Education.
See Example. Parents and Children.

Let no indecent Speech, or Action vile,
Be known within the Walls where Youth is bred:
Far, far from thence keep wanton Girls away,
And idle Parasites, that all the Night
Chant luscious Songs.--Much Reverence and Regard
To Youth is due: nor Thou his Age contemn,
But let, when Evil rises in thy Mind,
Thy Infant--Son restrain and keep Thee Good.

Dost Thou expect a Friend? Thy Servants all
Are hurried to their Tasks:--rub, rub the Floors:
Make all the Pillars shine: down, from the Walls,
Brush the dead Spiders and their Webs away.
One scours the Plate with Figures rich emboss'd,
Another what is plain: yourself, mean while,
Urge on the Work with Chiding, or with Blows.

Wretch! dost Thou fear a Dog's T---d in thy Hall,
Should turn the Stomach of thy coming Guest;
Or that thy Porch with Dirt should be defil'd;
Faults which a single Servant with a Broom
Can soon amend: and yet regardest not
To keep thy Family from Blemish free,
From Vice, or Baseness, which thy Son may see?--

'Tis much better, in my Opinion, to keep Children in order by Shame and Generosity of Inclination than by Fear.--That Man, I conceive, is very much mistaken, who imagines Government, purely by Force, to have more Authority, and a better Foundation, than when 'tis accompanied with Tenderness and Respect. This is my Logic, and I argue thus: He that's compell'd by Threats to do his Duty, will continue wary no longer than You have an Eye over him; and when he thinks he sha'n't be found out, he'll eagerly follow his own Inclinations. But he that's governed by Love, obeys most chearfully;
strives to make his due Returns; and is just the same whether you are present or absent. 'Tis a Father's Part to use his Child so, that his own Choice, rather than outward Constraint, may put him upon doing well. Here lies the Difference between a Father and a Master: and he that does otherwise, let him own, that he understands not at all how to govern Children.--
Education Rigid.

Before the City, Boys, and blooming Youth,
With rapid Chariots exercise their Strength,
And tame their Horses in the dusty Field:
Or bend their twanging Bows, and with strong Arms
Launch the tough Jav'lin: with the Dart, and Shaft,
Contending.--

We in the Rivers plunge our new--born Babes,
And harden them in Frost, and icy Streams.
Our Boys in hunting vex the Woods, and tire
The savage Beasts: with them 'tis Children's play
To rein the Steed, and bend the twanging Bow.
But patient of Fatigue, and train'd to live
On little, with keen Shares our lusty Youth
Subdue the Soil, or batter Towns with War.
In Iron ev'ry Stage of Life we pass,
And goad our Oxen with inverted Spears.
Nor does the Clog of tardy Age abate
The Vigour of our Minds, or damp our Fire.
With Helmets ev'n our hoary Hair we press,
And evermore delight to bear away
Fresh daily Plunder, and by Rapine live.--

Let the bold Boy, my Friends, be train'd to bear
The Wants and rough Severities of War;
By vig'rous Exercise improve his Force,
And learn the manly Manage of his Horse:
Then let him Charge the Parthians with his Spear,
And make their rugged Troops his Presence fear.
Still be his Lodging on the naked Ground,
And there his Business where most Danger's found.--
Effeminacy.
See Sloth.

You, clad in shining Purple, and in Vests
With long luxuriant Sleeves, indulge your Sloth:
Dances are your Delight, and broider'd Robes:
And Ribbons bind your Bonnets to your Chin.--

Alcinous' idle Youth, whose sole Design
Aim'd at soft Blandishments, and dressing fine,
At Ease, indulg'd, and slept out half the Day,
And lull'd their Cares with Dancing, Songs, and Play.--

What will not Others do, when Thou so thin
Art clad, that thro' the Silk we see thy Skin?
How stare the People such a Judge to see,
But more to hear thee rail at Harlotry?
--Fabulla is, you say
A Whore;--I own it:--so's Carfinia:
Rank Prostitutes! therefore without Remorse,
Punish the Strumpets: give the Law it's Course:
But when on them You've pass'd your Sentence, know,
They'd blush to be so loosely drest as You.
You say the Dog--Star reigns, whose sultry Fire
Melts You to Death, e'en in that light Attire:
Go naked then, 'twere better to be mad,
(Which has a Privilege) than so lewdly clad.
How would our Mountain Sires return'd from Plow,
Or Battle, such a silken Judge allow?--
Elements.
See Change. Creation.

The Force of Fire ascended first on high,
And void of Weight, blaz'd from the vaulted Sky:
Air, next in Levity, and next in Place,
Sunk lower down, and fill'd the midmost Space:
The Earth, of closer and compacter State,
Fell, self--incumber'd with it's native Weight,
Attracting all that's gross:--and flowing round
The Water last took Place, and Earth's firm Circuit bound.--

For this eternal World is said, of old,
But four prolific Principles to hold:
Of these, two by their native Weight descend,
Water and Earth: these ever downwards tend:
An equal Number, uncompell'd, aspire,
Devoid of Weight; pure Air, and purer Fire.
All Things are mix'd of These, which all contain,
And into these are all resolv'd again.--

Upwards the Fire on active Pinions fled,
To Heav'n's high Arch it rais'd it's shining Head,
There took it's Place, and circling round the Frame,
For Nature's Bulwark roll'd a Wall of Flame.
Then liquid Air, spread thro' the empty Space,
Less light and active took the second Place:
But next the Flame the lightest Parts aspire,
To waste themselves, and feed the greedy Fire.
The heavier Water makes an humbler Claim,
And lies, the third in order, in the Frame;
That Vapours, rising, may like Seed, repair
What Fire destroys, and feed decaying Air.
Earth to the Center by it's Weight sinks down.--
Eloquence.

As when Sedition oft in populous Towns
Is rais'd, and fierce th' ignoble Vulgar rave:
Now Stones, and Firebrands fly: Rage Arms supplies:
If then by chance they 'spy a Sage, rever'd
For Piety and Worth, All silent stand,
List'ning with Ears attentive: with his Words
He rules their Passion, and their Heat allays.--

Now from his Seat arose Laërtes' Son;
Look'd down a while, and paus'd e'er he begun:
Then to th' expecting Princes rais'd his Look,
And not without prepar'd Attention spoke.
Soft was his Tone and sober was his Face,
Action his Words, and Words his Action grace.--

Learn Eloquence, You noble Youth of Rome:
It will not only at the Bar o'ercome,
The wond'ring People, and the Senate move,
But Eloquence will gain the Maid you love.--

The fam'd Ulysses was nor Fair, nor Young,
But eloquent, and charming was his Tongue:
And yet for him contending Beauties strove,
And ev'ry Sea--Nymph sought the Hero's Love.
Ah! how Calypso griev'd, when from her Shores
He thought to sail, and stopp'd his hasty Oars!
Oft she enquir'd of ruin'd Ilium's Fate,
And made him oft the wondrous Tale relate:
Which with such Grace his florid Tongue could frame,
The Story still was new, tho' still the same.—