But of all rules, the most important is that of preserving an uniform,
even tenour of conduct. Into the government of youth passion and caprice
should never enter. The gentle yoke of the preceptor should be
confounded as much as possible, with the eternal laws of nature and
necessity. The celebrated maxim of republican government should be
adopted here. The laws should speak, and the magistrate be silent. The
constitution should be for ever unchangeable and independent of the
character of him that administers it.
Nothing can certainly be more absurd than the attempt to educate
children by reason. We may be sure they will treat every determination
as capricious, that shocks their inclination. The _chef d'oeuvre_ of a
good education is to form a reasonable human being; and yet they pretend
to govern a child by argument and ratiocination. This is to enter upon
the work at the wrong end, and to endeavour to convert the fabric itself
into one of the tools by which it is constructed. The laws of the
preceptor ought to be as final and inflexible, as they are mild and
humane.
There is yet another method for facilitating the acquisition of
languages, so just in itself, and so universally practicable, that I
cannot forbear mentioning it.
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