THE mark of distinction conferred upon You by your legitimate Monarch was obtained by that virtue and patriotic enthusiasm which make a female, notwithstanding her delicacy, tower above her sex, in defence of her country and in support of her principles. The admiration You have excited, even in those whom You so courageously opposed, is a proof of the permanent ascendency of virtue over varying political opinions. May the affection of Your sons, and their wishes to emulate Your virtues, efface, my dear Mother, from Your mind, the remembrance of the horrors af an unexampled revolution! Accept the assurances of my filial respect. N. G. DUFIEF. * LETTRE De sa Majesté LOUIS XVIII, Roi de France & de Navarre, à Madame la Comtesse Victoire-Aimée-Libault-Gouin-Dufief. MADAME, A Blankenburg, ce 23 Janvier, 1798. Je n'ai ignoré aucun des services que vous avez rendus à la cause de l'Autel & du Trône. Je sais que, non contente d'avoir formé à vos dépens, les premiers rassemblemens de l'illustre & malheureuse Vendée, vous avez voulu partager la gloire & les dangers de ses héros, & que les champs de Granville, de Pontorson, du Mans, du Pont de Cé, &c. ont été les témoins de votre valeur. En vous rappelant des époques si glorieuses pour vous, je cherche moins à vous prouver que j'en suis instruit (j'espère que vous n'en doutez pas) qu'à satisfaire ma reconnaissance, en vous en parlant. Je regrette que les réglemens de l'Ordre de St. Louis ne me permettent pas de vous donner cette Croix, prix de la vaillance; mais j'ose, à la place, vous offrir mon portrait; & en le portant attaché avec un ruban semblable à celui de l'Ordre dont je voudrais pouvoir vous décorer, il prouvera, du moins, & la nature de vos services, & combien je sais les apprécier. Recevez, je vous prie, Madame, avec autant de satisfaction que j'en ai à vous l'offrir, cette faible marque de tous les sentimens que vous m'avez si bien inspirés. TRANSLATION LOUIS. Of a Letter from his Majesty LOUIS XVIII. King of France and Navarre, to the Countess Victoire-Aimee-Libault-Gouin Dufief. Blankenburg, 23d of January, 1798. MADAM, I am by no means uninformed of any of the services you have rendered to the cause of the Altar and the Throne. I know that, not satisfied with forming, at your own expense, the first meetings of the illustrious and unfortunate Vendée, you determined to participate in the glory and dangers of her heroes, and that the fields of Granville, Pontorson, Mans, Pont De Cé, &c. have witnessed your valour. In recalling to your mind transactions so glorious to you, you may be assured, I have it less in view to convince you that I am informed of them, than to indulge my grateful feelings. I regret that the regulations of the Order of St. Louis do not permit me to confer upon you its Cross, the reward of bravery; but, I presume, in place of this, to offer you my portrait; and, in wearing it, attached to a riband similar to that of the Order with which I wish it were in my power to decorate your person, you will suffer it at least to express the nature of your services, and how highly I appreciate them. Accept, Madam, with as much pleasure as I feel in offering it to you, this feeble testimony of all those sentiments with which you have so warmly inspired me. LOUIS. PREFACE TO THE FIFTH EDITION. "Je l'ai déjà répété, et je le répéterai encore, c'est la Nature qui est notre premier maître. D'où je conclurai que l'unique moyen d'inventer est de faire comme elle nous apprend à faire."-Condillac. "The uniformity in the proceedings of the human mind, is a circumstance which cannot fail to attract the notice of the attentive observer. In every step towards any improvement, it never fails to proceed on the same principles, and to observe the same rules; and, should any real improvement result from its progress, it is not so much from conceiving new rules, as from simplifying those with which it was before acquainted."-Philosophy of Language.* THE above two quotations seem peculiarly adapted to give a just idea of the history, progress, and conclusion, of this work. The first points out the source whence it has drawn the principles on which it is grounded-principles which belong to Nature, and are offered to our contemplation in order that we may avail ourselves of them for our own immediate and permanent use. I have, in the Introduction to this work, and to which I refer the reader, dwelt at considerable length on those principles or laws; and I have pointed out what they are, that every one may be convinced of their excellence and incalculable advantages to society. The second sentence, from Condillac, is no less correct than the first; for, if a real discovery or invention is made, it is only because it is an application of the laws of Nature to effect a particular purpose: as no other laws can be founded on truth. Experience daily confirms the verity of these remarks. The second quotation satisfactorily accounts for the various improvements which every succeeding edition has exhibited, which improvements have rendered the present system of tuition more * I published, in Philadelphia, when very young, an essay on "The Philosophy of Language." I intended to re-publish it at a future period, with those additions and improvements which time and reflection have since enabled me to make. and more natural, that is to say, more and more simple. Ignorance and learned presumption, perplex and render every thing complicated; while Nature does the very reverse, as every one of her processes is a sublime model of simplicity. I consider the present edition as the last I shall ever publish, so far as regards improvements; for, I have brought the system as near perfection as I believe it to be possible. I trust it will be obvious to any one, who bestows a sufficient degree of attention on the development of this system, that it has now reached the last stage or degree of analysis, or, in other words, that I have succeeded in reaching the elements, by going from the compound to the simple. It is therefore impossible to go a single step beyond, unless an all-powerful hand should either refine our senses, or add to their number. In the Introduction I enumerated five-and-twenty of the advantages peculiar to this unique system: I then stopt, lest the reader should be satiated. However, I ought to have then closed the list with the following singular advantage of this system: that it will effectually destroy quackery in Education, by acting as does the test of the goldsmith towards the base metal which is tendered as pure; for the new system measures all others, without being measured by them. The self-styled inventors of new methods will, therefore, seldom trouble the public hereafter with their imaginary discoveries, for fear of the exposure which inevitably awaits them. The well-wishers to the cause of Education will be gratified to hear, that the present system has made gigantic strides not only in the United States, but in every part of Europe. In Asia too, it has created the most powerful sensation, as will be seen from the following public document, to which I entreat the attentive perusal of the reader. Extract from the Report of the Committee of the Calcutta School Book Society; read at the First Annual General Meeting of the Subscribers, held at the Town. hall of that City: "Your Committee has, in conclusion, to advert to a very remarkable work, which has strongly attracted their attention, entitled, 'Nature Displayed,' by Mr. N. G. Dufief of Philadelphia. The truths of most importance to mankind commonly lie long dormant, acknowledged indeed, but not duly prized; till some one, gifted with common sense and sagacity surpassing those of his cotemporaries, points out to the world their momentous practical uses and corollaries. "Mr. Dafief has himself observed, what is indeed sufficiently obvious, that his manner of teaching a language is not suited to the case of the French only. It is for this institution steadily to keep the principle in view, and seize opportunities, as they occur, of applying it to all the languages within its sphere of operation and usefulness. "Your Committee, adverting to the uncommon merit of the work, and considering its dissemination as calculated to produce just ideas on the subject of school-books, and as furnishing an admirable model for the preparation of many, have encouraged a proposed re-publication in Calcutta, by subscribing for 70 copies," COMMITTEE: Hon. Sir E. H. East, Lord Chief Justice J. H. Harrington, esq. W. B. Bayley, esq. Rev. W. Carey, D. D. Rev. T. Parson Rev. T. Thomason W. H. Macnaghten, esq. James Robinson, esq. James Calder, esq. Treasurer Mrityunjoy Bidyalunear Mowluvee Ub d'Oolhuméed Baboo Radhacant Deb Mowluvee Moohummud Rashid I shall merely remark, on the above document, that its value and importance are greatly enhanced by the circumstance, that not one of the four-and-twenty Gentlemen who made it, have the least personal acquaintance with the author. I beg them, therefore, to accept my warmest thanks for their liberality, and the tribute of my admiration for their ardent zeal in promoting the cause of Education, which is a cause that affects all mankind.* Extract of a letter from the Rev. Mr. Pearson to the Missionary Society, London, dated Chinsurah, 31st of December, 1819. "I have lately completed in the native language, an English Grammar; it is well spoken of by those who have seen it, and is likely to be in great demand by the natives, for whose use it is intended. It will be followed by a copious vocabulary on the plan of Dufief's Nature Displayed." The preface to this work, ought, I conceive, to be read by every one engaged in learning or in teaching languages. By these means, the English language might accompany the extension of the English government, and be rendered universal in the same short time, throughout the millions that people the banks of the Ganges, the Candians, Hottentots, Negroes, &c. &c. Evangelical Magazine. |