and order; and, if well executed, leaves but little time for visits or diversions: That a humour of reading books, except those of devotion or housewifery, is apt to turn a woman's brain: That plays, romances, novels, and love-poems, are only proper to instruct them how to carry on an intrigue: That all affectation of knowledge, beyond what is merely domestic, renders them vain, conceited, and pretending: That the natural levity of woman wants ballast; and when she once begins to think she knows more than others of her sex, she will begin to despise her husband, and grow fond of every coxcomb who pretends to any knowledge in books: That she will learn scholastic words; make herself ridiculous by pronouncing them wrong, and applying them absurdly in all companies: That in the mean time, her house. hold affairs, and the care of her children, will be wholly laid aside; her toilet will be crowded with all the under-wits, where the conversation will pass in criticising on the last play or poem that comes out, and she will be careful to remember all the remarks that were made, in order to retail them in the next visit, especially in company who know nothing of the matter: That she will have all the impertinence of a pedant, without the knowledge; and for every new acquirement, will become so much the worse."

To say the truth, that shameful and almost universal neglect of good education among our nóbility, gentry, and indeed among all others who are born to good estates, will make this essay of little use to the present age; for, considering the modern way of training up both sexes in igno

rance,

rance, idleness, and vice, it is of little consequence how they are coupled together. And therefore my speculations on this subject can be only of use to a small number; for, in the present situa tion of the world, none but wise and good men can fail of missing their match, whenever they are disposed to marry; and consequently there is no reason for complaint on either side. The form by which a husband and wife are to live, with regard to each other and to the world, are sufficiently known and fixed, in direct contradiction to every precept of morality, religion, or civil institution; it would be therefore an idle attempt to aim at breaking so firm an establishment.

But, as it sometimes happens, that an elder brother dies late enough to leave the younger at the university, after he has made some progress in learning: if we suppose him to have a tolerable. genius, and a desire to improve it, he may consequently learn to value and esteem wisdom and knowledge wherever he finds them, even after his father's death, when his title and estate come into. his own possession. Of this kind, I reckon, by a favourable computation, there may possibly be found, by a strict search among the nobility and gentry throughout England, about five hundred. Among those of all other callings or trades, who are able to maintain a son at the university, about treble that number. The sons of clergymen, bred to learning with any success, must, by reason of their parents' poverty, be very inconsiderable, many of them being only admitted servitors in colleges, and consequently proving good for nothing: I shall therefore count them to be not

above fourscore. But, to avoid fractions, I shall suppose there may possibly be a round number of two thousand male human creatures in England, including Wales, who have a tolerable share of reading and good sense. I include in this list all persons of superior abilities, or great genius, or true judgement and taste, or of profound literature, who, I am confident, we may reckon to be at least five-and-twenty.

I am very glad to have this opportunity of doing an honour to my country, by a computation which I am afraid foreigners may conceive to be partial; when, out of only fifteen thousand families of lords and estated gentlemen, which may probably be their number, I suppose one in thirty to be tolerably educated, with a sufficient share of good sense. Perhaps the censure may be just. And therefore, upon cooler thoughts, to avoid all cavils, I shall reduce them to one thousand, which, at least, will be a number sufficient to fill both houses of parliament.

The daughters of great and rich families, computed after the same manner, will hardly amount to above half the number of the male: because the care of their education is either left entirely to their mothers, or they are sent to boardingschools, or put into the hands of English or French governesses, and generally the worst that can be gotten for money. So that, after the reduction I was compelled to, from two thousand to one, half the number of well-educated nobility and gentry must either continue in a single life, or be forced to couple themselves with wo

men

men for whom they can possibly have no esteem, mean fools, prudes, coquettes, gamesters, saunterers, endless talkers of nonsense, splenetie idlers, intriguers, given to scandal and cen

sure,

*

CHARACTER

CHARACTER OF ARISTÖTLE*.

ARISTOTLE, the disciple of Plato, and tutor

to Alexander the Great. His followers were called peripatetics, from a Greek word which signifies to walk, because he taught his disciples walking. We have not all his works, and some of those which are imputed to him are supposed not genuine. He writ upon logic, or the art of reasoning; upon moral and natural philosophy; upon oratory, poetry, &c. and seems to be a person of the most comprehensive genius that ever lived.

*This fragment is preserved in the Essay of Deane Swift, Esq. who tells us, "he transcribed it without any variation; and that he found it by accident in a little book of instructions, which Dr. Swift was pleased to draw up for the use of a lady, enjoining her to get it all by heart." N.

Having mentioned the character given by the Dean of this philosopher in the Battle of the Books, Mr. Swift observes, "The portrait of Aristotle is equally strong and masterly; he stooped much, and made use of a staff; that is, he thought, he considered, he ruminated; he pondered deeply on the most intricate and abstruse points relating to the sciences; and, by the force of reasoning, which is meant by his tsaff, he cleared his way through briars and thorns, until he struck into the road which leads to science and philosophy. The remaining part of Aristotle's portrait is only the representation of an abstracted scholar, worn away and decayed with years, hard study, nocturnal lucubrations, and the want of bodily exercise." Essay, p. 283. N.

CHARACTER