A man cannot retire into a
desert with his child, and if he did he could not bring himself back
to childhood, and become the proper friend and play-fellow of an
infant or youth. And when children are confined to the society of
men and women, they very soon acquire that kind of premature manhood
which stops the growth of every vigorous power of mind or body. In
order to open their faculties they should be excited to think for
themselves; and this can only be done by mixing a number of children
together, and making them jointly pursue the same objects.
A child very soon contracts a benumbing indolence of mind, which
he has seldom sufficient vigour afterwards to shake off, when he
only asks a question instead of seeking for information, and then
relies implicitly on the answer he receives. With his equals in age
this could never be the case, and the subjects of inquiry, though they
might be influenced, would not be entirely under the direction of men,
who frequently damp, if not destroy, abilities, by bringing them
forward too hastily: and too hastily they will infallibly be brought
forward, if the child could be confined to the society of a man,
however sagacious that man may be.
Besides, in youth the seeds of every affection should be sown, and
the respectful regard, which is felt for a parent, is very different
from the social affections that are to constitute the happiness of
life as it advances. Of these equality is the basis, and an
intercourse of sentiments unclogged by that observant seriousness
which prevents disputation, though it may not inforce submission.
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