ir
mistakes, when they first are allowed to make a choice, are
inevitable; all their sensations are new to them, consequently they
cannot judge of what they shall like or dislike. If some of Lord
Macartney's suite had, on his return from the late embassy to China,
brought home some plant whose smell was perfectly unknown to
Europeans, would it have been possible for the greatest philosopher in
England to have decided, if he had been asked, whether he should like
the unknown perfume? Children, for the first five or six years of
their lives, are in the situation of this philosopher, relatively to
external objects. We should never reproachfully say to a child, "You
asked to smell such a thing; you asked to see such a thing; and now
you have had your wish, you don't like them!" How can the child
possibly judge of what he shall like or dislike, before he has tried?
Let him try experiments upon his own feelings; the more accurate
knowledge he acquires, the sooner he will be enabled to choose
_prudently_. You may expedite his progress by exciting him to compare
each new sensation with those to which he is already familiarized;
this will counteract that love of novelty which is often found
dangerous to prudence; if the mind is employed in comparing, it cannot
be dazzled by new objects.

Children often imagine, that what they like for the present minute,
they shall continue to like for ever; they have not learnt from
experiment, that the most agreeable sensations fatigue, if they are
prolonged or frequently repeated; they have not learnt, that all
violent stimuli are followed by weariness or ennui. The sensible
preceptor will not insist upon his pupil's knowing these things by
inspiration, nor will he expect that his assertions or prophecies
should be implicitly believed; he will wait till the child _feels_,
and at that moment he will excite his pupil to observe his own
feelings. "You thought that you should never be tired of smelling that
rose, or of looking at that picture; now you perceive that you _are_
tired: remember this; it may be of use to you another time." If this
be said in a friendly manner, it will not pique the child to defend
his past choice, but it will direct his future judgment.

Young people are often reproached for their imprudence in preferring a
small present pleasure to a large distant advantage: this errour also
arises from inexperience, not from want of judgment, or deficiency in
strength of mind. Wh