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Whilst the Men of Quality here very often neglect giving their Children the common and necessary Learning, and too frequently entrust their Education with lazy, ignorant, and incogitant Tutors, not to mention the Supineness of Schoolmasters in general throughout England; the North-Britains labour in this Particular indefatigably, as they are very sensible that Learning is the greatest Honour of their Country, and the ancient Britains come so near the Scots, that amongst the common Persons, in some Parts of Wales, you may meet with a Ploughman that speaks tollerable Latin, and a Mason, like the famous Ben Johnson, with his Horace and a Trowel.

The want of a generous Education is an irretrieveable Misfortune, and the Negligence of an Inspector of the Literature of Youth ought to be unpardonable; how many Persons of Distinction have curs’d their aged Parents for not bestowing on them a liberal Education? And how many of the Commonalty have regretted the mispending of the precious Time of Youth? A Man arriv’d to Maturity has the Mortification of observing an Inferior in Circumstances superior in Literature, and wants the Satisfaction of giving a tollerable Reason for any Thing he says or does, or in any respect to judge of the Excellency of others; and, in my Opinion, a generous Education, with a bare Subsistence only, is to be preferr’d to the largest Patrimony, and a want of Learning.

Without Education it is impossible to Write or Read any Thing distinctly; without a frequent turning of the Dictionary, no Person can be compleat in the English Language, neither can he give Words their proper Accent and Pronunciation, or be any ways Master of Elocution; and a Man without Learning, though he appears tollerable in Conversation, (which I have known some Persons do by a constant enjoyment of good Company, and a strength of Memory) is like an Empirick, that takes Things upon trust: And whenever he comes to exercise the Pen, that the Subject is uncommon, and Study is requir’d, you’ll find him oftentimes not capable of writing one single Line of Senfe, and scarcely one Word of English. And, on the other Hand, I have known some Persons who could talk Latin very fluently, who have us’d Phrases and Sentences perpetually in that Language, in Conversation, vulgar and deficient in the Mother-Tongue, and who have written most egregious Nonsense; from whence it is evident, that Writing is the only Test of Literature.

I have a little deviated from my Subject, in pursuing the Rules and Advantages of Education, which I take to be of that universal good Tendency, that they are acceptable in any Performance whatsoever: I shall offer nothing farther, but conclude this Essay with the following Particulars; that besides the Qualifications already mention’d, it is as necessary for a fine Writer to be endued with Modesty as for a beautiful Lady; that good Sense is of equal Consequence to an Author, as a good Soil for the Culture of the most noble Plants; that a Person writing a great deal on various Subjects, should be as cautious in owning all his Performances, as in revealing the Secrets of his most intimate Friend; and in respect to those Gentlemen, who have made no scruple to prostitute their Names, the following Similie may be judg’d well adapted:

As Musick soft, by constant use is forc’d
Grows harsh, and cloys, becomes at length the worst,
The Harmony amidst Confusion lost:
So finest Pens, employ’d in Writing still
Lose Strength and Beauty as the Folio’s fill.

FINIS.