fation of Boys, he were better be without

it.

Vice, if we may believe the general Complaint, ripens fo faft now-a-day's, and runs, up to Seed fo early in young People, that it is impoffible to keep à Lad from the fpreading Contagion, if you will venture him Abroad in the Herd, and truft to Chance or his own Inclination for the Choice of his Company at School. By what Fate Vice has fo thriven amongst us thefe Years paft, and by what Hands it has been nurs'd up into fo uncontroul'd a Dominion, I fhalt leave to others to enquire. I with, that thofe who complain of the great Decay of Chriftian Piety and Vertue every where, and of Learning and acquir'd Improvements. in the Gentry of this Generation, would confider how to retrieve them in the next. This I am fure, that if the Foundation of it be not laid in the Education and Principling of the Youth, all other Endeavours will be in vain. And if the Innocence, Sobriety, and Induftry of thofe who are coming up, be not taken Care of and preferv'd, 'twill be ridiculous to expect, that thofe who are to fucceed next on the Stage, fhould abound in that Vertne, Ability, and Learning, which has hitherto made Enga Land confiderable in the World. I was going to add Courage too, though it has been look'd on as the natural Inheritance of Englib-inen What has been talk'd of fonte

late

late Actions at Sea, of a Kind unknown to our Ancestors, gives me Occafion to fay, that Debauchery finks the Courage of Men; and when Diffolutenefs has eaten out the Senfe of true Honour, Bravery feldom stays long after it. And I think it impoffible to find an Inftance of any Nation, however renown'd for their Valour, who ever kept their Credit in Arms, or made themfelves redoubtable amongst their Neighbours, after Corruption had once broke through, and diffolv'd the Reftraint of Discipline, and Vice was grown to fuch an Head, that it durft fhew it felf bare-fac'd, without being out of Countenance.

'Tis Vertue then, dire& VerVertue. tue, which is the hard and valuable Part to be aim'd at in Education, and not a forward Pertnefs, or any little Arts of Shifting. All other Confiderations and Accomplishments fhould give Way, and be poftpon'd to this. This is the folid and fubftantial Good, which Tutors fhould not only read Lectures, and talk of, but the Labour and Art of Education fhould furnish the Mind with, and fasten there, and never ceafe 'till the young Man had a true Relifh of it, and plac'd his Strength, his Glory, and his Pleafure in it.

Company.

The more this advances, the eafier Way will be made for all o ther Accomplifliments, in their Turns. For he that is brought to submit

to

to Vertue, will not be refractary, or refty, in any Thing that becomes him; and therefore I cannot but prefer Breeding of a young Gentleman at Home in his Father's Sight, under a good Governor, as much the best and fafeft Way to this great and main End of Education, when it can be had, and is order'd as it fhould be. Gentlemens Houfes are feldom without Variety of Compa ny: They fhould ufe their Sons to all the ftrange Faces that come there, and engage them in Conversation with Men of Parts and Breeding, as foon as they are capable of it. And why thofe who live in the Country fhould not take them with them, when they make Vifits of Civility to their Neighbours, I know not. This I am fure, a Father that breeds his Son at Home, has the Opportunity to have him more in his own Company, and there give him what Encouragement he thinks fit; and can keep him better from the Taint of Servants, and the meaner Sort of People, than is poffible to be done Abroad. But what fhall be refolv'd in the Cafe, muft in great Measure be left to the Parents, to be determin'd by their Circumftances and Conveniencies; only I think it the worft Sort of good Huf bandry, for a Father not to ftrain himfelf a little for his Son's Breeding, which, let his Condition be what it will, is the beft Portion he can leave him. But if, after all, it fhall be thought by fome, that the

Breed

Breeding at Home has too little Company, and that at ordinary Schools, not fuch as it fhould be for a young Gentleman, I think there might be Ways found out to avoid the Inconveniencies on the one Side and the other.

§. 71. Having under Confideration how great the Influence of Company is, and how prone we are all, efpecially Children, to Imitation, I mult here take the Liberty to mind Parents of this one Thing, viz. That he that will have his Son have a Refpect for him, and his Orders, muft himself have a

great Reverence for his Son. MaxExample. ima debetur Pueris reverentia. You

muft do nothing before him,which you would not have him imitate. If any Thing fcape you, which you would have pafs to Fault in him, he will be fure for a Shelter himself under your Example, and fhelter himfelf fo as that it will not be leafy to coine at him, to correct it in him the right Way. If you punish him for what he fees you practife your felf, he will not think that Severity to proceed from Kindness in you, careful to amend a Fault in him, but will be apt to interpret it, the Peevishness and arbitrary Imperioufnefs of a Father, who, without any Ground for it, would deny his Son the Liberty and Pleafures he takes himfelf. Or if you affume to your felf the Liberty you have taken, as a Priviledge belonging to riper Years,

to

to which a Child muft not afpire, you do but add new Force to your Example, and recommend the Action the more powerfully to him. For you must always remem ber, that Children affect to be Men earlier than is thought; and they love Breeches, not for their Cut or Eafe, but because the having them is a Mark or a Step towards Man-hood. What I fay of the Father's Carriage before his Children, muft extend it felf to all thofe who have any Authority over thein, or for whom he would have them have any Respect.

ments.

ment.

72. But to return to the Bufinefs of Rewards and Punish- Puni All the Actions of Childishness and unfafhionable Carriage, and whatever Time and Age will of it felf be fure to reform, being (as I have faid) exempt from the Difcipline of the Rod, there will not be fo much need of beating Children, as is generally made Ufe of. To which, if we add learning to read, write, dance, foreign Language, &c. as under the fame Priviledge, there will be but very rare

ly any Occafion for Blows or Force in an ingenious Education. The right Way to teach them thofe Things, is, to give them a Liking and Inclination to what you propofe to them to be learn'd, and that will engage their Induftry and Application. This I think no hard Matter to do, if Children be handl'd as they should be, and the Rewards