The Universal Preceptor - 1826 Author:David Blair Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: PUEFACE. The Author of this work has been many years aniious to achieve his present undertaking. His experience, reason, and feelings, prove to him, that, m t... more »he progress of education, Young Persons ought to be enabled to acquire, on all subjects, correct as well as general views, which may serve as food for the mind in after life, and become the basis of further studies in such branches of knowledge, as, at a future period, may gratify their tastes, or accord with their interests. Early education cannot make adepts in any branch of science. Without sacrificing every other subject to one, it ought, therefore, to embrace the elements of general knowledge, as the true means of enlarging and exercising the understanding, and qualifying it to engage with advantage in any particular pursuit. To fill the store house of the memory, is the rational business of education; and, at a season of life, too, when the powers of reason have not acquired a useful degree of action. Nor will such general instruction interfere with particular studies, if the tutor be provided with a Text-Book, embracing the foundations of human learning; such, it is presumed, will this volume be found. When the author compiled his Cr.Ass-BooK, he was actuated by similar principles; and he believes it if generally felt, that great advantages have accrued to young persons, from the perusal of that work. Every tutor must be sensible, however, that the Class-Book, as a mean of enlarging the sphere of useful knowledge, is rather to be considered as a commentary, than as a key to the temple of Science itself. TBe Class-book has its superior uses ; but, through its medium, the building can only be viewed at a distance ; the object, then, in the present work, is to lead the young student up the steps of the portico...« less