§ 76. Children being more active and busy in that Age, than in any other Part of their Life, and being ^^^1,^^^ 5 indifferent to any Thing they can do, so they *^ may be but doing, Dancing and Scotch-hoppers would be the same Thing to them, were the Encouragements and Dis- couragements equal But to Things we would have them learn, the great and only Discouragement I can observe, is, 10 that they are calFd to it, 'tis made their Business^ they are tecus'd and chid about it, and do it with Trembling and Apprehension; or, when they come willingly to it, are kept too long at it, till they are quite tir'd: All which intrenches too much on that natural Freedom they extremely affect. 15 And it is that Liberty alone which gives the true Relish and Delight to their ordinary Play-Games. Turn the Tables, and you will find they will soon change their Appli- cation; especially if they see the Examples of others whom they esteem and think above themselves. And if 20 the Things which they observe others to do, be order'd so, that they insinuate themselves into them as the Privilege of an Age or Condition above theirs; then Ambition, and the Desire still to get forward and higher, and to be like those above them, will set them on work, and make them 25 go on with Vigour and Pleasure; Pleasure in what they have begun by their own Desire, in which Way the Enjoy- ment of their dearly beloved Freedom will be no small Encouragement to them. To all which, if there be added the Satisfaction of Credit and Reputation, I am apt to 30 think there will need no other Spur to excite their Applica- tion and Assiduity, as much as is necessary. I confess, there needs Patience and Skill, Gentleness and Attention, and a prudent Conduct to attain this at first But why have you a Tutor, if there needed no Pains? But when 35 this is once establish'd, all the rest will follow, more easily than in any more severe and imperious Discipline. And I think it no hard Matter to gain this Point; I am sure it will not be, where Children have no ill Examples set before them. The great Danger therefore, I apprehend, is only 40 fix)m Servants, and other ill-order'd Children, or such other vicious or foolish People, who spoil Children both by the ill Pattern they set before them in their own ill Manners, and by giving them together the two Things they should never have at once; I mean vicious Pleasures and Com- 5 mendation.
§ 77. As Children should very seldom be corrected by ^j^. Blows, so I think frequent, and especially pas- sionate Chiding of almost as ill Consequence. It lessens the Authority of the Parents, and the Respect 10 of the Child; for I bid you still remember, they distinguish early betwixt Passion and Reason: And as they cannot but have a Reverence for what comes from the latter, so they quickly grow into a Contempt of the former; or if it causes a present Terror, yet it soon wears off, and natural Inclina- 15 tion will easily learn to slight such Scare-crows which make a Noise, but are not animated by Reason. Children being to be restrained by the Parents only in vicious (which, in their tender Years, are only a few) Things, a Look or Nod only ought to correct them when they do amiss; or, if 20 Words are sometimes to be us'd, they ought to be grave, kind, and sober, representing the 111 or Unbecomingness of the Faults, rather than a hasty Rating of the Child for it; which makes him not sufficiently distinguish, whether your Dislike be not more directed to him than his Fault. Pas- 25 sionate Chiding usually carries rough and ill Language with it, which has this farther ill Effect, that it teaches and jus- tifies it in Children: And the Names that their Parents or Prseceptors give them, they will not be asham'd or backward to bestow on others, having so good Authority for the Use 30 of them.
§ 78. I forsee here it will be objected to me. What obstiH ^^^^ will you have Children never beaten nor ' "''^' chid for any Fault? This will be to let loose the Reins to all Kind of Disorder. Not so much, as is 35 imagined, if a right Course has been taken in the first Seasoning of their Minds, and implanting that Awe of their Parents above-mentioned. For Beating, by constant Obser- vation, is found to do little good, where the Smart of it is all the Punishment is fear'd or felt in it; for the Influence 40 of that quickly wears out, with the Memory of it But yet there is one, and but one Fault, for which, I think Children i 78J Obstinacy needs the Rod. 57 should be beaten, and that is, Obstinacy or Rebellion, And in this too, I would have it order'd so, if it can be, that the Shame of the Whipping, and not the Pain, should be the greatest Part of the Punishment Shame of doing amiss, and deserving Chastisement, is the only true Restraint 5 belonging to Virtue. The Smart of the Rod, if Shame accompanies it not, soon ceases, and is forgotten, and will quickly by Use lose its Terror. I have known the Children of a Person of Quality kept in Awe by the Fear of having their Shoes puird ofif, as much as others by Apprehensions ro of a Rod hanging over them. Some such Punishment I think better than Beating; for 'tis Shame of the Fault, and the Disgrace that attends it, that they should stand in Fear of, rather than Pain, if you would have them have a Temper truly ingenuous. But Stubbornness, and an obstinate Disobe- 15 diena, must be mastered with Force and Blows; for this there is no other Remedy. Whatever particular Action you bid him do, or forbear, you must be sure to see your self obe/d; no Quarter in this Case, no Resistance: For when once it comes to be a Trial of Skill, a Contest for 20 Mastery betwixt you, as it is if you command and he refuses, you must be sure to carry it, whatever Blows it costs, if a Nod or Words will not prevail; unless, for ever after, you intend to live in Obedience to your Son. A prudent and kind Mother of my Acquaintance, was, on 25 such an Occasion, forc'd to whip her little Daughter, at her first coming home from Nurse, eight Times successively the same Morning, before she could master her Stt^bomnessy and obtain a Compliance in a very easy and indififerent Matter. If she had left off sooner, and stopp'd at the 30 seventh Whipping, she had spoiPd the Child for ever, and, by her unprevailing Blows, only confirmed her Refractoriness^ very hardly afterwards to be cur'd: But wisely persisting till she had bent her Mind, and suppled her Will, the only End of Correction and Chastisement, she established her 35 Authority thoroughly in the very first Occasions, and had ever after a very ready Compliance and Obedience in all Things from her Daughter; for as this was the first Time, so I think it was the last too she ever struck her.
The Pain of the Rod, the first Occasion that requires it, 40 continu'd and increased, without leaving ofif till it has 58 The Rod for Stubbornness only. [§ 78 throughly prevailed, should first bend the Mind, and settle the Parent's Authority; and then Gravity, mix'd with Kind- ness, should for ever after keep it.
This, if well reflected on, would make People more wary 5 in the Use of the Rod and the Cudgel, and keep them from being so apt to think Beating the safe and universal Remedy to be appl/d at random on all Occasions. This is certain, however, if it does no Good, it does great Harm; if it reaches not the Miiid, and makes not the Will supple, it 10 hardens the Offender; and whatever Pain he has sufFe^d for it, it does but endear him to his beloved Stubbornness, which has got him this Time the Victory, and prepares him to contest, and hope for it for the future. Thus I doubt not but by ill-order'd Correction many have been taught to be 15 obstinate and refractory who otherwise would have been very pliant and tractable. For if you punish a Child so, 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 sturdy ao Humour or Wilfulness mix'd with his Fault, there was no- thing in it that requir'd the Severity of Blows. A kind or grave Admonition is enough to remedy the Slips of Frailty, Foigetfulness, or Inadvertency, and is as much as they will stand in need of. But if there were a Ferverseness in the 25 Will, if it were a designed, resolved Disobedience, the Punish- ment is not to be measur'd by the Greatness or Smallness of the Matter wherein it appeared, but by the Opposition it carries, and stands in, to that Respect and Submission is due to the Father's Orders; which must always be rigorously 30 exacted, and the Blows by Pauses laid on, till they reach the Mind, and you perceive the Signs of a true Sorrow, Shame, and Purpose of Obedience.
This, I confess, requires something more than setting Children a Task, and whipping them without any more a- 35 do if it be not done, and done to our Fancy. This requires Care, Attention, Observation, and a nice Study of Children's 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 Instrument of Go- 40 vemment? And by frequent Use of it on all Occasions, misapply and render inefficacious this last and useful Re- §§ 78— 8o] Faults not of the Will. 59 medy, where there is need of it? For what else can be expected, when it is promiscuously us'd upon every little Slip? When a Mistake in Concordance^ or a wrong Position in Verse, shall have the Severity of the Lash, in a well-tem- per'd and industrious Lad, as surely as a wilful Crime in an 5 obstinate and perverse Offender; how can such a Way of Correction be expected to do Good on the Mind, and set that right? Which is the only Thing to be looked after; and when set Right, brings all the rest that you can desire along with it 10 § 79. Where a wrong Bent of the Will wants not Amendment, there can be no need of Blows. All other Faults, where the Mind is rightly disposed, and refuses not the Government and Authority of the Father or Tutor, are but Mistakes, and may often be overlooked; or when they 15 are taken Notice of, need no other but the gentle Remedies of Advice, Direction, and Reproof, till the repeated and wilful Neglect of those, shews the Fault to be in the Mind, and that a manifest Ferverseness of the Will lies at the Root of their Disobedience. But whenever.Obstinacy^ which is 20 an open Defiance, appears, that cannot be wink'd at or neglected, but must, in the first Instance, be subdu'd and mastered; only Care must be had, that we mistake not, and we must be sure it is Obstinacy and nothing else.
§ 80. But since the Occasions of Punishment, especi- 25 ally Beating, are as much to be avoided as may be, I think it should not be often brought to this Point If the Awe I spoke of be once got, a Look will be sufi^cient in most Cases. Nor indeed should the same Carriage, Seriousness, or Application be expected firom young Children as from 30 those of riper Growth. They must be permitted, as I said, the foolish and childish Actions suitable to their Years, without taking Notice of them. Inadvertency, Carelessness, and Gayety, is the Character of that Age. I think the Se- verity I spoke of is not to extend itself to such unseasonable 35 Restraints. Nor is that hastily to be interpreted Obstinacy or Wilfulness, which is the natural Product of their Age or Temper. In such Miscarriages they are to be assisted, and helped towards an Amendment, as weak People under a natural Infirmity; which, though they are warn'd of, yet 4® every Relapse must not be counted a perfect Neglect, and they presently treated as obstinate. Faults of Frailty, as they should never be neglected, or let pass without minding, so, unless the Will mix with them, they should never be exaggerated, or very sharply reprov'd; but with a gentle 5 Hand set right, as Time and Age permit By this Means, Children will come to see what 'tis in any Miscarriage that is chiefly offensive, and so learn to avoid it This will en- courage them to keep their Wills right; which is the great Business, when they find that it preserves them from any 10 great Displeasure, and that in all their other Failings they meet with the kind Concern and Help, rather than the Anger and passionate Reproaches of their Tutor and Pa- rents. Keep them from Vice and vicious Dispositions, and such a Kind of Behaviour in general will come with every 15 degree of their Age, as is suitable to that Age and the Company they ordinarily converse 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 shall happen, upon any Occasion, that you 20 bid him leave off the doing of any even childish Things, you must be sure to carry the Point, and not let him have the Mastery. But yet, I say, I would have the Father seldom interpose his Authority and Command in these Cases, or in any other, but such as have a Tendency to 25 vicious Habits. I think there are better Ways of prevailing with them: And a gentle Persuasion in Reasoning, (when the first Point of Submission to your Will is got) will most I Times do much better. ^ § 81. It will perhaps be wonder'd, that I mention Reason- 30 ^ i«^with Children; and yet I cannot but think understand it as early as they do Language; and, if I mis- observe not, they love to be treated as rational Creatures, sooner than is imagined. 'Tis a Pride should be cherish'd 35 in them, and, as much as can be, made the greatest Instru- ment to turn them by.
But when I talk of Reasoning, I do not intend any other but such as is suited to the Child's Capacity and Apprehen- sion. No body can think a Boy of three or seven Years 40 old should be argu'd with as a grown Man. Long Dis- courses, and Philosophical Reasonings, at best, amaze and confound, but do not instruct Children. When I say, therefore, that they must be treated as rational Creatures, I mean, that you should make them sensible, by the Mildn^s of your Carriage, and the Composure even in your Correc- tion of them, Siat what you do is reasonable in you, and 5 useful and necessary for them; and that it is not out of Caprichio, Passion or Fancy, that you command or forbid them any thing. This they are capable of understanding; and there is no Virtue they should be excited to, nor Fault they should be kept from, which I do not think they may be 10 convinced of; but it must be by such Reasons as their Age and Understanding are capable of, and those proposed always in very few and plain Words, The Foundations on which several Duties are built, and the Fountains of Right and Wrong from which they spring, are not perhaps easily to be 15 let into the Minds of grown Men, not us'd to abstract their Thoughts from common received Opinions. Much less are Children capable of Reasonings from remote Principles. They cannot conceive the Force of long Deductions. The Reasons that move them must be obvious^ and level to their 20 Thoughts, and such as may (if I may so say) be felt and touched. But yet, if their Age, Temper, and Inclination be considered, there will never want such Motives as may be sufficient to convince them. If there be no other more particular, yet these will always be intelligible, and of Force, 25 to deter them from any Fault fit to be taken Notice of in them, (w>.) That it will be a Discredit and Disgrace to them, and displease you.
§ 82. But of all the Ways whereby Children are to be instructed, and their Manners formed, the plain- E^am^Ut 3^ est, easiest, and most efficacious, is, to set before ''^^**'' their Eyes the Examples of those Things you would have them do, or avoid; which, when they are pointed out to them, in the Practice of Persons within their Knowledge, with some Re- flections on their Beauty and Unbecomingness, are of more 35 Force to draw or deter their Imitation, than any Discourses which can be made to them. Virtues and Vices can by no Words be so plainly set before their Understandings as the Actions of other Men will shew them, when you direct their Observation, and bid them view this or that good or bad 40 Quality in their Practice. And the Beauty or Uncomeliness of many Things, in good and ill Breeding, will be better learnt, and make deeper Impressions on them, in the Examples of others, than from any Rules or Instructions can be given about them. 5 This is a Method to be us'd, not only whilst they are young, but to be continued even as long as they shall be under another's Tuition or Conduct; nay, I know not whether it be not the best Way to be us'd by a Father, as long as he shall think fit, on any Occasion, to reform any 10 Thing he wishes mended in his Son; nothing sinking so gently, and so deep, into Men's Minds, as Example. And what 111 they either overlook or indulge in themselves, they cannot but dislike and be asham'd of, when it is set before them in another.
'S § 83. It may be doubted, concerning Whipping, when, as the last Remedy, it comes to be necessary, at what Times, and by whom it should be '^'*'>>''V- done; whether presently upon the committing the Fault, whilst it is yet fresh and hot; and whether Parents themselves 20 should beat their Children. As to the first, I think it should not be done presently, lest Passion mingle with it; and so, though it exceed the just Proportion, yet it lose of its due Weight: For even Children discern when we do Things in Passion. But, as I said before, that has most Weight with 25 them, that appears sedately to come from their Parents' Reason; and they are not without this Distinction. Next, if you have any discreet Servant capable of it, and has the Place of governing your Child, (for if you have a Tutor, there is no Doubt) I think it is best the Smart should come 30 immediately from another's Hand, though by the Parent's Order, who should see it done; whereby the Parent's Autho- rity will be preserv'd, and the Child's Aversion, for the Pain it suffers, rather to be tum'd on the Person that immediately inflicts. For I would have a Father seldom strike his Child^ 35 but upon very urgent Necessity, and as the last Remedy; and then perhaps it will be fit to do it so that the Child should not quickly forget it.
§ 84. But, as I said before. Beating is the worst, and therefore the last Means to be us'd in the Correction of 40 Children, and that only in Cases of Extremity, after all gentle Ways have been tr/d, and prov'd unsuccessful; § 84] Punishments come of neglect. 63 which, if well observ'd, there will be very seldom any Need of Blows. For, it not being to be imagin'd that a Child will often, if ever, dispute his Father's present Command in any particular Instance, and the Father not interposing his abso- lute Authority, in peremptory Rules, concerning either child- S ish or indifferent Actions, wherein his Son is to have his Liberty, or concerning his Learning or Improvement, wherein there is no Compulsion to be us'd: There remains only the Prohibition of some vicious Actions, wherein a Child is capable of Obstinacy^ and consequently can deserve Beating; 10 and so there will be but very few Occasions of that Dis- cipline to be us'd by any one who considers well and orders his Child's Education as it should be. For the first seven Years, what Vices can a Child be guilty of, but Lying, or some ill-natufd Tricks; the repeated Commission whereof, 15 after his Father's direct Command against it, shall bring him into the Condemnation of Obstinacy^ and the Chastise- ment of the Rod? If any vicious Inclination in him be, in the first Appearance and Instances of it, treated as it should be, first with your Wonder, and then, if returning 20 again, a second Time discountenanc'd with the severe Brow of a Father, Tutor, and all about him, and a Treatment suitable to the State of Discredit before-mention'd; and this continued till he be made sensible and asham'd of his Fault, I imagine there will be no need of any other Correction, nor 25 ever any Occasion to come to Blows. The Necessity of such Chastisement is usually the Consequence only of former Indulgences or Neglects: Ifvicious Inclinations were watch'd from the Beginning, and the first Irregularities which they cause, corrected by those gentler Ways, we should seldom 30 have to do with more than one Disorder at once; which would be easily set right without any Stir or Noise, and not require so harsh a Discipline as Beating. Thus one by one, as they appeared, they might all be weeded out, without any Signs or Memory that ever they had been there. But we 35 letting their Faidts (by indulging and humouring our little Ones) grow up, till they are sturdy and numerous, and the Deformity of them makes us asham'd and uneasy, we are fain to come to the Plough and the Harrow; the Spade and the Pick-Ax must go deep to come at the Roots; and all 40 the Force, Skill, and Diligence we can use, is scarce enough 64 Shew surprise at sin. Must Rod teach? [$§84 — 85 to cleanse the vitiated Seed-Plat, overgrown with Weeds, and restore us the Hopes of Fruits, to reward our Pains in its Season.
§ 85. This Course, if observ'd, will spare both Father 5 and Child the Trouble of repeated Injunctions, and multi- pl/d Rules of Doing and Forbearing. For I am of Opinion, that of those Actions which tend to vicious Habits, (which are those alone that a Father should interpose his Authority and Commands in) none should be forbidden Children till 10 they are found guilty of them. For such untimely Pro- hibitions, if they do nothing worse, do at least so much towards teaching and allowing 'em, that they suppose that Children may be guilty of them, who would possibly be safer in the Ignorance of any such Faults. And the best 15 Remedy to stop them, is, as I have said, to shew Wonder and Amazement at any such Action as hath a vicious Ten- dency, when it is first taken Notice of in a Child. For Ex- ample, when he is first found in a Lie, or any ill-natur'd Trick, the first Remedy should be, to talk to him of it as 20 a strange monstrous Matter^ that it could not be imagined he would have done, and so shame him out of it § 86. It will be ('tis like) objected, that whatsoever I faincy of the Tractableness of Children, and the Prevalency of those softer Ways of Shame and Commendation; yet 25 there are many who will never apply themselves to their Books, and to what they ought to learn, unless they are scourg'd to it. This, I fear, is nothing but the Language of ordinary Schools and Fashion, which have never suffered the other to be try'd as it should be, in Places where it could be 30 taken Notice of. Why^ else, does the learning of Latin and Greek need the Rod, when French and Italian need it not? Children learn to dance and Fence without Whipping; nay, Arithmetick, Drawing, &*c, they apply themselves well enough to without Beating: Which would make one sus- 35 pect, that there is something strange, unnatural, and dis- agreeable to that Age, in the Things required in Gram- mar-Schools, or in the Methods us'd there, that Children cannot be brought to, without the Severity of the Lash, and hardly with that too; or else, that it is a Mistake, 40 that those Tongues could not be taught them without Beating.
§ 87. But let us suppose some so negligent or idle, that they will not be brought to learn by the gentle Ways pro- pos'd, (for we must grant, that there will be Children found of all Tempers,) yet it does not thence follow, that the rough Discipline of the Cudgel is to be us'd to all. Nor can 5 any one be concluded unmanageable by the milder Methods of Government, till they have been throughly try^d upon him; and if they will not prevail with him to use his En- deavours, and do what is in his Power to do, we make no Excuses for the Obstinate. Blows are the proper Remedies 10 for those; but Blows laid on in a Way different from the ordinary. He that wilfully neglects his Book, and stubbornly refuses any thing he can do, required of him by his Father, expressing himself in a positive serious Command, should not be corrected with two or three angry Lashes, for not 15 performing his Task, and the same Punishment repeated again and again upon every the like Default; but when it is brought to that pass, that Wilfulness evidently shews itself, and makes Blows necessary, I think the Chastisement should be a little more sedate, and a little more severe, and the Whipping 20 (mingled with Admonition between) so continued, till the Im- pressions of it on the Mind were found legible in the Face, Voice, and Submission of the Child, not so sensible of the Smart as of the Fault he has been guilty of, and melting in true Sorrow under it If such a Correction as this, try'd 25 some few Times at fit Distances, and carry'd to the utmost Severity, with the visible Displeasure of Ae Father all the while, will not work the Eflfect, turn the Mind, and produce a future Compliance, what can be hop'd from Blaws^ and to what Purpose should they be any more us'd? Beating, 30 when you can expect no Good from it, will look more like the Fury of an enrag'd Enemy, than the Good-Will of a compassionate Friend; and such Chastisement carries with it only Provocation, without any Prospect of Amendment If it be any Father's Misfortune to have a Son thus perverse 35 and untractable, I know not what more he can do but pray for him. But, I imagine, if a right Course be taken with Children from the Beginning, very few will be found to be such; and when there are any such Instances, they are not to be the Rule for the Education of those who are better 40 natufd, and may be managed with better Usage.
66 Tutors must have and deserve Respect. [§§ 88 — 90 § 88. If a Tutor can be got, that, thinking himself in the Father's Place, charg'd with his Care, and ^*^' relishing these Things, will at the Beginning apply himself to put them in Practice, he will afterwards 5 find his Work very easy; and you will, I guess, have your Son in a little Time a greater Proficient in both Learning and Breeding than perhaps you imagine. But let him by no Means beat him at any Time without your Consent and Direction; at least till you have Experience of his Dis- 10 cretion and Temper. But yet, to keep up his Authority with his Pupil, besides concealing that he has not the Power of the Rod, you must be sure to use him with great Respect your self, and cause all your Family to do so too: For you cannot expect your Son should have any Regard for one 15 whom he sees you, or his Mother, or others slight If you think him worthy of Contempt, you have chosen amiss; and if you shew any Contempt of him, he will hardly escape it from your Son: And whenever that happens, whatever Worth he may have in himself, and Abilities for this Em- 20 ployment, they are all lost to your Child, and can afterwards never be made useful to him.
§ 89. As the Father's Example must teach the Child Respect for his Tutor, so the Tutor's Example must lead the Child into those Actions he would have him do. His 25 Practice must by no means cross his Precepts, unless he intend to set him wrong. It will be to no Purpose for the Tutor to talk of the Restraint of the Passions whilst any of his own are let loose; and he will in vain endeavour to reform any Vice or Indecency in his Pupil, which he allows 30 in himself. Ill Patterns are sure to be followed more than good Rules; and therefore he must always carefully pre-^ serve him from the Influence of ill Precedents, especially the most dangerous of all, the Examples of the Servants; from whose Company he is to be kept, not by Prohibitions, 35 for that will but give him an Itch after it, but by other Ways I have mentioned.
§ 90. In all the whole Business of Education, there is Gavtrnor ^^o^hing Hkc to bc Icss hcarkcu'd to, or harder to be well observed, than what I am now going 40 to say; and that is, that Children should, from their first beginning to talk, have some discreet^ sober^ nay, wise Per- §§ 9<>« 91] Importance of the Tutor. 67 son about them, whose Care it should be to fashion them aright, and keep them from all 111, especially the Infection of bad Company. I think this Province requires great Sobriety y Temperance^ Tenderness^ Diligence^ and Discretion; Qualities hardly to be found united in Persons that are to 5 be had for ordinary Salaries, nor easily to be found any where. As to the Charge of it, I think it will be the Money best laid out that can be, about our Children; and therefore, though it may be expensive more than is ordinary, yet it cannot be thought dear. He that at any rate pro- 10 cures his Child a good Mind, well-principled, tempered to Virtue and Usefulness, and adom'd with Civility and good Breeding, makes a better Purchase for him than if he laid out the Money for an Addition of more Earth to his former Acres. Spare it in Toys and Play-Games, in Silk 15 and Ribbons, Laces, and other useless Expences, as much as you please \ but be not sparing in so necessary a Part as this. Tis not good Husbandry to make his Fortune rich, and his Mind poor. I have often with great Admiration seen People lavish it profusely in tricking up their Children 20 in fine Clothes, lodging and feeding them sumptuously, allowing them more than enough of useless Servants, and yet at the same Time starve their Minds, and not take sufficient Care to cover that which is the most shameful Nakedness, viz, their natural wrong Inclinations and Ignorance. This 25 I can look on as no other than a sacrificing to their own Vanity, it shewing more their Pride than true Care of the Good of their Children; whatsoever you employ to the Advantage of your Son's Mind, will shew your true Kind- ness, tho' it be to the lessening of his Estate. A wise and 3° good Man can hardly want either the Opinion or Reality of being great and happy; but he that is foolish or vicious, can be neither great nor happy, what Estate soever you leave him: And I ask you. Whether there be not Men in the World, whom you had rather have your Son be with 35 five hundred Pounds per Annuniy than some other you know with five thousand Pounds.
§ 91. The Consideration of Charge ought not therefore to deter those who are able. The great Difficulty will be where to find a proper Person: For those of small Age, 40 Parts, and Vertue, are unfit for this Employment, and those that have greater, will hardly be got to undertake such a Charge. You must therefore look out early, and enquire every where; for the World has People of all Sorts. And I remember, Montaigne says in one of his Essays, That the 5 learned Castalio was fain to make Trenchers at BasU^ to keep himself from starving, when his Father would have given any Money for such a Tutor for his Son, and Castalio have willingly embraced such an Employment upon very reasonable Terms; but this was for want of Intelligence.
10 § 92. If you find it difficult to meet with such a Tutor as we desire, you are not to wonder. I only can say, spare no Care nor Cost to get such an one. All Things are to be had that Way: And I dare assiu:e you, that if you can get a good' one, you will never repent the Charge; but will 15 always have the Satisfaction to think it the Money of all other the best laid out. But be sure take no body upon Friends, or Charity, no, nor upon great Commendations. Nay, if you will do as you ough^ the Reputation of a sober Man, with a good Stock of Learning, (which is all usually 20 required in a Tutor) will not be enough to serve your Turn. In this Choice be as curious as you would be in that of a Wife for him; for you must not think of Trial or Changing afterwards: This will cause great Inconvenience to you, and greater to your Son. When I consider the Scruples 25 and Cautions I here lay in your Way, methinks it looks as if I advised you to something which I would have ofifer'd at, but in Effect not done. But he that shall consider how much the Business of a Tutor, rightly emplo/d, lies out of the Road, and how remote it is from the Thoughts of many, 30 even of those who propose to themselves this Employment, will perhaps be of my Mind, that one fit to educate and form the Mind of a young Gentleman is not every where to be found, and that more than ordinary Care is to be taken in the Choice of him, or ebe you may fail of your 35 End.
§ 93. The Character of a sober Man and a Scholar, is, as I have above observed, what every one expects in a Tutor. This generally is thought enough, and is all that Parents commonly look for: But when such an one has