cular and organic systems, as to diminish the extreme irritability of the brain, and give it the required opportunity for repose.

It will sometimes happen, that one limb, or one class of muscles, is feebler than natural; and here, the judicious parent will take care not to impair the vigour of those which are strong, but gradually to wind up the feebler organs, and augment their tone, so as to preserve the balance of power, a chimera in politics no longer worth contending for, but a maxim of the first consequence in the economy of the human system. The same principle will be found applicable to a variety of other circumstances in the animal system. In accomplishing this object, the domestic instructor will wisely avail herself of the early amusements of children, so as at once to obtain the particular purpose in view; and at the same time, to form a little epitome of human life, that she may convey the important lessons of conduct which regard their own present, or prospective wants, and the wants of those around them; or which relate to some situation in which they may hereafter be placed; thus rendering gymnastic exercises, lessons of real life.

There are other objects to be accomplished by exercise: the gracefulness of the form, and the agility of the body, are acquisitions of no trifling moment. Thus it will be a matter of solicitude with parents, to teach their offspring to walk gracefully, and at the same time firmly; and this having been accomplished, they should be accus

tomed to rapid progression over uneven ground— to run, to leap, and surmount every little obstacle in their way. This will not only render them upright in their form, active, and independent; but will also materially contribute to their general health; and, particularly, will obviate any tendency to the occurrence of defective circulation in the extremities, and to chilblains as its consequence. With the same intention, the games of cricket, prison bars, foot ball, &c. will be useful, as children grow up, and are strong enough to endure such exercise. With regard to girls, these amusements may be advantageously supplanted by bass-ball, battledore and shuttlecock, and similar active and playful pursuits. The degree of power which may thus be developed in the constitution, is always great, and sometimes almost incredible: and although a parent does not wish to make her children great runners or walkers, or to have them remarkable for their performances of agility, yet she is anxious to see them apt for all athletic exercises, and possessed of robust constitutions.

In all these, and analogous exertions, care must be taken to repress a dangerous excess; and to avoid those amusements which may not be pursued without considerable risk,-as, for instance, the game of quoits, or the exercise of climbing, and other objects of a similar nature. As the child advances in years and strength, these exercises may be characterized by any particular aim, so as to give that bias to his thoughts

and feelings, which may be desirable to assist him in his choice of a profession, and at the same time to prepare him for the easy discharge of its duties.

Where it is admissible, horseback exercise will be found conducive to health, and will prove a desirable acquisition for every gentleman. This mode of exercise is less violent than those we have just mentioned; but as it is not unaccompanied by danger, the child should be first taught to ride without stirrups, and upon a readily yielding soil, that if he should fall, he may do so without the prospect of material injury.

The exercise of swimming has been already alluded to, and may be rendered one of considerable importance: since it possesses peculiar advantages, arising from the influence of the dense medium in which it is taken, upon the body; from its decided contribution to cleanliness; and from the great and general muscular exertion which it demands. The precautions which it requires are those which have been mentioned in treating on the cold bath; and those which may be connected with the possibility of accidents, and with the occurrence of too great fatigue.

Carriage exercise is better fitted for the invalid, than for the robust child, and requires no especial directions; we shall therefore suffer it to pass.

None can doubt the utility of dancing, as a mode of exercise, on the principles which have been before laid down, from the degree of general and graceful motion it affords to almost all the muscles of the body: but when it ceases to be

natural; when it is sophisticated into a midnight revel, is continued so long as to produce fatigue, and is attended by a hundred other sources of excitement, irritability, and exhaustion; then does it cease to be useful; then does it become absolutely injurious, and ought to be proscribed. The early loss of the manners of innocence, and of the graceful simplicity of a natural carriage, are no trifling evils, for which it will be difficult to find any equivalent advantage. As a moral employment, it will again come before us in considering the amusements of the young, which we here contemplate only as a modification of exercise, and in their general bearing upon health.

In conclusion, we have only to remark, that different temperaments and dispositions will demand varying modes of exercise, accordingly as the prevailing cast of character may lean towards indolence, effeminacy, or lassitude, on the one hand, or on the other towards excessive mobility,thoughtlessness, irascibility, or folly. But here again we are treading on the very verge of moral education: indeed, so intimately must and ought the two to be united, that they insensibly glide into each other's domain: their objects are often similar : and while the mind receives its notices through the medium of the body, it is scarcely possible that any considerable impression should be made upon the latter, without producing a corresponding effect upon the manifestations of that immaterial principle, with which it is in so direct and intimate a relation.

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CHAP. XI.

ON THE EXERCISE OF THE SENSES-THEIR USES-GENERAL LAWS REGULATING THEIR EMPLOYMENT; AND THEIR CONNEXION WITH THE BRAIN-DIVISION OF THE SENSES-OF THE SENSE OF TOUCH-ITS USES LIABILITY TO ERROR-TOO GREAT SUSCEPTIBILITY-CAUTIONS RESPECTING THIS PROPERTY -OF THE HAND AS THE PRINCIPAL ORGAN OF THIS SENSE.

In order that man might receive notices of exterior objects; that the sphere of his gratifications might be enlarged; that he might acquire the materials of reflection; that he might be warned of the approach of danger; that he might be enabled to investigate the wonders of nature; and that he might be brought acquainted with the will and commands of the Author of nature,-he has been furnished with those organs which are termed the senses; and whose principal business it is, to be the media of receiving impressions from without, and of transmitting them to the brain.

Unlike the muscular system, which we have so recently contemplated, the senses will not derive strength and perfection from exercise carried to the very verge of fatigue. More delicate in their texture; more essentially and intimately dependent upon that organ which presides over