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The Humourist; Being Essays Upon Several Subjects
The Humourist Being Essays Upon Several Subjects Author:Thomas Gordon General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1735 Original Publisher: Printed for T. Woodward Subjects: Literary Collections / Essays Reference / Quotations Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books editio... more »n of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: Of Education. PEOPLE, put by their Education into a narrow Trad: of Thinking, are as much afraid of getting out of it, as Children of quitting their Leading-Strings when firft they learn to go. And whereas a Mind that would improve itfelf, muft, before it can do fo, fet it felf at large, be free from Prejudice, and bold in its Enquiries, the very contrary Method is, for the moft part, practifed in bringing up oif Youth. They are taught a raging Fondnefs for a Parcel of Names, that are never explained to them; and an implabable Fiercenefe againft another Set of Names, which are always explained falfly to them ; fo they jog on in the heavy Steps of their Fore-fathers, or in the wretched and narrow Paths of poor-fpirited and ignorant Pedagogues: They believe they are certainly in the Right, and therefore never take the Pains to find out that they are certainly in the Wrong. I would here oblerve, what an artful Piece of Knavery it is in thofe, who are entrufted with the Education of our Youth, to be eternally praifing to their Pupils, the peculiar Orthodoxy and Advantages of their Vniverfty above all others. This is a Way to four the Minds of Youth; and inftead of enlarging them, which is the Buiinefs of Educa ion, to contrail them, which is the Bufmefs and Effedl of Pedantry. Such Teacher? make their Pupils Bigots to rhemfelves, and ill-bred and uncharitable to all the World befides; that is, they make them like themfelves. From this Caufe it comes to pafs, that many Engliflj Gentlemen are as mu...« less