PREFACE.Thefollowing work has for its main purpose to be of use to children and the friends of children. For the first however, it is not all children for which it can pretend to be adapted, but only such as are able to mix some reflection with their reading, as already possess certain general ideas on the subjects of natural history and geography; in a word, such as have acquired that portion of instruction which is given from the age of eight to fourteen years in most of the primary schools in the large towns, and even in the villages.For the second, I do not by thefriends of childrenparticularly understand that class of individuals who are engaged in philosophical researches, theories, and experiments on the subject of education; but such fathers, teachers, and others, who delight to employ their attention on the youthful mind; who observe with pleasure the actions and discourses of children; who reflect naturally and without any preconcerted system upon their faculties, dispositions, and characters; who find themselves prompted to infuse useful knowledge into them through the medium of conversation; and who will not regard with disdain a simple and well intended essay towards their improvement, merely because it pretends to no novelty of theorems, and is not founded upon the basis of a long series of scientifical and metaphysical propositions.Prefaces are not intended for the perusal of children; but thefriends of childrenwill perhaps be gratified to find in this some account of the origin and object of the present work. In such a detail they will perhaps find motives for indulgence, if not for approbation, and will proceed to the work itself with less severity of analysis and criticism.It is now nearly twenty years since the writer of the following sheets began to throw together the hints of his work in detached parcels. The purpose he had in view was to amuse, to instruct, and to fashion the character of four sons borne to him by an exemplary mother: in doing this, he conceived the idea of faithfully pourtraying these four children in correspondence with the germs of character he already remarked in them. He made them act and speak, exactly as they were accustomed to act and speak in the ordinary train of their lives; with this difference only, that he often strengthened and made more prominent whatever of excellence or of frailty he found in them, representing them rather such as he might suppose them to become at a period of greater maturity, than such as they were at the moment of writing; entertaining the idea, that by this means he should render their faults the more displeasing to them, and alarm them the more with the consequences that might result, and that he might render sound judgement and integrity more lovely in their eyes. The portrait of the mother was drawn with all that earnest esteem and affection which she inspired in her husband, and which she well deserved. On the one side he was anxious to paint his family just as it was, and on the other he thought that the book so constructed could not be without utility to children of the softer sex; as in delineating his wife he should present to them a model of the power given to the female sex over the happiness of their families, both as wives and mothers. Various motives prevented him from introducing girls in his uninhabited island. The first was, that he had himself no girls, and that introducing them would have spoiled the integrity of his painting: several other motives may easily be conceived.It appeared to his apprehension, that a book not less useful than entertaining might be formed, by transporting in fancy a single family from the civilized world, and placing it in the midst of savage nature. Such a family would necessarily derive great advantage from the knowledge they had acquired of the inventions and contrivances of European society. To give children an interest in the studies they pursue, it is necessary to excite their curiosity, and to give them a wish to learn. The lessons of morality and science that are interspersed will then be read with pleasure, and devoured with avidity. Scarcely any thing appeared better calculated for such a purpose, than a strange and untried scene of action, and a multitude of small incidents of a striking nature, but entirely within the reach of their early capacities to understand.There is no book that has been more universally read and approved, for the opening of the infant mind, than The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe. Every child is impressed with the conception of this solitary and forlorn individual, existing with no aids but those of his own industry, and carrying on, single-handed, the tremendous battle which man, wherever he lives alone, must have to fight with nature. Robinson Crusoe shows us human nature in its origin and in its weakness, and proves to us what reflection and labour are capable of effecting in the most trying and perilous situations. Here we are feelingly taught, how inestimably the social state, whether in its domestic or its national form, together with the arts and inventions that accompany it, conduces to the well-being of every individual of whom it is composed.The persuasion of this truth determined the author to give his little family fiction the form under which it now appears, and to entitle it The Family Robinson Crusoe. It has however in many respects a different object from that of the original work; purposing, as it does, to instruct its young readers in various sciences, particularly that of natural history, and especially the natural history of distant countries and climates. Some things this book has in common with its model: the shipwreck, the desert island, and the resources drawn by the hero from the wreck of his unfortunate vessel. In other points the present work is entirely different; for example, in painting the family scene, in developing the different characters of the members that compose it, and in the perpetual attention given by the father to instruct his children in different sciences and arts, and to forward and mature their moral and intellectual natures. His own children were especially delighted at finding themselves brought forward as the personages of this imaginary history, and transported to the scene of a distant ocean.The sheets now laid before the public were originally destined to remain unknown beyond the circle of the family for which they were composed; but one of the personages, who is brought forward as a child in the course of this narrative, having felt in his own person the deep interest and lively pleasure which the story excited, and recollecting how many lasting advantages he had himself derived from the use of this book, could not refrain from ultimately resolving to render the benefit of it more general, and has voluntarily undertaken the labour of giving to it the form in which it now appears. The very name of Robinson Crusoe, which it bears, will awaken the curiosity of the young reader; and it is therefore confidently hoped that these new Adventures will be graciously received by those for whose instruction they are destined.It only remains for the editor to declare that he lays no claim to the merit of any one incident in the story; he has merely taken the liberty to make some corrections in the style, and to endeavour to dispose and connect the scattered fragments into a regular story. His acquaintance with natural history is unfortunately very limited, nor has he had leisure to make such researches as would have been requisite to verify all the facts here brought forward. He has equally to confess his incompetence with respect to several of the arts that are here put into action; he has therefore been obliged to refer himself on these two points to the judgement of the author, and to adopt his descriptions as he found them; he is at least well assured that the writer had recourse to the best authorities, and was extensively acquainted with those books of voyages and travels which are in the highest esteem. Notwithstanding which, it may however have happened, that in the twenty years which have elapsed since this work was written, many new discoveries may have been made, and many juster principles and conclusions have been established. It is therefore to be desired, that such parents and teachers as shall put this book into the hands of the children under their care, or shall read it with them, would have the goodness to correct its errors, and supply such omissions as they may discover. In reality, it is very rarely, and perhaps never, proper that children should read by themselves; few indeed are the individuals in those tender years that are not either too indolent, too lively, or too capricious to employ themselves usefully upon this species of occupation.In the following Introduction will be found a brief detail of what may be supposed respecting the manner in which the accompanying narrative has been brought before the public.
Thefollowing work has for its main purpose to be of use to children and the friends of children. For the first however, it is not all children for which it can pretend to be adapted, but only such as are able to mix some reflection with their reading, as already possess certain general ideas on the subjects of natural history and geography; in a word, such as have acquired that portion of instruction which is given from the age of eight to fourteen years in most of the primary schools in the large towns, and even in the villages.
For the second, I do not by thefriends of childrenparticularly understand that class of individuals who are engaged in philosophical researches, theories, and experiments on the subject of education; but such fathers, teachers, and others, who delight to employ their attention on the youthful mind; who observe with pleasure the actions and discourses of children; who reflect naturally and without any preconcerted system upon their faculties, dispositions, and characters; who find themselves prompted to infuse useful knowledge into them through the medium of conversation; and who will not regard with disdain a simple and well intended essay towards their improvement, merely because it pretends to no novelty of theorems, and is not founded upon the basis of a long series of scientifical and metaphysical propositions.
Prefaces are not intended for the perusal of children; but thefriends of childrenwill perhaps be gratified to find in this some account of the origin and object of the present work. In such a detail they will perhaps find motives for indulgence, if not for approbation, and will proceed to the work itself with less severity of analysis and criticism.
It is now nearly twenty years since the writer of the following sheets began to throw together the hints of his work in detached parcels. The purpose he had in view was to amuse, to instruct, and to fashion the character of four sons borne to him by an exemplary mother: in doing this, he conceived the idea of faithfully pourtraying these four children in correspondence with the germs of character he already remarked in them. He made them act and speak, exactly as they were accustomed to act and speak in the ordinary train of their lives; with this difference only, that he often strengthened and made more prominent whatever of excellence or of frailty he found in them, representing them rather such as he might suppose them to become at a period of greater maturity, than such as they were at the moment of writing; entertaining the idea, that by this means he should render their faults the more displeasing to them, and alarm them the more with the consequences that might result, and that he might render sound judgement and integrity more lovely in their eyes. The portrait of the mother was drawn with all that earnest esteem and affection which she inspired in her husband, and which she well deserved. On the one side he was anxious to paint his family just as it was, and on the other he thought that the book so constructed could not be without utility to children of the softer sex; as in delineating his wife he should present to them a model of the power given to the female sex over the happiness of their families, both as wives and mothers. Various motives prevented him from introducing girls in his uninhabited island. The first was, that he had himself no girls, and that introducing them would have spoiled the integrity of his painting: several other motives may easily be conceived.
It appeared to his apprehension, that a book not less useful than entertaining might be formed, by transporting in fancy a single family from the civilized world, and placing it in the midst of savage nature. Such a family would necessarily derive great advantage from the knowledge they had acquired of the inventions and contrivances of European society. To give children an interest in the studies they pursue, it is necessary to excite their curiosity, and to give them a wish to learn. The lessons of morality and science that are interspersed will then be read with pleasure, and devoured with avidity. Scarcely any thing appeared better calculated for such a purpose, than a strange and untried scene of action, and a multitude of small incidents of a striking nature, but entirely within the reach of their early capacities to understand.
There is no book that has been more universally read and approved, for the opening of the infant mind, than The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe. Every child is impressed with the conception of this solitary and forlorn individual, existing with no aids but those of his own industry, and carrying on, single-handed, the tremendous battle which man, wherever he lives alone, must have to fight with nature. Robinson Crusoe shows us human nature in its origin and in its weakness, and proves to us what reflection and labour are capable of effecting in the most trying and perilous situations. Here we are feelingly taught, how inestimably the social state, whether in its domestic or its national form, together with the arts and inventions that accompany it, conduces to the well-being of every individual of whom it is composed.
The persuasion of this truth determined the author to give his little family fiction the form under which it now appears, and to entitle it The Family Robinson Crusoe. It has however in many respects a different object from that of the original work; purposing, as it does, to instruct its young readers in various sciences, particularly that of natural history, and especially the natural history of distant countries and climates. Some things this book has in common with its model: the shipwreck, the desert island, and the resources drawn by the hero from the wreck of his unfortunate vessel. In other points the present work is entirely different; for example, in painting the family scene, in developing the different characters of the members that compose it, and in the perpetual attention given by the father to instruct his children in different sciences and arts, and to forward and mature their moral and intellectual natures. His own children were especially delighted at finding themselves brought forward as the personages of this imaginary history, and transported to the scene of a distant ocean.
The sheets now laid before the public were originally destined to remain unknown beyond the circle of the family for which they were composed; but one of the personages, who is brought forward as a child in the course of this narrative, having felt in his own person the deep interest and lively pleasure which the story excited, and recollecting how many lasting advantages he had himself derived from the use of this book, could not refrain from ultimately resolving to render the benefit of it more general, and has voluntarily undertaken the labour of giving to it the form in which it now appears. The very name of Robinson Crusoe, which it bears, will awaken the curiosity of the young reader; and it is therefore confidently hoped that these new Adventures will be graciously received by those for whose instruction they are destined.
It only remains for the editor to declare that he lays no claim to the merit of any one incident in the story; he has merely taken the liberty to make some corrections in the style, and to endeavour to dispose and connect the scattered fragments into a regular story. His acquaintance with natural history is unfortunately very limited, nor has he had leisure to make such researches as would have been requisite to verify all the facts here brought forward. He has equally to confess his incompetence with respect to several of the arts that are here put into action; he has therefore been obliged to refer himself on these two points to the judgement of the author, and to adopt his descriptions as he found them; he is at least well assured that the writer had recourse to the best authorities, and was extensively acquainted with those books of voyages and travels which are in the highest esteem. Notwithstanding which, it may however have happened, that in the twenty years which have elapsed since this work was written, many new discoveries may have been made, and many juster principles and conclusions have been established. It is therefore to be desired, that such parents and teachers as shall put this book into the hands of the children under their care, or shall read it with them, would have the goodness to correct its errors, and supply such omissions as they may discover. In reality, it is very rarely, and perhaps never, proper that children should read by themselves; few indeed are the individuals in those tender years that are not either too indolent, too lively, or too capricious to employ themselves usefully upon this species of occupation.
In the following Introduction will be found a brief detail of what may be supposed respecting the manner in which the accompanying narrative has been brought before the public.