assist and facilitate the learning of any other language to those who are older.

VI. LET the chief lessons and the chief exercise of schools, v. c. where Latin is learn!, (at least for the first year or more, be the nouns, verbs and general rules of syntax, together with a mere translation out of some Latin author into English; and let scholars be employed and examined by their teacher, daily, in reducing the words to their original or theme, to the first case of nouns or first tense of verbs, and giving an account of their formations and changes, their syntar and dependencies, which is called parsing. This is a most useful exercise to lead boys into a complete and thorough knowledge of what they are doing.

The English translations, which the learner has made, should be well corrected by the master, and then they should be translated back again for the next day's exercise by the child into Latin, while the Latin author is withheld from him: but he should have the Latin words given him in their first case and tense; and should never be left to seek them himself from a dictionary: and the nearer he translates it to the words of the author whence he derives his English, the more should the child be commended. Thus will he gain skill in two languages at once. I think Mr Clarke has done good service to the public by his translations of Latin books for this end.

But let the foolish custom of employing every silly boy to makes themes or declamations and verses upon moral subjects in a strange tongue, before he understands common sense even in his own language, be abandoned and cashiered for ever.

VII. As the learner improves, let him "acquaint himself with the anomalous words, the irregular declension of nouns and verbs, the more uncommon connections of words in syntax, and the exceptions of the general rules of grammar;" but let them all be reduced, as far as póssible, to those several original and general rules which he has learned, as the proper rank and place to which they belong.

VIII. WHILE he is doing this, it may be "proper for him to converse with authors which are a little more difficult, with historians, orators, and poets, &c" but let his tutor inform him of the Roman or Greek customs which occur therein. Let the lad then translate some parts of them into his mother tongue, or into some other well-known language, and thence back again into the original language of the author. But let the verse be translated into prose for poesy does not belong to grammar.

IX. By this time he will be able to

"arquaint himself with some

of the special emphasis of speech, and the peculiar idioms of the tongue." He should be taught also the special beauties and ornaments of the language: and this may be done partly by the help of authors who have collected such idioms, and cast them into an easy method, and partly by the judicious remarks which his instructor may make upon the authors which he reads, wheresoever such peculiarities of speech or special elegancies occur.

X. THOUGH the labour of learning all the lessons by heart, that are borrowed from poetical authors which they construe, is an unjust and unnecessary imposition upon the learner, yet he must take the pains to "commit to memory the most necessary, if not all the common rules of grammar," with an example or two under each of them: and some of the select and most useful periods or sentences in the Latin or Greek author which he reads, may be learnt by heart, together with some of the choicer lessons out of their poets; and sometimes whole episodes out of heroic peems, &c, as well as whole odes among the lypics may deserve this honour.

XI. LET this be always carefully observed, that "the learners perfectly understand the sense as well as the language of all those rules, lessons, or paragraphs which they attempt to commit to memory." Let the teacher possess them of their true meaning, and then the labour will become easy and pleasant: whereas to impose on a child to get by heart"a long scroll of unknown phrases or words, without any ideas under them," is a piece of useless tyranny, a erucl imposition, and a practice fitter før a jackdaw or a parrot, than for any thing that wears the shape of man.

XII. AND here, I think, I have a fair occasion given me to consider that question which has been often debated in conversation, viz. Whether the teaching a school full of boys to learn Latin by the Heathen poets, as Ovid in his Epistles, and the silly fables of his Metamorphosis: Horace, Juvenal, and Martial in their impure odes, satires, and epigrams, &c. is so proper and agreeable a practice in a Christian country. XIII. (1.) "I GRANT the language and style of those men who wrote in their own native tongue, must be more pure and perfect" in some nice elegancies and peculiarities, than modern writers of other pations who have imitated them; and it is owned also, that the beauties of their pocsy may much excel: but in either of these things, boys cannot be supposed to be much improved or injured by one or the other..

XIV. (2.) IT shall be confest too, that "modern poets in every living language, have brought into their works so many words, epithets, phrases, and metaphors," from the heathen fables and stories of their

gods and heroes, that in order to understand these modern writers, it is necessary to know a little of those ancient follies: but it may be answered, that a good dictionary, or such a book as the Pantheon or history of these Gentile deities, c. may give sufficient information of those stories, so far as they are necessary and useful to school-boys.

XV. (3.) I WILL grant yet further, that lads who are designed to make great scholars or divines, may by reading these Heathen poets, be taught better to "understand the writings of the ancient fathers against the Heathen religion;" and they learn here "what ridiculous fooleries the Gentile nations believed" as the articles of their faith "what wretched and foul idolatries they indulged and practised as duties of religion, for want of the light of divine revelation." But this perhaps may be learnt as well either by the Pantheon, or some other collection, at school; or after they have left the school, they may read what their own inclinations lead them to, and whatsoever of this kind may be really useful for them.

XVI. BUT the great question is, "Whether all these advantages which have been mentioned, will compensate for the long months and years that are wasted among their incredible and trifling romances, their false and shameful stories of the gods and goddesses and their amours, and the lewd heroes and vicious poets of the Heathen world?" Can these idle and ridiculous tales be of any real and solid advantage in human life? Do they not too often defile the mind with vain, mischievous and impure ideas? Do they not stick long upon the fancy, and leave an unhappy influence upon youth? Do they not tincture the imagination with folly and vice very early, and prevent it from all that is good and holy?

XVII. UPON the whole survey of things it is my opinion, that for almost all boys who learn this tongue, it would be much safer to be taught Latin poesy (as soon and as far as they can need it) from those excellent translations of David's Psalms, which are given us by Buchanan in the various measures of Horace; and the lower classes had better read Dr. Johnston's translation of these psalms, another elegant writer of the Scots nation, instead of Ovid's Epistles; for he has turned the same psalms perhaps with greater elegancy into elegiac verse, whereof the learned W. Benson, Esq.; has lately published a noble edition, and I hear that these psalms are honoured with an increasing use in the schools of Holland and Scotland. A stanza, or a couplet of these writers would now and then stick upon the minds of youth, and would furnish them infinitely better with pious and moral thoughts, and do something towards making them good men and Christians,

XVIII. A LITTLE book collected from the Psalms of both these translators, Buchanan and Johnston, and a few other Christian poets, would be of excellent use for schools to begin their instructions in Latin poesy; and I am well assured this would be richly sufficient for all those in lower rank, who never design a learned profession, and yet custom has foolishly bound them to learn that language.

But lest it should be thought hard to cast Horace and Virgil, Ovid and Juvenal entirely out of the schools, I'add, if here and there a few lyric odes, or pieces of satires, or some episodes of heroic verse, with here and there an epigram of Martial, all which shall be clear and pure from the stains of vice and impiety, and which may inspire the mind with noble sentiments, fire the fancy with bright and warm ideas, or teach lessons of morality and prudence, were chosen out of those ancient Roman writers for the use of the schools, and were collected and printelin one moderate volume or two at the most, it would be abundantly sufficient provision out of the Roman poets for the instruction of boys in all that is necessary in that age of life.

Surely Juvenal himself would not have the face to vindicate the ma sters who teach boys his 6th satire, and many paragraphs of several others, when he himself has charged us,

Nil dicta foedum, visuque baec limina tangat
Intra quae puer est.

Thus Englished:

Suffer no lewdness, nor indecent speech,

Th' apartment of the tender youth to reach.

Thus far in answer to the foregoing question.

Sat. 14.

Dryden.

But I retire; for Mr Clarke of Hull, in his treatise of Education, and Mr Philips, preceptor to the duke of Cumberland, have given more exccHent directions for learning Latin.

XIX. WHEN a language is learnt, "if it be of any use at all it is a pity it should be forgotten again." It is proper, therefore, to take all just opportunities" to read something frequently in that language:" when other necessary and important studies will give you leave. As in learning any tongue, dictionaries which contain words and phrases should be always at hand: so they should be ever kept within reach by persons who would remember a tongue which they have learnt. Nor should we at any time content ourselves with a doubtful guess at the sense or meaning of any words which occur, but consult the dictionary, which may give us certain information, and thus secure us from mistake. It is mere sloth which makes us content ourselves with uncerain guesses; and indeed this is neither safe nor useful for persons

who would learn any language or science, or have a desire to retain what they have acquired.

XX. WHEN you have learnt one or many languages ever so perfectly, take heed of priding yourself in these acquisitions: they are but mere treasures of words, or instruments of true and solid knowledge, and whose chief design is to lead us into an acquaintance with things, or to enable us the more easily to convey those ideas, or that knowledge to others. An acquaintance with the various tongues is nothing else, but a relief against the mischief which the buliding of Babel introduced and were I master of as many languages as were spoken at Babel, I should make but a poor pretence to true learning or knowledge, if I had not clear and distinct ideas, and useful notions in my head under the words which my tongue could pronounce. Yet so unhappy a thing is human nature, that this sort of knowledge of sounds and syllables is ready to puff up the mind with vanity, more than the most valuable and solid improvements of it. The pride of a grammarian or a critic, generally exceeds that of a philosopher.

CHAP. VIII.

OF INQUIRING INTO THE SENSE AND MEANING OF ANY WRITER OF SPEAKER, AND ESPECIALLY THE SENSE OF THE SACRED WRITINGS.

Tis a great unhappiness that there is such an ambiguity in words "and forms of speech, that the same sentence may be drawn into different significations; whereby it comes to pass, that it is difficult sometimes for the reader exactly to hit upon the ideas which the writer or speaker had in his mind. Some of the best rules to direct us herein are such as these.

I. Be well acquainted with the tongue itself, or language wherein the author's mind is exprest. Learn not only the true meaning of each word, but the sense which those words obtain when placed in such a particular situation and order. Acquaint yourself with the peculiar power and emphasis of the several modes of speech, and the various idioms of the tongue. The secondary ideas which custom hath superadded to many words, should also be known, as well as the particular and primary meaning of them, if we would understand any wiiter. See Logic, Part I. Chap. 4. Sec. 3.

II. CONSIDER the signification of those words and phrases, more especially in the same nation, or near the same age in which that writer lived, and in what sense they are used by authors of the same nation, opinion, sect, party, &c.

Upon this account, we may learn to interpret several phrases of the New Testament out of that version of the Hebrew Bible into Greek,