od, would be enough to prostrate all the powers of his mind. He
might perhaps be able to observe the persons and their costume, because
varieties of persons and dresses are daily and constantly objects of
observation, and are grouped without difficulty; but of their several
employments, of which he was previously ignorant, he could know nothing,
and on retiring, he would neither be able to remember nor to describe
them. In such an experiment, it would be found, that the more anxious he
was to perfect his task and to answer the demand, in the same proportion
would he find himself harassed and distressed, and the powers of his
mind overstretched and weakened. And if this would be the result of
confounding the principles of individuation and grouping in an
adult,--a person of good understanding, and of vigorous mind,--how much
more hurtful must such a task be, when demanded from children or youths
of ordinary capacity, during their attendance at school!

Few we believe will doubt the general accuracy of the above results in
the cases supposed;--but some may perhaps question, whether they really
do arise from the interference of these two antagonist principles during
the experiment. To shew that this is the real cause of the distress
felt, and the weakness and prostration of mind produced during it, we
have only to institute another experiment which is exactly parallel. Let
us suppose the same person, and for the same limited period, ushered
into the traveller's room in a well frequented hotel, and let us also
suppose, that the very same demand is made imperative, that he shall
observe, and again detail when he retires, all that he sees. Let us also
suppose, that the number of persons here is equally great, and that
their employments are all equally diversified, but that each is familiar
to him; and we will at once see that the difficulty of the task is
really as nothing. A child could accomplish it. His eye would be able to
group the whole in an instant, without effort, and without fatigue. If
he saw one party at supper, another at tea, another group at cards, and
others amusing themselves at draughts and backgammon; one minute instead
of five, would be quite enough to make him master of the whole. On
retiring, he would be able to tell the employment of every group in the
room; and if any of his acquaintances had made part of the number, he
would be able to tell who they were, where they were sitting, and how
they were occu