upon it as something vulgar and undignified. This seems to me a silly
prejudice on their part, and the outcome of their general prudery. For
here we have a language which nature has given to every one, and which
every one understands; and to do away with and forbid it for no better
reason than that it is opposed to that much-lauded thing, gentlemanly
feeling, is a very questionable proceeding.




ON EDUCATION.


The human intellect is said to be so constituted that _general ideas_
arise by abstraction from _particular observations_, and therefore
come after them in point of time. If this is what actually occurs, as
happens in the case of a man who has to depend solely upon his own
experience for what he learns--who has no teacher and no book,--such
a man knows quite well which of his particular observations belong to
and are represented by each of his general ideas. He has a perfect
acquaintance with both sides of his experience, and accordingly, he
treats everything that comes in his way from a right standpoint. This
might be called the _natural_ method of education.

Contrarily, the _artificial_ method is to hear what other people say,
to learn and to read, and so to get your head crammed full of general
ideas before you have any sort of extended acquaintance with the world
as it is, and as you may see it for yourself. You will be told that
the particular observations which go to make these general ideas will
come to you later on in the course of experience; but until that time