essentially concern:

There are still many schools in which, by the method of teaching, the perceptions are never exercised, but in the shape and sound of letters, and 'combination of letters. Let the scholars in such schools be examined on their conception of the meaning of what they read, and it will be found, (as far as my experience extends, it has been invariably found,) that the conception is accurate in exact proportion to the degree in which the power of perception had been exercised in infancy, by attention to surrounding objects,' p. 73.— Why not then engage the teacher to try other methods besides the 'stated lesson, to awaken the perceptions of the stupid? This, I conceive would, to a certainty, be effected by methods so simple, that they are, for that very reason, held in contempt. But if, in tracing the cause of stupidity in children of a certain class, it is found to originate in circumstances which have prevented attention to the objects of perception, it is only by producing attention to those obIn this respect infinitely more jects that the defect can be remedied. will be done, by teaching a child to notice every object within the reach of vision and to mark every minute change that takes place in the form, colour, or situation of the things around him, than by fixing his attention to the mere form of letters.'-pp. 76, 77.

To these observations a sensible note is subjoined :

In appreciating the superior advantages to be derived from this or that mode of teaching, the degree in which it is calculated to

awaken and exercise the perceptions is too seldom taken into the account. Between two plans that are in other respects equal, the preference seems to me to be undoubtedly due to that, which, while it keeps the attention in a state of perpetual requisition, gives it that direction most favourable for the development of the infant faculties.'-p. 76.

It is probable, that the persons who visit the large public schools for the instruction of the poor, which are at present establishing in every part of the country, may not, at first, perceive the beneficial tendency of that system of perpetual exercise which they exhibit. A cursory glance may discover something too much resembling play, and waste of time. Evolutions are continually performed, which seem to have little connexion with reading, writing, and arithmetic. But the intelligent observer will not fail to perceive the ultimate advantage of these exercises, in the constant play of attention which is hereby preserved. No one can nod over his lesson, or, for more than a few minutes, suffer his mind to settle upon other objects than those employed in instructing him; and, from habits of attention thus early formed, a degree of mental vigilance will be produced, from which, combined as it is with a proportionate regard to good order and good morals, the happiest results may be anticipated. National education thus conducted, must issue, unless there be a forcible disunion of cause and effect, in visible national improvement. By thus exciting and preserving attention, we have ourselves witnessed, in the children of a Sunday school, a degree of mental vigour produced, so great as almost to raise a suspicion of their being a different species from others of the same vicinity, whose education had been conducted upon a less intelligent plan.

From the effects of attention upon the lower orders, particularly upon the large and important class consisting of female servants, Miss Hamilton makes an easy transition to the consequence of neglecting it, or of improving and properly directing it, in those females who are placed at the head of domestic arrangement. It has, we confess, been, in some degree, the fashion to regard the cultivation of intellect, and a due attention to employments strictly feminine, as being incompatible with each other; and, not only the intemperate, avowed opinions of some, who, at a time when the rights of man were misunderstood and caricatured, fell into mistakes equally pernieious, and more absurd, with regard to the rights of women; --but even the conduct of others (a few only we should hope) who, in the ardour of literary pursuits, have appeared to forget, that the first character any woman has to sustain, is that which pertains to her as a woman, may have given ground for the inference, and afforded a shew of reason to the dogmas of

ignorance. But that mental cultivation in the female sex is not necessarily inimical to what may be deemed, in some respects, inferior duties,-nay, that it tends, unless it be confined and partial, directly to the more consistent and respectable discharge of them, we think. Miss Hamilton has ably shewn in her writings; for we have not been so privileged as to enjoy an opportunity of contemplating this amiable and intelligent female, in any but her public character. From the expression of good sense and genuine principle which pervades her writings, we should expect a fair transcript of these excellencies in her life; for she is the last female author to whose conduct we should expect to trace the scandal of the blue stocking. Unless we greatly mistake, she is no Bridgetina.

But we feel inclined to explain and to qualify, before we proceed, an epithet which has just escaped us. It is that of inferior duties, for we doubt whether, in such a connexion, it ought to be employed. It appears, indeed, that to the term duty, the qualifications, great and small, can never, with strict propriety, be applied. The due occupation of the passing hour, is the uniform demand which the Giver of that hour makes upon the receiver of it, and, in his sight, the nature of that occupation neither elevates nor degrades the servant to whom it is given. To all within the sound of his word, the injunction is addressed, "Be ye holy; for I am holy !" but to none, not to the most intelligent of his creatures, does he say, Be ye great; for I am great. In the scale of intellect, we take the place assigned to us by presiding wisdom, and are only enjoined to improve the few or the many talents, without repining and without sloth. In the scale of morality, we are, if the expression may be allowed, to find our own place, and never to rest satisfied with an inferior station. The female, therefore, who feels herself confined, by the appointments of Providence, to a narrow mental range, and who is permitted to expatiate in those humble regions only, which comprise, perhaps, little more than the nursery and the kitchen, has no need to feel ashamed of the rank she holds, or to repine at the limits by which her walk in life is circumscribed. She is an agent in the hand of God, and should be estimated, not according to the place she occupies, but the skill and industry with which her particular part is performed. In the sight of God, the moral appears to be far more valuable than the intellectual principle. It is that mode of approach by which finite beings are encouraged to advance towards infinite perfection. The great fallen spirit possesses a superiority of intellect, which once classed him high among the angelic host; but crushed and grovelling as it lies under moral abasement, he is become the most degraded

of intelligent beings. Amazing intellect cannot elevate a Satan; and, though gifted only with the humblest portion of mind, a Christian is not degraded. He rises, in the dignity of the moral principle, into esteem and consideration even with the Most High. "To this man will I look, even to him that is poor, and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at my word." It appears, therefore, to be a false view of things,-a view taken, not in the light of scripture, but by the flashing of human pride, that regards the performance of any duty as degrading, or even as inferior. Ascertain only that it is duty, and it is that, the right discharge of which, God will honour. The Christian female, who can reflect upon a laborious life of domestic duty, looks back upon a scene of true virtue; and if, in order to perform the whole of her allotted task, she was obliged to repress a taste for pursuits more intellectual, the character of magnanimity is inscribed upon her conduct, however retired, or, in human estimation, insignificant, may have been the daily exercises to which she was appointed. This, however, cannot be said of her, who, placed by Providence above the necessity of domestic drudgery, voluntarily confines herself to its then humble offices. We respect the woman who, in obedience to the dictate of Providence, continues, day after day, through a length of years, a sempstress, or even a cook : but we should little esteem her who, when at liberty to employ inferior hands, would prefer thus to occupy her own. For a female who has servants at command, not to be satisfied with due superintendance, but to spend her life in occupations to which they are equally competent, discovers, we think, a bad taste, and a false judgement, and though, perhaps, more clever than even her cleverest servant, she deprives herself of esteem, by seeking it among what are indeed to her, inferior employments. Where intellect is allowed, by providential favour, to improve and expatiate, it were criminal to confine it. A life devoted to merely household avocations, would be, in this case, degrading; and from being cumbered with unnecessary serving, this misimprover of time and talent, must take her place at last as an "unprofitable servant." She has done, indeed, precisely the same that has been done by her humble neighbour, who receives the plaudit of "good and faithful;" but to the one, it was duty,-to the other, it was not duty. Endowed with higher talents, placed in a larger sphere, and within reach of extensive means of mental cultivation, she treated them with wilful neglect. She chose to busy her fingers and stifle her mind; and the choice degrades her. But to return,

The principle, it must be observed, which Miss Hamilton is illustrating in this part of her work, is, that the cultivation of attention is indispensable to the clearness of perception, what

ever the object of that perception may be; and that the mind becomes irregular or correct in its proportions, according as this faculty has been partially or generally exercised. This idea is successfully exemplified in the different but confined perceptions of the landscape painter, the mineralogist, and the botanist, upon precisely the same spot, each surrounded by objects which attract the undivided regard of the others, although, by him, entirely unperceived. But these instances have usually brought no disgrace upon the dominant study. It is only when the same effect is observed under certain circumstances in the female character, that it raises popular outcry. Undoubtedly, the natural consequence of partial cultivation is, in this instance, peculiarly lamentable, and, in extreme cases, offensive but it is the design of our author, in this place, to prove that conclusions hastily drawn from it, fatal to the improvement of female intellect, are falsely drawn.

Among the vain, frivolous, and uncultivated of my own sex, attention is chiefly directed to dress. The perceptions with regard to every change of fashion, and every minute particular in the form, colour, and arrangement of personal ornaments and decorations, will, in such persons, be found astonishingly acute. Neither bead nor bugle will escape their notice. But let us not imagine that, if the attention has been thus engrossed, the perceptions with regard to other objects will be found equally lively. No. The same person whose perceptions, with regard to every article of dress, are in the utmost perfection, may possibly be so void of perception, with regard to other objects, as to pass many of the most striking, both in the works of nature and of art, without perceiving their existence. Nay, so deficient may she be in point of observation, even with regard to objects that are continually before her eyes, as to be unconscious of the existence of those articles with which the carelessness of servants or children may have littered her apartments.'-pp. 80, 81.

The same want of perception, exemplified in the woman whose attention has been occupied by dress, may, alas! be sometimes observed in minds of higher order. How often, with grieved heart, have we listened to comments on the effects of this deficiency, produced in triumph as decided proof of the pernicious, but inevitable, consequences of directing the female mind to the acquirement of superior knowledge or superior taste!

If, in order to obtain superior knowledge, or superior taste, it were absolutely necessary to forego attention to common and familiar objects, the argument would be indeed conclusive. But if, by directing the attention to such objects, a quick perception with regard to them may, even in infancy, be acquired, and, if once acquired, will be constantly and habitually exercised without effort, and even without consciousness, may we not reasonably conclude, that in al - such instances as those to which i have alluded, the deficiency complained of is the consequence, not of any application of the mind to literary acquirement, or of the cultivation of its higher faculties, but