ON THE IMPORTANCE OF AN EARLY CORRECT EDUCATION OF CHILDREN: EMBRACING THE MUTUAL OBLIGATIONS AND DUTIES OF PARENT AND CHILD; ALSO THE QUALIFICATIONS AND. DISCIPLINE OF TEACHERS, With their Emolument, SCHOOLS AND A PLAN SUGGESTED WHEREBY ALL OUR COMMON CAN ΤΟ WHICH IS SUBJOINED BY WAY OF AN ARPENDIX, THE Declaration of Independence BY THE THIRTEEN NORTH AMERICAN COLONIES, 4TH JULY, 1776. THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES, WITH THAT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, AS LATELY ADOPTED. BY DR. WILLIAM EUEN, OF SHAWANGUNK, ULSTER COUNTY. NEW YORK: PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR, PRICE FIFTY-SIX CENTS. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1848, BY WILLIAM EUEN, M. D., In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the Southern District of New York. 121 Tide 1,00 370.973 PREFACE. THE author, in giving publicity to the following pages, assures his readers that nothing would have afforded him greater pleasure than to have had his ideas dressed and carried out, on the early and proper training of a child, by some one more intellectually endowed than himself, and one too enjoying sound health and natural vision, which latter blessing he has not possessed during the labor of composing and compiling the subject of present intrusion. Subscribers for this little work were, before its publication, made fully acquainted, by the Prospectus, of the author's sore affliction through total blindness, and the consequent necessity of assistance by a proxy, which has been performed, so far as the mechanical part of the manuscript is concerned, by a son between thirteen and fourteen years of age. And in addition to nearly five years' bereavement of sight, such has been the impaired state of his general health, as to keep him for many months confined to his bed, and no hopes entertained by the most eminent oculists as to a future restoration of sight. Reduced in pecuniary circumstances to the lowest ebb, one of two alternatives appeared only left for him to adopt, either directly to apply for public charity, or, by an amanuensis, so bring in requisition his humble mental powers, as would produce a work on some subject which might serve at least as an apology for a few cents at the hands of an indulgent and charitable public. The latter course proving more congenial to his feelings, and trusting in some measure to an experience of over fifty-two years, during which time he acted three years as principal in two of our common schools, and afterwards one year in an academy under higher regulations, in connexion with rearing and educating eight children of his own, he has been induced to select the subject as named in the title page of his present work. Conscious at the same time of not only unavoidable desultoriness, growing out of afflictions already named, but also mental inability to do that justice which the importance of the subject demands; and should he fail to meet the expectations of his readers, or in judgment hold contrary views with them, he trusts he may at least lead to correct suggestions on the part of others, which, in no small degree, will remunerate him for both time and trouble. Respectfully, &c., WILLIAM EUEN. P. S. The author assures his numerous readers, that for their already extended liberality as subscribers, language is inadequate to express his gratitude for the same. W. E. PARENTS AND CHILDREN.. CHAPTER I. THE assembling and organizing ourselves into societies for the purpose of devising ways and means whereby spiritual bread may be scattered over lands now shrouded in heathenish darkness, ignorance, and supérstition; and the dispensation of alms to to the poor and needy of our own land, are among the highest acknowledged privileges of a Christian community, yet the proverb (though old) is not less trite which says, Charity commences at home;" and authority as high as Heaven itself declares that he who does not provide for his own household has denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel. 66 A declaration so pregnant with admonition, and direct from the archives of Heaven, would naturally seem to lead a reflecting parent or guardian to inquire what provisions are intended whereby an elevation can be secured above that of the rank of an infidel. Does it mean the mere providing of a shelter and raiment to protect our children from cold and pelting storms, or wholesome food to nourish and sustain their physical powers? If so, then indeed man stands no higher in his boasted scale of creation than the brute, which does the same for its offspring through channels of instinct. And while I am ready to admit that all these corporeal provisions are required at the hands of the parent or guardian, still I believe something higher and nobler is embraced. The culture of the mind, the power and seat of thought-the soul of man, a spark of God himself, who, wonderfully condescending to dwell in man, as a diamond in the quarry, commands him to drag forth and improve this hidden intellectual treasure, with the same imperativeness and clearness as he does the cultivation of the earth at the hands of the husbandmen. |