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and bricklayers, and intently curious to know the mode and the result of their labours. Inspired by the desire of extending his acquaintance with things, he would rush forth (blind, and deaf, and dumb as he was), and rapidly travel miles in the neighbouring country, so that it was necessary to employ a lad to follow him, that he might be kept from the numerous dangers to which he was exposed in these excursions.

Solitary as Mitchell is," says Mr. Stewart, "in the midst of society, and confined in his intercourse with the material world within the narrowest conceivable limits, what a contrast does he exhibit to the most sagacious of the lower animals, though surrounded with all the arts of civilized man, and in the fullest possession of all the powers of external perception. Even in his childish occupations and pastimes, we may discern the rudiments of a rational and improveable nature, more particularly in that stock of knowledge, scanty as it is, which he has been led to acquire by the impulse of his own spontaneous and eager curiosity."

But it is unnecessary to dwell upon these general considerations, or to refer to extraordinary instances, when we constantly witness in all infants and children the most ample proofs that the principle of curiosity is deeply implanted in the human mind. It seems to be their life; it keeps them constantly in motion; from morn till night it furnishes new excitements to activity, and new sources of enjoyment. The poets, many of whom are entitled to the credit of an exact observance of human nature, have made this trait in infants and children the foundation of many striking passages, as in the following:

"In the pleased infant see its power expand,
When first the coral fills its little hand;
Throned in his mother's lap, it dries each tear,
As her sweet legend falls upon his ear;
Next it assails him in his top's strange hum,
Breathes in his whistle, echoes in his drum;
Each gilded toy, that doting love bestows,
He longs to break, and every spring expose."

§ 116. Of the twofold operation and the morality of the principle of curiosity.

The innate principle or propensity of curiosity, like that of self-preservation, has its twofold action, INSTINCTIVE and VOLUNTARY.—An action which is purely instinctive is always directed towards its object as an ultimate end; it looks at the object itself without regard to the good or evil which may be involved in it; it chooses and pursues it for its own sake. It is in this way that the principle of curiosity operates in the first instance. This is its instinctive operation. And, so far as it thus operates, it is neither selfish nor benevolent; neither morally good nor evil; but simply innocent and useful.

It possesses also a VOLUNTARY action, founded upon a view of consequences, and implying the exercise of reflection. We may direct it to proper objects; we may stimulate its exercise by considerations of interest or duty; we may restrain it when it becomes irregular or inordinate. And its action, so far as it exists under such circumstances, may, with entire propriety, be denominated voluntary. And, so far as it is of this character, morality is predicable of it; it may be either virtuous or vicious. If it be stimulated to action for good ends, and with a suitable regard to all other moral claims, its exercise is virtuous. If it have bad ends in view, or be put forth with such intensity as to violate other moral obligations, its exercise is vicious. It is in accordance with these views that Mr. Stewart remarks on, and disapproves of, the conduct of a certain ancient astronomer. It appears that, on a certain occasion, the astronomer was accused of indifference in respect to public transactions. He replied to the charge by the remark that his country was in the heavens; distinctly implying that he had deliberately merged the duties of the citizen in those of the astronomer, and that love to his country was essentially annulled by the higher love which he cherished for his chosen science. We obviously have here an instance of the inordinate exercise of the

principle under consideration. It was not duly subordinated. It became so intense as to conflict, in the view of an enlightened conscience, with the proper exercise of other feelings and with the discharge of other duties.

§ 117. Imitativeness, or the propensity to imitation.

Another of the original propensities of the human mind is the principle of Imitation, or the desire of doing as we see others do. We find the evidence of the existence of such a principle everywhere around us.

(I.) If this propensity be not natural, it will be difficult to account for what every one must have noticed in infancy and childhood. And we take this occasion to remark, that, on this whole subject, we shall refer particularly to the early periods of life. That is a time when human nature will be likely to show itself in its true features. And, in respect to the principle now before us, it is certain that children are early found to observe with care what others do, and to attempt doing the like. They are greatly aided by this propensity in learning to utter articulate sounds. It is not without long-continued efforts, in which they are evidently sustained by the mere pleasure of imitation, that they acquire the use of oral language.

At a little later period of life, after having learned to articulate, and having become old enough to take part in juvenile sports, we find the same propensity at work. With the animation and formidable airs of jockeys, they bestride a stick for a horse, and try equestrian experiments; they conduct their small and frail carriages through courts and streets, and journey with their rude sledges from one hill-top to another. Ever busily engaged, they frame houses, build fortifications, erect water-works, and lay out gardens in miniature. They shoulder a cane for a musket; practice a measured step and fierce look; and become soldiers, as well as gardeners and architects, before they are

men.

(II.) But the operation of this propensity is not limited to children; men also do as their fathers have done before them; it often requires no small degree of moral courage to deviate from the line of precedents. Whether right or wrong, we feel a degree of safety so long as we tread in the path of others.

This is shown in the most solemn transactions, particularly in judicial decisions. Seldom does the judge appeal to original principles of right, and build his decisions on the immutable will of the Supreme Being, as it is revealed in the moral sentiments of mankind, if he must do it in the violation of a precedent. It is highly probable, that the idea of a system of law, built upon precedent, and essentially supported by the mere fact of antecedent authority, was suggested, at least indirectly, by the principle before us. So prone were men to follow in the steps of their fathers, that, even in cases of right and wrong, they were not willing to deviate from the beaten track; and although we are willing to admit that the decisions of the Common Law have ever been supported by various considerations of their safety and wisdom, it is nevertheless true that they derive a large portion of their stability from that effective trait in man's nature, which impels him, as if by a sort of enchantment, to walk in the path which his progenitors have trodden. If we could expel from the human bosom the principle of imitation, there would be far less efficacy attached to many of the opinions, and decrees, and doings of our ancestors than there is at present. But, undoubtedly for sufficient reasons, it is wisely ordered that such an expulsion is impossible.

§ 118. Practical results of the principle of imitation.

It may perhaps be supposed by some, whatever evidence may exist in favour of regarding the principle under consideration as an original one, that it has but a slight connexion with the advancement and the happiness of mankind. But it is a remark not unfrequently to be made in respect to the principles of the

mind, that often results of great magnitude are found to connect themselves with elements in human nature, that appeared in themselves exceedingly insignificant. Such, it is possible, may be the case here. We often speak of imitativeness as a principle which governs children; but are less willing to acknowledge, which is hardly less the fact, that it is a principle which governs men. We cannot doubt, from the reflection we have been able to bestow upon it, that the principle before us, whatever aspect it may present at first sight, was designed to be, and is in fact, one of the important supports of society; a source of knowledge, happiness, and power. If this principle were obliterated, the bond of union, which now holds so closely together the two great divisions of society, the old and the young, would be greatly weakened; an event in all points of view much to be deplored. Not only in childhood, but in mature age, as we have already had occasion to intimate, we walk in the steps of our fathers, following in arts and in manners the same practices, and sustaining the same institutions; and it is desirable, as a general thing, that we should do so. And we do it, not merely because we suppose them to be clothed with the attribute of superior wisdom, but also because we are prompted, often unconsciously to ourselves, by the influence of this powerful principle. And it is in this way, partly at least, that generation is connected with generation; that the torch of experience, lighted in the preceding age, is made to shed its beams over that which follows; and that society, kept in the vicinity of the beaten track, is not subject to sudden and disastrous convulsions.

We would merely add, if this principle has such vast influence, as we have no doubt that it has, it is incumbent on every one carefully to consider the nature and tendency of the example which he sets. He who sets a bad example, either in domestic or in public life, is not only blasted and withered in himself, but almost necessarily leads on in his train a multitude of others to the same results of degradation and

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