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the learned world, in the most remote nations, and in former ages, almost from the beginning of mankind.

III. Public or private lectures, are such verbal instructions as are given by a teacher while the learners attend in silence. This is the way of learning religion from the pulpit, or of philosophy or theology from the professor's chair, or of mathematicks by a teacher shewing us various theorems or problems, i. e. speculations or practices, by demonstration and operation, with all the instruments of art necessary to those operations.

IV. Conversation is another method of improving our minds, wherein by mutual discourse and enquiry we learn the sentiments of others, as well as communicate our sentiments to others in the same manner. Sometimes indeed, though both parties speak by turns, yet the advantage is only on one side; as, when a teacher and a learner meet and discourse together: but frequently the profit is mutual. Under this head of conversation we may also rank disputes of various kinds.

V. Meditation or study includes all those exercises of the mind whereby we render all the former methods useful for our increase in true knowledge and wisdom. It is by meditation we come to confirm our memory of things that pass through our thoughts in the occurrences of life, in our own experiences, and in the observations. we make it is by meditation that we draw various inferences, and establish in our minds general principles of knowledge. It is by meditation that we compare the various ideas which we derive from our senses, or from the operations of our souls, and join them in propositions.

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It is by meditation that we fix in our memory whatsoever we learn, and form our judgment of the truth or falsehood, the strength or weakness, of what others speak or write. It is meditation or study that draws out long chains of argument, and searches and finds deep and difficult truths which before lay concealed in darkness.

It would be a needless thing to prove that our own solitary meditations, together with the few observations that the most part of mankind are capable of making, are not sufficient of themselves to lead us into the attainment of any considerable proportion of knowledge, at least in an age so much improved as ours is, without the assistance of conversation and reading, and other proper instructions that are to be attained in our days. Yet each of these five methods have their peculiar advantages, whereby they assist each other; and their peculiar defects, which have need to be supplied by the others' assistance. Let us trace over some of the particular advantages of each.

I. One method of improving the mind is observation, and the advantages of it are these.

1. It is owing to observation that our mind is furnished with the first, simple and complex ideas. It is this lays the ground-work and foundation of all knowledge, and makes us capable of using any of the other methods for improving the mind; for if we did not attain a variety of sensible and intellectual ideas by the sensations o outward objects, by the consciousness of our own appetites and passions, pleasures and pains, and by inward experience of the actings of our own spirits, it would be

impossible for men or books to teach us any thing. It is observation that must give us our first ideas of things, as it includes in it sense and consciousness.

2. All our knowledge derived from observation, whether it be of single ideas or of propositions, is knowledge gotten at first hand. Hereby we see and know things as they are, or as they appear to us; we take the impressions of them on our minds from the original objects themselves, which give a clearer and stronger conception of things: these ideas are more lively, and the propositions (at least in many cases) are much more evident. Whereas what knowledge we derive from lectures, reading and conversation, is but the copy of other men's ideas, that is, the picture of a picture; and it is one remove further from the original.

3. Another advantage of observation is, that we may gain knowledge all the day long, and every moment of our lives, and every moment of our existence we may be adding something to our intellectual treasures thereby, except only while we are asleep; and even then the remembrance of our dreamings will teach us some truths, and lay a foundation for a better acquaintance with human nature both in the powers and in the frailties of it.

II. The next way of improving the mind is by reading, and the advantages of it are such as these.

1. By reading we acquaint ourselves in a very extensive manner with the affairs, actions and thoughts of the living and the dead, in the most remote nations and in most distant ages; and that with as much ease as though

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they lived in our own age and nation. By reading of books we may learn something from all parts of mankind; whereas by observation we learn all from our selves, and only what comes within our own direct cognizance; by conversation we can only enjoy the assistance of a very few persons, viz. those who are near us and live at the same time when we do, that is, our neighbours and contemporaries: but our knowledge is much more narrowed still, if we confine ourselves merely to our own solitary reasonings without much observation or reading for then all our improvement must arise only from our own inward powers, and meditations.

2. By reading we learn not only the actions and the sentiments of distant nations and ages, but we transfer to ourselves the knowledge and improvements of the most learned men, the wisest and the best of mankind, when or wheresoever they lived: for though many books have been written by weak and injudicious persons, yet the most of those books which have obtained great reputation in the world are the products of great and wise men in their several ages and nations: whereas we can obtain the conversation and instruction of those only who are within the reach of our dwelling, or our acquaintance, whether they are wise or unwise; and sometimes that narrow sphere scarce affords any person of great eminence in wisdom or learning, unless our instructor happen to have this character. And as for our own study and meditations, even when we arrive at some good degrees of learning, our advantage for further improvement in knowledge by them is still far more contracted than what we may derive from reading.

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3. When we read good authors we learn the best, the most laboured and most refined sentiments even of those wise and learned men; for they have studied hard, and have committed to writing their maturest thoughts, and the result of their long study and experience: whereas by conversation, and in some lectures, we obtain many times only the present thoughts of our tutors or friends, (which though they may be bright and useful) yet, at first perhaps may be sudden and indigested, and are mere hints which have risen to maturity.

4. It is another advantage of reading, that we may review what we have read; we may consult the page again and again, and meditate on it at successive seasons, in our serenest and retired hours, having the book always at hand: but what we obtain by conversation and in lectures is oftentimes lost again as soon as the company breaks up, or at least when the day vanishes; unless we happen to have the talent of a good memory, or quickly retire and note down what remarkables we have found in those discourses. And for the same reason, and for want of retiring and writing, many a learned man has lost several useful meditations of his own, and could never recal them again.

III. The advantages of verbal instructions by public or private lectures are these.

1. There is something more sprightly, more delightful and entertaining in the living discourse of a wise, learned, and well-qualified teacher than there is in the silent and sedentary practice of reading. The very turn of voice, the good pronunciation, and the polite and alluring manner

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