Attentive to the native gaiety of youth, the periods, in which his attention is required, though frequent in their returns, should in their duration be short and inoppressive.  The pupil should do nothing merely because he is seen or heard by his preceptor.  If he have companions, still nothing more is requisite, than that degree of silence and order, which shall hinder the attention of any from being involuntarily diverted.  The pupil has nothing to conceal, and no need of falsehood.  The approbation of the preceptor respects only what comes directly under his cognizance, and cannot be disguised.  Even here, remembering the volatility and sprightliness, inseparable from the age, humanity will induce him not to animadvert with warmth upon the appearances of a casual distraction, but he will rather solicit the return of attention by gentleness, than severity.

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.  It is that of commencing with the modern languages, French for instance in this country.  These in the education of our youth, are universally postponed to what are stiled the learned languages.  I shall perhaps be told that modern tongues being in a great measure derived from the Latin, the latter is very properly to be considered as introductory to the former.  But why then do we not adopt the same conduct in every instance?  Why to the Latin do we not premise the Greek, and to the Greek the Coptic and Oriental tongues?  Or how long since is it, that the synthetic has been proved so much superior to the analytic mode of instruction?  In female education, the modern languages are taught without all this preparation; nor do I find that our fair rivals are at all inferior to the generality of our sex in their proficiency.  With the youth of sense and spirit of both sexes, the learning of French is usually considered, rather as a pleasure, than a burden.  Were the Latin communicated in the same mild and accommodating manner, I think I may venture to pronounce, that thus taken in the second place, there will be no great difficulty in rendering it equally attractive.