must not be cross'd, forsooth; they must be permitted to have their Willsinall Things; and they being in their Infancies, not capable of great Vices, their Parents think they may fafe enough indulge their little Irregularities, and make themselves Sport with that pretty Perverseness, which they think well enough becomes that innocent Age. But to a fond Parent, that would not have his Child corrected for a perverse Trick, but excus'd it, saying it was a small Matter, Solon very well reply'd, Aye, but Custom is a great one.

§. 35. The Fondling must be taught to strike, and call Names, must have what he calls for, and do what he pleases. Thus Parents, by humouring and cockering them when little, corrupt the Principles of Nature in their Children, and wonder afterwards to taste the bitter Waters, when they themselves have poison'd the Fountain. For when their Children are grown up, and these ill Habits with them; when they are now too big to be dandl'd, and their Parents can no longer make Ufe of them as Play things, then they complain, that the Brats are untoward and perverse; then they are offended to fee them wilful, and are troubl'd with those ill Humours, which they themselves infus'd and fomented in them, and then, perhaps too late, would be glad to get out those Weeds, which their own Hands have planted, and which now have taken too dep Root, to be eafily extirpated. For he that has been us'd

to

to have his Will in every Thing, as long as he was in Coats, why should we think it strange, that he should defire it, and contend for it still, when he is in Breeches? Indeed, as he grows more towards a Man, Age thews his Faults the more; fo that there be few Parents then so blind, as not to fee them, few fo insensible, as not to feel the ill Effects of their own Indulgence. He had the Will of his Maid before he could fpeak or go, he had the Mastery of his Parents ever fince he could prattle; and why, now he is grown up, is stronger and wifer than he was then, why now of a Sudden must he be reftrain'd and curb'd? Why must he at feven, fourteen, or twenty Years old, lofe the Priviledge which the Parents Indulgence 'till then, so largely allow'd him? Try it in a Dog or an Horse, or any other Creature, and fee whether the ill and resty Tricks they have learn'd when young, are easily to be mended when they are knit; and yet none of those Creatures are half fo wilful and prond, or half so defirous to be Masters of themselves and others, as Man.

§. 36. We are generally wife enough to begin with them, when they are very young, and difcipline betimes those other Creatures we would make useful and good for fomewhat. They are only our own Off-fpring, that we neglect in this Point; and having made them ill Children, we foolishly expect they should be good Men. For if the Child muft

must have Grapes or Sugar-plumbs when he has a Mind to them, rather than make the poor Baby cry, or be out of Humour, why, when he is grown up, must he not be fatisfy'd too, if his Defires carry him to Wine or Women? They are Objects as fuitable to the Longing of one of more Years, as what he cry'd for, when little, was to the Inclinations of a Child. The having Defires accommodated to the Apprehenfions and Relish of those several Ages, is not the Fault; but the not having them fubject to the Rules and Reftraints of Reafon: The Difference lies not in having or not having Appetites, but in the Power to govern, and deny our felves in them. He that is not us'd to fubmit his Will to the Reason of others, when he is young, will scarce hearken or fubmit to his own Reason, when he is of an Ageto make Ufe of it. And what a Kind of a Man such an one is like to prove, is easy to fore-fee.

§. 37. Thefe are Over-fights usually committed by those who seem to take the greateft Care of their Childrens Education. But if we look into the common Management of Children, we shall have Reafon to wonder, in the great Diffoluteness of Manners which the World complains of, that there are any Foot-ftepts at all left of Vertue. I defire to know what Vice can be nam'd; which Parents, and those about Children, do not season them with, and drop into 'em the the Seeds of, as foon as they are capable to receive them? I do not mean by the Examples they give, and the Patterns they fet before them, which is Encouragement enough; but that which I would take Notice of here, is, the downright teaching them Vice, and actual putting them out of the Way of Vertue. Before they can go, they principle 'em with Violence, Revenge, and Cruelty. Give me a Blow, that I may beat him, is a Lesson which most Children every Day hear; and it is thought nothing, because their Hands have not Strength to do any Mischief. But I ask, Does not this corrupt their Mind? Is not this the Way of Force and Violence, that they are fet in? And if they have been taught, when little, to strike and hurt others by Proxy, and encourag'd to rejoyce in the Harm they have brought upon them, and fee them fuffer, are they not prepar'd to do it, when they are strong enough to be felt themselves, and can strike to some Purpofe?

The Coverings of our Bodies, which are for Modesty, Warmth, and Defence, are, by the Folly or Vice of Parents, recommended to their Children for other Uses. They are made Matters of Vanity and Emulation. A Child is fet a longing after a new Suit, for the Finery of it, and when the little Girl is trick'd up in her new Gown and Commode, how can her Mother do less than teach her to admire herfelf, by calling her, her lit,

tle

tle Queen, and her Princess? Thus the little ones are taught to be proud of their Cloths, before they can put them on. And why should they not continue to value themselves for this Outfide Fashionableness of the Taylor or Tire-woman's Making, when their Parents have so early instructed them to do fo?

Lying and Equivocations, and Excuses little different from Lying, are put into the Mouths of young People, and commended in Apprentices and Children, whilft they are for their Master's or Parent's Advantage. And can it be thought, that he that finds the Straining of Truth difpenc'd with, and encourag'd, whilft it is for his godly. Master's Turn, will not make Ufe of that Privilege for himself, when it may be for his own Profit ?

Those of the meaner Sort are hinder'd by the Streightness of their Fortunes, from encouraging Intemperance in their Children, by the Temptation of their Diet, or Invitations to eat or drink more than enough; but their own ill Examples, whenever Plenty coines in their Way, shew, that 'tis not the Diflike of Drunkenness or Gluttony, that keps them from Excess, but Want of Materials. But if we look into the Houses of those, who are a little warmer in their Fortunes, there Eating and Drinking are: imade so much the great Business and Happiness of Life, that Children are thought neglected, if they have not their Share of it.

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