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fequences; for he that is not us'd to fubmit his Will to the Reafon of others when he is young, will fcarce hearken or fubmit to his own Reason, when he is of an Age to make ufe of it: And what a kind of a Man fuch an one is like to prove, is easy to foresee. But could we admit, that this happy Change might be effected at approaching Maturity, fhall we dare to promise ourselves Life to that Day, and that Heaven will fpare us purposely on Earth for this procraftinated Reformation? I cannot forbear thinking we are fubject to the Imputation wherewith, as Diogenes Laertius tells us, Empedocles charg'd the People of Agrigentum; Edificare, ut femper Vitturos; genio indulgere, ut poftridie morituros: That they indulg'd themselves in Eating, as if they were to die on the Morrow; but built up their Houfes as if they were to live to Eternity: So do we humour our Children in Luxury and Intemperance, and make them Sharers in all our Extravagances, as if an Hereafter would be too late in those Points; but we rear up their Souls and Inclinations to Virtue and good Manners as flowly, as if it were still too foon to begin the Structure. It would not be amifs in this great Duty of Education, to liften to the Admonition of Pythagoras; δεῖ τεκνοποιεῖσθαι. δεῖ γὰρ ἀντικαταλιπεῖν τὰς θεραπευονίας

θεραπευοίας τον Θεόν. 'Tis your Duty to endeavour at Increase in your Generation, becaufe you ought to leave behind you thofe that may reverence and respect the Deity. It is not a Praise to increase our Species in Number alone, if we cannot make our Workmanship of Value: Capacity, good Senfe, and a thousand commendable inherent Qualities, may be interr'd in the Bofom of the Party that. poffeffes them, and entirely loft to the World, if the Benefit of Education, and proper Knowledge, do not come in to their Relief, draw them forth from Obfcurity, and make them as extensively ufeful as Nature firft defign'd. For what Man is not convinc'd he is an ufelefs Perfon, though he has ever fo many good Qualities, and ever fuch extraordinary Merit, when he confiders at his Death, he leaves a World which is not like to miss him, and fuch Numbers to fupply his Place?

Since then fo much depends upon Education, great Care fhould be taken to form Children to the Principles of Religion: The Byafs fhould be set right at first, and the Mind prepoffefs'd, as it were, for the Intereft of Virtue. This is the Way to smooth the Paffage to an happy Life, to reconcile Appetite to Reason, and make the Affections more manageable afterwards. For the Motion is ftrongly directed, and the Bent

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taken from the firft Impreffion: And Cuftom will make a good Practice as eafy as 'a bad one. For as in Childhood the Memory is ftrong, and the Body capable of Application; fo as yet the Mind is not overcharg'd with Cares, the Power of Intereft is not grown up, and the Baits of Pleasure being fomewhat out of Sight, they are unfeiz'd by the Prevalence of Habit, and the Infection of ill Company.

Vice, if we may believe the general Complaint, ripens fo faft now-a-Days, and runs up to Seed fo early in young People, that it is almoft impoffible to keep them from the fpreading Contagion, if we will venture them abroad in the Herd, and truft to Chance or their own Inclinations for the Choice of their Company. 'Tis Virtue which is the hard and valuable Part to be aim'd at in Education; all other Confiderations and Accomplishments should give way, and be poftpon'd to this. It is the folid and fubftantial Good we fhould labour to implant and faften in their Souls, and never ceafe till they have attain❜d a true Relif of it, and plac'd their Strength, their Glory, and their Pleafure in it. our Acquifitions by Labour, or Traffic; our -Lands, Poffeffions, and every Thing, are subfervient to Virtue; fays Saluft, in his Proem to Catiline, Que homines arant, navigant,

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ædificant,

ædificant, virtuti omnia parent. Sed multi Mortales, dediti ventri, atque fomno, indocti, incultique, vitam ficuti peregrinantes tranfiêre: quibus profecto contra naturam, corpus voluptati, anima oneri fuit. Eorum ego vitam mortemque juxta æftimo: quoniam de utraque filetur. But there are a Number of Mortals, who being abfolutely refign'd to Luxury and Lazinefs, without Learning or Embellishments, fpend their whole Lives, like Travellers in a Foreign Country, without being known or taken notice of. To fuch Men as thefe, contrary to the Defign and Institution of Nature, their Bodies have been all their Pleasure, but their Souls a Burthen and Clog on them: I look on their Lives and Deaths to be much the fame, as both are the Objects of Silence and Obfcurity.

'Tis fcarce to be doubted, I think, but the very fpring and Root of Honesty and Virtue lie in the Felicity of lighting on a Good Education: the bestowing of which, to the best of their Power and Capacity, is as incumbent on Parents, as the giving their Children Food and Raiment. And can that Man profess himself a Father, and pretend to Fondness and paternal Affection, that only ufes his Child as a Play-thing, makes a Farce of Boyish Converfation, brings him up to Pomp of Habit, Nicety of Diet, and

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a Series of new Pleafures, fwells his little Breast with Pride, and Expectations of what he is born to; yet neglects the Important Part of his Kindnefs, a Liberal Education? Should we not accufe an Hufbandman of Laziness or Ignorance, that did not take care to prop up his feeble Plants? Should we not reckon him a weak Man, that kept a large Sum of Money by him, without turning it to Account or Improvement? And yet too many Fathers there are, that fo love their Money beyond the Intereft of their Children, that, left it fhould coft 'em more than they are willing to fpare, they rather rear them up in a cheap Ignorance. How can fuch Men deferve the Name of Fathers, who are more concern'd to gratify themselves or Friends in Trifles or Senfuality, than to have their Off-fpring neceffarily educated? Crates, the ancient Philofopher, was wont to fay, That if he could univerfally be heard from an Eminence, he would make this Proclamation thence, What mean you Fellow-Citizens, that you thus turn every Stone to fcrape Wealth together, and take fo little Care of your Children, to whom one Day you must relinquish it all? Thofe Parents do like him that is folicitous about his Shoe, but neglects the Foot that is to wear it. This Indolence (not to give it a harfher Title) in Fathers, proceeds from that prevailing

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