Many other Rules laid down in the preceding Class hold equally good in this. The Genius and Frame of Mind are to be attended to; particular Studies are to be appropriated to particular Employments; the Disposition of Soul should be nicely searched into, that every thing mean, narrow, or base, may be subdued by the Principles of agenerous Education. Most young People, even of both Sexes, place their Happiness in external Appearance, but Girls have naturally the strongest Passion for Dress and Show; now Parents can never make the Education of their Children solid, unless they reverse this Disposition, not only by teaching them the Emptiness of this false Happiness, but by teaching them where to find the true. There is indeed an Appearance suitable to every Station, which to neglect, would be sinking into Meanness, and be a Disrespect to those we live among; that then should be regarded, but that alone; for all above should be made indifferent to us: Happiness is in the Mind, and to improve the Mind is the Way to reach it. Nor is Happiness more among the Great, with all their Grandeur, than among the Little; and if it be, the Fault is in ourselves; since nothing is truer than the Maxim, which says, that Happiness does not consist in enlarging our Possessions, but in contracting our Desires. Nothing therefore can be more dangerous in the educating our Children, than cherishing in them a Passion for Dress, especially the raising them above their Abilities. Children should be taught to know, that it is not how they look, but what they feel, that deserves Solicitude: thus too in estimating Riches; it is not what we lose,but what we suffer, that merits our Regard; since we may sometimes lose a great deal, and suffer nothing.
Parents, in educating their Children, are to make them pleasing and useful. It is the Opinion of several ingenious Writers, that the first Appearance of a Stranger makes the strongest and most lasting Impression on us; that, as they shew to more or less Advantage at first Sight, so do we think more or less favourably of them ever after. Now, tho’ I do not think this is universally true, since Experience shews us that some who strike us at first never give us any Pleasure in their Company afterwards, and others who have nothing very pleasing in the Beginning of our Acquaintance, improve upon us at every Visit, and insensibly gain our Esteem; yet it is certain, that our Deportment should always be such as may dispose People to think favourably of us, and never such as can justly offend. But here I must observe, that young People are very apt to prostitute this Disposition, by using it only occasionally; whereas, to make it a Virtue, it must be exercised universally, and become a settled Habit; in short, it must flow from the Heart. A young Gentleman is to pay a Visit to a great Man, to a rich Aunt, or to some Person of Distinction, of whomperhaps he has Views or Expectations; what Pains are taken to make a graceful Appearance, how exact is his Deportment, how nice is his Behaviour, and how pleasing his Conversation! The Visit paid, the Mask is thrown off, and he is a very Bear to every one else; nay perhaps even to his Parents, to whom he owes all that he enjoys. So too a young Lady who is to make her Appearance at an Assembly; no Player studies more to get their Part before they come on the Stage, than she to attract her Beholders; but then, like them too, when her Part is over, she often falls below herself. But have Actions like these any Merit in them? can it be a Virtue never to be civil but where we expect to gain by it? ought we not to give every thing it’s proper Name, and call such Behaviour Dissimulation and Hypocrisy? most certainly. To obviate then this Error in our Children, and prove the real Use of Education, let Parents be very careful to teach them an universal good Behavior; not partial, narrow, or confined, but such as will shew itself at all Times, on all Occasions, and to all Degrees of People: and if, as has been observed, the first Impressions generally make for or against us according as we behave, Youth must be taught to consider themselves as continually seen by somebody or other forthe first time; and therefore they must always demean themselves in such manner as to deserve Esteem, if they ever hope to gain it.
The other Point of Education is to make our Children useful; therefore nothing that can contribute to it should be omitted. A young Man, besides the first Education bestowed on him, besides the Pains taken by his Parents to engage him in such a Station as gives him the fairest Prospect of Happiness to himself, must be instructed to employ his Talents to the Benefit of others; and in all things, as far as is consistent with Prudence, Justice, and Self-preservation, promote the Happiness and Advantage of every one within his Reach. Here let me add, that while our Laws give the Men superior Power, a Father should be very careful to fix in his Son a tender regard to the opposite Sex; not indeed to become their Slaves, or degenerate into Effeminacy; not to be the Dupe of those who study to allure; but to have a just Sense of their Merit, their Innocence, and their Virtue: and thence resolve never to despise, insult, or oppress them, nor ever to impose a Hardship on them too great to bear. A Girl, on the other hand, is to be taught, that a Degree of Subjection is allotted her; but that itmust never be base, nor ever need be mean. She must know too, that the Fruits of her Education are to appear in her Actions; to this End, besides her Knowledge of Books, the Exercise of her Needle, her Pen, and her Figures, she is to understand the Management of a House, be acquainted with the various Seasons of Provisions, the Price of Markets, Skill in Carving, Demeanour at Table, and, in a Word, the whole Oeconomy of a Family. Lastly, she must know that her Province is to please, and that every Deviation from it, is thwarting Nature; but that the chearful Exercise of those Obligations her Station requires, will best secure Happiness to herself, and the Esteem of all who behold her.
I flatter myself that what I have here said, will furnish my Readers of this Class with some Help to guide them thro’ the Difficulties that naturally attend their Duty as Parents. And if to this they add the Exercise of their own Judgment, by varying the Rules as they see necessary, their Children will undoubtedly receive much Improvement; and reflect great Honour on themselves, who thus aim at the general Good, not only of their own Offspring, but of all Posterity.
I have here enlarged on the Steps necessary to be taken for educating three Classes of People, and now proceed to treat of the fourth; which comprehends a very large Part of the Kingdom, butLondonparticularly;viz.all the inferior Trades, and many others, that, according to the Custom of associating together, we may consider as forming one Division. Men, very valuable in their Way, and of boundless Use to Society: tho’ by the Wisdom of Providence born rather to Labour than to Idleness; to be obedient to the Laws, than to be the Dispensers of them.
I am well aware that Difficulties will occur to me on this Head, and thereby sometimes break the Order of my Design; but, as I have elsewhere observed, when Exceptions from general Rules are reasonable, it is perfectly right to adhere to them. It would be Affectation in me to call myself such a Stranger to the World, as not to know the Influence of Money: Mankind is apt to contract a Degree of Esteem for all who possess it; and the Possessor seldom fails to set a sufficient Value on himself for it. Thus it often happens that Men, whose Business is but mean, grow wealthy, have perhaps an only Child, and think they have a Right to educate it as they please; for myown Part I do not mean expressly to oppose it, because it may be nipping a promising Fruit in the Bud; but Parents of this Class stand in need of more Knowledge to conduct themselves herein than commonly speaking they are possess’d of.
Nothing is more frequent than for Men in different Stations to ruin themselves by rashly aspiring; and he who has Reputation and Credit in one Sphere, is perhaps undone if he moves beyond it. But while we see that Money is apt to make Men even of good Understanding and good Education giddy, no wonder that those of obscure Birth, no Education, and a Life of ordinary Employment, spent mostly in ordinary Company, value themselves for their Possessions far beyond Desert. To this is owing that vain Strut, that supercilious Air, and Contempt of others, so frequent in People of this Class; and hence too arise those Errors they daily commit, by an ostentatious Education of their Children; by vainly aspiring to equal their Betters, and often to surpass them, at least in Appearance. I had occasion, some Years ago, to make a Visit to a young Lady of Fashion and Fortune at one of our Boarding-Schools near Town, where the best dress’d Girl in the whole House was a Poulterer’s Daughter.Can there be any thing more absurd than this? yet is there any thing more common? It is a general Observation, that ordinary People dress their Children finer than People of Fashion; and why? only because they will shew the World they are able to do it, and therefore will not be outdone. Parents are not aware how destructive this false Pride, this vain mistaken Fondness is to their Children: and the first Effect it has on them is, to make them ashamed of their Parents, those very People who thus mislead them. Can any thing be more preposterous and unnatural? yet is it undeniably true.
There is an unhappy Propensity among Mankind in general of being ashamed of their poor and mean Relations, even among the Good; it is a Spark of Pride very hard to be extinguished, yet it may and ought to be done. And considering that scarcely a Family in the Kingdom is without them, more or less, it is Matter of Surprise that such Pains should be taken to stifle and conceal them: especially too if we reflect how much real Honour it does ourselves to cherish, to countenance, and to espouse them. Still it is true, that there is this Propensity, this Weakness in Men, either from their Nature, or their Education. Shall we then,instead of keeping under this Pride in ourselves, lead our Children into it too? shall we deck them out so far above themselves only to despise us? and to make them falsely happy, make ourselves truly wretched? nothing can be a greater Folly, and nothing requires more the Parents Care to avoid. I remember I once called to see a Friend who was an Apothecary; a young Fellow, my Friend’s Apprentice, was at Work behind the Counter, and out peep’d a laced Waistcoat. (I must observe it was in those Days when a laced Waistcoat stood for something, for it has now, I think, lost all it’s Significance.) As the Appearance was unusual, I enquired who that young Gentleman was; and, to my great Surprise, was informed he was the Son of a Coachman; and the Lace he wore was taken off his Father’s Livery. Thus what was before no better than the Badge of Dependence, is now turned into an Instrument of Contempt and Ridicule. In how many of these things do the Weakness and Folly of Parents appear? would such a Boy own his Father on the Coach-box? or would he not rather, with an audacious Cock of his Hat, pass contemptuously by him? nothing better could be expected. And yet People who take these Steps wonder their Children arenot good; wonder they are proud, vain, and untoward, when they themselves have made them so.
Another Effect attending this misplaced Indulgence, this false Education, besides the making them ashamed of their Parents and Relations, is, the Influence it has on the Children’s future Lives: the Parents, it is true, are often made wretched, but the Children are not happy. Every thing raised above itself is in a precarious tottering State; the Building, whose Foundation is weak, is every Day liable to fall; and the Man who pretends to what he cannot maintain or support, is in perpetual Danger of Ruin. Self-sufficiency and Money may make his Outside passable; but if he is all Meanness, all Ignorance within, he can never procure a Grain of Esteem, nor ever be solidly happy. Children may in time discover their Parents Mistakes and their own Misfortune, but will then perhaps have no Remedy to apply. Happy had it been for them had their Education suited their Condition in Life; they would then have laboured with honest Chearfulness; and by keeping within their proper Sphere, have had their Labours crown’d with Success.
My Readers of this Class will, I amafraid, be apt to mistake me, and think I design to keep them in a low dependent State; such an one as they call being unhappy; far from it: I would not have undertaken this Treatise at all, had I not designed the real, the universal Good of Mankind. Without Vanity I can say it, no one has a more disinterested, a more general Love of human Nature than myself; thousands have superior Abilities, but few, perhaps none, have superior good Wishes for the Happiness of Society; and should this very Performance prove a Trifle, the Fault may be in my Head, but it is not in my Heart: my Intention is good, if my Power is weak. Let this then serve as an Apology to all my Readers, but let those of this Class in particular be persuaded, that my Design is to augment the Happiness of their Children, not to lessen it. But then, they must resolve to seek Happiness where it can be found; if they wander into a Maze of Difficulties, and get into a Sphere they are utter Strangers to, they will most probably miss of it; but if they confine themselves within their own proper Orb, they need not fear to find it. Still there is Reason to apprehend, that Men of every Rank, and even among the lowest, will value themselves not for what they are, but for what they have; and while Peoplemistake Head for Brains, and Money for Merit, the best Advice will often be useless.
But great as this Folly is, there is a much greater reigning. Money, as I have already observed, is extremely apt to intoxicate Mankind; and it’s Influence is but too visible both in high and low Life: but there are thousands of this Class of People who pride themselves in educating their Children learnedly and expensively, without the least Pretensions upon Earth. If a Gentleman upon the Decay can get his Son educated suitable to his Birth, Regard to his Family, and Regard to his Education, may obtain him a genteel and profitable Employment: so too, if a Man in an inferior Station is convinced he can purchase his Son a Place or a Commission suitable to his superior Education, there is certainly room to justify him, tho’ we blame his Vanity; but that People without the least Expectations, that are conscious they cannot give their Children a Shilling, who have not the Honour of a Family to support, nor a Reputation to maintain, should run these strange Lengths, is amazing! The Truth is, Pride and Ignorance are their Guides; they scorn to be outdone by their Neighbours, tho’ all the while they really don’t know what it is they are doing.
It is to be presumed that Children while Children, and while educating, are in general Strangers to what may be their future Fortune on the part of their Parents: now if they are taught to think themselves equal to their Betters, taught to expect mighty things, and at length find nothing, it is, I think, a grievous Calamity on one side, and gross Injustice on the other: and yet is this evidently a daily Error.
The same things that yield us great Good, are often productive of great Evil. Food, designed by the Laws of Nature to preserve Life and Health, is often made the Instrument to destroy it. Education, designed to lead us to Happiness, by enlarging and improving our Understandings in some certain Way, is often made the Instrument of our Destruction. Hence appears the Necessity of a temperate and a judicious Use of both; and hence too we see, that the Education suitable for one, is very unfit for another. But I will now point out what Education appears to me to be generally proper for People of this Class; and where solid Reasons make particular Exceptions necessary, it is my Advice that Reason take place of general Rules.
I will suppose then that my Readers designwith me the real Good of their Children; and neither mean to neglect them, nor to hazard their Ruin by overdoing things. To this End Boys are to be taught Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, and Drawing; to which may be added, a Knowledge of Maps. This Plan, tho’ comprized in a few Words, contains all they need, nay all they ought to learn. It is usual in the common Businesses to put Boys Apprentice at about fourteen Years old; now supposing they begin to learn at seven, they have Work enough cut out for seven Years at least; which if well attended to, and their Time be well employed, is capable of turning to great account. I mean not to give offence to any one, but as the Province I am engaged in obliges me to speak my Thoughts, I may offend without Intention: and honest Truth, in a Matter of this Importance, is not to be disguised. My Advice then is, that Boys of this Class never once attempt to learnLatin. What do they want with it? or what use can they make of it? will it enable a Man to make better Shoes? will it assist a Taylor in cutting out a Coat? or will it give a Barber a keener Edge to his Razor? Parents, when they send a Boy to School, are often guided by the Master what he shall learn; he, naturally fond of advancing his Scholar, puts him intoLatin; andthinks him shabby without it. But is it not possible that this Gentleman may be a Man of real Merit, a good Grammarian, nay a compleat classic Scholar, yet a very bad Judge of Life? most certainly. The Boy is thrust headlong into things he does not want, and neither Parents nor Master consider the End: for tho’ it is certain that Parents cannot always tell what their Children will be, yet those of this Class are pretty sure they want not deep Learning.
Of all the Mistakes committed in Education, none is equal to that of our being thrust into an Employment for which we are unqualified; especially too if it be one of a serious important Nature; now no People on Earth are so liable to this as the Class we are treating of; for as they are apt to take a Remove beyond themselves for profound Knowledge, they plunge their Children into a Labyrinth of Difficulties, by engaging them in a Profession or Science far beyond their Power to reach.
I have already urged, that, in the Case before us, a learned Education is needless and improper; but this is saying too little of it, and treating it too mildly: we may go farther, and shew that it is even hurtful, by being an Impediment to more usefulKnowledge: and farther still, that it is not always what it is taken for. A Boy in common Life has perhaps about seven Years Schooling; the greatest Part whereof is employed in learningLatin: hisEnglishis notoriously neglected; and Writing and Arithmetic he gains but imperfectly. Now I beg leave to ask, whether these three last are not more useful to a Boy of this Stamp thanLatin? and whether it is not a Misfortune to spend his Time in gaining what he has no use for, and omitting what he wants? But it is an Error in me to call it gaining, when in Reality it is losing: for after a Boy has been puzling his poor Brains, and been tortured withLatinfor several Years, it is ten to one that, comparatively speaking, he knows nothing: that is, nothing radical, and to the Bottom; nothing, in short, but what one Year’s Apprenticeship will entirely efface. As a Proof that this is no Exaggeration, losing Learning is not only the Fate of Boys in common Life, who seldom get more than a Smattering, but it is confessed by every Gentleman, by the deepest Scholars, that a long Disuse of a Language, or almost any Branch of Learning, will in great measure wear it out of our Memories: or at least take off that Facility which constitutes Perfection. A Relation of mine was sent toLondonsome Years ago to be educated fitfor Business; a Friend had the Care of him; who, after sending him to learn Reading, Writing, and Accompts for some Time, resolved to compleat him by putting him for a Year toMerchant-TaylorsSchool to learnLatin. He did so; and that finished, he was put Apprentice to a Cabinet-maker. But what availed hisLatin? just nothing. In three Months time he saw’d and planed it all away; he was not a Pin the better for it; but he lost a Year of precious Time, that might have been very usefully employed in improving what he had before learn’d, and in applying himself to Drawing: a thing absolutely necessary for the very Business he was put to, and which, to my own Knowledge, he has often lamented the Want of. Now this is not a single Instance, an accidental Mistake, but a general Error; hundreds and thousands of which might be every day produced: the Consequences whereof are always more or less wrong, and sometimes very fatal.
I have observed that useful things are neglected, to run in pursuit of what to them is useless; that is, they leave a certain Good for a precarious one. But we may reason still farther on this Head with great Utility. Mankind is by Nature aspiring and ambitious; and where Wisdom and Prudence accompany our Steps herein, they are highlylaudable. But if, instead of these, Ignorance and Vanity are our Guides, we are pretty sure of going wrong. A Man of mean Extraction, and illiterate, takes these mistaken Steps already pointed out, in bringing up his Son; whence a false Pride is stamped on both, and is sure to increase with the Boy’s Learning. The Father’s Care is to keep his Boy from disgracing his Education. “Jack, (says he) I have bestowed Learning on you, to make you a Man; look forward, and I don’t fear but you will make your Fortune.” And the Son at the same time takes care to think himself a better Man than his Father. But let us conduct him on; he is now a Gentleman; because he has, or fancies he has, Learning. He must dress fine, and keep Company with his Betters; this leads him to Expences he cannot afford; no matter, he is a Gentleman, and must appear like one. His Father, after rumaging his Brains for a genteel Employment, at length puts his Son to an Attorney. But that’s a dull Life, he likes the Stage better; and after having seen Plays by the hundred, he concludes himself equal to any thing, and turns Player: where perhaps his highest Character is to speak the Prologue inHamlet’s mock Play, or to be the rueful Apothecary inRomeo and Juliet. It is too well known what kindof Lives these Gentlemen lead; they are mostly riotous, extravagant, miserable, and short. Now can it be denied that these, and such as these, are the fatal Consequences of this false Education? surely daily Experience convinces us it cannot. But as I labour for the public Good, so I desire to do the strictest Justice. I will grant then that a Boy of this Stamp, and thus trained, does all on his Part to advance himself; that he is prudent, temperate, and virtuous; still he has neither Bottom, Interest, nor Friends; it is an hundred, perhaps a thousand to one, if he arrives at any thing higher than being a Hackney-Writer, an Usher to a School, or at most the slavish Master of an insignificant one.
Permit me here a short Digression. There are no People in the World, whom I at the same time both honour and pity, so much as Schoolmasters and Preceptors; those particularly to whom we owe the most essential, the most solid Part of our Education. There is something strangely inconsistent in Mankind, or they could not see a Master incessantly slave, and toil, and sweat to instruct others, and leave him at last without Reward. The Man who is qualified for a Teacher, must have laboured many Years in the Pursuit of Knowledge. If we wouldwish this Man to do Justice to our Sons, we certainly should do Justice to him; that is, we should prove, at the same time that we desire our Children to be made wise, that we have so much Gratitude as to make him happy, by rewarding him as he deserves. From this ungrateful Disposition, or, from a very misplaced Frugality, it often happens that Parents do not seek the best Teachers, but the cheapest; whence not only follow the fatal Consequences attending a bad Education, by a seeming one passing for real, but also that many, who are by no means qualified, undertake the important Task. To return then to my Subject, we cannot doubt but that some of these unqualified Teachers are the Fruits of this false Education we have been speaking of; Men, who tho’ unequal to the Task they are engaged in, would have been distinguished as eminent Proficients in another Way, and been very valuable to Society; while in this, the highest Honour they arrive at, is perhaps the holding forth with a dictatorial Air in an Ale-house.
Many are the evil Effects this false Education produces; for thro’ the Mistakes of Parents, the Pride of Children shews itself very early, and daily gathers Strength: they soon look down with Scorn and Contempton the mean Business of their Father; and soon aspire to what they have not the least Chance to reach. But as they have been injudiciously taught to aspire, we cannot greatly wonder at their mistaken Conduct: hence we see them spending their Lives not merely in Trifles, but in Riot, Extravagancies, and Debauchery: averse to Employment, averse to Labour; too learned to be industrious, too ignorant to be wise. But how much happier would they be to know themselves, and keep within that Self-knowledge! How sweet is that Bread which is earn’d with honest Industry! How much happier is the Man that labours at his Loom, than he who with mistaken Pride, despising it, is perhaps reduced to be dependent on others! Could then Parents in general of this Rank, but learn Content in their Stations, and keep their Children from soaring beyond their Reach, they would secure much Comfort to both, besides contributing to the Happiness of Posterity.
My Readers will remember that the Scheme of Education for Boys of this Class, is Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, Drawing, and a Knowledge of Maps. I will now shew what Advantage may be made of these, and endeavour to prove, that this is so far from being a contemptible Education, thatwhen attained to Perfection, it is not only useful, but very extensively so.
Mr.Addisonsays, that every Man who reasons is a Logician, tho’ he has never studied the Rules of Logic: so too we may say, that every Man who speaks grammatically is a Grammarian, tho’ he has not been taught Grammar. What I here mean is, that a due Attention to Children, and proper Instructions with regard toEnglishonly, will enable them to make a very considerable Figure both in Reading and Speaking. Nature furnishes us with the Faculty of Speech, but the Mode of it in great measure depends on the Place we are born in, and the Language we are accustomed to hear. The Court, and the learned Part of a Nation, certainly speak the purest Language; the Vulgar and the Illiterate speak the coarsest, and the most corrupt: but there are many Degrees between, who may be said to have the Power of choosing, as they frequently hear both. It is then the Parents Business to be greatly attentive in this important Point; especially as Experience shews us that a great Man can be vulgar, and a little one polite, and the Medium can neglect the Advantages in his Power by adhering to the wrong Side, when with equal Ease he may attain the right. I have already cautioned the Great never tosink beneath their Quality; and while they learn to be humble, they must carefully avoid being mean. I have also recommended to the Gentry to approach as near to the Quality in good Behaviour and polite Language as possible: and to those of this Class, I strongly urge, that every thing coarse, vulgar, and incorrect, is not only improper, but highly unbecoming; is not only abusing the Faculties Providence has furnished them with, but is debasing their Nature. If then the Parents of this Class enter upon the Education of their Children with just Reflections (which all, more or less, are capable of making) the natural Consequence will be, that they will seek such Methods as are most conducive to their acquiring a thorough Knowledge of their Mother-tongue.
It may be urged that a compleat Knowledge of theEnglishcannot be acquired withoutLatin; but, with all due Respect, I beg leave to dissent from this: I have seen a goodLatinScholar greatly deficient in the Knowledge ofEnglish, and a very correctEnglishmanwho did not know a Word ofLatin. But nice grammatical Rules are not strictly the Province of Boys in common Life, and much may be done without them. A good Master will enable them to read in a very expressive and significant Manner, atthe same time that he makes them acquainted with his Subject. He will teach them the different Types, why aRoman, why anItalicLetter is used; where the Accent is to be laid on different Words, and on the same Word in different Senses; where capital Letters are to be used, and why; the different Stops, which we call Pointing, and their Force; the Cadence, or Falling of the Voice, in ending a Sentence, or a Paragraph; and, what is the greatest Beauty of all, where to lay the Emphasis or Stress on every Expression, so as to give it it’s utmost Energy. Farther, he will teach his Scholars to keep close to Nature; and not suffer them to borrow a Whine, a Tone of Voice from that almost universal Destroyer of Nature, Affectation. He will shew them that the only thing which can be granted in this Case, is a certain adjusting, or rather a little Elevation of the Voice in Reading, above Speaking; and that they come nearest to true Reading, who would be supposed to be Speaking, were a blind Man the Hearer. He will shew too, that, according to Nature, all Subjects do not require equal Energy in Reading; and consequently the Voice must be modify’d and varied, on suitable Occasions: for as we are susceptible of various Impressions; and as Joy, Grief, Anger, and other Passions, are differently expressedby us without any previous Study, purely from the Force of Nature, so a good Master will shew, that a Prayer, a History, and a Poem, have each something different in their Nature; and that to give them their due Propriety, Force, and Beauty, each must be read in a different way. Besides these, the Master will shew his Scholars, that in order to speak to Perfection they must observe first, what Language their Betters speak, and by comparing it with that of the Vulgar, they will be enabled to distinguish, not only good from bad, but Propriety from Impropriety; whence they will insensibly learn, Gender, Number, and Case; Person, Mood, and Tense, with many other things relating to Grammar, without once supposing that they are acquiring them. Secondly, he will direct them in the Choice of such Books as will give a double Relish to Reading, by the Goodness of the Language they are wrote in. And lastly, he will recommend their seeking Opportunities of hearing their Betters read, that they may compleat by Imitation, what Instruction has laid the Foundation of.
But to give all the Satisfaction in my Power, I beg leave to observe, that as Grammar (if I may be allow’d the Expression) is the Soul of every Language, it may,in essential Matters, be taught inEnglishas well as inLatin: it is true, that, in compound Words, and some of the Derivations, bothLatinandGreekare necessary, and indeed many other Languages; but they are only so for Gentlemen and professed Scholars; and tho’ a mereEnglishScholar cannot give all the Derivations of Words, yet he can give all the Meanings, and all, or most of their Rules; and thereby be enabled to acquire a considerable Degree of Perfection, a pretty thorough Knowledge of his Own Language; and sometimes a Knowledge superior to those who in other respects are superior Scholars. Should it still be urged, that if Boys learnLatin, a Knowledge ofEnglishwill be a necessary Consequence, and that Grammar inLatinis Grammar inEnglish; I am ready to grant it: but the Point here maintained is, that what is called a learned Education is unnecessary and often hurtful to Boys of this Class, nor have they Time to acquire it. Besides, there are always Difficulties in referring or applying grammatical Niceties from one Language to another; Difficulties which are not within the Province of every one to get over. If therefore Boys of this Class, instead of engaging inLatin, which, as has been shewn, they have not Time to acquire, nor in general have any use for itif they did, would apply to the Study ofEnglishonly, and make the most of that, they may improve to a great Degree; vastly more than is usually done, because prevented by an injudicious Application to theLatin.
Thus much have I said, in some measure to do Honour to the Language of my own Country; but chiefly with a View to remove the Errors too generally run into by inferior People, partly from their Vanity, and partly from their being Strangers to the many and great Advantages which this Branch of Education only is capable of affording. I know that innocent well-meaning People are often misled in educating their Children; and have heard many say, that a Boy must learnLatinto enable him to spellEnglish; but this is a vulgar Error, and henceforward, I hope, will be removed. But yet farther to prove the Usefulness of our Language in the real Concerns of Life, we may add, that by this alone may be learnt, from those whose Province it is to teach, every Duty, every Obligation we owe to God and Man; by this we are enabled to read the sacred Writings; by this we can become acquainted not only with the History of allEurope, both ancient and modern, but of the whole World; and particularlywith the History of our own Country: by this we are furnished with Books containing Helps in Building, Planting, Gardening, and many other things of great Use to Mankind; and by this, in a word, we are furnished with vast Abundance of both Instruction and Delight; not only from the excellent Translations fromLatin,Greek,Spanish,Italian,French, &c. but from the original Writings of many of our own Countrymen: Men, whose Geniuses were perhaps inferior to none. Here, without Flourish, Parade, or Exaggeration, my Readers will see how noble an Use may be made of our Mother-tongue; how much Pleasure it will yield us, how much Knowledge it will convey to us; and hence, I hope, Parents will be induced to consider it in the Light it deserves.
Boys are next to engage in Writing; and I earnestly recommend that it be closely attended to, and considered as a Matter of great Importance. The present Method of teaching, and the Kind of Hand now usually wrote in Business is, I think, admirable; the Merchants ofLondon, and some of our public Offices, shew great Perfection in this Way; and I would recommend that every Boy both learn and practise a mercantile Hand, as it is at the same time useful andbeautiful. Every Man who is acquainted with Life must daily see the too general Defects of Hand-writing. If a Bricklayer, or any other Workman, brings in a Bill, what a pitiful Figure it makes; nay, it is sometimes so very bad, that none but the Writer himself can read it; and where we see one wrote out in a masterly Way, it is ten to one but he has, at considerable Expence, employed somebody to do it for him. Now this must surely be considered as a grievous Misfortune, both as it is an Inconvenience, and a Loss; and which ought carefully to be prevented in the rising Generation. Besides, if we reflect on the unforeseen Advantages which many meet with who are fine Penmen, we shall be convinced how necessary it is to excel in this Art.
We come now to Arithmetic, which includes a large Field of Knowledge. The Use of Figures, is so universally known and allowed, that it seems needless to urge any thing in their Favour. Men of all Degrees want their Aid; they are the first Introduction to the Mathematics; and the Knowledge of them is more or less necessary from the Prince to the Peasant. If a Man fails inHolland, they immediately say, he has not kept good Accounts; in Truth People of almost every Rank stand in need of theirHelp; and their Use and Power thoroughly known and attended to, would preserve thousands from Ruin. Parents then cannot do too much to instruct their Children in this important Branch of Knowledge; especially if they consider on one hand the Confusion and Perplexity which attends the Ignorance of it, and on the other hand the many surprising Turns for the Advancement of their Fortune, when possessed of the Knowledge of it. All young People, as I have before recommended, should be taught Method, and nothing more likely to initiate them in it than a masterly Knowledge of Figures. Besides, Debtor and Creditor, Loss and Gain, are by no means confined to the Merchant; every Man, however low his Trade, or however narrow his Dealings, while he does trade or deal, should understand what he is about: and he has no other Way than this of attaining that necessary Knowledge. I am very sensible, that some Men, even in Trade, have got thro’ the World, and make good Acquisitions, without any considerable Degree of this Kind of Knowledge; but we may truly say of such, that Fortune stood so very near them, that they stumbled upon her: tho’, for one who has thus succeeded, a thousand have miscarried. But my Aim is, to havethe rising Generation so educated, that either Misfortunes may be prevented, or, if they do come, that their own Conduct may be irreproachable: and, I say again, no way more likely to effect this, than knowing thoroughly and attending closely to Figures. But farther, this and the foregoing Branch of Knowledge are strong Recommendations in various Stations of Life: many, even from nothing, have by these Qualifications become great Merchants; ourEast-Indiaand other Companies frequently want Boys who write and account in a masterly Way; and when young People set out in the World and act for themselves, the Knowledge of their Affairs, from their Skill in Figures, is often a Restraint upon them, and a Curb to their Passions; by keeping them from what they see they cannot afford.
I shall now speak of that important, tho’ much neglected Branch of Knowledge, Drawing. It is matter of Surprise to me that a thing so obviously useful, and in many Respects so indispensably necessary, should be so generally disregarded. Young Gentlemen at an Academy indeed sometimes learn a little Drawing; but neither so often, nor so compleatly as they ought; but it is not of those I now mean to speak, but of that large Bodyof Youth comprehended in the fourth Class of People.[9]As Parents cannot know certainly what their Children will be, it is fit that, according to their Station, they should be so educated, as to be prepared for whatever may suit their Circumstances, their Capacity, and their Inclinations: to this End, besides Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic, I earnestly recommend Drawing. To prove it’s Use, let us first view the various Branches of Building; where we shall immediately see the Necessity of understanding it. It is my Advice to all Parents, without Exception, that they implant in their Children an ardent Desire to excel; not to engage them in things they are unequal to, not to fill their Heads with Chimeras of fancied Power and Abilities, but that they labour with unwearied Industry to become perfect in their Way, be their Profession, Trade, or Business what it will. Thus, if a Boy is to be a Bricklayer, a Carpenter, a Smith, or any other Trade relating to Building, it is right that he should be animated with a Desire to become perfect, and not sit down contented with a scanty, superficial Knowledge of his Business: and, to attain this, Drawing should be made as familiar to him as Writing; which would greatly tend to his Advancement in the World: for how often does it happen that a Gentleman wants his own Conceptions and Designs explained and improved; which are easilydone by a masterly Workman, but are entangled and made worse by a Blunderer. Drawing shews us the Difference between Beauty and Deformity; as Features, Mein, Aspect, Stature, and the Power of Light and Shade. It teaches us the Use of Lines, Angles, Squares, and Circles; it teaches us the Rules of Proportion, what Base is proper for an Edifice of different Dimensions; what constitutes a regular, what an irregular Building; it distinguishes true Taste from false; it assists our Fancy, and enlivens our Imagination; it is the Foundation of Architecture, and therefore necessary for every Branch of Building: for tho’ there are general Rules and Principles in each Order of Building, yet is there great Latitude for what we call Fancy, Taste, and Judgment: and thus the whole Beauty and Propriety of an Edifice may be said to depend on the artful blending of the several Orders into one perfect Superstructure.
Thus much for the Usefulness of Drawing in Building; but I should injure this Art if I stop’d here, for it is still far more extensive. It is not enough that a Gentleman builds himself a House, it must be furnish’d too; and if he be a Man of Fortune and Taste, he will not be contented with what is merely useful, but will add the ornamentallikewise: hence appears the Necessity of the Artificers in this Way learning to draw in order to excel. If an Upholsterer be sent for, it is an Advantage to him not only to give the proper Dimensions of Furniture, but to display the several Ornaments and Fancies in use, and even strike out new Designs of his own; that he may convince People he is a Master in his Way: he cannot shew a Piece of Damask or printed Linen, but the Draughtsman appears in it; and it is right that he should be equally knowing in his own Business.
But if we take a more general Survey of things, in order to give us a true and solid Estimation of real Life, we shall find this Art of surprising Use. How many Trades are there subservient to the Arts and Sciences? all those who make Maps, Charts, and Globes; all those who make mathematical Instruments, and the vast Apparatus for the different Parts of Experimental Philosophy; so too Engravers, Sculptors, Painters, and Anatomists; all these, with many others, needless to enumerate, stand in need of Drawing: So vast is it’s Use, and so necessary is the Knowledge of it!
The last Step of Education for Boys of this Class is Geography, or the Knowledgeof Maps. Geography makes us acquainted with the whole Surface of the Earth; the whole terraqueous Globe: it is first divided into Quarters, viz.Europe,Asia,Africa, andAmerica; again, these Quarters are subdivided, so as to make us acquainted with particular Provinces, Kingdoms, States, and Empires: hence it is easy to see the Pleasure and Use that arises from this Knowledge. Men of every Rank are liable to leave their native Country; and indeed it is often the only Way to their Advancement. What a Pleasure then must it be to be acquainted with a Road we never saw? to travel in a Country without Pain from our Fore-knowledge of it? which is really the Case with an Adept in Geography. But supposing our Travels exceed not the Bounds of our own Country; it is a Subject of great Delight to be thoroughly acquainted with that. Or farther yet: supposing we do not travel at all; Geography has still it’s Use: it assists us in the Knowledge of History, and thereby adds Instruction and Pleasure to our Reading: in fine, it makes us acquainted with the whole World, without going out of our Closets.
My Readers are, I hope, by this time convinced, how advantageous these Steps of Education are for many of the Purposes ofLife; nay they are such as some in better Stations are in great measure Strangers to, tho’ they may be possessed of Qualifications otherwise useful. If then to this be added virtuous Dispositions, a docile Mind, a becoming Behaviour, and, in a word, that genuine Manners recommended to all, I think Parents in general of this Class may promise themselves much more Comfort in their Children than they usually find.
Girls too of this Class are capable of being very valuable; but again I must caution Parents to be aware of those Banes of Happiness, Idleness, Pride, and Vanity. Idleness is justly called the Root of all Evil; and Pride and Vanity are empty nothings: or if they can be said to produce any thing, it is Evil. Girls of this Class have many things within their Reach, and if well attended to, may attain them. They may read and write to great Advantage; and learn so much of Accompts as will be necessary for conducting their Concerns, and understanding those Affairs they may in future Life be engaged in. They may and ought to work to Perfection, but principally the useful Parts: and tho’ the ornamental is highly commendable, yet it must not here be encouraged to the Prejudice or Neglect of the useful. When this Foundation issolidly laid, let them be carefully instructed in the Management of a House, according to what has already been observed in the foregoing Class; from whence they will receive such a Fund of useful Knowledge, as when joined with good Demeanour, will procure them not only the Esteem of their Equals, but that of their Superiors. Let Parents farther inspire them with Dispositions daily to improve their Minds; to maintain with firmest Resolution the nicest Innocence, even amidst the rudest Attacks, should they occur to them; and lastly, to support themselves with a chearful Mind in that State which is allotted them. In fact, Happiness is much more within their Reach than they commonly imagine; but if they neglect to consider the Advantages they enjoy beyond thousands who are beneath them, and anxiously dwell on the Splendor of those above them, it is the certain way never to find it.
Notwithstanding what has been said on this Class, Allowances are still to be made as Circumstances vary; and if the Plan be in general practicable, it is all that can be expected. Education is in some measure accidental; and it is right to embrace those Advantages which Accident offers, provided they do not interfere with more useful Knowledge, for then they are no Advantages.For Example: nobody should neglect their Mother-tongue; yet if they are so situated that they can addFrenchto it, they ought by all means to do so. In the preceding ClassesFrenchis considered as a necessary Part of Education chiefly from it’s Politeness, and the Advantage of readingFrenchAuthors; but according to the present Age it is far more useful.Frenchis now so universal, that a Man who speaks it can do Business with whatever Foreigner comes in his Way; or should he go abroad, he can transact his Affairs in any Country, or on any Exchange inEurope. But it is still farther necessary.Moliere, in one of his Comedies, introduces a Conversation, where a Servant is accused of flattering his Master: “What can I do? replies he: I am to please, I am to secure my Service by keeping in his good Graces, and I have no other way of doing it: therefore, continues he, it is not the Fault of me who flatter, but of him who will be flattered.” So in taking a View of Life we may sometimes observe, that to secure the Interest and Favour of the Great, the Taylor, the Milliner, the Shoe-maker, and many others, are expected to introduce their Modes under aFrenchTongue. But to do justice to the Wisdom of our Nation, this is far from being general;therefore a general and close Application to theFrenchfor the fourth Class does not seem either necessary or practicable; because to some it would be useless, in others it would be forgot again, and by many it would never be attained.
Another Part of Education which is oftentimes merely accidental, is Music. If a Man plays on any Instrument, it will be delightful to him to employ his Son’s leisure Time in giving him something of so agreeable an Accomplishment; or if he can improve his Daughter’s Ear or Voice, by giving her a pleasing Manner in Singing, she should not be deprived of it; for these things make young People sprightly in themselves, and pleasing to others. But then Care must be taken that they stop here: they must not engage in an expensive and laborious Study of Music, unless it is to be their Trade; nor must they be attached to it so as to neglect other Obligations, or so as to engage them in irregular Company: and above all, great Care must be taken that they be not tainted by that Torrent of Corruption, bad Songs.
There is indeed a Step of Education for this Class, as well as all the preceding,which I think of Importance, could it be obtained without the usual Inconveniencies attending it; that is, Dancing. I consider Dancing as conducive to Health; I consider it as sometimes a Means of preventing Deformity; and where there is no danger of that, all must see that it is the great Means of making young People of both Sexes stand, and walk, and sit, and even look and speak to advantage. Mr.Locke, speaking of a docile Mind, and good Dispositions, as superior to every other Consideration, says, “Parents surely must have a strange Affection forLatinandGreek, who will prefer them to their Sons Virtue.” So too I may say of Dancing; if we cannot get the Good without the Bad, it is better to let it alone. First, it is, for a great many People, too expensive; nothing indeed to those of Fortune, and in great Business; but to others, more so than is convenient. Next, it is apt to inflame young People’s Vanity, as well as increase the Expence of their Apparel. A Boy who learns to Dance is dissatisfied unless he has Pumps, white Stockings, laced Hat, and many other things not necessary to his Station; and a Girl rejoices when the dancing Days come, only because she is to have her Silk Coat on. A third Objection is,the Danger of their contracting a Passion for Dancing; for tho’ young People may sometimes very innocently divert themselves with an Evening Ball or a Country Dance, yet an eager Desire for these Engagements, especially to those of lower Rank, and to those who live inLondon, are extremely dangerous. Still, as this Qualification seems really necessary, if the Expence of the Master can be submitted to, the other Difficulties may, I think, be got over. But here the Manners are concerned: Children must obey, and wear without a Struggle, and without a Blush, such Apparel as their Parents judge fit for them. If besides this, they are made sensible that every Step in their Education is taken purely for their Good, and are carefully instructed never to abuse by an inordinate Attachment what is bestowed on them only for Use; if Parents I say do this, they may in general hope that all their Children learn will turn to good account.
The Province I am engaged in, and the tender Regard I pay to all human Nature, demands that I speak of a fifth Class of People, usually term’d the Peasantry: tho’ I think the principal thing to be done here, is to admonish those in higher Spheres to behavewith Justice and Humanity to them, rather than to address themselves. If we speak of Education, here it will naturally carry our Ideas to the Spade, the Plough, or the Team; and which may without Impropriety be called Education to them. It is a true Saying, that there is a right way and a wrong in doing every thing; if so, it is an useful Part of Education to instruct them how to till the Earth with greatest Ease to themselves, and with greatest Profit to those who employ them. As early and constant Labour is the Province of this Class, there is but a small Share either of Time or Abilities for Instruction; still as they are by Nature susceptible of it, those who have Power cannot employ it better than by bestowing it; so far at least as may open their Minds to distinguish Truth from Falsehood, Right from Wrong, Innocence from Guilt. If to this were added, at least the Power of reading their Mother-tongue, it would at times be an Entertainment and a Consolation to them; and it would remove, in some Degree, that total Darkness and Ignorance they must otherwise remain in.
But here, for the Sake of Instruction, I must depart from the strict Propriety of the WordPeasant, to touch on another Speciesof Rustics; that is, those of the lowest Class of People, inLondonparticularly. These People possess indeed the Ignorance of the Peasants, but they seldom equal them in Innocence. Many are abandoned to every Vice; many indeed are honest and industrious; but even among those who are themselves good, their Children, thro’ an early false Fondness, or the Corruption of others, are usually ignorant, untoward, and vicious. Whence we daily see and hear in the open Streets such things as are Insults on Mankind; such as must shock the Ears, and make the Heart tremble; and such as cannot but be a Reflection on any civilized Nation. We say, it is easier to obey than govern; and, in this Case, it is perhaps easier to propose a Remedy, than to put it in Execution. But to cure an Evil among the Little, we must address ourselves to the Great; for if they have either their Example or Countenance, all Attempts to remedy it are fruitless. Next we must turn our Eyes on those in Power, as Magistrates, and Men in Office; if these exercise their Authority with Justice and Fidelity, much may be done: but if they not only neglect this, but give ill Example too, little is to be expected. Thirdly, the Children of these People are to have some Degree of Education;the Boys, Reading, Writing, and the first Rules in Arithmetic at least; which, if carefully taught them, will qualify them for many useful Employments. The Girls should at least read and work at their Needle. But all this, tho’ indispensably necessary, is too weak to effect the Purpose designed. The Perverseness of the Will, the Unruliness of the Head, and the Corruption of the Heart, are still to be conquered. Manners alone then is the effectual Remedy: and as, to cure a Disease, we must strike at the Root of it; so, to rectify the Morals and Misbehaviour of the Corrupt, we must, on solid Principles of Reason and Reflection, awaken the Mind, and regulate the Heart.