better than with what the Emperor Basilius in his excellent instruction exhorted his Son Leon to follow when he should come to the Empire Son neglect not the reading of ancient Histories for without pain you may find therein that which others have collected with muâ—â— labour you can learn what virtues made some to be honest men and for what vices others were accounted wicked In it you may observe all the differences of humane life and how many changes all things are subject to the inconstancy oâ— worldly affairs will appear to you and the notable falls of the greatest Empires of the world In short you may observe how bad actions ever are followed with some punishments and how good ones at one time or other are attended with rewards so that you must avoid the first for fear of falling into the hands of Divine Iustice and give up your self to these last to deserve the rewards which infallibly you shall receive Nothing can be added to these instructions which deserve to be written in letters of gold but I must say that Histories are to be read with some caution for most are censured for one thing or other there being nothing perfect in this world Cornelius Tacitus who thought amiss of Providence doth nevertheless flatter Vespasian with being a minister chosen by the gods to work miracles and give sight to a blind man and health to one who was sick in the City of Alexandria In which two things as one saith well he contradicts himself to become a flatterer this makes Tertullian call him a forger of lies Others do shew themselves partial thus by reason of jealousie between Plato and Xenophon this last speaks ill of Menon because he was Plato's good friend So because Herodotus had been ill used by the Corinthians in his Writings contrary to truth makes them run away in the Battel of Salamina so he omitted some things tending to the commendation of that people which might have been an ornament to his History Amongst the rest the solemn Prayer of the Corinthian Women to Venus to the end she would enflame their Husbands hearts to the Battel against the Persians And because Salustius was an enemy to Cicero he passes by the honour done to him after the suppression of Catalina's Conspiracy This vice Thucidides is cleared from by Marcellus in the History of his Life The same Herodotus and others have written some fabulous and false things not out of any desire they had so to do but for want of a true information Indeed to make credible a History it were to be wished that he who writes it had been present to the actions he mentioneth or had heard them from those who were present and yet he must not indifferently make use of every ones notes but chiefly of those who being concerned are able to declare the causes councels and ends aimed at which qualification makes me esteem Thucidides in the Athenian Wars And to speak the truth Ministers of State are the fittest men to write Histories or at least to furnish matter for it for they are acquainted with the true estate of affairs the grounds deliberations secret and underhand Treaties and with the will and interests of their Princes but either they have no time to do 't or else dare not thinking it not fit nor safe for them Lastly most are partial for their Nation or themselves and then say nothing to the advantage of their enemies but what is not possible for them to conceal 'T is as when the Children of Israel had no Cutlers amongst them they were forced to go to the Philistines to whet their Knives and Swords who were sure never to set them the right edge so either they will be silent of the brave Exploits of the enemies of their Nations or derogate very much from them to lessen their own losses and make greater their victories Upon this reason I judge of Annibals transcendent merit and warlike capacity For if Livius a Roman could not avoid to speak well of so dangerous an enemy of his Country what had it been if we could have seen his History written by a Carthaginian As for Divinity for certain the more one knows of it the better it will be yet because every one's genius and calling doth not require to be a Doctor of it I must shew how much is necessary for every one to know First it is required all should be instructed in the Principles of Religion common to all Nations namely that there is a God who is the first cause of all things and hath his being from from himself and so through the Articles of Christian Reformed Religion as they are set down in our Confession of Faith and Catechisms whether they be the Churches or of particular men as Ball 's Perkins's which is one of the plainest clearest easiest yet as much methodical as any and of Primate Vshers which is an excellent one but for Christians of a higher form the Assemblies Catechism is full intelligible and excellent Then they must be versed in Scriptures because their Faith is to be built upon 't wherefore they should have at hand one or two Texts at least to ground upon every Article of their Belief In a word I would have every young man well principled and so well grounded in his Religion that according to the Precept of Saint Peter they may be ready to give an account of their Faith to every one that asks it not only declaring what it is that they believe but also giving their reasons and proofs for it and answering objections which others can make against it for 't is not enough to assert but also one must defend his Religion for fear when he goeth abroad he should be moved and shaken from it Having affirmed that we ought to be versed in Scriptures because our Faith is grounded thereupon and it being known how in some places they contain things difficult and above any ordinary capacity I think it necessary to enlarge more upâ—n this the more because the simple and ignorant ought as well to know what they believe as the greatest Scholar every one being to answer for himself and to be justified by his own Faith waving here the great question we have with the Roman Church concerning reading of Scriptures by common people which is not only lawful but also necessary for them David bearing this testimony that it makes wise the simple gives knowledge to the ignorant opens the eyes of the blind and many things more to this purpose I say Scriptures contain things necessary to be known first as to the substance that there is one God the maker of the world and of all things therein and that he is the preserver thereof all what he saith we must believe to be true and in him we ought to trust and put our confidence although there be but one God in nature yet there are three Persons Father Son and Holy Ghost co-essential in nature co-eternal
in time and co-equal or together equal in power these persons are distinguished not divided amongst them is an order without confusion the nature is spiritual and consequently immaterial and uncorruptible simple without any composition whether metaphysical of substance and accident physical of matter and form or moral of act and power It is infinite eternal unchangeable and independent Now this God is known to us in his Nature Attributes whether incommunicable such as we named just now or communicable as are his Justice Goodness Mercy and Wisdom whereof he is pleased to impart some drops to his creatures and in his works which his word doth inform us of either explicitly or by clear and necessary consequence Now therefore that there is a God in whom we live move and have our being wâ—o is a rewarder of all men according to their deeds who having made the world formed man after his image and that man through his disobedience infidelity and pride fell from that estate of innocency and integrity wherein he was created which not only brought guilt upon him and all mankind but also punishment and misery consisting in death of afflictions natural spiritual and eternal insomuch that thereby we are all fallen into temporal and become guilty of everlasting pains and damnation out of which we cannot be delivered by any strength wisdom or capacity of ours thâ—refore God out of his wonderful and infinite mercy promised a Saviour from time to time renewed the promises sealed and confirmed them by several types figures who would come in the fulness of times to satisfie his Justice appease his Wrath make a full expiation for our sins and reconcile us to God This Saviour was to represent our person put himself in our place and suffer the pains and torments we had deserved Because humane nature had offended he was to be a man otherwise it had not consisted with the justice of God to punish that nature which had not sinned and as farther it was necessary he should be a man to die so he was to be a God to conquer and overcome death In three words the substance of it is that there is one God and that through the fall of Adam we had been all damned if God had not given us a Saviour The knowledge of these things is necessary to salvation and except we believe it we cannot be saved now all this is clearly and intelligiby expressed in Scripture so that any ordinary capacity may easily be brought to understand it and this we call necessary to be known as to the substance Under the Old Testament to know and believe this was sufficient to salvation for their Faith was extended upon a Messias to come and not upon one already come so that till the time of the Declaration who this Saviour was the object of their Faith was an Individuum Vagum and they were in the dark who that particular person should be Wherefore Iohn the Baptist confesses his ignorance in this point when he saith As for me I knew him not but he that sent me to baptize with water said c. Hence it is that he sent two of his Disciples to ask him Art thou he that should come or do we look for another He knew him by the Spirit 's descending and remaining upon him This was the characteristical note But now there is a second thing necessary to salvation to be known by all who lived since the coming in the flesh of our Saviour and under the Gospel and this is necessary as to the declaration namely that the Saviour promised prophesied of and typified is that particular person Jesus Christ both God and man Son of the Virgin Mary born in Bethlehem in the days of Herod and when by the command of Caesar Augustus the world was to be taxed In a word the same that was Conceived by the Holy Ghost born of the Virgin Mary suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified dead and buried and who did and suffered all things mentioned in the Gospel and in few words contained in the Apostolical Creed This same we ought to believe to be our only Saviour and Redeemer whom we ought to rely upon and put our trust in apply him to us by Faith and except we know and believe this there is no hope of salvation for us as Scripture doth fully and clearly declare so that this Principle may be infused into the meanest capacity Si Christum discis nihil est si caetera nescis Si Christum nescis nihil est si caetera discis But in the third place there are some things contained in Scriptures concerning which the Spirit of God hath not been pleased clearly to reveal his mind to us As revealed things belong to men so secret things belong to God which we must not pry into nor presume beyond what is written Prophecies are certainly dark till they become a History for to understand them before they are fulfilled one must be endued with a Prophetical Spirit Besides Prophecies there are other Points attended with many difficulties which Doctors themselves labour and study very hard to understand Such are the ways and manners of things That things are is a matter of fact and after God hath said in his word they are so it admits of no difficulty out of this Principle That God is the God of Truth but the manner of things is that which breeds scruples the word being either silent or dark about it As for instance that there is one God in Nature and three Persons Scripture doth clearly set it forth in several places and if this truth be obscure in one Text some other place of Scripture will clear it it being proper to Scripture to explain it self by it self yet how this Unity and Trinity can consist together though learned men be able to apprehend yet mean persons and low capacities are not capable of it so is the mystery of Incarnation how the second Person who hath Divine Nature can assume Humane Nature and yet the Father and Holy Ghost who have both Divine Nature should not be Incarnated and again how both Natures can be united in one Person and the idiomes and proprieties of every Nature should not be united but every Nature should retain her own attributes without mixture or confusion yet this we know to be true but cannot dive into the manner how this is done There are also other things as the day when the great judgment shall be and where it is to be and what places Heaven and Hell shall be in which arise from vanity and unnecessary Curiosity Other questions there are which men ought not to dispute too much about because they are somewhat problematical and good and learned men do differ in their opinion concerning them as may be this Whether there will be degrees of Glory and whether this world shall be changed as to the substance or only in the accidents all which
parit in the delivery whereof one ought to be very cautious specially when any ways it reflects upon great men thus Il Ferrante Palavicini suffered for his Divortio celeste c. and witty Boccalini at Venice was beaten to death with bags full of sand for his Pietra del Paragone and some things in his Raguagli di Parnasso and a poor Italian Poet was made suffer the Strapata for this general expression of his Biasimare un principe é pericolo é lodarlo bugia To blame a Prince is dangerous but to commend him is a lie Subjects of this nature ought not to be handled at all or at least very sparingly The mark of Majesty which God hath printed upon the forehead of Princes ought to be respected by all men but the faults of particular men may be more freely censured upon occasion specially when it is for the publick good For my part I look upon this world as a stage and I value men only according as they act their part in it He who is but a Countreyman and lives well as such seems to me more commendable than he who is a Gentleman born and doth not the actions of a Gentleman so that esteeming every one for what he is and not for what he hath I equally value those who have the greatest Charges and Dignities and those who carry burthens upon their backs except Vertue makes a difference between them Indeed Birth Places and Authority in whatsoever Subject they be found ought to be respected but Vertue alone makes men to be esteemed I am neither so ignorant nor so inconsiderate as not to think that there are those who are as illustrious for their Merits as for their Birth and Fortune and that this age is not so barbarous but that some in it have good Inclinations and do good Actions but that number is small and the multitude is usually affected to evil This consideration hath put me upon this matter for as my genius cannot long allow me to be idle so I have chosen a subject which being satisfactory to me might prove useful and beneficial to others What few things I have learned in my Travels I think my self upon serious consideration obliged to impart to others who may thence receive some small instructions and directions if they have a mind to see the world though the chief thing I propound herein to my self is to shew the necessity benefit and excellency of a good Breeding becoming none so much as a Gentleman who by his Vertue and Merit more than by his Extraction should be raised above the Commonalty for Vertue first of all made a difference between man and man there being an equality between all the Children of Adam as to Birth and Nature and certainly when the Nobility and Gentry want Merits to Command and Abilities to Govern they must change place with the lower sort of People whom Parts and Virtue though not without favour will raise to the greatest Charges and Dignities in the Land OF THE EDUCATION OF YOUTH At Home Of Breeding Children at Home TO have Youth well brought up is so necessary to Humane Society that all Nations ought to make it one of their chief cares If Egyptians Caldeans Persians Grecians Romans and other Heathens were so studious of it how much more are Christians who have greater lights than they had bound to mind it For that which to others was a natural and politick duty is enforced upon us by the Gospel which the more men do conform to the better they understand their duty which not only themselves will practise but also â—uggest to those who have any dependence upon them and so infuse into them Vertue and Sciences The better a Christian is the more humble civil and gentle he will be and the greater care he will take to teach those who are related to him to be so too This more nearly concerns Parents who have a tie to instruct their Children beyond any other Relation whatsoever 'T is not enough to have brought them into the world except they instruct them to live well therein nor to have given them being unless they direct them how to attain to a well-being Nature alone is no great matter for Beasts do not want a sensitive principle and even amongst them there are those which are not satisfied to have brought forth their young ones but they tend and take care of them till they are able to shift for themselves Birds of prey will lead them to it and Eagles which use to be about Rocks and Mountains and to fly very high expose their young ones to the beams of the Sun to the end they may abide it when it shineth clear and hot upon them Cats lead theirs to catch Mice Dogs their Whelps to hunt and those creatures which are apt to be destroyed with snares will often teach their little ones how to avoid them This natural instinct should not have more power on Beasts than reason in men How much greater is the obligation which Parents lay upon their Children when to being they add breeding when not only they make them men but also teach them how to be knowing and vertuous men As to the first nature makes us all alike it produces us all with body and soul flesh and blood the essential parts of humanity but Education makes a difference and sets a mark of distinction wherefore 't is well called a second nature For want of this a poor Country-man's Son will be fit only to handle a Plough and follow vile and mechanical employments though perhaps he has within him dispositions to learn great things and to receive good impressions if they were given him Contrariwise a great man's Son's dulness and weakness are often overcome by a constant care taken of his Education whereby his bad natural qualities are mended his imperfections and defects corrected and what seeds of good dispositions he hath in him are improved whereas if he had been neglected he had perhaps been unfit for any good thing How often hath Breeding proved a better and a surer estate and inheritance than Lands Riches and Honours all these things are subject to losses chances and revolutions but Breeding is an unestimable treasure unseparable from him who hath it A man may be fooled out of his Estate but not out of his Wit providence hath put such a difference between the means and fortunes of men to leave a field to Virtue which being exercised may attain rewards which men of worth do often obtain and though sometimes they miss them yet they have in themselves the satisfaction to deserve them And certainly 't is more honourable not to have yet deserve than to have and not deserve Now when a man wants Birth and Means Education will supply them for it reforms what is amiss in nature and perfects what good we have it helps a man to get what he hath not and to preserve what he hath so that at one time or other
never intended to exclude the knowledge they must have of their weaknesses and imperfections which I could desire them to be humbled under yet Instructions about this should not be given by way of perpetual elegy and constant lamentations as the way of some is to talk of nothing but of the miseries of times and of Humane Nature Heraclitus like in this It is not enough to speak so much of the Wound and nothing of the Cure to lay open the Distemper and yet neither shew nor apply any Remedy Young men must necessarily know what is amiss in their Nature and Persons but withal they must be acquainted with what they are and ought to do that they may mend and reform Although hitherto I have distinctly spoken of Learning and Morality wherein Youth ought to be instructed I do not mean they should be taught at several times and ages for these things may very well be contemporary only there are degrees of both which require a greater maturity of years than others which I must refer to the prudence of the Teacher to use according to the capacity of the young man It is certain that practice of of Vertue is the end of Science as Science is a perfect disposition to Vertue so that not only they consist together but also are a mutual help one to another Parents who have several other things to mind either publick or private according to their station do chuse and appoint those who are to make this their whole business yet both these things Learning and Morality are of so vast an extent that men of means and quality think it a sufficient work for two whereof one called Preceptor takes care only to instruct them in Arts and Sciences and the other under the name of Governor hath the oversight of their actions but this must be no hinderance to either to teach or advise according as there is occasion for both these parts were performed by those famous men who had care of Princes whom they taught not only Scholarship but also Maxims of State Aristotle was such an one to Alexander the Great who amidst his Victories by Letters asked his advice about several emergencies Polybius not only instructed Scipio the African in his younger years but also followed him in his Expeditions and had considerable Employments in his Armies Titus Livius had the care of Tiberius's Education so had Seneca of Nero's This last according to the opinion of some having discovered in his Disciple a great inclination to cruelty compiled his Book of Clemency De Clementia thereby if possible to alter his temper which cruel inclination Nero being come to riper years dissembled for a time Indeed often men make a sure judgment of Children and Youth in their tender years of what they are like to prove their nature being then not capable of dissembling but appearing nakedly such as it will be Thus Alexander gave signs of his future greatness in the questions he made to Embassadors sent to his Father and of his ambition when he wept for his Fathers Victories who as he complained left nothing for him to conquer yet I know every thing done or said by persons of that quality are lookt upon with magnifying and multiplying-Glasses Cato also at his going out of infancy shewed how one day he would be zealous of the liberty of the Republick one day seing in Sylla's House the Heads of some who by his command had been put to death asked Why is not this Tyrant made away and being told of the danger there was in such an undertaking by reason of the great care he took of his safety He resolved to carry a Dagger under his cloaths and stab him at the first opportunity This design his Governor had very much ado to dissuade him from These are strong signs of the passion which is like to be predominant in young men when they come to riper years though others who know how important it is to understand the genius of Children to make instructions profitable to them go up higher and do consult the nature of Parents concluding with Horace Nec imbecillem generant aquilae Columbam as if with the Blood of the Father all fatherly good parts and qualities were transmitted into the veins of the Son which rule though sometimes it proves true yet is not certain and admits of exceptions The Soul is not produced by the Father and though her faculties do often follow the temper of the body yet wit and goodness are not begotten otherwise this proverb were not true which hath been so often confirmed by experience Filii heroum noxae therefore I must say that though it be much to be well born yet it is much more to be well brought up Nature is potent and strong but Institution and Breeding go beyond For as I said before Infancy is tractable to any habit and as it is ignorant of what are Vertue and Vice so it â—s as susceptible of one as of the other Indeed it seems strange to an ordinary eye that a Father full of Courage and Generosity should beget a base and a cowardly Son neither is it very probable but that a Son who is part of his Father should have something of his qualities for some particular Vices or Vertues are running in the Blood of some Families as of Nations Sensitive creatures do communicate their Nature and transmit their essential Qualities to that which they beget A Lion by Nature is courageous a Wolf ravenous c. And some have been of opinion that it should be so with men for Suetonius relates in the life of Nero that his Father a very wicked man said that Nothing could be born of him and Agrippina which were not detestable and hurtful to the Publick But if this were always true why shall not the children of one Father and Mother be all of one and the same Nature which yet proves so much to the contrary Once it was a question concerning that famous Aleibiades which were greater in him his vices or his Vertues a thing never so disputable about any one as about him for he had excellent good qualities also strong and dangerous Vices so ballanced the one by the other that no body could tell whether he would at last prove to be the best or worst of men Two things which he boasted of were his extraordinary Beauty and his illustrious Extraction But Socrates the first Author as far as we can find of the Precepts of Morality upon which account men said of him that Having found Philosophy travelling through Heavens and Elements he brought it to dwell in Houses and Cities made him understand one day that Quality Riches and Honours without Honesty could only make him able the more to do wrong and injury to others and he so proved to him that though he was of a noble extraction except he was qualified with Vertue and Merit he was no better than a Porter that Alcibiades shed tears and
arrive to it are much different and the means often contrary to the end I had reason to say elsewhere that Breeding is a second nature for Children will may be as long as they live retain that alteration which perhaps at that time was made in their temper Look on a Country-man's or an ordinary man's Son he doth generally prove strong and fit for hardship and though it be necessary to proportionate the hardship to the Child's strength 't is no way requisite to stand so much upon the quality of the Parents for besides what I already observed that this is good for their health I believe great and little ones rich and poor noble and commoners may at one time or other happen to be put to shifts so that from the Prince to the lowest Subject it is uncertain what one shall happen to be brought to 't is well to be fitted to wrestle against what difficulties we shall meet withal Besides that the greatest Kings in the world when they are put upon action are glad of a body able to endure hardship the greatest Conquerors do share in it not only the common Souldiers but also Officers undergo it What a fine thing was it for Pompeius to have to be his Souldiers those young Romans who for fear of being cut in the face whereby it had been spoiled turned their backs in the day of battel In a word as there is none but one time or other of his life may happen to be put upon action 't is prudently done of Parents to fit them for it from their youth up and I am sure that to be able to endure hardship is a qualification without which one can do nothing or very little in martâ—al affairs God who had appointed David to many troubles and hardships disposed him to it through his former manner of life when he kept his Father's sheep in the field exposed to the heat of the Sun Wind Rain and other injuries of Weather and may be with a crust of dry bread in his pocket I do not deny how decent it is that Children of men of quality should be brought up in a handsomer way than those of common people but I speak against the fondness which some have for them which is so far from deserving to be called care that I more properly name it want of care Let the inconveniences of this manner of Breeding be observed These young Gentlemen when â—hey come somewhat to know themselves they will eat no course meat only the most delicate they can find for mony They scorn to wear cloaths except they be very rich they will think it is below them to walk but if they go out it must be in a Coach they will not so much as take the pains to stick a pin about them and if there be no servant to give them a glass of Wine they will rather be choakt than take it themselves Sometimes the weather is not good for them to walk out therefore they will sit at home and Dice or Card away many a pound or in a Tavern and drink away their health till the Gout or Gravel comes upon them or a Pleurisie an Apoplexy or some other sudden Disease carries them to their Grave After this way of breeding certainly we must not look for many manly spirits and if there be any 't is their good temper and strong constitution which keep them from being spoiled by this and as hâ—reby the name effeminate given to these spirits hath been borrowed from women so some manly spirits have passed into the bodies of women for there are some of these whose heroick minds will shame the low and pusillanimous hearts of those Sint procul à nobis Iuvenes ut foemina compti Seeing I am now upon this subject it will not be amiss to speak of two contrary ways of Breeding one effeminate used by a people called Sybarites the other manly by the Lacedemonians the former studied nothing but how to soften and render effeminate their spirits and bodies but the last as much as in them lay endeavoured to frame their bodies to a strength necessary for war and to infuse a true principle of valour into their soul. The Sybarites brought up their Children in the bosom of a lasie and idle voluptuousness wherein they suckt vices as it were from the breast and before they could know them And as a stomach weakened through excesses can bear no solid meat but that only which is very light so their soul had therein contracted such a nausea and distast that it could no ways savour and rellish the food of vertue Insomuch that it wanted strength not only to digest but also to keep it for never so short a time The Lacedemonians nourished their children with sobriety and without delicacy they used them to injuries of weather they made them fight and wrestle one against another commending some for their strength others for their dexterity and constancy they taught them to be respectful to old age and often told them of the brave exploits and feats of their Ancestors to encourage them to vertue they ordered them to be short but sententious in their discourses and constantly to mind generous actions But what manner of men must they have been who for several years were kept as soft and warm as if they had been in their Mothers womb who would not so much as suffer workmen in their Town for fear their sleep had been interrupted with the noise they made whose Cooks were the first Preceptors they gave their Children Parents being careful how to refine their taste more than their wit who made in bed most of their Exercises and their most serious Discourses at Table inviting people to their Feasts a whole year before that they might have time to make extraordinary provisions and those who were invited geeat preparations to come to it looking for excesses in every thing Now I would fain know what good can be expected from such a Breeding On the contrary the Lacedemonians who were brought up amidst noble and generous examples and were as good as framed by the hands of vertue could produce none but great and extraordinary actions worthy of an immortal praise and indeed the last of them were the first amongst other Nations But at last what was the end of these two people it is well known how as long as lasted the Discipline by Lycurgus setled in Sparta thence came forth so many valiant men that all their enemies were afraid of them and durst not fight with an Army wherein were but few of them when three hundred thousand Sybarites were overthrown by the Crotonians with a handful of men and all their Towns taken within less than two months The antient Inhabitants of Crete now Candia used to hang up their Sons breakfast which if they had a mind to get they were to fetch down with Arrows hence it is that they were so good marks-men The same is said of those of the
the contrary in vertue or vice for vertue and vice do not consist in any single act but in the habit formed of many wherefore Cyrillus Alexandrinus against Iulian the Apostate saith If nature had filled our souls with vertue vice could not have been introduced into them so that we see she only made us susceptible thereof as we are also of vice because that which is disposed to receive one thing is also capable to receive the contrary of it Vertue is a hidden treasure which we must take pains to find out by the help of Precepts which by degrees are contracted into an habit and that 's properly what we call Art and Science This was the opinion of the first Law-givers who to that end instituted several Disciplines for Youth and gave them rules sutable to the government which they would use them to for although nature hath not given us vertue she hath not denied us means to attain to 't she hath even given us some seeds and dispositions to it having put in us affections whereby upon occasion it doth receive some increase for saith the Pythagorician Hyppodamus Through desire and fear one grow a notable proficient in virtues Another great help to Education of Children would be the suppression of all vicious and corrupt places or any that engage Youth to debanchedness as may be publick Gaming places many Taverns of which the number is exceeding which are all enticements to young men to fall into depravation and an idle course of life I would not except Plays when prophane lascivious blasphemous or other vicious parts are acted upon the Stage for else representing of Vertue in her lively colours may be a motive to love and follow it So when Vice appears in his own shape it will make it odious to us therefore much is depending upon the subject they act to shew how ridiculous in all his waâ—s is a covetous man will instruct us of the vileness and sordidness of that vice and this was the first use of Comedies introduced amongst the Romans in the days of grave and wise men who had the government of the Republick continued in Augustus's days which multiplied to an excess and degenerated under the Reign of Vicious Emperors for instead that first they were only instructive they turned only to delight spectators and to flatter great men in their Vices whereby the true end thereof was perverted Intrigues of State were also represented therein I can see NeroÌ„ either dissembling his natural inclination or over-awed by his Mother or else persuaded by the wise and good advices of Seneca and Burrhus live and reign vertuously for the space of five years then flie out and break loose against those Counsellors because they dissuaded him from violence and evil actions To see the advice of those faithful and vertuous men slighted and the suggestions of a base and infamous Narcissus or other flatterers be received and on the other side Agrippina accusing Seneca and Burrhus to be the authors of what evil counsels her Son took against her Authority Reason and Justice doth not this shew the condition of few honest men amongst the wicked they give the good counsels which are not followed and yet suffer the blame of evil ones which they ever spoke against This if any is the good which can be learned from Plays but on the other side the life of Actors and Actrices their gestures actions carriage and whatsoever else is in them joyned to the bad inclinations of the generality of spectators will quite hinder any good effect and destroy what good dispositions might happen to be in them besides that History will instruct us of all these passages which yet being acted will make a deeper impression upon the faculties and passions of the soul both to instruct and to delight it In one word a good use may be made of Plays though generally none but a bad one be made of them But setting Plays aside I shall assert the necessity of suppressing vicious things and places which allure Youth to evil and debauchedness Magistrates being much concerned in it vertuous Subjects will submit to Law and obey Authority when vicious men will cause troubles and disturbances This I press the more by reason of the depravation which is in Youth in every man and in the whole man and that not only original and inherent to their nature but also contracted by a loose breeding worse examples debauched company and other accidents Young men generally are not sound within but there is a hidden and inward enemy apt to betray the whole man upon occasion and to let in any outward foe in them matter is very combustible and ready to take fire with the least sparkle from without Now I return to the Tutors part which is ever to keep Children doing one thing or other There are three sorts of life one speculative and the other active one for learning the other for practise let them be kept to which they please or rather both but avoid the otiosam or idle life standing water doth gather mud and corruption Children specially they who are quick and lively when they have no good to do they will rather do evil than be idle It is a considerable saying of an ancient Doctor that the whole life of man passeth Vel nihil agendo aut male agendo vel aliud agendo either in doing nothing or doing evil or else doing that which concerns us not playing the part of busie-bodies therefore there must be variety of things to put them upon indeed some there are which Youth must learn to do by the by others they ought to apply themselves seriously to for they must not so much mind their Book as to neglect conversation when they begin to be capable of it neither must they be so taken with speculation as to omit action altogether and wholly to deprive themselves of every innocent and lawful pleasure and recreation which God Nature Reason Health Decency and such like do permit or require Seek ye first saith Scripture the Kingdom of God and the righteousness thereof This first implies a priority of which there is one of order for an order is required in every thing Such a priority of order there is in the persons of the most Holy and Blessed Trinity another priority there is of nature but not of time such is the Sun before his light for the cause must be in nature before the effect yet at the same time the Sun was he gave light but another priority there is in time and not in nature so in time a Father is before his Son for he was born many years before him yet he is not so in nature because he cannot be a Father till he hath a Child these two being relative which as Schoolmen say Se mutuo ponunt tollunt put one and you put both take away one and you take away both In short the Tutor is to keep his Gentleman in exercise to
about the most potent Families whether noble or not of their Charges Estates and Interest in the place then ask by what Trade or other means the Town or City doth chiefly subsist and what are the customs and temper of the Inhabitants afterwards of the policy and of the way and form of Government not forgetting to know how far doth reach the power and authority of the Clergy what are the Priviledges of the City and Citizens what difference is amongst them and what are the Prerogatives of the Nobility and Gentry and in case the Landlord or he whom he hath given you be not able to satisfie you in these points desire him to direct you to some body capable to do it But this is when the Governor is a stranger to the place for else he must himself acquaint his Gentleman with all these things And here is seen the advantage of one who knows them already Having thus viewed the Town and Castle if there be any and in the general being informed of the policy and constitution thereof as you come back to your Lodging you may meditate and discourse upon these things yet very discreetly with those you think capable of it to get if possible a more exact and particular information of every thing After all this when you are gone into your Chamber you must take pains orderly to set down in writing in your Diary Book what you heard and learned and if you are many or only two it will be well for every one to have his own Book afterwards to compare notes and know who hath been more exact and what is most curious therein which upon occasion you may discourse about and find out the motives causes and authors of things Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas Further it will be well to have before you the Maps of every Province and if possible of the Towns you are in to know the right situation thereof which also may be done by getting upon some Steeple or high place and learn their Frontiers and Neighbours It must not be neglected or forgotten to write down the Histories merry Tales notable Sentences witty Replies the good words and every fine expression which every day you happen to hear in company thereby to profit and make use of upon occasion after all this you may receive the visits of those whom you were commended to or return to take your leave of them at which time you may be better able and upon surer grounds to discourse with them upon every thing you have seen and if possible get a clearer information of and in case in the same City or Town lived any person of eminent quality in a great state keeping a kind of a Court or other great Officers and men eminent for learning or other parts or according to the nature of the place if there be any Princes though Strangers or Embassadors Residents c. you may enquire whether they like to receive such visits as yours may be you may desire those you are commended to to procure you the honor of kissing their hands usually persons of high quality love to be courted and take this as a civility And because it would not be well to go to them and be mute or to speak non-sense you may make to them a short civil and respectful complement declaring your Nation how you are English Gentlemen who have undertaken to Travel with a desire to fit your selves to serve your King and Countrey and all their Frirnds and Allies this if they be publick Ministers of Princes friends to the Crown of England and that you were loth to go by without kissing their hands and tendering your humble services to them when by the means of these visits you are grown better acquainted one may get a further information of the constitution of the place or Province where you are of the nature of the Inhabitants and of the state and inclination of the Neighbours yet all this must be done with much respect discreetness prudence and modesty for fear of being accounted pedants silly and ignorant or giddy and rash which would cause slightings and contempt And in case there be occasion given to discourse upon the manners nature or customs of both or either Nation viz. the Travellers and his whom he is with or of the Kings Princes great men even of particular persons the Traveller must carefully take heed not to let fall any word whereat any one might justly be offended and perhaps resent it bewaring to avoid nothing more than to slander or speak ill or rashly or presumptuously judge of others which are the two dangerous rocks in conversation contrariwise they must keep within general tearms give the best interpretation to things and no ways shew themselves partial bold or passionate but if others speak or judge too freely of things or persons they ought to hear them with indifferency and seem to admire at rather than approve of what they say and not answer to 't as if they were ignorant of the matter but of this more hereafter Only I will add two things one is that the Governor who upon all occasions is to give advice to his charge must well know his quality and judiciously understand what belongeth to it for if he be of the highest or lower quality he ought to carry himself with him accordingly with more or less formality at least before Strangers for else freedom is wholly necessary and he ought to advise him to carry himself towards others according to his and their qualities The other thing I add is this we see how Travellers must not make post haste when they go through places but ought to take time to rest and be informed of things whereby the Journey will be more pleasant and profitable nay one must take horse sometimes and go out of his way to see what deserves it Being then come to a place of settlement the mind and endeavours of the Gentleman and of his Governor must wholly tend to be improved yet more or less according to every ones occasions for they who are Scholars and Travellers to get either a livelihood or a preferment are most concerned to improve themselves but their settlement must begin with the set rules of Piety which from the first day of their setting forth they ought daily to have practised Every morning and evening one ought to fall upon his knees and devoutly to call upon God acknowledging his glory and mercies his own unworthiness original and actual sinfulness whether out of ignorance or against the testimony of his conscience the lights of Nature and of Grace beseeching God for Jesus Christ's sake to look on him with an eye of pity and compassion to be reconciled unto him and to apply to him all the merits and sufferings whereby his Son hath appeased his wrath satisfied his justice and made a full expiation for sins whereof the filth may be washed clean in his precious Blood and the guilt so