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Page 10
Now what a Blunder would be committed in the Education of such a
Family, if, with this different Turn of Mind in the Children,
there should be no difference made in the Management of them, or
their Disposal in the World. If all should be put into one Way
of Life, or brought up to one Business. Or if in the Choice of
Employment for Them, their several Biass and Capacity be not
consulted, but the roving _Genius_ mew'd up in a Closet, and
confounded among Books: And the studious and thoughtful _Genius_
sent to wander about the World, and be perfectly scattered and
dissipated, for want of proper Application and closer
Confinement. Whereas, one such a Family wisely educated, and
dispos'd in the World, would prove an extensive Blessing to
Mankind, and appear with a distinguished Glory; was the proper
_Genius_ of every Child first cultivated, and he then put into a
Way of Life that would suit his Taste.
_Genius_ is a part of natural Constitution, not acquir'd, but
born with us. Yet it is capable of Cultivation and Improvement.
It has been a common Question, whether a Man be born a Poet or
made one? but both must concur. Nature and Art must contribute
their Shares to compleat the Character. Limbs alone will not make
a Dancer, or a Wrestler. Nor will _Genius_ alone make a good
Poet; nor the meer Strength of natural Abilities make a
considerable Artist of any kind. Good Rules, and these reduc'd to
Practice, are necessary to this End. And Use and Exercise in
this, as well as in all other Cases, are a second Nature. And,
oftentimes, the second Nature makes a prodigious Improvement of
the Force and Vigour of the first.
It has been long ago determined by the great Masters of Letters,
that good Sense is the chief Qualification of a good Writer.
_Scribendi certe sapere est & Principium & Fons._
Horat.
Yet the best natural Parts in the World are capable of much
Improvement by a due Cultivation.
_Doctrina sed vim promovet insitam,
Rectique cultus Pectora roborant._
Horat.
The Spectator's golden Scales, let down from Heaven to discover
the true Weight and Value of Things, expresses this Matter in a
Way which at once shews, a _Genius_, and its Cultivation. "There
is a Saying among the _Scots_, that an Ounce of Mother-Wit, is
worth a Pound of Clergy. I was sensible of the Truth of this
Saying, when I saw the difference between the Weight of natural
Parts and that of Learning. I observ'd that it was an hundred
Times heavier than before, when I put Learning into the same
Scale with it."
It has been observ'd, of an _English_ Author, that he would be
all _Genius_. He would reap the Fruits of Art, but without the
Study and Pains of it. The _Lim� Labor_ is what he cannot easily
digest. We have as many Instances of Originals, this way, as any
Nation can produce. Men, who without the help of Learning, by the
meer Force of natural Ability, have produced Works which were the
Delight of their own Times, and have been the Wonder of
Posterity. It has been a Question, whether Learning would have
improved or spoiled them. There appears somewhat so nobly Wild
and Extravagant in these great _Genij_, as charms infinitely
more, than all the Turn and Polishing which enters into the
_French Bel Esprit_, or the _Genius_ improved by Reading and
Conversation.
But tho' this will hold in some very rare Instances, it must be
much for its Advantage in ordinary Cases, that a _Genius_ should
be diligently and carefully cultivated. In order to this, it
should be early watched and observ'd. And this is a matter that
requires deep Insight into Humane Nature. It is not so easy as
many imagine, to pronounce what the proper _Genius_ of a Youth
is. Every one who will be fiddling, has not presently a _Genius_
for Musick. The Idle Boy draws Birds and Men, when he should be
getting his Lesson or writing his Copy; _This Boy_, says the
Father, _must be a_ Painter; when alas! this is no more the Boy's
_Genius_ than the _Parhelion_ is the true Sun. But those who have
the Care of Children, should take some Pains to know what their
true _Genius_ is. For here the Foundation must be laid for
improving it. If a Mistake be made here, the Man sets out wrong,
and every Step he takes carries him so much farther from Home.
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