It's not about who can obey the best. It's about Innovative thinking.
"The Heart of exercising the faculty of thinking and reflecting upon every object that is seen, ought to constitute a material branch of a good education;
but it requires the skill of a master's hand, to lead the minds of youth to the habit of observation. Dr. Watts says, that there are four methods of attaining knowledge. Observation, reading, conversation, and meditation. The first lies within the compass even of children, and from the early dawn of reason, they should be accustomed to observe every thing with attention, that falls under their notice. A judicious instructor will find matter for a lesson among those objects, that are termed common or insignificant. How little this is generally the case, may be collected from the ignorance, not of children only, but sometimes of youth, who, although they have attained a considerable degree of classical learning, are unacquainted wither with the materials of those things they daily use, or the methods of manufacturing them. The form and appearance of substances are so much changed by the effects of art, that it would be impossible for a mind, unprepared by instruction, to conceive the original material of many things, that are in the most common use. Would any child suppose, that the cloth, of which her frock is made, is composed of the fibrous parts of a green plant; or that the paper upon which she draws, is the same substance wrought into a different form; that the transparent glass out of which she drinks, was once a heap of sand and ashes; or that the ribbon she wears is the produce of an insect? (a worm). The design of the following little work, is to excite the curiosity of young persons on these subjects, by furnishing information on a few of the most obvious. The form of dialogue has been adopted as best suited to convey instruction blended with amusement; being desirous that is should be read rather from choice than compulsion, and be sought by my young readers as an entertainment, not shunned as a mere dry preceptive lesson."
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"Pray, have the kindness to instruct me how to fill up my time. I am often so much at a loss what to do with myself, that I wish for night, to put an end to the long day. As soon as my lessons are over, and nothing can be more tiresome than they are, I am without employment, and wander about without knowing what to do with myself. My governess says that I must not be troublesome to her, after I have finished my talks; so I have no body to converse with, nor anything to amuse me, but playing about, till I am tired."
" Come to us every evening; I hope our conversations will furnish you with many sources of entertainment for your leisure hours. I am willing to point out whatever may occur worthy your further attention, and by strictly adhering to a few simple rules, you will find the day becomes as short as you wish it."
"Pray give me these rules. I shall willingly adopt them."
"Perhaps it will not be so easy at first, as you imagine; ill habits are difficult to surmount; but by degrees it will become familiar, and in time agreeable. In the first place, never be unemployed; read, draw, work, walk, and accustom yourself to observe every thing you see with attention; consider how they are made, what the materials are, and from whence they come. If you are unable to discover the answers, keep a little book, and make a memorandum of what you want to know, and we will endeavor to give you information. This alone will fill many an hour, that now passes tediously away."
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"The curing and taking of cod must be less disagreeable and dangerous than whale-catching. I had no idea that the catching of fish alone employed so many men."
"We are apt to use and consume the necessaries and conveniences of life, without reflecting on the pains and labour necessary to obtain them. The smallest domestic accommodation is frequently not to be had without the assistance of several hands; a pin or needle, for instance, employs a great number of workmen, before they are brought to the degree of perfection in which we receive them. And the supply of a common table, if we consider the resources from which it is drawn, most probably employs the time and labour of thousands."
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"The sufferings of the poor are very great on shore, in cold weather; their miserable huts and tattered cloaths, scarcely defending them from the sharpness of the air, not to mention their scarcity of fuel. I wonder how they support such hardships."
"Aged persons and infants sometimes sink under these difficulties, but those in middle life who are able to use exercise, support them with less injury. Let these reflections instruct us to feel for the wants of others, and endeavour to relieve them, by retrenching our superfluous indulgencies; they should inspire us at the same time with gratitude to the Giver of all Good, for the numerous blessings he (she, it) has allotted us, above many other of our fellow creatures: with thankful acknowledgment, let us close the day, and each one retire to repose."
For the love of fruitful labour. Who wants to labour in vain? No thanks. Life is expanded on fructifying, making things sweet.
"I have found the subject of the fisheries so new and entertaining, that far from being tired of them, my curiosity is raised to hear more of them. When you returned from Ireland, I think you mentioned having visited the salmon fisheries; be so kind as to give us the particulars you remember of them."
" The salmon is a very curious fish, its instincts and habits are well worth our attention. The principal salmon leaps (as they are called) in Ireland, are at Coleraine, and at Ballyshannon, which is a small town situated near the sea, with a bridge of fourteen arches over a river, which at a small distance, falls down a ridge of rocks about twelve feet, and at low water forms a very picturesque cascade."
"Do the salmon abound in that river? It must be very pretty to see them tumble down the waterfall."
"Almost all the rivers, lakes, and brooks in this island afford great plenty of these fish; some during the whole year, and some only during certain seasons; they generally go down to the sea about August and September, and come up again in the Spring months; and, what is very remarkable, the same fish always come back to the same river, so that the owners of the fishery are not afraid of losing their fish."
"The great Creator has impressed certain propensities so strongly on different animals, that they are irresistible; and this powerful inclination stands them in stead of reason, which is given to man, as a being of a superior order, to guide his judgment and direct his conduct through various scenes of life."
So you see, when parents teach their children correctly, they learn. But if the children are tempted and seduced by superstitious religions and politics of the so-called 'modern' society, then they lose all that is truly valuable for them. Hence, this excerpt on page 24 of the book in the link:
"The Kahunas had failed to get their sons and daughters to take the training and learn the ancient lore that was handed down under vows of inviolable secrecy only from parent to child. Those who could heal instantly or who could fire-walk, had been gone since the year 1900 -- many of them old and dear friends. He was left almost alone in a field in which little was left to observe. Moreover, he was a little bewildered. It seemed so absurd to think that he had been able to watch the Kahunas work, had become their friend, had fire-walked under their protection -- and still had not been able to get the slightest inkling as to how they worked their magic, except in the matter of the death prayer, which, as he explained, was not true magic, but a very advanced phenomenon of spiritualism."
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