by jole but at a little distance behind and on a lower seat giving him the Stile and Compellation of Master all his life after 'T is far otherwise in this our Native Country so much civiliz'd and polish'd as we pretend to be There is nothing so despicable as the Name of a Pedant a Fellow who can Teach a young Gentleman to scrape a Leg or perhaps a Fiddle for generally they go together such a one I say shall have a better Reception and Salary then he who has the Institution of the Young Squire in the Methods of Learning and in the Precepts of Life Whether it be that we have really a less value for breeding then other Nations I know not more probable 't is that the meer â—â—alifications of him who undertakes this Work begets contempt of the Person which afterwards seldom fails to be Entail'd upon the Office However 't is still our own faults for were there sufficient Encouragement and such Honour had for this grand Employment as really it deserves Men of Birth Learning and Education and enobled with the best Qualities would easily be invited to undertake this duty but 't is far otherwise Our Schoolmasters generally are descended of the Dregs of the People they are such who being of wretched Education do by a Collection among Friends or by the Bounty perhaps of some young Gentleman make a shift to creep to the University where after four years Drudgery for Meat and Drink and living generally a scandalous and idle Life they become Domini's and must then shift anew for themselves Some there are of this Poorer sort who being men of Parts find means to make their Fortunes and become afterwards brave Men but generally they are such as I here describe for being forc'd for want of Maintenance to run like Vagabonds seeking where to live at length they Farm some Parsonage to halves and patch up the rest by keeping of a School Now because the meaner sort of People by whom they live are commonly Fanatic … and Factious these Teachers also being for the most part of the same Race and that they may the better insinuate into the favours of those by whom they are maintain'd do imbue their Children with the same Principles Moreover being Persons who have no sence of Breeding themselves nor of the temper and springs of Youth they commit infinite absurdities either by dampning the Spirits of the more remiss by indiscreet Corrections or at other times by their own licentious Examples procuring Contempt on themselves by which means their Schollars as they grow in years and Understanding begin to loath Reproof which in a little progress of time renders Youth rude obstinate and incorrigible 't is true some few publick Schools there are which being well endow'd are honour'd with Learned men and send forth as hopeful Wits into the World as are anywhere to be found But this alas is but a very small Proportion to the whole Body of the Kingdom so that I take the forementioned defects to be the cause why so many miscarry and to be of great mischief to Church and State The Jesuits certainly are well worthy our imitation in this particular Nor is there any Art by which they create themselves a greater interest in the Countries where the live than that by which they undertake the Education of Youth They who are deputed for this Employment are not of the meanest quality they are usually Gentlemen Men of mature years and such who have been well vers'd not only in Ancient Authors but in the Practice and Conversation of men and in the methods of business Their way is by familiarity and softness to insinuate into the Affections of the Scholar and to draw him on to diligence rather by hopes then to whip him forwards by Punishments and Fear And yet where Negligence makes Correction a duty they do it rather by inflicting some light disgrace than by Corporal chastisement a thing opprobrious to Nature and which rather dulls than quickens the capacities of Youth One thing they practice frequently which is really of wonderful use and that is their accustoming their Schollars to Act their Parts in Plays This inures them to a Manlike speech and to a steedy Spirit and Address I like Tragedy better than Comedy where the Argument commonly is light and is such as requires much of the Buffoon whereas the former being great and Masculine will be sure to leave a Tincture of something Noble upon the Mind of him who personates the Hero Learning ought to be infus'd into the Scholar like spirits into a Bottle by little and little for whosoever attempts to pour in all at once may in all likelihood spill a great part and in a great measure fill the Vessel with Wind and Air. The Vessels 't is true which have the streightest Necks will not so readily receive the Liquour but then they will preserve what they once receive with much more certainty and lastingness of spirit 'T is so many times in the capacities of Youth they who can receive any impression like the Virgin-wax will as easily suffer a defacement unless it be hardned and matur'd by Time whereas others who are hard to be wrought upon like Steel retain the Images which are Engraven on them with much more beauty and perpetuity As for the Method of Erudition in Literature that seems to me to be most rational which begins with those Sciences which are founded in Memory and Imagination such as learning of Tongues Grammar and Poetry For certain 't is that Memory in Youth is infinitely more ready than in men of riper years as appears from their different capacitys in learning of a Language and then for Invention which always builds out of the Store-house of Memory 't is then most perfect and various when the Spirits are most airy and in their greatest Circulation Some are for Teaching young Scholars the Mathematicks upon pretence of fixing their Thoughts and of keeping them constant to one Subject for upon the least roving they loose sight presently of the demonstration and must begin anew But I like not this Method for 't is too tedious serious and puzling for young Capacities to strugle with for tho the progress be most natural and convincing and the deductions of Theorems from one another though they may ravish the Contemplative yet it requires a man to have a complex Apprehension of many Propositions at once so that the least startings and wandrings of the Mind disorder the whole clue and series of thoughts As for Oratory I think it not so proper for Youth unless it be so far only as the Exercise thereof comprehends Repetition or Rehearsal For by this we endeavour to perswade men which we cannot do but by Topicks taken from the consideration of humane Affairs from the Examples of past Ages and of Foreign Countrys to which must be added knowledge both of the Times and Persons we Converse with and of the temper and inclination of
which all the Members are kept alive There is also a Love and Duty which a Man owes to his Country in general in respect whereof every Man 's private Life is no way to be reguarded we have Instances of this amongst the Worthies of old such as Curtius and the Decii But more remarkable was that known Example of Themistocles who being banished by the Athenians fled to the Persian Court for Relief and Shelter The King raysing an Army against the Grecians appoints Themistocles to be General which he knowing not well how to Avoid or how to Accept of he desir'd Leave to Consult upon it by a Sacrifice A Bull was Slain of whose Blood Themistocles drinking a hearty Draught died himself a Victim at the Altar and by this means ended the Conflict betwixt the Duties which he owed to his Ungrateful Country and to his Merciful Protector The Importance of that Duty which every individual Person owes to his Prince and Country ought well to be considered by those who have the Institution of Youth for as much as that is the Age of Ductility and that the Impressions are then easily made and will be lasting too as growing dayly up with Nature CHAP. IV. Of Exercise HAving spoken in the foregoing Chapter of the Improvements of the Mind by Erudition it follows of Course that we speak of the Improvement of the Body by Exercise Indeed a Vigorous and Athletick Habit of Body doth extreamly advance the like Disposition and Ability in the Mind Since all Intellectual Exercise and Travel of Brain depend much upon the Activity of the Spirits and these upon the good Temper and Strength of the Constitution Upon this account it was that Solon the Athenian Law-giver and the wisest Man in his Age ordain'd that the Grecian Youth should be train'd up to Wrestling and Musick the one for the strengthning of their Bodies the other for the Polishing of their Minds Strength if it be not softned is Savage and Brutal but where 't is joyn'd with Courtesie 't is Ravishing Sports and Exercises serve not only to Recreate those who are the Actors but those also who are the Spectators of them The Greeks had solemn Times set apart for those more Man-like Exercises represented in the Olympick Games besides their dayly Divertisements of the Theatre The like also had the Romans that of the Gladiators was something too Inhumane the other Performances of the Circus were much more Innocent Diverting and Healthful and even the more Indigent Sort were so wedded to these Shews that they were contented only to live upon Bread and Water so they might but be admitted sometimes to be Spectators at them duas tantum res anxius optat Panem Circenses But above all their Triumphs were stately Things and were design'd not only to divert but to encourage Men to brave Atchivements of Honour In the best constituted Governments it has been always look'd upon as a piece of Policy to indulge the People in such Recreations as well because they render Men quick in their Motions and Bold to Attempt as also because they extreamly conduce to alleviate the Cares and Burthens of the Mind and to divert the Thoughts from seriously Reflecting upon the heavy Weight which is oftentimes cast upon them by the Exigences of the State For which Reason we may observe that where the People are most oppress'd with Gabells and Impositions as in Italy there they enjoy the greatest Liberty in their Recreations which are generally Races Plays Opera's Feats of Agility the Fooleries of Ciarlatans Sports of the Carneval Cavalcades Academies of Musick to which I may also add Ecclesiastick Ceremonies and Divertisements such as Processions the Feasts of particular Saints as also the Canonization of Saints and Martyrs with many other Shews both of Pomp and Activity by all which they endeavour as much as possible to sweeten the sourness and tediousness of Life As to the Exercises of the Bodies in relation to particular Men some are of great Use for Mans Preservation as Running Vaulting Fencing and Wrastling But withal they are sometimes Incommodious to Health because they call upon a Man to exert his utmost Strength which weakens Nature insomuch that those who were best at the Performance in their youthful Days feel the Smart in their declining Years and are much weaker than other Men of the same Age Besides such Exercises are many times dangerous to Life especially when Man and Man cope together There are other Exercises which are less useful for a mans preservation but withal they contribute to health by exciting the Spirits to a quick Circulation and are lookt upon also as parts of Accomplishment such as Dancing Tennis and Riding the great Horse Justs and Turnaments were things of great Bravery but they are now antiquated and Masques are for the Entertainments only of Ladies Bowling end Shooting in the Long-Bow are less violent and more safe because they excite a moderate warmth and are not apt to betray men to the dangers which follow excessive heats But above all the Chase has been ever lookt upon as a Noble and Manlike Divertisement it recreates and pleases the Fancy whilst the Body is in Exercise 't is lasting and sociable and withal it inures the Body to hardship without too much fatigue or hazard and never fails to procure a good Appetite which is the best friend to life These are the chiefest Exercises of the Body by which mans Nature may be rendred more perfect As for Musick it may more properly be reckoned amongst the Recreations of the Mind if it be not the sole Recreation of that most Excellent and Noble faculty when the Passions are languishing and almost spent this is able to animate and Exalt them and at other times when they are too exorbitant and impetuous it is able to create a Calm and to reduce the Soul to its due Temper and Serenity 'T is strange what is reported amongst the Antients of its wonderful power and force 'T is well known they had their several Moods and Measures which were able to produce very different and strange effects in men When the Trumpet sounds we see not only Men but even Beasts are animated with a generous and Martial fire and upon this Consideration doubtless 't was that the Lacedemonians who were the bravest men of Greece tho they were most severe rigi'd in their Manners of Life took special care to have their Children Educated in Musick not that soft and puling Musick which consists in Passionate and Effeminate expressions in Affected sighs and melting Notes and in a languishing and dying posture of body but their Musick was Manlike and spritely and such as serv'd to excite the Mind to generous and brave Attempts The Composition for the Matter consisted generally of two Parts The first was Panegyrick being a Commemoration of those who dyed for their Country the other was Invective being in Dispraise of those who were Cowards and degenerate all which they
Humour and Repletion This makes them more difficult to apprehend but where they do attempt they are indefatigable in the Pursuit and Retentive of what they learn This we see most apparently in the Dutch in whom the want of more refin'd Spirits is abundantly supplied by Industry They move but flowly yet they are patient of Fatigue both in Councel and Commerce and in matters of Learning tho their Conceptions are not so gentile and polish'd they are nevertheless useful and by their great Collections and variety of Readings with which their bulky Volums swell they demonstrate to the World their invincible Constancy in what they undertake Those who inhabit the colder Clime are forc'd to supply the Defects of Heat with Drinking which cannot but expose them to Bestiality and Indiscretion and must have a great influence upon their Moral as well as upon their Natural Capacities Hence it is that tho they are generally quarrelsome and exposed to all the Effects of Sottishness and Intemperance nevertheless they are less Revengeful at once discharging both their Surfeit and their Choler That freedom and openness of Thought which accompanies their Drinking makes them uncapable to Conceal or Premeditate any thing against the Government as we see in the Germans who notwithstanding their Intemperance and the infinite number of little Principalities notwithstanding that mixture and confusion of Governments and the variety of Religions which are amongst them live in better Accord with one another and with a more regular Subjection to their Superiors than others of their Neighbours who are more refin'd which Boccatin very ingeniously observes in the Defence they made before the Tribunal of Apollo The Inhabitants of Ilands are generally more Rebellious and Unconstant than those who live upon the Continent witness Brittain Ireland and Sicily We may observe the like Diversity of others as to Morals and Politicks from the respect they have to the Heaven under which they live Those of a dry and hot Country are born with quicker Witts than others and obliged to greater regularity of Life from the Dangers and Diseases which are derivable from Heat accompanied with Excess Thus much is true in the general But if we descend to Particulars we may continue the Observation further and shew that the Bent and Inclination of every Man's Life doth hold Analogy with the individual Crasis and Constitution of his Body There are some 't is true who go farther and assert that from the Anatomy of the Brain a Man may demonstrate the diversity of the Passions and discern the subtile Springs and first resorts of the Soul but those are but Chimera's the Inventions of Impertinence or an ingenious Madness Was there ever Man that could assign the Cells of Anger or Love of Joy and Sorrow Or could he shew their different Figures and Dimensions and by any Dissection of the Brain discover which was a wise Man and which a Fool from the different Traces left upon it Nor is this Theory only ridiculous but destructive also to the fundamental Articles of Religion viz. The Souls Immortality and the Liberty of the Will For tho it be true that in Bruits all things move in a certain Tenour and as it were by Impulse as it happens in a Watch where the Wheels are set in order and the Springs wound up nevertheless so great is the variety of Actions in a Rational Soul so sublime are its Speculations and so predominant its Resolves above all the Reports and Tendencies of Sense as shews sufficiently that there is a Faculty in Man independent on it and tho it be oftentimes inclin'd by it yet is it able to disengage it self and to exercise a soveraign Authority over Nature Whereas those who assert the contrary do not only involve themselves in palpable Absurdities but do deny the very Existence of their own Souls when they define all the Faculties of it to be nothing but a Motion of the Animal Spirits proportion'd to some certain Organs and Instruments all which are annihilated by Death This then is true that every Man has a power deriv'd from his own Soul to controul the Motions of Nature but then 't is true too that this must be Understood only in Men of a Masculine and of a disciplin'd Reason Most incline to Nature and choose the Methods which Passion does propose nay even in Intellectual Operations and in matters of Opinion how willing are we to delude our selves being byassed by Interest and that Interest accommodated only to Sense and present enjoyments But to leave humane Actions whether Intellectual or Moral let us consider those which are Natural I mean the Passions of which 't is certain beyond all dispute and question that they depend entirely upon the Disposition of the Body No sooner does an Object strike upon the Eye for instance but the Image is conveigh'd immediately to the common Store-house of the Senses the Imagination and accordingly as it appears agreeable or displeasing so does the Imagination make the impression upon the Animal Spirits which with imperceptible quickness and subtlety are transmitted by the Nerves to the Parts principally concern'd and excite Motions of desire or dislike with all the Train of Actions subsequent thereto if we make an Impression on the Water by casting in a Stone or upon the Air by striking of solid Bodies together we find a kind of Undulation by which as by a succession of multiplied Impressions the Image is conveigh'd to a considerable distance faster or slower as the Medium is dispos'd 'T is the same in our Bodies as to the Images of Sense though it be perform'd after a manner which is far more quick and delicate hence it is that as men live with more or less Regularity and Temperance their Senses are more or less refin'd to receive the Images of things and in Conformity hereunto the Passions move with greater or less justness and order These Considerations being premis'd I come now to discourse upon the Actions of the Mind as they fall under these two Grand Faculties of the Soul the Will and the Understanding and because both these Faculties receive their Informations from certain Instruments I shall in the first place inquire into the Nature and Constitution of these Instruments and they are either External contain'd under the five Senses or Internal viz. Imagination and Memory CHAP. X. Of the Senses ONE who is confin'd to a close Prison in which are some few Chinks only for the conveyance of Light and Air though he may have an ability to see all the variety of Objects which are in Nature notwithstanding this can actually discern no more than what lies directly opposite to the straight passages of the Walls in which he is imprison'd Just so the Soul of Man is confin'd to the Body as to a close Chamber or Prison from whence it happens that though it be capable in its own Nature of knowing all things within the Compass or Sphere of Creatures yet it falls out