it; it is the fhortest and nearest way to our End, carryIing us thither in a freight line, and will hold out and laft longeft. The Arts of Deceit and Cunning do con⚫tinually grow weaker and less effectual and fervicable to them that ufe them; whereas Integrity gains Strength by use, and the more and longer any Man pratifeth it, the greater Service it does him, by confirming his Reputation, and encouraging those with whom he hath to do, to repofe the greateft Truft and Confidence in him, which is an unfpeakable Advantage in the Business and Affairs of Life.

TRUTH is always confiftent with it self, and needs ⚫ nothing to help it out; it is always near at hand, and fits upon our Lips, and is ready to drop out before we are aware; whereas a Lye is troublefom, and fets a Man's • Invention upon the rack, and one Trick needs a great many more to make it good. It is building upon a • falfe Foundation, which continually ftands in need of Props to fhoar it up, and proves at laft more chargeable, than to have raised a fubftantial Building at firft upon a ⚫ true and folid Foundation; for Sincerity is firm and fubftantial, and there is nothing hollow and unfound in it, and because it is plain and open, fears no Difcovery: ⚫ of which the crafty Man is always in danger, and when <he thinks he walks in the dark, all his Pretences are fo • tranfparent, that he that runs may read them; he is the laft Man that finds himself to be found out, and whilst he takes it for granted that he makes Fools of others, he renders himself ridiculous.

AND to all this, that Sincerity is the moft compendious Wisdom, and an excellent Inftrument for the fpeedy difpatch of Bufinefs; it creates Confidence in thofe we have to deal with, faves the Labour of many Enquiries, and brings things to an iffue in few words: It is like travelling in a plain beaten Road, which commonly brings a Man fooner to his Journey's End than By-ways, in which • Men often lofe themfelves. In a word, whatsoever Convenience may be thought to be in Falfhood and Diffimulation, it is foon over; but the Inconvenience of it is perpetual, because it brings a Man under an everlasting

: Jealoufie

Jealoufie and Sufpicion, fo that he is not believed when ⚫ he speaks truth, nor trufted when perhaps he means honeftly. When a Man hath once forfeited the Reputation of his Integrity, he is fet faft, and nothing will then ⚫ ferve his turn, neither Truth nor Falfhood.

AND I have often thought, that God hath in his great Wisdom hid from Men of falfe and dishonest Minds the wonderful Advantages of Truth and Integrity to the Profperity even of our worldly Affairs; thefe Men are ⚫ fo blinded by their Covetoufnefs and Ambition, that they cannot look beyond a prefent Advantage, nor forbear ⚫ to feize upon it, tho' by ways ever fo indirect; they cannot fee fo far as to the remote Confequences of a fted'dy Integrity, and the vaft Benefit and Advantages which it will bring a Man at laft. Were but this fort of Men wife and clear-fighted enough to difcern this, they would be honeft out of very Knavery, not out of any Love to Honesty and Virtue, but with a crafty Defign to promote and advance more effectually their own Interests; and therefore the Juftice of the Divine Providence hath hid this trueft Point of Wisdom from their Eyes, that 'bad Men might not be upon equal Terms with the Juft and Upright, and ferve their own wicked Designs by honest and lawful Means.

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INDEED, if a Man were only to deal in the World for a day, and fhould never have occafion to converse more with Mankind, never more need their good Opinion or good Word, it were then no great Matter (fpeaking as to the Concernments of this World) if a Man fpent his Reputation all at once, and ventured it at one throw: But if he be to continue in the World, and 'would have the Advantage of Conversation whilft he is in it, let him make use of Truth and Sincerity in all his Words and Actions; for nothing but this will last and hold out to the end: all other Arts will fail, but Truth ⚫ and Integrity will carry a Man through, and bear him out to the laft.

T

Tuesday

N° 353. Tuesday, April 15.

In tenui labor

Virg.

T

HE Gentleman who obliges the World in general, and me in particular, with his Thoughts upon Education, has just sent me the following Letter.

SIR,

I

Take the liberty to fend you a fourth Letter upon the Education of Youth: In my laft I gave you my Thought about fome particular Tasks which I conceiv'd it might not be amifs to mix with their ufual Exercifes, in order to give them an early Seafoning of Virtue; I fhall in this propofe f me others, which I fancy might contribute to give them a right turn for the • World, and enable them to make their way in it.

·

THE Defign of Learning is, as I take it, either to ⚫ render a Man an agreeable Companion to himself, and teach him to fupport Solitude with Pleafure; or, if he is not born to an Effate, to fupply that Defect, and furnifh him with the Means of acquiring one. A Perfon who applies him felf to Learning with the firft of thefe Views, may be faid to ftudy for Ornament, as be who propofes to himself the fecond, properly ftudies for Ufe. The one does it to raise himself a Fortune, the other to fet off that which he is already poffeffed of. But as far the greater part of Mankind are included in the latter Clafs, I fhall only propofe fome Methods at prefent for the Service of fuch who expect to advance themselves in the World by their Learning: In order to which, I fhall premife, that many more Estates have been acquir'd by little Accomplishments than by extraordinary ones; thofe Qualities which make the greatest Figure in the Eye

! of

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of the World, not being always the most useful in themfelves, or the most advantageous to their Owners.

THE Pofts which require Men of fhining and uncommon Parts to discharge them, are fo very few, that many a great Genius goes out of the World without ever having had an opportunity to exert it felf; whereas Perfons of ordinary Endowments meet with Occafions fitted to their Parts and Capacities every day in the common Occurrences of Life.

I am acquainted with two Perfons who were for merly School-fellows, and have been good Friends ever fince: One of them was not only thought an impenetrable Block-head at School, but still maintain'd his Reputation at the University; the other was the Pride of his Mafter, and the most celebrated Perfon in the College of which he was a Member. The Man of Genius ⚫is at present buried in a Country Parfonage of eightscore Pounds a year; while the other, with the bare Abilities of a common Scrivener, has got an Eftate of above an • hundred thoufand Pounds.

I fancy from what I have faid it will almost appear a doubtful Cafe to many a wealthy Citizen, whether or no he ought to with his Son fhould be a great Genius; but this I am fure of, that nothing is more abfurd than to give a Lad the Education of one, whom Nature has not favour'd with any particular Marks of Diftinction.

THE fault therefore of our Grammar-Schools is, that every Boy is pushed on to Works of Genius; whereas it would be far more advantageous for the greatest part ⚫ of them to be taught fuch little practical Arts and Sciençes as do not require any great fhare of Parts to be • Master of them, and yet may come often into play during the course of a Man's Life.

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SUCH are all the Parts of practical Geometry. I ⚫ have known a Man contract a Friendship with a Minifter of State, upon cutting a Dial in his Window; and remember a Clergyman who got one of the best Benefices in the Weft of England, by fetting a Country Gentle'man's Affairs in fome Method, and giving him an exact Survey of his Ekate.

: WHILE

No 353. 'WHILE I am upon this Subject, I cannot forbear mentioning a Particular which is of use in every Station ⚫ of Life, and which methinks every Master should teach his Scholars, I mean the writing of English Letters. To this end, inftead of perplexing them with Latin Epifles, Themes and Verfes, there might be a punctual Correfpondence established between two Boys, who might a&t in any imaginary Parts of Business, or be allow'd fome⚫ times to give a range to their own Fancies, and commu⚫nicate to each other whatever Trifles they thought fit, provided neither of them ever fail'd at the appointed time to answer his Correfpondent's Letter.

I believe I may venture to affirm, that the generality of Boys would find themselves more advantaged by this Cuftom, when they come to be Men, than by all the Greek and Latin their Masters can teach them in feven or eight Years.

THE want of it is very vifible in many learned Perfons, who while they are admiring the Styles of Demo fthenes or Cicero, want Phrafes to exprefs themselves on the most common Occafions. I have feen a Letter from one of thefe Latin Orators, which would have have been defervedly laugh'd at by a common Attorney.

UNDER this Head of Writing I cannot omit Accounts and Short-hand, which are learned with little pains, and very properly come into the number of fuch Arts as I have been here recommending.

YOU muft doubtless, Sir, obferve, that I have hi⚫therto chiefly infifted upon these things for fuch Boys us do not appear to have any thing extraordinary in their natural Talents, and confequently are not qualified for the finer Parts of Learning; yet I believe I might carry this Matter ftill further, and venture to affert that a Lad of Genius has fometimes occafion for thefe little Acquirements, to be as it were the Forerunners of his Parts, and to introduce him into the World.

HISTORY is full of Examples of Perfons, who 'tho' they have had the largest Abilities, have been obliged to infinuate themselves into the Favour of great Men by thefe trivial Accomplishments; as the compleat Gentle

man,