It is to be presumed that the younger Sons of every Gentleman’s Family (unless by any lateral Means they have an independent Fortune) are to engage in some Profession or Employment, in order to their Advancement in the World; and it is perfectly right that they should: for by this means they may not only fill up their Time like reasonable Creatures, but become capable of doing Honour to some Profession, be useful to Mankind in general, and often raise a Fortune equal to their elder Brother. Now besides the learned Professions; the Sea, the Army, and the Exchange, with many others, needless to enumerate, are open for them to engage in; and hence farther appears not only the Necessity of considering their Fortune, but of attending to their Genius, Temper, and Inclinations.
Nothing is more talked of than the Necessity of consulting our Children’s Genius; and I think verily there is nothing so little understood, or so little attended to. I know that many People say, there is nothing more easy to discover than the Genius of Children; but if we view the continual Errors committed in this Point, we shall have reason to think otherwise. What is more evident than a general Partiality of Parents to their Children? and what will naturally be the Consequence of it? certainly a false Estimation of their Capacity. However, difficult as I think this Knowledge is to be obtained, either from general Partiality, Want of Penetration, or the natural Inconstancy of Youth; yet let us not throw aside our Attention, nor wildly give up our Children to Chance; but rather let us improve the Reason Providence has endowed us with, and labour to draw such Conclusions as will most conduce to their real Happiness. To act therefore with Judgment in this weighty Matter, Parents must not, because a Boy says he will go to Sea, immediately send him; nor because another says he will be a Soldier, directly buy him a Commission. One perhaps only wants to get away from his Studies, and the other thinks it a fine thing to wear a laced Coat. Youth is naturally giddy, and what they like to-day, they will often dislike to-morrow; Parents therefore would be grievously mistaken, were they to take every Start of Fancy, every premature Request of their Children for Genius. Still it is certain that they have many Ways of discovering what they are capable of, and what they are inclined to; therefore our Prudence and Judgment are to go hand in hand with these Discoveries. For Instance: if we see a Boy of intrepid Courage, loving, seeking, and enduring Hardships, and dwelling with Delight on maritime Affairs, at the same time that he has virtuous Dispositions, and both loves and applies to his Books; we need not hesitate to breed him to the Sea. So if we are convinced, that another seeks a Commission from true Honour and Courage, and from an ardent Desire to serve his King and Country, we may encourage his laudable Ambition; but if we discover that his Motives are those of being conspicuously dress’d, of sauntering and dangling one part of his Time away, and raking and gaming another part; if we see too, that his only Fear, is the Fear of having occasion to fight; we should certainly reject his Request, and oblige him to apply another way: nay more, we should convince him how mean a Soul he must have, to seek so inglorious a life. In like manner, if we see a Boy whose Head is manifestly turned for Business, whose Cast of Temper argues Method in every Action, we may pretty safely conclude we hit his Genius, by making him a Merchant. But there is a capital Mistake Parents frequently commit, that is, their being influenced by some oblique Interest; which often tends to ruin their Children. For Example: the Family has a Living in their Gift, and a Boy must be bred a Clergyman on purpose to fill it: or there is an Uncle a Bishop, therefore the Nephew must be a Bishop too; tho’ perhaps he has no more Genius nor Chance for it, than he has of being Emperor of Morocco. Thus another, who would have been an Adept in the Mathematics, and have done Honour to the Science, or whose Sprightliness would have made a Figure in polite Literature, is cramp’d with the Study of the Law; not because he likes it, but because it is a Profession that may raise him to be a Judge; perhaps Lord Chancellor: tho’ he has as little Chance for either as the Clerk to a Justice of Peace. A third, in Nature’s spite, is made a Physician, only because his Parents have seen a Mead, a Hulse, or a Wilmot standing at the Top of the Profession; and therefore conclude their Son will have equal Genius and equal Merit.
Here then it is evident, that Parents are often mistaken, not only by Inattention to the Genius of their Children, but by overrating their Parts; by fixing a Profession for them, perhaps as soon as they are born, or by blundering them into an Employment which their Education is not equal to. On this last Point let me explain myself. Suppose I have not over-rated a Boy’s natural Parts; suppose too that I have at great Expence kept him at School for ten Years; it does not from hence follow that he is learned: I must know if he has applied and improved these Years to his real Advantage; that is, whether his Learning is deep or superficial; I must know too the Tenor of his Studies, for even of those who are very diligent, all Parts of Learning are not equal Favourites; some are sprightly, some grave, some in short more striking to them than others: lastly, I must know if the Nature of his Education be adapted to the Employment I am about to engage him in. Without Attention and Regard to these Circumstances, it will be impossible to keep clear of Error in the Disposal of our Children for Life: and as not only themselves, but Society too, must feel the good or bad Effects of our Choice, it is of the highest Consequence that it be judicious.
But Genius is not the only thing to be considered in the fixing our Sons for Life. Mr. Pope has a Position,[8] which does not tally with general Observation; for according to him there will hardly be a Man in ten thousand qualify’d for the Station he is in. True Genius is, I think, but rarely to be met with; plain natural good Sense, carefully improved by Education, will certainly enable the Generality of Men to become Proficients in any single Art or Science: that is, as by well directed Steps they are capable of acquiring great Perfection in one Way, so would they have been equally perfect had their Steps been directed another Way. Our Defects in general are not so much owing to the Want of Parts, as to the Want of cultivating them; hence appears that amazing Weakness in some Parents, in shewing a Boy as a Prodigy, when every other Eye can see there is nothing uncommon in him; and hence too appears the Folly of others in neglecting those Improvements so essentially necessary for him.
From what has been here advanced it is pretty evident, that a young Gentleman of moderate Parts well improved, is capable of becoming whatever is pointed out for him, provided he is diligent. But here it is my earnest Request, that Parents resolve to make their Children happy; and this they cannot do but by complying in some measure with their Temper and Inclinations; for it is on this chiefly their Felicity depends. The same Boy (as I observed before) would become an Adept either in This or That Employment, but it is perhaps one only that will make him happy: therefore it is not always Genius, but Inclination, that requires our Regard.
The seeming Resemblance of Genius and Inclination may make some People take them for the same thing. Genius is a natural Gift, a Power in the Soul to do what another, without that Genius, cannot do: Inclination is a natural Propensity to pursue some certain Employment, whether we have Genius to execute it or not. We are told of Cicero, that no Man had a stronger Inclination to be a Poet than himself; yet with all his great Abilities he had not a Genius for it. So in our own Times, we have seen Men with the greatest Itch of Writing produce nothing that argued Genius; some fond of Music almost to Distraction, without a Power of acquiring it: and others with a Passion for Painting, whose Genius amounted to nothing more than to dawb. On the other hand, there are Men possessed of Genius, but devoid of Inclination; so true is it, that however similar they appear, they are really distinct in themselves, sometimes very near to, at other times very distant from, one another. But to return to our Subject. As we have observed, that uncommon Genius is not to be always expected, and as we have shewn, that general good Capacity seldom is wanting; nothing more remains but to learn what Employment will suit our Sons Temper and Inclinations, and then compleat their Education accordingly. For surely it is wrong to insist on a Boy’s applying to the Law, when the Delight of his Soul is the Study of Physic and the Knowledge of Nature. Or is it not wrong to pin another down to the Study of Divinity, when Commerce engrosses his whole Attention; or his dauntless Heart burns to traverse the Ocean? and is it not equally wrong to make a Boy a Merchant, who delights in the Study of the Law? most certainly. These therefore are the things we must attend to, these the general Steps to be taken or avoided; and as none but general Rules can be laid down, the particular Exceptions every Parent’s Judgment must supply.
A young Lady of the second Rank comes next under my Consideration: but as I have dwelt pretty largely on the Woman of Quality, I have not occasion to say much here. One material Distinction to be made in a Lady of this Class is, whether she is an only Child, an Heiress, no Brother in the way to enjoy the Estate; or whether she is only a younger Child, and is to share the Fate of her younger Brothers or Sisters. In the first Case, I would recommend that her Education approach to that of a Woman of Quality, since it is highly probable she will become one; at least if her Education, Conduct, and Deportment correspond with those of superior Rank, she will always be Company for them: but, in the other Case, that is, where a Brother sweeps away the Estate, it is certain that her Education need not be so brilliant, nor ought to be so expensive as in the first. Yet let not this damp a young Lady’s Spirits; I do not mean to make her less happy, nor recommend the least Neglect of her; far from it. A State Coach with three Footmen answers no better than a plain Coach with one, for all the Purposes of a Coach: and a Diamond Necklace keeps a Lady no warmer than a Necklace of inferior Value. Thus it is with the Education of a Woman of Quality; it is in some measure merely ornamental, without being essential to her Happiness. Still it is fit it should be so. When the Superscription of a Letter begins with Her Grace, or Right Honourable, when a Coach or Chair appears with a Coronet, ’tis fit that due Deference and due Distance be observed; and to secure this, ’tis fit that her Education have a suitable Dignity. But, as I have just observed, this is not essential to her Happiness: and if those in private Life, and of moderate Fortunes, aim at equalling these either in external Appearances, or in too exalted an Education, they are pretty sure of running into Error; for Happiness much depends on an Education suited to our Condition in Life. Thus while I esteem it a Misfortune for a Woman of Rank not to appear to the utmost Advantage, it seems no less a Misfortune for a young Lady in private Life vainly to aspire at equalling her.
Still I warmly urge, that no contemptuous Neglect be shewn her; let her be taught as thorough a Knowledge of her Mother-tongue as if she were a Princess; let her too write, and dance, and speak French to Perfection: Music too I recommend, but not to Perfection. Here, I am afraid, my Readers will start, and think that either the Author or the Printer has committed an Error; but a little Patience, and we shall, I hope, understand one another. When we consult a Physician, or a Council, they take the Fee, and give us their Opinion; which Opinion we may either reject or follow as we please. When I set out in this Undertaking, I declared myself not a Lawgiver, but an Adviser; as such then let me be considered. I speak my Mind freely, and like an honest Lawyer give my Opinion honestly; where the Advice is good, follow it; where erroneous, reject it: thus should all reasonable People do, taking along with them this Caution, not to condemn rashly and precipitately, but weigh the Matter well; and neither lavishly bestow unjust Praises, nor unfairly rob Merit of it’s Due. This premised, I return to my Subject. It is very certain, that a young Lady of this Class should learn Music; it gives her a sprightly pleasing Air; it is a fine Relaxation from more serious Employments; and it greatly contributes to keep up a Chearfulness thro’ the whole Family: but I would not have her ambitious to excel; and I think Parents ought not to covet it. To attain Music to great Perfection, and to study the Italian for that Purpose, is a Work of great Labour, Time, and Expence; too much by far to gain what at last amounts to no more than an Amusement. Ladies of great Rank and Fortune have every thing at their Command, therefore should aim at Perfection in all they undertake; but those in more private Life, have certainly other things to do. They are, by all the Rules of Prudence, to be taught to work: they should be taught to know too, that they must reduce their Theory to Practice. They are to stoop likewise to domestic Cares; whereby they will often be enabled to boast a Happiness which greater Ladies are Strangers to. But supposing that either to gratify herself or her Friends she engages deeply in the Study of Music; Parents are here often cajoled out of their Money, and their Senses too, by their Daughter’s fancied Excellence: and the same Man that is lavish in his Praises to the fond Father’s Face, will perhaps in the very next Company swear the Girl squeaks like a Pig. There is a great deal of Insincerity, nay the grossest Flattery, attends this kind of Study; and Parents in general have need of better Eyes than common to see thro’ it. However, not to injure the young Lady’s Capacity, I will grant that she really does excel: still I say, her Time might have been much better employed in acquiring more useful Knowledge: such as is properly suited to her Station. There are yet other Inconveniencies attending this Study when a Lady excels, or has the Reputation of it; that of exposing both her and the Parents to a great deal of gay Company at least, if no worse; such as tends to dissipate the Mind, to shut out Reflection, and thereby check or prevent the Knowledge of more weighty Obligations: and it often likewise exposes them to a great deal of ill-timed Expence: which, as every Day’s Experience shews us, frequently does great Harm, but seldom any Good.
It is certain that every populous Place, especially a polite City like London, ought to have some Entertainments of this Kind; and Persons of Quality and Fortune should give due Encouragement to them, as the Performers make it their Bread, and labour their whole Lives to excel, that they may give them the utmost Entertainment in their Power: all this, I say, is highly reasonable, if reasonably used. But will not a Concert, an Opera, or an Oratorio always furnish this? most certainly. Is it worth a young Lady’s while, whose Fortune perhaps will be but scanty, to consume a great deal of Time and Money, and at last fall short of a Stage-performer? by no Means: any more than it is an Honour to a Man of Quality to be called the first Fiddle in the Kingdom; or for a Gentleman to boast that he can beat his Coachman at driving.
If to the Steps already laid down of a young Lady’s Education of this Rank be added Arithmetic, Drawing, and Geography, I think every thing will be done that her Parents need Wish; and enough, if well improved, to enable her to make a very advantageous Figure. Still she should be taught to know that this is only learning the Road; and she herself, with these Guides, is to take care not to go wrong: good Company, good Books, and an Attention to her own Actions, are to compleat her. She should not aim at more deep or learned Studies, which probably would only make her affected or pedantic; make her a Pain to herself, and disgustful to all who converse with her, particularly her own Sex. Knowledge does not consist in Words, but in Things; and a Language, merely as a Language, conveys only the Knowledge of Words. If on this Foundation, and with these Materials, she builds with Care, with Diligence and Judgment, I dare affirm, that these alone will furnish her with every Means of being wise and happy.