IT is a Truth generally acknowledged by Christians, but seldom so well consider'd as it ought. That Man is the compleat Image of God and Nature, and contains in himself the Principles and Properties of all things Corporeal and Incorporeal: That he is endued with an Elemental or Palpable Body, actuated and informed by an Ethereal Spirit, which directly answers to the great Soul of the World from whence it is taken, and whereof it is an Epitome and Abridgment or, if you please, the Son and Offspring.

And as the Soul of Man does contain all the true Properties of the Elements • z. Earth, Air, Water and Fire, which are, as it were, the Mothers of the Body that nourish and sustain it; so it has als • the Principles of Fire and Light, that is Spirit and Life, that gives Motion to the Body, which bears Relation to the Sou • of the great World, or that mighty Spirit which is the Moving, Vivifying Creative, and Conservative Power o • God.

Now Man being so wonderfully composed, his Soul and Spirit containing the true Nature and Properties of every Being, he must consequently have a Simile or Agreement with the innat • Nature, Qualities, Dispositions and Inclinations of all Beasts, Fowl, Fish Herbs, Seeds, &c. both in the Visible and Invisible World, and is thereby become a Microcosm, a compleat Image or Resemblance of the Universe.

The Earth Essentially contains in i • self the Vertues and Qualities of all Seeds, Fruits and Grains; insomuch, that whatever is sown into it, immediately takes root, and attracts to it self an agreeable Matter proper for the Support and Nourishment of its own Body and Spirit. The like is to be understood of the Soul; it being the Universal Humane Ground, wherein whatever is sown, whether Good or Evil, takes root, and powerfully, though insensibly, draws agreeable Matter out of all the Powers and Qualities of Nature, to nourish and improve that Seed, whereby it obtains a strong Form in the Soul, the Essences whereof can never be destroy'd or defaced, especially if the Seeds are sown in the first and tenderest Age of the Child. For then the Soul is most empty and consequently most susceptible of Impressions, and receiving any thing that is offer'd to it. All the Powers of Nature standing then, as it were naked, unbyass'd by Custom and Prejudice, with an earnest and ardent Appetite, desiring to be stampt with some Character or other, without any regard to either the Beauty or Value o • the Impression, having no Distinction betwixt Good and Evil.

Upon this account, whatever a Child is first taught and accustomed to, not only takes the deepest root in the Soul, but beget; Habits and Complexions, and denominates the very Constitution it self. This no wise Man can deny, it being Matter of Fact, and common Observation. Besides, all the Art and Industry of the best Tutors can never wholly remove or alter Qualities and Dispositions so earlily planted: Tho • by continually representing to them good Examples, back'd with Wholsom and Moral Precepts, if the Soul be of a mild and gentle Nature, they may, for some time, seem to be subdu'd; yet upon the least Intermission, and Neglect o • such a Method, they shall be ready to exert themselves afresh, and perhaps, with redoubled Vigour.

Therefore Education and Examples, in the Infancy, and first Ages of a Child, that is, from Two to Eight, Ten, Twelve Years, are the very Foundation of Vertue or Vice, accord • ng as they are us'd or apply'd: For • hen Good and Evil are indifferent to • he Soul; and that which is first im • ibed, takes the deepest root, and begets the strongest habit.

From hence it is manifest of what • mportance it is, for Fathers, Mothers, Nurses, &c. to whom the Care of Children is committed, to be watchful that • he Precepts and Examples of Vertue, have the Honour in making the first • mpression on their Childrens Souls: That they labour to acquaint them be • imes with the Excellence of Patience, Humility and Compassion: That they • epresent to them the Noble and Tran • cendent Dignity of Justice, and shew • hem the Deformity of the contrary Vice: That they make them understand, • hat there is as much Injustice in Wrong • ng a Man of a Penny, as in Cheating • im of a Pound: That Writhing of the Neck of a Chicken with Delight, is as great an Evidence of the Spirit of Cruelty, as the Stabbing a Man. They are to • ccustom their Children to a proper and distinct Method of Speaking: I am perswaded, much of the Stammering & Lisping in many People, might have been prevented by a proper and due Management in their Childhood. They ought also to be very careful to Teach them Temperance in Eating and Drinking, and Moderation in their Sleep and Exercises. By such Methods as these, the Seeds of Vice might more easily, because timely, be subdued, and a Foundation laid for the building up an Excellent and Accomplisht Person.

But seeing that the common Custom of the World commands us, as soon as we are born, to be submitted to the Care and Tuition of Women, on whose good or ill Management of us in that tender Age, a great part of the Felicity or Misery of our Lives depend. And considering the Impressions that Women make, whilst they are Impregnate and go with Child, have a wonderful Influence upon their Issue, I think it will prove no worthless Service to propose some Observations and Methods whereby they may be better directed to discharge their Duty.

(1.) A good Diet ought to be observed; that is, they ought to accustom themselves to simple Meats and Drinks such in which no manifest Quality is too predominant; that is, not too sweet nor too bitter, too salt nor too sharp, &c. For all Extreams beget their own Qualities and Complections. All Strong Drinks are to be avoided; for nothing is more inimical to the Nature of Children, than things wherein Heat has the Ascendant. All Spoon-Meats are very proper and Natural, except such as are made of Spirituous Liquors, as Wine, Ale, Beer, Cyder, &c. but if sweetned with Sugar, as is commonly practised, they are exceedingly Hotter, and ought to be avoided by all that value their own or their Childrens Health. But Gruels, Paps, Rice, variously dress'd, are very wholsom. Raw Herbs made into Sallads, and eaten with Bread, Butter and Cheese, are excellently good; and for Drink; Midling Beer or Ale is the best, except Water.

(2.) They are also, during their Impregnation, to abstain from all Foods that are made Hot in their Preparation, by Boiling, Stewing, Roasting, Baking, and the like. They ought to let them be quite Cold before they eat them; for their fiery sulphurous Vapours do mightily generate windy Diseases, and that Epidemical Distemper call'd the Scurvy, both in the Mother and Child: for those fiery Fumes and Vapours that all hot Foods send forth, are of a furious and unpeaceful Temper, and contrary to the Natural Heat both of the Stomach and the Food it self. So that I affirm, the Eating solid Food hot, or before these deadly Vapours have separated themselves, to be one of the grand Causes of Wind, especially in Women and Children, (as we have largely demonstrated in our Way to Health, and other of our Writings.)

(3.) They ought to refrain the eating of all sorts of Roots, as Turnips, Pa • snips, Carrets, &c. For by reason of their Crude and Earthy Qualities, they naturally beget Wind. Unripe Fruit, and all things sharpned with Viuegar Oranges, Lemons, &c. are hurtful: For being unequal in their Parts, they generate cold windy Humours, and afford a very small and imprope • Nourishment, especially to Persons u • der the Circumstances we are no • speaking of.

(4.) They must be very careful, n • to exceed in Quantity. All Repletio • does in a very high degree obstruct the Course of Nature, and produces many Diseases; and utterly destroys the Health and Harmony both of Body and Mind, affecting both with some signal and irreparable Damage, being of far more mischievous Consequence than most do imagine.

(5.) They ought to forbear all robust, masculine Labour and Exercises, as likewise a soft and sedentary Life: Both the one and the other ought to be gentle and easie; not too thoughtfully, engaging the Mind, nor over-burdening the Body. Such a Course wou'd strengthen Nature, by removing Obstructions, and causing the Blood and Humours to circulate with more freedom and facility. For it is observable in all Countries where Women live live Temperately, use moderate Exercises, eat simple Foods and drink mostly Water, that windy Diseases are hardly▪ • wn to be found either in them or • r Children.

• astly. Above all things, they ought • beware that they do not give place Passion, to suffer those irregular • tions of the Mind to reign and get 〈◊〉 Dominion over them. These sort 〈◊〉 Disturbances put the whole Constitution out of Tune, and make fierce and violent Invasions on the Sweetness of the good Powers and Qualities; making the deepest Impressions on the Child, and powerfully incorporating with the • erverse Seed of their Simile, whereby evil Inclinations and Dispositions are begotten, and do arise; for there is a strong and unconceivable Sympathy betwixt the Mother and the Child, both in Vertue and Vice: so that there is no evil Indisposition that attends the Mother, but the Child participates thereof, receiving the Nourishment both of Spirit and Body from her. Nothing is more certain, than that every Passion, when it arrives to Extremity, begets its own Complexion; for it penetrates even to the Center, joyns with its Simile, and be • es strengthned by it.

By this means, the irregular Me • of Mothers affect their Children, 〈◊〉 often distempering their Minds and 〈◊〉 dies; which in a very short time becom • so deep and central, that they are hard • ever cured or eradicated.

This it is to be an ignorant Big • to Custom and Tradition. So unco • trollable is the Dominion they have ob • tain'd, that they sway and biass us against all Reason and Experience. So preposterously is Mankind blinded and depraved, that we can neither Hear, See, Feel, nor Taste Truth, nor the Simplicity of Nature's Operations.

All Seed partakes of the Nature and Quality of the Ground whereinto it is sown: If the Ground be good, and the Seed good, you may reasonably expect sound and firm Fruit, without ble▪ mish or distemper. Proper Method • must be observed, or all will be spoil'd. What Crop can the Husband-man hope for, if he neglects to Till and Manure his Land, or sows it with improper and unsuitable Seed? Or what Profit can he expect from his Horses, Cows, and Sheep, if particular Care be not 〈◊〉 about the well-ordering his Cattle, that • hey may bring forth their Young Ones with Strength and Health? The like is to be understood of the Humane Ground, if that be not dress'd and cultivated by good Order and Temperance, you must not look for a healthy and vigorous Off-spring. In a word, the whole Education, Improvement and Accomplishment of Mankind, in a great measure, depends on the Management and good Conduct of Women. For Proof of which, let us a little consider what a powerful Influence, from our very Infancy, they have over us, and what a mighty▪ Interest and Concernment they have in those very things that conduce most to our well-being, and have the greatest Effect upon our Constitutions and Dispositions.

Custom, and common Practise, has so order'd it, That as we spring from them, we must be return'd to them. No sooner are we born, but we are thrown into their Hands. As they gave us Birth, 'tis judg'd reasonable they should give us Education. It is not enough, • at we must suffer under the Impressions we receive so earlily from them, during the mistaken Methods they too generally observe in the time of their Pregnancy; but we must be submitted to their Discipline and Direction, after we are produc'd, stampt with the Image of God. Do they not form in us our first Notions, and prepossess the Soul before it has leisure to understa • d its own Power and Liberty? All the Nonsence of our Conceptions, and Irregularity of our Morals, is deriv'd from them, whilst through an over-fond Tenderness they confirm and encourage those Seminal Principles of Vice that they ought to discountenance and subdue. How many Souls are ruin'd by Mothers and Nurses scaring their Children with horrid and frightful Names, when they would bring them to comply with their own Humour? Hereby the Seeds of Fear are planted, which continually subject the Soul to constant and unavoidable Bondage. Besides, the Examples of their Passions, and irregular Actions, have a mighty Influence upon our tender Souls, insomuch that those first Impressions can never be obliterated or removed. They also prepare Childrens Food, and order and appoint their Diet and Exercises. From hence it appears how much we are under their Conduct and Management, as to Bed, Board, and all things conducing to the Preservation of Life and manner of Living. For this cause, it is possible to convince an Hundred Men of the Errors o • Life, before One Woman; they being the Mistresses of Intemperance, and mightily espouse the Methods of that ancient Gentleman call'd Custom.

Hence it follows, that it is of great Importance. That particular Care be taken about the Education of Women themselves, since they sow the first Seeds in the Humane Ground. When you ask Children why they do This, or That? They will answer, Their Mothers taught them, and they saw their Mothers do it. So that the whole Care and Instruction of Children, especially whilst they are most capable of Impression, is committed to them. For few or no Men mind it, their secular Busi • ess calling them to the Management of other Affairs, which some term Matters of greater Moment. But this 〈◊〉 a great Mistake; for I affirm, That • rudent Education, and Early Discipline, are the Sinews of all good Go • ernment. And no Man can reasonably • xpect better Success in Publick Affairs, except a more methodical Regulation be observed in the Education of Children, especially amongst the Females; for if they are well Brought-up, they will naturally. Instruct and Teach their Off-spring. No Tutors can Teach Children to that Degree nor with that Ease, • s Mothers. Besides, the Charge of Tutors often-times becomes burthensom; an • many neglect the learning of excellent Things, because their Circumstances will not allow them wherewith to pay their Masters. If the Mother or Nurse be a Linguist, and can well understand and speak three or four Languages, the Child will quickly learn them all with as great facility and readiness as the Mother-Tongue. The same is to be understood as to all Arts and Sciences.

It is a great Truth, though very little believed, That the Females are naturally as fit for, and capable of all excellent Learning, as Men, even the Mathematicks it self; and if there be any difference, the Advantage is on the Womens-side. They are of curious and apt Capacities, to apprehend all things that depend upon the Power of the Fancy and Imagination, being of a more delicate Contexture, and wrought with a finer Thread than Man. Pray tell me, why were they thought fit, by the wise Antients, to Prepare, Compound and Dress our Food, which indeed is true Physick? On the due Composition and Proportion of that, all the Health, Strength, nay, the Life it self of Men, depends. The Art of Preparation is not only Deep and Mysterious, but Curious and Ingenious: For, to understand Preparation and Composition, with the proper Quantity and Quality of the Ingredients, is none of the least Points in Philosophy. I am sure, what the Women fall short of in this Mystery, is not for want of Capacity; for what they are once taught, and have made a Custom, they will hold fast. Therefore, that City or Countrey is happy, whose Women have been taug • good Customs, and the Orders of Temperance; and on the other side, that Country is most unhappy, where the Women have embrac'd evil Custome. How preposterous is it! You will trust Women with the most material Things, even the Government of Life, and Health, and yet deny them to be capable of understanding meaner Services. We affirm, they are as able to comprehend all Arts and Sciences to as high a degree as Men, if not higher, provided their Education be equal. Indeed, we do not approve of their being employ'd in Robust and Masculine Offices. Is i • not a pretty sight, to see a parcel of Women Carrying of Burthens, and Crying of Things in Baskets upon their Heads, about the Streets? These are unseemly Employments, which render Women Rude, Bold, Surly, and Unchaste. They are to be apply'd to soft and gentle Exercises, more agreeable to their Complexions. They are to be Tutor'd in Arts more suitable and proper for them, as in good Writing and Arithmetick; to understand Accompts, and the keeping of Books, and all other things that may be done within the compass of the House; for if they have timely Instruction, they will soon demonstrate themselves to be very Apt, Sharp and Ready in all curious Arts, and oftentimes exceed even the Men themselves.

By these means, Daughters would become altogether as helpful and serviceable both to themselves and Parents, as Sons; and many times more, because they are not so apt and inclinable to Travel and Ramble abroad into Foreign Parts, nor List themselves in the Armies of Princes. Besides, the true Learning of all useful things, will render them fit and capable to answer the End of their Creation, viz. to be Helps-meet to their Husbands. For timely Education, and the teaching Children the Doing and Active Part, is, to sow in them the Seeds of Temperance, Frugality, and Good Order. This wou'd make them Thoughtful and Serious, and teach them to have a Value for those Principles of Vertue that are so timely implanted in them; the Practice whereof will be so far from being difficult and hard, that 〈◊〉 will be familiar and connatural to them: They will take care to cherish, preserve and improve these noble Seeds, esteeming them the Foundations of Peace, Comfort, and everlasting Serenity of Mind. Like frugal Men, that get Money by their own Industry, they will know the true Worth of it, and how they part with it: while others are like a wanton and inconsiderate Spendthrift, who squanders away all he has, without any regard to the Labour of those who got it for him, or considering that it might have much better been employ'd in the charitable Relief of poor and better deserving People.

For this Reason, most rich Persons Children are Foolish, Idle, Prodigal, and very Expensive; and their Parents can never expect better Fruit from them, till they give them better Precepts, and better Precedents. For, for the most part, they teach them Wantonness and Extravagance from their very Cradles, till they are Seven, Eight, or Ten Years of Age: Which ill Habits grow so very strong in them, that they become 〈◊〉 vincible, and no Art or Care possible can root out or expunge them. Some few there are, indeed, that are born with more propitious and favourable Natures,—Queis ex meliore luto finxit praecordia Titan,—whom Phoebus has form'd of better Clay, that by the help of Instruction, surmount the Difficulties of an ill and prejudicate Education. But these are very little beholden to their Parents and Tutors for Good Manners and Sobriety, but chiefly to the Portion of good Nature, and God's Gifts, that are born in them.

The Fear of God, Temperance, Cleanness and Frugality, are taught by Precept and Example, even as Arts and Sciences are; as also are Disobedience, Intemperance and Disorder.

The principal Time of Teaching and Confirming Vertue and Vice, Temperance and Intemperance, Arts and Sciences, Industry and Wantonness, is from Three Years of Age to Ten: whatever is fastened to them within that time, will continue for ever, and will naturally grow strong, and improve, with the least Industry imaginable.

If this be true, as certainly it is, ho • is it possible that the People of thi • Age should expect their Children should be Temperate and Industrious, when they do all they can, both by Precept and Example, to make them Gluttons and Debauched? Do not many Parents at least permit, if not force their Children to Eat and Drink not only beyond the Necessity and Exactions of Nature, but also more than they are willing to receive? And Persons of all Ages have an Inclination to eat and drink more than the Stomach can with ease digest, especially if their Meats and Drinks are well compounded and delicious; which is often purposedly done, to entice Nature out of her own plain Way.

Now, if Persons of mature Age and Experience are apt to exceed in this particular, and over-load the digestive Power of the Stomach, to the extreme prejudice of their Body and Mind; what must Children suffer, that without any restraint, eat and drink to the end of their Appetites? For the Palat • continues the Pleasure of Tasting, many Degrees beyond the Necessity of the Stomach, and the Requirements of the Digestive Faculty. Is not this teaching Children, even in the very Cradle, to be Gluttons? Which being strengthned and improved by repeated Practice, is at last so deeply radicated, that it becomes a Second Nature. So that it is no wonder to see so many Men and Women Intemperate and Debauched; nay, it is very hard to conceive it should be otherwise, when there has been so much Pains taken, and so many Years spent to confirm and corroborate the Habit; and that even in their Youthful Age, when Impressions are soonest and deepest made.

For the Soul of Man is endued (as I said before) with an Universal Spirit both of Good and Evil. There is no Property or Quality in the whole Nature of Things, that does not find in Man somewhat wherewith to assimilate and affix it self. Upon this account it is, that he is capable of learning all things Humane and Divine; and those Precept and Examples that are first presented have the strongest Effect, and take the deepest Root.

Temperance and Order are the fi • things that ought to be taught Childre • being the Foundation of all excelle • Learning. 'Tis by their Direction a • and Influence that Man arrives to th • Accomplishment of his Nature, an • dignifies his Species above the Rank o • his Fellow-Creatures. So that if Children are accustomed to these things from their Birth, to Twelve or Fifteen Years of Age, it is almost impossible then they should become Intemperate, without the hazard of Sickness, or running the risque of many unpleasant Inconveniences. Which Consideration, together with an early and habitual Practice of those Vertues, will make it as easie and familiar for them to be Temperate, as Men are now prone to be Extravagant and Debauch'd. Besides, this Method would extraordinarily contribute to the Ease and Satisfaction of all Families, keeping them from many torturing Diseases, and great Expences, both in Servants, Meats and Drinks, and render all things sedate, quiet and delightful.

Custom and Precept have wonderful and amazing Influences over all the Ce • lestial Powers and Configurations of th • Stars and Elements, and over innat • Dispositions, Inclinations and Com • plexions. So great is their Power bot • in the Good and Bad, that they lead Me • to commit the highest Evils and Out rages, even Murther it self, without any Trouble or Regret. For Example: Tak • a Boy of Two or Three Years old, tha • is dignified in the fiery Trigon in hi • Nativity, under Mars, who consequently is, by his Complexion, addicted to practice all manner of Wrath, Fiercenes • and Cruelty,; let this Child be unde • the Tuition of a Bannian Woman, o • some other Person that scruples all Violence, or the killing either Man o • Beast, where they live temperately, an • observe sober Methods, and you sha • soon discern, notwithstanding his Ma • tial Inclinations, and the Power o • Celestial Influences, that the Custom Religion and Example of those Peopl • he is brought up among, will quickl • insinuate and conform themselves wit • their Similes in the Child's Soul, an • and gain an intire Dominion over all th • fierce and rude Dispositions he was • earen'd with, from his Nativity, or • edominating Consteilation. For cer • n it is, That the Soul contains the com • at and true Nature of all Things: • nd though one Quality or Property be • onger than another in the Soul, yet the other cling to it, and come after, • cording to their Degrees of Strength Weakness; and that Form or Quality • at is weakest, can easily be made strong • by Custom, Precept and Example. • nd so, on the other side, that Quality • at in the Nativity was most Strong, • n by the same Rule be made Weak • d Impotent.

This is further manifested in Religion, • hich is made up of great Varieties of • otions, and Practical Ceremonies, there • ing as much difference as there is in • e Nature of Things; many of them • antastical, Vain, and Irrational, and • ost of them Ridiculous; the Zealous • pprobation whereof, and Formal Pra • ise, are convincing and undeniable • rguments of the Force and Power of • ustom. Will not those that have been • structed in Base and False Notions, and constantly us'd to conform with humane and detestable Ceremonies, as easily perswaded to die for their R • gion (as they call it,) as those that h • really embrac'd the Truth, and l • under the most sober and agreeable M • thods of God's Law? Without all p • adventure they will; and the freque • Instances mention'd in the Records of Histories, determine the Question. Ha • there not been Turks and Indians Childr • that being educated in the Christian • ligion, have prov'd as zealous and f • ward in the Defence of that Cause, the Child of a Christian? And on 〈◊〉 other hand, are not the Ianizaries, 〈◊〉 the most part, the Sons of Christian • yet there are not, within the Confi • of the Ottoman Empire, more obstin • and inveterate Mussulmen. In sho • Children may be brought to any thin • Their Souls are so cereous and flexib • that they may, with the greatest facili • be form'd into any Shape, or any Figur • Good and Evil are alike to them, th • know no difference nor distinction: T • that they are first taught, fixes the Cha • cter, obtains the Ascendant, and de • n minates the Person either Vertuous or • cious.

For this Reason it was, that our Saviour • mmanded little Children to be brought • to him. Which had not relation only their Innocency, but to their Capacity; • eir Minds being, as it were, Free and • mpty, not yet bound Apprentice to • e Vanity of Custom and Prejudice: • he Ground was clean, and exempt from • e Weeds of Di • der and Wickedn • ; • hereby they 〈◊〉 render'd more fit • d capable to • ve the Good Seed. • id not our G • at Master likewise go • to the Streets and High-ways to preach • e Gospel to the Common and Ordi • ary sort of People? Why did he not • tner honour the Synagogues, and preach • s Doctrine to the Scribes and Pharisees, • ose learned and strict Observers of the • aw? No, the former were not fastned 〈◊〉 Prejudice, nor so deeply rooted in the • ormalities of the Law, and Tradition, • nd therefore more likely to embrace the • ruth: There were not those Obstacles • nd Impediments in them, as were in the • tter. For the more free any Man is from • e Power of Custom, the more room there is in the Soul to entertain Ver • As the Proverb has it, No Fool like the Fool: Because Folly is so deeply gro • ded in him, that there is no place any thing else.

On the other hand, Children, at th • arrival into this World, are utter Str • gers to Custom and Tradition; they 〈◊〉 as it were, like the Incorporeal Being their Imaginations and Fancies are 〈◊〉 b • nded or mis-led 〈◊〉 that we call R • son; they penetra • 〈◊〉 , and imitate • things that they hea • 〈◊〉 , o • see done, a • this without any Consideration whet • it be good or evil, possible or impossi • being alike exempt from the fear of 〈◊〉 learning, and hope of future Bene • they press forward and attain to 〈◊〉 Knowledge of Things with wonder expedition and accuracy. And t • Younger they are, the more capable 〈◊〉 they of receiving Instruction, but A and Experience must improve the • Early Plants naturally take the surest a • deepest root, and with great vigour a • force attract the Vertues of the Earth 〈◊〉 their Nourishment; and being dres • and cultivated by the industrious H • bandman, the good Juices soon grow • ong, insomuch that they will over • me the Weeds themselves.

Upon this Consideration, of the won • rful Nature and Aptitude of the Soul receive any thing that shall be offer'd it, it appears of what Importance it is, • at particular care be taken to sow good • ed at first. That if Parents neglect to • ant, Children will do it themselves: or the Soul will not be empty, Empti • ess having no Being in Nature. So that you do not teach and shew them good • ethods and Precepts, they will soon • arn evil ones: For their whole Em • oyment and Business is, to learn and • itate what they see and hear. As we • ave observed before, all Languages and Tongues are alike to them; the one is as • asie as the other: but that which the Child first learns, takes the deepest root, • nd gets the government over all the • est. So that it is in the Power of the Mother, if she be a Linguist, to make Latin, or any other Tongue, the Mo • her-Tongue, as well as English; and it • ill be as easie, natural and familiar for • he Child to imitate her in three or four several Languages, as one: Likewise, arrive at a proper and distinct Meth • of Speaking, if the Mother, Nurse, 〈◊〉 whoever has the Care of the Child co • mitted to them, be a Person so qualify and accomplish'd. Which is also to b • understood of the attaining to all othe • Arts and Sciences.

Hence it follows, That the Female ought to have the principal and best Education, they being the first Planters o • Tutors, having the Children always with them, whom they will imitate and observe. Besides, Women have a wonderful Dignification in their Natures and Complexions; God having implanted Modesty in their Constitution, which i • the Foundation of all Excellence and Vertue. They are of a quick, penetrating Fancy, apt to comprehend any thing that is fine or curious, as the Ar • of Housewifery, Needle-work, Painting, Musick, Writing, &c. In these thing • no Man can exceed them, if they hav • timely and proper Education and Instruction; being both by their Genius and Complexions naturally adapted for al • easie Employments, and curious Arts: the Males are to Tillage, the Manage • ent of Cattle, Building, and all Employments that require greater Force and • trength of Body to perform; which • he Females ought by no means to un • ertake, or meddle with.

Now, if the Women were thus instructed themselves, how easie and natural wou'd it be for them to begin an • teach • heir Children all excellent Things, even from the very Cradle? Wi • h how little difficulty might they temper and regulate the Methods of their Eating, Drinking, Sleeping, and Waking? For I must tell you, That Sobriety, Temperance, and Cleanness, are taught even as any Art or Science, tho' with much more Ease, and • ess Fatigue, and with unconceivably more Success and Benefit. Use and Practise are the Life and Spirit that give Vertue and Skill to all Persons whatsoever. If the Children see no Disorderly nor Intemperate Examples, but have the Representation and Character of the contrary Vertues continually placed before their Eyes, they will undoubtedly conform themselves to that Image, in Practice and Imitation. If these Truths were thoroughly believed, and right • managed, what an Healthy Off-spri • should we have, every way adorn'd wi • Vertue, and the Knowledge of all use • and excellent Things? Thus you see ho • much it depends upon the Care and Sk • of Parents, Tutors Nurses, &c. to for the Souls of Children, and make the • what they please to have them. Wha • ever they see or hear, they will practio • Do but shew them the Way of Vertu • and hide from them the contrary Pat • they will walk in it, whether you wi • or no, to the end of their Lives The • will never depart from such deep-roote • Laws, and so timely implanted Precept • For the Soul takes the Biass and Tur • of its future Inclinations from those fir • and early Impressions.

It is likewise to be consider'd, Tha • Children ought not to be kept to any Employment, or Art, too long: For th • Humane Soul being compounded and endued with the Nature of all Thing • (as we have before mention'd,) cause • all People to delight in Variety, it being most like her self; but especially Children do mightily press after, and lov • Variety, and there is nothing more • rateful to their juvenile and unbounded • ancies. So that they will never dwell • ong upon any thing, nor be confin'd, • ith Pleasure, even to that Sport or • lay they seem to take most delight in, • urther than their own voluntary Incli • ations shall sway and induce them. Be • ides, it would extremely dull and perolex, their Understandings, and retund • he tender Acumen of their Wit and Spi • it. But when they come to Years of Discretion, (as they call it,) they will apply themselves closer and longer to some • ne particular Employment, or Study; • ecause then Custom, Reason, and Self- • nterest, engage and perswade them • o it.

Moreover, as any one sort of Grain, too often sown on any one piece of Land, without Intermission, exhausts • ts strength, and makes it weak, so that • it will bear but a poor Crop; because every sort of Grain does draw and attract from the Earth a proper Juice suitable to the Nourishment of its own Body: For which reason the prudent Husband-man will often change his Seed, to give the Ground variety; by which means h • obtains a fruitful and plentiful Cro • every Year, if other Causes do not im • pede. The like must be conceived o • the Humane Ground. For Variety i • the very Foundation and Compositio • of our Lives; nothing conduces mor • to the Health and Prosperity of Man • kind, nor is more agreeable to the Nature of Man, than Change of Diet, Exercise and Employment.

Besides, Children are more Inquisitive • by many Degrees, and more violently desirous of Knowledge the five first Years of their Age, than afterwards; for their Souls and Minds are, as it were; empty, and long to be filled; which naturally moves the Spirit to Industry, and a • Desire after Knowledge. But so soon as those green Years are past, and the Fancy is filled up with the false and mistaken Notions of Custom and Tradition, Men become, as it were, full and satiated; more or. less dull and stupid, and consequently unapt to incline to the Study of any sort of curious Learning. For this reason it is, That whatever a Child is taught to imitate at Three or Four Years of Age, (it is to be understood of • ound and Healthy Children, which • ost wou'd be, were the Rules before • rescribed to Women, duly observ'd,) • akes double the root, and makes deeper • mpressions upon them than what they • re taught at Five; and that at Five, double to what they are taught at Ten; • nd so on proportionably till Fifty or Sixty Years of Age. For, as Persons grow up into Years, their Souls and Minds are not only filled up and sullied with the irregular Dictates of invete • ate Custom; but the Natural and Animal Spirits become muddy and impure, whereby the Apprehension and Understanding are less quick and penetrating. For the Fineness and Thinness of the Spirits, begets Acuteness of Wit, and supplies the Fancy with more Curious and Noble Images of Things; seeing the finer any Man's Spirits are, the more capable he is of understanding the Mysteries of Arts and Sciences.

From hence it is evident, That Order and Method do mightily strengthen and advance the Humane Nature, and render all Perso • s that observe them, more ready and adapt to learn, than such a • live Irregular Lives; especially Children who, through the Fineness and Tenderness of their Spirits, cannot endure th • over-charging of Nature, without manifest Detriment and Prejudice. So that those Parents, Tutors, &c. that press them on to a Debauch, or permit or encourage them to Eat or Drink, or use any Exercise, beyond what the Necessity of Nature exacts are guilty of horrid Impiety against God, manifest Breach of Trust towards the Children, and accountable for all the sad Consequences of so fatal a Miscarriage.

Again, Since Children, at first, do all that they do by Example and Imitation, it must of necessity be the indispensible Duty of all Parents, or Others with whom the Charge of their Education is intrusted, to be industriously careful that they neither hear nor see any Unseemly Action. Such Precedents will be quickly Copied and Transcribed by them, and in a short time be so deeply fix'd in the Imagination that all the Art and Pains they can administer shall never be able totally to deface or remove them.

And if ever they wou'd have their Children to bear any Character in the World, and do any thing to Purpose, • hey must be sure to avoid that foolish Half-speaking and Lisping, when they wou'd prattle with them, and divert them. It is impossible to believe what Damage they do their Children by this absurd and abominable Practise, pronouncing their Words by halves, and not one in an hundred properly and truly as it ought to be; thereby putting the Children to a double and treble Task and Inconvenience; first, by their own Example, fondly instilling into them an huddle of imperfect and broken: Nonsence; and then, after they have discern'd the Folly and Mischief of stocking them with such Trash, ridiculously hoping to make them unlearn it again by Whipping and Beating them. They ought to be us'd to plain Discourses, and Words properly, fully and distinctly pronounced; not with a grinning kind of Smile, and comick Distortion of the Visage; but in a grave, folemn manner, and with a sedate and calm Countenance, even as you would propound Questions, and male Answer to a Judg • or Senator. For when they are us'd t • such a pertinent and handsom way o • Speaking, they will apply their utmo • Diligence to imitate and practice th • same. For 'tis the same thing to th • Child, both as easie and natural to speak Words distinct and pertinent, as lisping and abrupt. Many Children have reason to condemn their Governors and Nurses, all the Days of their Life, for those manifold Inconveniences they are expos'd to by an uncomfortable Imperfection in the Utterance of their Speech.

Their Governors also are sedulously to instruct them to avoid all Passion, Anger and Violence; and as much as lies in their Power, keep them from seeing any Acts of that nature. There is a contagious Infection in them, that ought as carefully to be shunn'd, as the Plague or Leprosie. They ought to acquaint and make their Pupils sensible, not only of the Danger, but also of the Ugliness and Deformity of such preposterous and irregular Inclinations. Their Peace in this World, and Happiness in the next, intirely depend upon it. All the Preaching, Precept and Practice of our Great Law-Giver, tended to this End; to in • ulcate into his Disciples a Principle of Meekness, Love and Unity; to exercise a mutual Charity and Forbearance • owards one another. A compassionate Forgiveness of one another's Faults, is the highest Conquest we can gain over our selves, and the nearest Approach we can make to Heaven; and the Occasions of it, is the fairest Field Christianity has to display her self in with her true and proper Colours.—Ecce quam Christiani Amant! Behold how the Christians Love!—was the Heathen Persecutors Saying, of old, and ought to be the Motto and Character of all that would be called Christians now. Therefore our Great Master said unto Peter, Put up thy Sword: My Kingdom is not of this World. Nothing but Peace, Love, and Concord, can open the Gates into those blessed Realms of Light and Love. Except therefore the first Sallies and Motions of the Soul towards these Irregularities be corrected and reformed, nothing but the most fatal and irremediable Mischief will ensne. It is, I confess, a Work of great Difficulty; yet that shou'd not discourage our Endeavours: nay, 'tis in the Infancy of our Children, if ever, that we can reasonably hope for Success. Besides, the Practise of these Vices, rencounters the Oeconomy of the whole Creation: For all things both in the Animal, Vegetable and Mineral Kingdoms, do proceed from one Ground; and though the Multitude and Variety of them be beyond any humane Number, yet Each and Every of them do, in one degree or another, contain the true Nature and Property of the Whole; and in Man they have their Central Being and Existence, though not in all alike, but in some one Quality is strong, in others another; from whence proceeds Mens Difference in Dispositions, Inclinations, Love, and Hatred; but the Property which is strongest in the Radix, ever sways and governs the whole Life.

There is another base and depraved Custom too frequently used, viz. To scare and affright Children with horrid and terrible Names; thinking thereby to bring them to their Lure, and make them quietly comply with what they wou'd have them, not considering of what mischievous Consequence it is to the Child to have its tender Soul so alarm'd and prepossess'd with such monstrous Images of Things as keep Nature in a perpetual Agitation and Trembling. If the Child's Soul be of a strong and vigorous Complexion, you thereby awaken the Seeds of Envy, Hatred, Malice, and many other surly Dispositions; and so by mistakenly endeavouring to lay One Devil, you raise a Thousand in his room. But if the Soul be of a soft, meek, and gentle Temper, you utterly confound and ruine it. It shall never be Master of one Regular Thought, and by consequence never produce an Handsom and Commendable Action. It shall be eternally subjected to doubt: Irresolute in its Designs, and Wavering in its Attempts. For those Terrors and Amazements awaken the Internal or Central Spirits and Powers of Nature; which incorporating and joyning with their Similes, become, as it were, Consubstantiate with the Soul; insomuch, that those dreadful Conceptions which they form'd in their Childhood, will never wholly depart; but though, for a time, by a vigorous Exercise, and use of Reason, they may seem to be conquer'd, yet upon any sudden Accident of Danger or Disaster, their Fears shall start out a-fresh, and they shall soon be discern'd to be yet under the Dominion of their Youthful Terrors. Which timorous sort of Disposition, how Unfit it is for the Business of the World, and how Fatal it has prov'd to many that have been subjected to it, need not be insisted on; what we have already said, may be sufficient to convict this abominable Practice of Ignorance, Cruelty and Madness.

Another very great Evil and Prejudice to Children, is, To suffer them to play up and down promiscuously at all all sorts of Sports, and with all sorts of Play-fellows. Is it not lamentable, for Parents to let their Children throw away that part of their Time in idle, fruitless and dangerous Exercises, that is the only proper Season for them to learn the Rudiments of Vertue and Knowledge in? For One Hour well employ'd, from Three Years of Age to Seven, is of more avail towards the true learning of any one Art or Science, than Ten, when they come to a maturer Age, (as they call it.) If they are not well and thoroughly grounded then, it will be very difficult to improve and accomplish them, when they come to riper Years. It is then the Seeds of True Knowledge and Philosophy ought to be sown, if ever they expect to reap any Fruit from them hereafter. Besides, the foolish and juvenile Pastimes fill the Imagination with strange Images and Conceptions of Things, that like so many rank and useless Weeds interrupt and divert the growth of Real Knowledge, and True Literature; corrupting the Ground so much, that it will hardly be able to nourish and bring forth any thing of Esteem and Value. Wou'd it not raise a Man's Spleen with Indignation, to hear an old doating Sot of a Father, cry out of his Son, This Blockhead will never come to any thing: There is not such a Dunce again upon the Face of the whole Earth: It has cost me the Lord knows what, and yet I can make him learn nothing: I can make him understand nothing that is said to him. Alas! Old Fool, why did not you begin sooner with him? Why did you suffer him to squander away the best part of his Time in Idleness and Folly? Oh, then he was an arch Young Rogue, a Witty, Forward Child, and you'd warrant he'd be no Fool, if he liv'd; but now he's a mere Booby, a Dunce, and a Block-head. Take him for your Pains, Old Gray-bearded Dotard! You may thank your self for all this, and your Child is bound to Curse you.

Moreover, there are other ill Effects that attend this Custom. Their Sports are often-times, especially if from under the Eye of their Parents and Tutors, &c. so rude and boisterous, that they over-doe their own Strength, and in a violent pursuit after their Play, strain it to a pitch many Degrees above their Ability, to the extreme Prejudice, and often the irrecoverable Damage of their Limbs and Body; which perhaps, though not presently discover'd, yet if they live, succeeding Years will give them many sharp and troublesom Remembrances of it. Like the Effects of Hardships, and Youthful Colds, that will not be forgot in the Winter of Old Age. Thus it is evident, what a disastrous and Calamitous Influence these irregular Methods have both upon Mind and Body.

Now, those that would really promote their Childrens Welfare, and their own Peace, must consult the Degrees and Abilities of Nature, else they will soon run themselves into great Inconveniences. The Bodies and Spirits of Children are young and tender, so that they cannot endure hard and laborious Exercises, without the Imputation of manifest Folly and Damage to their Health. For all Labour, or Exercise, ought to be measured in Proportion to the Strength of the Body and Mind: so that those appointed for Children, ought to be gentle and easie, such as will not strain the Body, nor dull the Spirit, together with a simple Temperate Diet, rather partaking of Moisture than Dryness; because their Growth requires more liquid Matter, by reason of their implanted Heat and Fire, than maturer Age. Besides, those rustick and laborious Exercises do mightily offend and retard the Growth of Childrens Limbs, far more than most People do imagine.

Hence appears the Necessity of Teaching Children, from Three Years old, and upwards, some easie and useful Things, instead of their idle and impertinent Games and Sports, such as Musick, Painting, Housewifery, &c. Also, to instruct them to Read and Speak Properly and Distinctly, to implant in them the Seeds of Vertue and Good Manners; likewise to Walk Streight and Upright, to Run handsomly, and to make True and Proper Steps. This wou'd be a great Ornament, and of good Service to them, when they arrive to a more mature and adult Age: It would cut off a great deal of their superfluous Time, and employ it much better, and more advantageously than is generally practised. Moreover, it wou'd soon discourage and discountenance the ill Custom of sending Children to be instructed at publick Dancing-Schools; where they many times receive more Prejudice in a Month, than they can repair or remove, perhaps, all their Lives after. For it shou'd be the Care of Mothers and Nurses, to order the Gaite, and direct the Steps of the Children; wherein if they are well instructed at first, they will observe the same for ever. For by neglect of this it is, That so many Men and Women make such an Odd and Clownish Figure in their Walking and Moving; sometimes their Steps are too thick, sometimes too short, and sometimes too long; with some extraordinary and irregular Motions of their Backs and Hips, as if their Legs were too weak to support the weight of their Body; with many other unseemly Postures; which might more easily and less chargeably be prevented, were the Directions we prescribe but follow'd and observ'd. For it is to be noted, That ill Postures, and other Habits, if they are taken up betimes, become so strong and powerfully grafted in the Disposition, that it is almost impossible to root them out, or unteach them again. This is an undeniable Truth; and it is a thousand times better, if possible, that Children should remain in an intire and and absolute Indifference and Neutrality, without learning or doing any thing at all, than to be taught or suffer'd to imitate preposterous Methods. For if the Child be born with Streight, Sound, and Proportionable Limbs, there is but one True, Proper, and Handsom way of Going; which they may be as easily taught and brought to, as they are to Speak, provided a little Care and Pains be taken with them in the due time: For in the Beginning every thing is alike to the Child, and one thing as soon learned as another.

Neither should Children, by any means, be permitted to Ieer or Laugh at any Person's Deformity either in Mind or Body. It is a vain and lewd Practise, and generally tolerated; nay, you shall see a parcel of Old Fools stand by, and please themselves extremely, to hear Children Revile and Reproach one another. These are things that of all others, ought to be severely corrected and punish'd. If once they are encourag'd to Back-bite, Envy, Defame, or Belye one another, there is no hopes of them; they will be Devils in spite of your Teeth. For these are the Seeds of all Abomination, and will, upon Occasion, as they grow up, break out into the most unlawful and criminal Enormities: Theft, Murther, Blasphemy, Treachery, Dissimulation, Lying, Perjury, and all manner of accursed Villany, are the Off-spring of such an unatural and unchristian Connivance and Tolleration. 'Tis for want of Parents and Nurses taking care timely to reform and destroy these mischievous Seeds of Vice that so many, every Month, ride backwards up Holbourn-hill, to Tyburn.

We may say, That through Ignorance and Inconsideration, most People do, as it were, intice and play their Children into all manner of Vice, laying such early Foundations of Wickedness; which meeting with suitable Occasions, in time, grow so strong, that they are never able to shake them off, or withstand them: all which might, at first, with a little Prudence and Care, have been prevented. For in lieu of these, they might with great Facility and Pleasure, have been taught all sorts and kinds of Vertue, and Degrees of Temperance, the Fear of God, Arts Sciences and Language, several useful and easie Works about Houshold-Affairs; the Names, Vertues and Uses of Herbs and Plants; to distinguish which are proper for Food, and which for Medicine; the Managing of Gardens, and Art of Husbandry, with a thousand o • her-Employments more honourable and more diverting than their idle Sports and Games, which they usually practice, and whereof they are capable to a very high degree; and then, in a short time, these little Attainments, with small Industry, will grow to very great Improvements, and accomplish them to bear the Character of Excellent Persons in the World.

There are many other Enormities and great Evils, that Parents (even those of the Best and Soberest sort) are guilty of, in the Education of ther Children. For, First, Tho' they will not allow them to run about the Streets, and play promiscuously with the crowd of other Children, (which indeed is extremely commendable,) yet at Home, in their own Houses, they use all possible Methods to destroy and ruine them, by continually suffering them to stuff their little Paunches with all sorts of Dainties, and richly compounded Meats and Drinks, over-charging them both in Quantity and Quality; which undermines the very Basis of Health, there being very few of so sturdy and strong Constitutions, that are not wounded by it in one degree or another. What is this, but laying a sure and lasting Foundation for Gluttony and Idleness? Secondly, They give them all sorts of Liberty, Commanding their Servants to Humour and Obey them in all their foolish and extravagant Whimsies; by which means they never or seldom arrive at any true Discernment of Things, being indulged in every thing that their extravagant Imaginations can conceive, or their undisciplin'd Appetites desire. They very rarely put them to any kind of the above-mention'd Exercises or Employments; neither do they take care to set themselves before them as Precedents of Temperance and Frugality, taking delight to see them hector and domineer over those that wait upon and attend them; by which means they become Haughty, Ambitious and Surly to all that are beneath them (as they conceive) in Birth or Estate; given to Passion, Gluttony, Ebriety and Laziness; whereas they ought to have the contrary Vertues of Affability, Courtesie, and Generosity, founded even in their very Natures and Constitutions; which infinitely more become and adorn a Noble Birth, and Fair Fortune, than an ill-natur'd and untractable Pride. Besides, a nice and fond Education does, as it were, suffocate and destroy all Knowledge, and True Understanding, even in the very bud; and chiefly advances Folly & Ignorance, the greatest Evils in the World; for where Folly and Ignorance joyn, (and they can never be separated,) pray what Expectation can there be of any Great or Honourable Production? The Fruit must of necessity be bad, when all within the Trunk of the Tree, the very Sap it self, is poyson'd and corrupt. For there are very small Hopes of that Person's doing any thing to purpose, who has once indulg'd himself to an Habit of Idleness.

Consider a while the wonderful Active Powers of God, the marvellous Operations of Nature, the daily Motions of the Celestials, the glorious Company of Stars, their Rising and Setting; the Variety of their Lustre, Courses and Configurations. Behold the Rivers and Streams of Water labouring continually, though in in a long and difficult Progress, to pay their Tribute to the Ocean; and the Ocean again, by industrious Tides, Fluxes, and Refluxes, striving to supply the Land. Observe how the Sun, the bright Luminary of Heaven, by his Circulations, and Mysterious Powers, does not only give Life and Being to all Elemental Things, but exhales Moisture from Below, and wonderfully bottles it up in the Clouds till the appointed Time, and then returns it, with Interest, to refresh and replenish the Earth. There is no such thing as Idleness among all the Works of God. An idle Person is none of God's Creature. Shou'd the Primum Mobile stand still but an Hour, the World wou'd be at an End, and the whole Globe of the Universe fall into its Original Chaos. All the Accommodations of Life are procur'd by Labour; nay, Life it self cannot be otherwise maintained: The Blood must be always in Circulation; and the Pulse, Nature's Clock, continually striking: The Stomach must labour hard in her Kitchin, to prepare and separate Aliment for the other Parts. You see then, that there is nothing idle a Moment in the Greater or Lesser World: How much then is it the Duty of Parents and Tutors, &c. to see that Children are constantly and commendably employed; Idleness being a manifest Breach of the Command of God, and an open Contradiction to the whole Course and Operation of Nature? It is the Mother of all Oppression and Violence; an Inlet to all Sin and Wickedness; and never goes alone, but is attended with a black train of horrid and abominable Vices; rendring Men subject to the dominion of the gross, inferior and spiteful Powers, and evil Demons, who incessantly prompt them on to commit all kinds of Outrages against God, Man, and Beasts.

From hence have all unlawful Sports and Games their rise; such as Cards, Dice, Billiards, Lotteries, Whimsie-boards, Stage-Plays, Drolls, Hunting, Hawking, Prize-playing, Bull-baiting, Bear-baiting, Cock-fighting, wanton and lascivious Dancing, Racing, &c. with a thousand other Vanities that Parents and Elder People, by their own Practice, teach their Children, whereof some are Rude, Rustick, Unmanly, and Unseemly; others Cruel, Bloody, and Oppressive; others Mean, Base, and Effeminate: but all Sinful and Detestable, and ought to be condemn'd to the darkest and deepest Pit of Hell. And all this, forsooth, must be excus'd with the ridiculous Name of Pastime: As if our Time, which is the greatest Blessing we have, were so intollerable a Burthen, that we must be beholden to the Devil's Invention to help it off our Hands: Surely we shall, one day, find, That all we had, was but little enough to do our Duty in.

Now, when I speak of Idleness, 'tis not to be understood of an utter insensible Stupidity of Soul and Body, a state of absolute Inactivity, or the doing nothing at all; but the doing of Evil, or that which Children ought not to do; which is the worst sort of Idleness: for, in the other sence, there is scarce any thing Idle in the whole Course of Nature. If Children be not exercised in some useful Art and Things tending to Vertue, they will be always doing the contrary. For in their First and Second Age, which is from their Birth to Seven Years of Age, and from thence to Fourteen, their Spirits are extraordinarily brisk and airy: Their Imaginations & Desires cannot stand still, but will be endeavouring to penetrate into the Knowledge of Things. Upon which account, good and wholsom Examples ought to be set before them: Their particular Tasks ought to be assigned them, that they may betimes learn to dress the Gardens of their Souls, and sortifie them against the over-spreading Weeds of Vice and Ignorance, and keep their Bodies clean from Diseases and Distempers. For Idleness and Ignorance are the most inhumane Tyrants in the World; and Mankind's greatest Enemies, which this present Age has brought into great Favour and Esteem: And because they are resolved to have their Children intirely under their Subjection, most Parents accustom 'em to 'em even from their Birth; and as soon as they beg • n to Speak, fill their Heads with a Rhapsody of idle Prattle, Nonsence and Lies; and so, as it were, erect a School in their own Houses for the Nurture of Ignorance and Vice, and take no Pains to inform and instruct them in the Rudiments of Vertue and true Knowledge.

It is a grand Mistake, not to begin to teach Children any thing of Value till they are Eight or Ten Years of Age: As if they ought to commence then, when they shou'd almost have done Learning. They are early and timely Plants that take surest root, and thrive amain, (as the Experience of all Mankind can testifie.) In India they teach their Children to Spin fine Callico's and Muslins at Three Years old: Nor cou'd they ever bring them to Perfection, did they begin later. Italy abounds with fine Painters; and Holland and England, with curious Spinners of Thread and Wool: In which Arts, all that have any Reputation, are very earlily instructed. Pray tell me, What Excellence can Age attain to, in Writing, Reading, Speaking Languages, Musick, Painting, &c. if there have not been first some youthful Instruction implanted in them? It is a certain Truth, That the sooner we begin, the surer and better Progress we are like to make.

It is no wonder then, that the Princes, and Great Men of this World, are so mightily given up to Wrath, Fierceness, and Fighting; when we consider, they are bred to it from their very Cradles. As soon as they can handle a Sword, they must have a small one provided; and when the Child shall in the least degree imitate any Warlike and Fierce Action, his Tutor and People about him praise him to the Skies; I'll warrant (say they) my little Master will be a General before he dies. Then, when he's able to Ride, a Horse must be bought, with Holsters and Pistols, and all other proper Furniture; so his little Lordship must be forthwith mounted. Now his Ears are open to nothing but War and Battles; he dreams of nothing but Fighting, Killing and Conquering; all the Discourse about him, is of nothing but Armies and Sieges, of Battalions and Squadrons, of Trenches, Bastions, Half-Moons, Parapets, and Counterscarps, with such impertinent Iargon, that the little Warrier fancies himself already in the Battle, just now a going to enter the Breach, and the Town's our own. By such Methods as these, they animate and excite the Spirit of the Child, and stir up the Seeds of Fierceness and Wrath in his Soul; which they ought, with the greatest Care imaginable, to suppress and mollifie. Thus all Children are taught, from their Infancy, the Trade of Killing; and by practising on Inferiour Creatures, arrive, by degrees, to the Perfection of Murther, in killing of Men. This makes so many rash Young Men leave an honest and profitable Trade, where they have all Things convenient and necessary, to run heedlessly in the Wars of Princes; blindly, though voluntarily, submitting themselves to almost intollerable Fatigues and Hardships, opening their Breasts to Guns and Swords; and yet, after all, if they offer to quit their Colours, they are sure to be Hang'd, having bound themselves Apprentice to the worst sort of Slavery in the World. And this also makes the Gentlemen leave their Wives and Children, and all the Delights and Enjoyments of their Estates, to travel into foreign Countries, and there fight like mad, and venture their Lives against those they never had any Quarrel with. Now, I say, if Men are not well fraighted with good store of this unlucky Commodity call'd Wrath, it wou'd be impossible for them to Act as they do, contrary to all Humanity, and True Vertue: but the Power of Education is very great, and captivates all Mankind in one degree or other.

Therefore, of whatever Spirit Fathers, Mothers, Tutors, &c. wou'd have their Children to be, let them take care to sow the Seeds thereof betimes in the Child's Soul. Wou'd you have your Child to Love and Fear God? You may easily do it, to what Degree you please, provided he does not hear nor see contrary Examples. Wou'd you have him Temperate in Meats and Drinks? Then accustom him to proper Quantities and agreeable Qualities in his Diet. Wou'd you have him Hardy, Strong and Healthy? Then use mean Foods, and give them in Order, and with constant Exercise proportionable to the Strength of the Child. Or, Wou'd you have him a Curious and Excellent Artist? Then keep him constant to the Practice of that Art, and where he may always see Examples of the same. The like is to be understood of all other Things.