Victory, and prepares him to Conteft, and hope for it for the future. Thus I doubt not, but by ill-order'd Correction, many have been taught to be obftinate and refractary, who otherwife would have been ve ry pliant and tractable. For if you punifh a Child fe, as if it were only to revenge the past Fault, which has rais'd your Choler, what Operation can this have upon his Mind, which is the Part to be amended? If there were no furdy Humour, or Wilfulness mix'd with his Fault, there was nothing in it that requir'd the Severity of Blows. A kind or grave Admonition, is enough to remedy the Slips of Frailty, Forgetfulness, or Inadvertency, and is as much as they will ftand in need of But if there were a Perverseness in the Will, if it were a defign'd, refolv'd Difobedience, the Punishment is not to be meafur'd by the Greatness or Smallnefs of the Matter wherein it appear'd, but by the Oppofition it carries, and ftands in, to that Refpect and Submiffion due to the Father's Orders; which must always be rigorously exacted, and the Blows by Paufes laid on, 'till they reach the Mind, and you perceive the Signs of a true Sorrow, Shame, and Purpose of Obedience.

This, I confefs, requires fomething more than fetting Children a Tafk, and whipping them without any more ado, if it be not done, and done to our Fancy. This

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requires Care, Attention, Obfervation, and a nice Study of Childrens Tempers, and weighing their Faults well, before we come to this Sort of Punishment. But is not that better, than always to have the Rod in Hand, as the only Inftrument of Go vernment? And by frequent Ufe of it on all Occafions, mifapply and render ineffi cacious this last and useful Remedy, where there is Need of it. For what elfe can be expected, when it is promifcuously us'd upon every little Slip? When a Mistake in Concordance, or a wrong Pofition in Verfe, thall have the Severity of the Lafh, in a well-temper'd and induftrious Lad, as fure-ly as a wilful Crime in an obftinate and perverfe Offender; how can fuch a Way of Correction be expected to do Good on the Mind, and fet that right? Which is the only Thing to be look'd after; and when fet right, brings all the reft that you can> defire along with it.

§. 79. Where a wrong Bent of the Will wants not Amendinent, there can be no need of Blows. All other Faults, where. the Mind is rightly difpos'd, and refufess not the Government and Authority of the Father or Tutor, are but Mistakes, and may often be over-look'd; or when they are taken Notice of, need no other but the gentle Remedies of Advice, Direction, and Reproof, 'till the repeated and wilful Neg E 5

lect:

lect of those, fhews the Fault to be in the Mind, and that a manifeft Perverseness of the Will lies at the Root of their Difobedience. But whenever Obftinacy, which is an open Defiance, appears, that cannot be wink'd at, or neglected, but muft, in the firft Inftance, be fubdu'd and mafter'd, only Care must be had, that we mistake not; and we must be fure it is Obftinacy, and nothing else.

§. 80. But fince the Occafions of Punishment, especially Beating, are as much to be avoided as may be, I think it fhould not be often brought to this Point. If the Awe I fpoke of be once got, à Look will be fufficient in moft Cafes. Nor indeed fhould the fame Carriage, Serioufnefs, or Application, be expected from young Chil dren, as from thofe of riper Growth. They must be permitted, as I faid, the foolish and childish Actions fuitable to their Years, without taking Notice of them. Inadver tency, Carelefnefs, and Gayety, is the Character of that Age. I think the Severity I fpoke of, is not to extend it felf to fuch unfeafonable Reftraints. Nor is that haftily to be interpreted Obftinacy or Wil fulness, which is the natural Product of their Age or Temper. In fuch Miscarriages they are to be affifted, and help'd towards an Amendment, as weak People un der a natural Infirmity; which, though they are warn'd of, yet every Relapfe muft

1

not

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not, be counted a perfect Neglect, and they prefently treated as obftinate, Faults of Frailty, as they should never be neglected, or let país without minding, fo, unless the Will mix with them, they should never be exaggerated, or very fharply reprov'd; but with a gentle Hand fet right, as Time and Age permit. By this Means, Children will come to fee what tis in any Miscarriage, that is chiefly offenfive, and fo learn to avoid it. This will encourage them to keep their Wills right, which is the great Bufinefs, when they find that it preferves them from any great Difpleasure, and that in all their other Failings, they meet with the kind Concern and Help, rather than the Anger, and paffionate Reproaches of their Tutor and Parents. Keep them from Vice, and vicious Difpofitions, and fuch a Kind of Behaviour in general will come, with every Degree of their Age, as is fuitable to that Age, and the Company they ordinarily converfe with; and as they grow in Years, they will grow in Attention and Application. But that, your Words may always carry Weight and Authority with them, if it fhall happen, upon any Occafion, that you bid him leave off the doing of any even childish Things, you must be fure to carry the Point, and not let him have the Maftery. But yet, I fay, I would have the Father feldom interpofe his AuE 6d, thority

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thority and Command in these Cafes, or in any other, but fuch as have a Tendency to vicious Habits. I think there are bet ter Ways of prevailing with them: And a gentle Perfwafion in Reafoning, (when the first Point of Submiflion to your Will is got) will moft Times do much bet

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Reafoning.

§. 8r. It will perhaps be wonder'd, that I mention Reasoning with Children; and yet I cannot but think that the true Way of dealing with them. They understand it as early as they do Language; and, if I mifobferve not, they love to be treated as rational Creatures, fooner than is imagin'd. 'Tis a Pride fhould be cherifh'd in them, and as much as can be, made the greatest Inftrument to turn them by.

But when I talk of Reasoning, I do not intend any other, but fuch as is fuited to the Child's Capacity and Apprehension. No Body can think a Boy of three or feven Years old, fhould be argu'd with, as a grown Man. Long Difcourfes, and Philofophical Reafonings, at beft amaze and confound, but do not inftru&t Children. When I fay therefore, that they must be treated as rational Creatures, I mean, that you should make them fenfible, by the Mildness of your Carriage, and the Compofure even in your Correction of them, that what you do is reafonable in you, and useful and

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