not injurious to their Health or Ver- Rewards. tue. On the contrary, I would have their Lives made as pleasant and as agreeable to them, as may be, in a plentiful enjoyment of whatsoever might innocently delight them: Provided it be with this Caution, that they have those Enjoyments, only as the Consequences of the State of Esteem and Acceptation, they are in with their Parents and Governors, but they should never be offer'd or bestow'd on them as the Rewards of this or that particular Performance, that they shew an Averfion to, or to which they would not have applied themselves without that Temptation. §. 53. But if you 9.53: take the Rod away on one hand,and those little Encouragements, which they are taken with on the other, How then (will you say) shall Childern be govern'd? Remove Hope and Fear, and there is an end of all Discipline. I grant, that Good and Evil, Reward and Punishment, are the only Motives to a rational Creature; these are the Spur and Reins whereby all Mankind are set on work and guided,and therefore they are to be made

0

E 3

Rewards.

made ufe of to Children too. For I advise their Parents and Governors always to carry this in their Minds, that they are to be treated as rational Creatures.

§. 54. Rewards, I grant, and Punishments must be proposed to Children, if we intend to work upon them; the Mistake, I imagine, is, that those, that are generally made use of, are ill chosen. The Pains and Pleasures of the Body are, I think, of ill consequence, when made the Rewards and Punishments, whereby Men would prevail on their Children: For they serve but to increase and strengthen those Appetites, which 'tis our business to subdue and master. What principle of Vertue do you lay in a Child, if you will redeem his Desires of one Pleasure by the Proposal of another? This is but to enlarge his Appetite, and instruct it to wander. If a Child cries for an unwholfome and dangerous Fruit, you purchace his quiet by giving him a less hurtful Sweet-meat; this perhaps may preserve his Health, but spoils his Mind, and sets that farther out of order. For here you only change the Object, but flatter still his Appetite,

and

and allow that must be satisfied: Where- Rewards.
in, as I have shewed, lies the root of
the Mischief; and till you bring him
to be able to bear a denial of that Sa-
tisfaction, the Child may at present
be quiet and orderly, but the Disease
is not cured. By this way of procee-
ding you foment and cherish in him,
that which is the Spring, from whence
all the Evil flows, which will be sure
on the next occasion to break out again
with more violence, give him stronger
Longings, and you more trouble.

1

§. 55. The Rewards and Punishments Reputation. then, whereby we should keep Children in order, are quite of another kind, and of that force, that when we can get them once to work, the business, I think, is done, and the difficulty is over. Esteem and Disgrace are, of all others, the most powerful incentives to the Mind, when once it is brought to relish them: If you can once get into Children a love of Credit, and an apprehension of Shame and Disgrace, you have put into them the true Principle, which will constantly work, and incline them to the right. But it will be asked, how shall this be done?

E 4

I con

Reputation. I confess, it does not at first appearance want some difficulty; but yet I think it worth our while, to seek the ways (and practise them when found,) to attain this, which I look on as the great Secret of Education.

§. 56. First, Children (earlier perhaps than we think) are very sensible of Praise and Commendation. They find a Pleasure in being esteemed, and valued, especially by their Parents, and those whom they depend on. If therefore the Father caress and commend them, when they do well; shew a cold and neglectful Countenance to them upon doing ill: And this accompanied by a like Carriage of the Mother, and all others that are about them, it will in a little Time make them sensible of the Difference; and this, if constantly observed, I doubt not but will of it self work more than Threats or Blows, which lose their Force when once grown common, and are of no use when Shame does not attend them; and therefore are to be forborn, and never to be u fed, but in the Case hereafter mentioned, when it is brought to Extremity.

§. 57.

§. 57. But Secondly, To make the Sense of Esteem or Disgrace, sink the deeper, and be of the more weight, other agreeable or disagreeable Things should constantly accompany these different States; not as particular Rewards and Punishments of this or that particular Action, but as necessarily belonging to, and constantly attending one, who by his Carriage has brought himself into a State of Difgrace or Commendation. By which Way of Treating them, Children may, as much as possible, be brought to con ceive, that those that are commended, and in Esteem, for doing well, will necessarily be beloved and cherished by every Body, and have all other good Things as a Consequence of it. And on the other Side, when any one by Miscarriage, falls into Dis-esteem, and cares not to preserve his Credit, he will unavoidably fall under Neglect and Contempt; and in that State, the Want of what ever might satisfie or delight him will follow. In this way, the Objects of their Desires are made affisting to Vertue, when a setled Experience from the beginning teaches

Reputation