alike prone to difcharge their fury upon all who diffent from them. Cruelty and ambition being the darling vices of priefts and churchmen all the world over, they endeavor in all countries to get an afcendant over the reft of mankind; and the magiftrate having a joint intereft with the prieft in fubduing, amufing, and fearing the people, too often lends a hand to the hierarchy; who never think their authority and pofleflions fee ure, fo long as thofe who differ from them in opinion are allowed to partake even in the common rights belonging to their birth or fpecies.
To reprefent the matter in a true light, figure to yourfelves a monfter or fpe&re made up of fuperftition and enthufiafm, the joint iflue of flatecraft and prieftcraft, rattling chains in one hand, and with the other brandifhing a flaming fword over the land, and menacing definition to all whofhalldare to follow the dictates of reafon and common fenfe. Do but confider this, and then fay if there was not danger as well as difficulty in our undertaking. Yet, fuch is the generous ardour that truth infpires, our free-thinkers are neither overcome by the one, nor daunted by the other. In fpite of both we have already made fo many profelytes among the better fort, and their numbers increafe fo faft, that we hope we fhall be able to carry all before us, beat down the bulwarks of tyranny, fecular or ecclefiaftical, break the fetters and chains of our countrymen, and reflore the original inherent rights, liberties, and prerogatives of mankind.
Euphmnor heard this difcourfe with his mouth open and his eyes fixed upon Alciphron> who, having uttered it with no fmall emotion, flopt to draw breath and recover himfelf: But finding that no body made anfwer, he returned the thread of his difcourfe, and turning to Euphranor fpoke in a lower note what follows. The more innocent and honeft a man is, the more liable is he to be impofed on by the fpecious pretences of other men. You have probably met with certain writings of our divines that treat of grace, virtue, goodnefs, and fuch matters, fit to amufe and deceive a fimple honeft mind. But believe me when I tell you [Dial. I] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 23 they are all at bottom (however they may gild their defigns) united by one common principle in the fame intereft. I will not deny there may be here and there a poor half-witted man that means no raifchief; but this I will be bold to fay, that all the men of fenfe among them are true at bottom to thcfe three purfuits of ambition, avarice, and revenge.
IV. While Akiphroti was fpeaking, a fervant came to tell him and Lyficles> that fome men who were going to London waited to receive their orders. Whereupon they both rofe and went towards the houfe. They were no fooner gone, but Euphranor addreiling himfelf to Crito faid, he believed that poor gentleman had been a great fufFerer for his free-thinking: for that he feemed to exprefs himfelf with the paflion and refentment natural to men who have received very bad ufage. I believe no fuch thing, anfwered Crito9 but have often obferved thofe of his feci: run into two faults of converfation, declaiming and bantering, juft as the tragic or the comic humor prevails. Sometimes they work themfelves into high paffions, and are frightened at ipe6tres of their own raifing. In thofe fits every country-curate pafies for an inquifitor. At other times they affect a fly facetious manner making ufe of hints and allufions, expreffing little, infinuating much, and upon the whole feeming to divert themfelves with the fubje£r, and their adverfaries. But if you would know their opinions, you muft make them fpeak out and keep clofe to the point. Perfecution for free-thinking is a topic they are apt to enlarge on, though without any juft caufe, every one being at full liberty to think what he pleafes, there being no fuch thing in England that I know as perfecution for opinion, fentiment, or thought. But in every country, I fuppofc, fome care is taken to reftrain petulant fpeech: and, whatever men's inward thoughts may be, to difcourage an outward contempt of what the public clleemeth facred. Whether this care in E>;gL>id hath of late been fo excefTive, as to diilrefs the fubjecls of this once free and eafy government: whether the free-thinkers can truly complain of any hafdfhip upon the fcore of confeience or opinion: you will better be able to judge, when you hear from themfelves an account of the numbers, progrefs, and notions of their feci: which I doubt not they will communicate fully and freely, provided no body prefent feems fhocked or offended. For in that cafe it is pofTible good manners may put them upon fome referve. Oh! faid Euphranor, I am never angry with any man for his opinion: whether he be Jew, Turk, or Idolater, he may fpeak his mind freely to me without fear of offending. I mould even be glad to hear what he hath to fay, provided he faith it in an ingenuous candid manner. Whoever digs in the mine of truth, I look on as my fellow-laborer: but if, while I am taking true pains, he diverts himfelf with teizing me and flinging dull in mine eyes, I (hall foon be tired of him.
V. In the mean time Aldphron and Lyficles having difpatched what they went about, returned to us. Lyficles fat down where he had been before. But Alciphron flood over-againfl us, with his arms folded acrofs, and his head reclined on the left moulder in the poflure of a man meditating. We fat filent not to diilurb his thoughts; and after two or three minutes he uttered thofe words, Oh truth! Oh liberty! after which he remained mufmg as before. Upon this Euphranor took the freedom to interrupt him. Alciphron, faid he, it is not fair to fpend your time in foliloquies. The cenverfation of learned and knowing men is rarely to be met with in this corner, and the opportunity you have put into my hands I value too much, not to make the beft ufe of it.
Alc— Are you then in earned a votary of truth, and is it pollible that you mould be:u* the liberty of a fair inquiry?
Euph. — It is what I defire of ail things, [Dial. I] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 25 Alc. — What! upon every fubjeft? upon the notions which you firft fucked in with your milk, and which have been ever fince nurfed by parents, paftors, tutors, religious aflemblies, books of devotion, and fuch methods of prepoiTefiing men's minds?
Euph. — I love information upon all fubjects that come in my way, and efpecially upon thofe that are moil important.
Alc. — If then you are in earneft, hold fair and (land firm, while I probe your prejudices and extirpate your principles.
Dum veteres avias tibi de pulmoiie revello.
Having faid thus, Alciphron knit his brows and made a fhort paufe, after which he proceeded in the following manner. If we are at the pains to dive and penetrate into the bottom of things, and analyfe opinions into their firft principles, we fhall find that thofe opinions, which are thought of greateft confequence, have the flighted original, being derived either from the cafual cuftoms of the country where we live, or from early inftru£tion inftlMed into our tender minds, before we are able to difcern between right and wrong, true and falfe. The vulgar (by whom I underfland all thofe who do not make a free ufe of their reafon) are apt to take thefe prejudices for things facred and unqueftionable, believing them to be imprinted on the hearts of men by God himfelf, or conveyed by revelation from heaven, or to carry with them fo great light and evidence as muft force an allent without any inquiry or examination. Thus the fhallow vulgar have their heads furnifhed with fundry conceits, principles, and doctrines, religious, moral, and political, all which they maintain with a zeal proportionable to their want of reafon. On the other hand, thofe who duly employ their faculties in the fearch of truth, take efpecial care to weed out of their minds and extirpate all fuch notions or prejudices as were planted in them, before they arrived at the free and intire ufe of reafon. This difficult talk hath been fuccefsfu!'
D performed by our modern free-thinkers, who have not only difiecled with great fagacity the received fyftems, and traced every eftabliihed prejudice to the fountain head, the true and genuine motives of aflent: But alfo, being able to embrace in one comprehenfive view the feveral parts and ages of the world, they have obferved a wonderful variety of cuftoms and rites, of inftitutions, religious and civil, of notions and opinions very unlike and even contrary one to another: A certain fign they cannot all be true. And yet they are all maintained by their feveral partizans with the fame pofitive air and warm zeal; and if examined will be found to bottom on one and the fame foundation, the flrength of prejudice. By the help of thefe remarks and difcoveries, they have broke through the bands of popular euftom, and having freed themfelves from impofture, do now generoufly lend a hand to their fellow-fubjecl:s, to lead them into the fame paths of light and liberty. Thus, gentlemen, I have given you a fummary account of the views and endeavors of thofe men who are called free-thinkers. If <tn the courfe of what I have faid or mall fay hereafter, there be fome things contrary to your pre-conceived opinions, and therefore (hocking and difagreeable, you will pardon the freedom and plainnefs of a philofopher; and confider that, whatever difpleafure I give you of that kind, I do it in flri£t regard to truth and obedience to your own commands. I am very fenfible, that eyes long kept in the dark, cannot bear a fudden view of noon day light, but mull be brought to it by degrees. It is for this reafon, the ingenious gentlemen of our profeffion are accuftonied to proceed gradually, beginning with thofe prejudices to which men have the lead attachment, and thence proceeding to undermine the reft by flow and infenfibie degrees, till they have demolifhed the whole fabric of human folly and fuperftition. But the little time I can propofe to fpend here obligeth me to take a fhorter courfe, and be more direcl: and plain than poffibiy maybe thought to fuit with prudence and good manners. Upon this, we [Dial. L] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 27 affured him he was at full liberty to fpeak his mind of things, perfons, and opinions without the leaft referve. It is a liberty, replied Alciphron, that we free-thinkers are equally willing to give and take. We love to call things by their right names, and cannot endure that truth mould fuffer through complaifance. Let us therefore lay it down for a preliminary, that no offence be taken at any thing, whatfoever (hall be faid on either fide. To which we all agreed.
VI. In order then, faid Alciphron, to find out the truth, we will fuppofe that I am bred up, for inilance, in the Church of England: When I come to maturity of judgment, and reflecl: on the particular worfhip and opinions of this Church, I do not remember when or by what means they firft took pofleflion of my mind, but there I find them from time immemorial. Then calling an eye on the education of children, from whence I can make a judgment of my own, I obferve they are inftru£ted in religious matters before they can reafon about them, and confequently that all fuch inftru£tion is nothing elfe but filling the tender mind of a child with prejudices. — I do therefore reject all thofe religious notions, which I confider as the other follies of my childhood. I am confirmed in this way of thinking, when I look abroad into the world, where I obferve Papifts and feveral fe&s of diffenters, which do all agree in a general profeffion of belief in Chrift, but differ vaftly one from another in the particulars of faith and worfhip. I then enlarge my view fo as to take in Jews and Mahometans, between whom and the Chriftians I perceive indeed fome fmall agreement in the belief of one God; but then they have each their diftincl: laws and revelations, for which they exprefs the fame regard. But extending my view ftill farther to heathenifh and idolatrous nations, I difcover an endlefs variety, not only in particular opinions and modes of worfhip, but even in the very notion of a Deity, wherein they 28 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. 1.1 widely differ one from another, and from all the forementioned fe&s. Upon the whole, inftead of truth fimple and uniform, I perceive nothing but difcord, opposition, and wild pretenfions, all fpringing from the fame fource, to wit, the prejudice of education. From fuch reafonings and reflexions as thefe, thinking men have concluded that all religions are alike falfe and fabulous. One is a Chriftian, another a Jew, • a third a Mahometan, a fourth an idolatrous Gentile, but ail from one and the fame reafon, becaufe they happen to be bred up each in his refpective feci:. In the fame manner, therefore, as each of thefe contending parties condemns the reft, fo an unprejudiced ftander-by will condemn and rejecl: them all together, obferving that they all draw their origin from the fame fallacious principle, and are carried on by the fame artifice, to anfwer the fame ends of the prieft and the magiftrate.
VII. EttPH.*— You hold then that the magiftrate concurs with the prieft in impofing on the people?
Alc. — I do, and fo mult every one who considers things in a true light. For you muft know, the magiftrate's principal aim is to keep the people under him in awe. Now the public eye reftrains men from open offences againft the laws and government. But to prevent fecret tranfgreffions, a magiftrate finds it expedient that men fhould believe there is an eye of Providence watching over their private actions and defigns. And, to intimidate thofe who might other wife be drawn into crimes by the profpe£t. of pleafure and profit, he gives them to underftand, that whoever efcapes punifhment in this life will be fure to find it in the next -, and that fo heavy and lafi> ing as infinitely to over-balance the pleafure and profit accruing from his crimes. Hence the belief of a God, the immortality of the foul, and a future ftate of rewards and punifhments, have been efteemed ufeful engines of government. And to the end that thefe notional airy doctrines Pial. L] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 29 might make a fenfible impreffion, and be retained on the minds of men, fkillful rulers have in the feveral civilized nations of the earth devifed temples, facrifices, churches, rites, ceremonies, habits, mufic, prayer, preaching, and the like fpiritual trumpery, whereby the prieft maketh temporal gains, and the magiftrate findeth his account in frightening and fubduing the people. This is the original of the combination between church and date, of religion by law eftablifhed, of rights, immunities, and incomes of priefts all over the world: There being no government but would have you fear God, that you may honor the king or civil power. And you will ever obferve that politic princes keep up a good underftanding with their clergy, to the end that they in return, by inculcating religion and loyalty in the minds of the people, may render them tame, timorous and flavifh.
Crito and I heard this difcourfe of Alc'iphron with the utmoft attention, though without any appearance of furprife, there being indeed nothing in it to us new and unexpected. But Euphranor who had never before been prefent at fuch converfation, could not help mewing fome aftonifhment \ which Lyficles obferving, afked him with a lively air, how he liked Alciphroiis lecture. It is, faid he, the firft I believe that you ever heard of the kind, and requireft a flrong ftomach to digeft it.
Euph. — I will own to you, that my digeftion is none of the quickeft; but it hath fometimes, by degrees, been able to mailer things which at firft appeared indigeftible. At prefent I admire the free fpirit and eloquence of Alciphron *, but, to fpeak the truth, I am rather aftonilhed, than convinced of the truth of his opinions. How, (faid he, turning to Alciphron) is it then poflible you mould not believe the being of a God?
Alc — To be plain with you, I do not.
VIII. But this is what I forefaw, a flood of light let in at once upon the mind being apt to dazzle and diforder* 3<5 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. I.]
rather than enlighten it. Was I not pinched in time, the regular way would be to have begun with the circumftantials of religion, next to have attacked the myfteries of chriftianity, after that proceeded to the practical doctrines, and in the laft place to have extirpated that which of all other religious prejudices, being the firft taught, and bafis of the reft, hath taken the deepeft root in our minds, I mean, the belief of a God. I do not wonder it flicks with you, having known feveral very ingenious men who found it difficult to free themfelves from this prejudice., Euph. — All men have not the fame alacrity and vigor in thinking: For my own part, I find it a hard matter to keep pace with you.
Alc. — To help you, I will go a little way back, and refume the thread of my reafoning. Firft I muft acquaint you, that having applied my mind to contemplate the idea of truth, I difcovered it to be of a ftable permanent, and uniform nature; not various and changeable, like modes or fafhions, and things depending on fancy. In the next place, having obferved feveral fe£ts, and fubdivifions of fe&s, efpoufing very different and contrary opinions, and yet all profeffing chriftianity, I rejected thofe points wherein they differed, retaining only that which was agreed to by all, and fo became a Latitudinarian. Having afterwards, upon a more enlarged view of things, perceived that chriftians, Jews, and Mahometans had each their different fyftems of faith, agreeing only in the belief of one God, I became a Deifi. Laftly, extending my view to all the various nations which inhabit this globe, and finding they agreed in no one point of faith, but differed one from another, as well as from the forementioned feels, even in the notion of a God, in which there is as great diverfity as in the methods of worfhip, I thereupon became an Atheijl; it being my opinion, that a man of courage and fenfe mould follow. his argument wherever it leads him, and that nothing is more ridiculous than to be a free-thinker by halves. I approve the man who makes thorough work, and, not content with lopping off the branches, extirpates the very root from which they fprung.
IX. Atheifm therefore, that bugbear of women and fools, is the very top and perfection of free-thinking. It is the grand Arcanum to which a true genius naturally rifeth, by a certain climax or gradation of thought, and without which he can never poffefs his foul in abfolute liberty and repofe. For your thorough conviction in this main article, do but examine the notion of a God with the fame freedom that you would other prejudices. Trace it to the fountain-head, and you {hall not find that you had it by any of your fenfes, the only true means of difcovering what is real and fubftantial in nature. You will find it lying amongft other old lumber in fome obfcure corner of the imagination, the proper receptacle of vifions, fancies, and prejudices of all kinds: And if you are more attached to this than the reft, it is only becaufe it is the oldefl. This is all, take my word for it, and not mine only, but that or many more the moft ingenious men of the age, who, I can affure you, think as I do on the fubje£r. of a Deity. Though fome of them hold it proper to proceed with more referve in declaring to the world their opinion in this particular, than in moft others. And it muft be owned, there are flill too many in England who retain a foolifh prejudice againft the name of Atheift. But it lefTens every day among the better fort; and when it is quite worn out, our free-thinkers may then, (and not till then) be faid to have given the finifhing ftroke to religion; it being evident that fo long as the exiftence of God is believed, religion muft fubfift in fome fhape or other. But the root being once plucked up, the fcions which fhot from it will of courfe wither and decay. Such are all thofe whimfical notions of confcience, duty, principle, and the like, which fill a man's head with fcruples, awe him with fears, and make him a more thorough Have than the horfe he rides. A man had better a thoufand times be hunted by bailiffs or 3* MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. I.]
meflengers than haunted by thefe fpectres, which embarafs arid embitter all his pleafures, creating the moll real and fore fervitude upon earth. But the free-thinker, with a vigorous flight of thought breaks through thofe airyfpringes, and afTerts his original independency. Others indeed may talk, and write, and fight about liberty, and make an outward pretence to it, but the free-thinker alone is truly free.
Alciphron having ended this difcourfe with an air of triumph, Euphranor fpoke to him in the following manner. You make clear work. The gentlemen of your profeiTion are, it feems, admirable weeders. You have rooted up a world of notions, I mould be glad to fee what fine things you have planted in their (lead.
Alc. — Have patience, good Euphranor^ I will (hew you in the firft place, that whatever was found and good we leave untouched, and encourage it to grow in the mind of man. And fecondly, I will fhew you what excellent things we have planted in it. You muft know then, that purfuing our clofe and fevere fcrutiny, we do at laft arrive at fomething folid and real, in which all mankind agree, to wit, the appetites, paflions, and fenfes: Thefe are founded in nature, are real, have real objects, and are attended with real and fubftantial pleafures: food, drink, fleep, - and the like animal enjoyments, being what all men like and love. And if we extend our view to the other kinds of animals, we mail find them all agree in this, that they have certain natural appetites and fenfes, in the gratifying and fatisfying of which they are conflantly employed. Now thefe real natural good things which include nothing of notion or fancy, we are fo far from deftroying, that we do all we can tp cherifh and improve them. According to us, every wife man looks upon himfelf, or his own bodily exiftence in this prefent world, as the centre and ultimate end of all his actions and regards. He confiders his appetites as natural guides directing to his proper good, his paflions and [Dial. I] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 33 fenfcs as the natural true means of enjoying this good.-— Hence he endeavors to keep his appetites in high relifh, his paflions and fenfes ftrong and lively, and to provide the greateft quantity and variety of real objects fuited to them, which he ftudieth to enjoy by all poffible means, and in the higheft perfection imaginable. And the man who can do this without reftraint, remorfe or fear, is as happy as any other animal whatsoever, or as his nature is capable of being. Thus I have given you a fuccincl: view of the principles, difcoveries, and tenets of the felecl: fpirits o£ this enlightened age.
X. Crito remarked, that Alciphron had fpoke his mind, with great clearnefs. Yes, replied Euphranor^ we are obliged to the gentleman, for letting us at once into the tenets of his feci:. But, if I may be allowed to fpeak my mind, Alciphron^ though in compliance with my own requeft, hath given me no fmall uneafinefs. You need, faid Alciphroriy make no apology for fpeaking freely what you think, to one who profefleth himfelf a free-thinker. I Ihould be forry to make one, whom I meant to oblige, uneafy. Pray let me know wherein I have offended. I am half alhamed, replied Euphranor, to own that I, who am no great genius, have a weaknefs incidental to little ones. I would fay, that I have favorite opinions, which you reprefent to be errors and prejudices. For inftance, the immortality of the foul is a notion I am fond of, as what fupports the mind with a very pleafing profpccl:.— — And if it be an error, I fhould perhaps be of Tullfs mind, who, in that cafe, profefTed he fhould be forry to know the truth, acknowledging no fort of obligation to certain philofophers in his days, who taught, that the foul of man was mortal. They were, it feems, predecefTors to thofe who are now called free-thinkers j which name being too general and indefinite, inafmuch as it comprehends all thofe who think for thcmfelves, whether they agree vbl E E opinion with thefe gentlemen or no, it mould not feem amifs to affign them a fpecific appellation, or peculiar name, whereby to diftinguifh them from other philofophers, at leaft in our prefent conference. For I cannot bear to argue againfl free-thinking and free- thinkers v Alc. — In the eye of a wife man, words are of fmall moment. We do not think truth attached to a name.
Euph. — If you pleafe then, io avoid confufion, let us call your feci: by the fame name that Tully (who underftood the force of language) beftowed upon them.
Alc— With all my heart. Pray what may that name be?
Eupk. — Why, he calls them Minute Philofophers. Right, faid CritOy the modern free-thinkers are the very fame with thofe Cicero called Minute Philofophers, which name admirably fuits them, they being a fort of feci: which diminifh all the mod valuable things, the thoughts, views, and hopes of men: all the knowledge, notions, and theories of the mind, they reduce to fenfe; human nature they contrad! and degrade to the narrow low ftandard of animal life, and affign us only a fmall pittance of time, inftead of immortality.
Alciphrcn very gravely remarked, that the gentlemen of his feci had done no injury to man; and that if he be a little fhort-lived, contemptible animal, it was not their faying it made him fo: And they were no more to blame for whatever defects they difcover, than a faithful glafs for making the wrinkles which it only fhews. As to what you obferve, faid he, of thofe we now call free-thinkers, having been anciently termed Minute Philofophers^ it is my opinion, this appellation might be derived from their confidcring things minutely, and not fwallowing them in the grofs, as other men are ufed to do. Befides, we all know, the bed eyes are necefTary to difcern the minuted objects: It feems, therefore, that Minute Philofophers might have been fo called, from their diftinguilhed perfpi<-cacity.
[Dial. L] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 35 Euph. — O Alciphron! thefe Minute Philofophers (fince that is their true name) are a fort of pirates, who plunder all that come in their way. I confider myfelf as a man left ftript and defolate on a bleak beach.
XL But who are the profound and learned men, that of late years have demolifhed the whole fabric, which lawgivers, philofophers, and divines, had been erecting for fo many ages? Lyficles hearing thefe words, fmiled, and faid, he believed Euphranor had figured to himfelf philofophers in fquare caps and long gowns; but, thanks to thefe happy times, the reign of pedantry was over. Our philofophers, faid he, are of a very different kind from thofe aukward ftudents, who think to come at knowledge by p. uring on dead languages, and old authors, or by fequeftring themfelves from the cares of the world, to meditate in folitude and retirement. They are the belt bred men of the age, men who know the world, men of pleafure, men of fafliion, and fine gentlemen.
Euph. — I have fome fmall notion of the people you mention, but fhould never have taken them for philofophers.
Cri.— Nor would any one elfe till of late. The world, it feems, was long under a miftake about the way to knowledge, thinking it lay through a tedious courfe of academical education and ftudy. But among the difcoveries of the prefent age, one of the principal is, the finding out that fuch a method doth rather retard and obftrucT:, than promote knowledge.
Alc. — Academical ftudy may be comprifed in two points, reading and meditation. Their reading is chiefly employed on ancient authors in dead languages: fo that a great part of their time is fpent in learning words; which, when they have mattered with infinite pains, what do they get by it, but old and obfolete notions, that are now quite exploded and out of ufe? then, as to their meditations, $6 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. IJ what can they poflibly be good for? he that wants the proper materials of thought, may think and meditate for ever to no purpofe: Thofe cobwebs, fpun by fcholars, out of their own brains, being alike unferviceable, either for ufe or ornament. Proper ideas, or materials, are only to be got by frequenting good company. I know feveral gentlemen, who, fince their appearance in the world, have fpentas much time in rubbing off the ruft and pedantry of a college education, as they had done before in acquiring it.
Lys. — I'll undertake, a lad of fourteen, bred in the modern way, mall make a better figure, and be more confidered in any drawing room, or aflembly of polite people, than one of four and twenty, who hath lain by a long time at fchool and college. He mail fay better things, in a better manner, and be more liked by good judges.
Euph. — Where doth he pick up all this improvement?
Cri. — Where our grave anceftors would never have looked for it, in a drawing room, a coffee houfe, a chocolate houfe, at the tavern, or groom porter's. In thefe, and the like fafhionable places of refort, it is the cuftom for polite perfons to fpeak freely on all fubjects, religious, moral, or political. So that a young gentleman, who frequents them, is in the way of hearing many inftru&ive lectures, feafoned with wit and raillery, and uttered with fpirit. Three orfourfentences, from a man of quality, fpoke with a good air, make more impreflion, and convey more knowledge, than a dozen difiertations, in a dry academical way.
Euph. — There is then no method, or cpurfe of ftudies, in thofe places.
Lys. — None but an eafy free converfation, which takes in every thing that offers, without any rule or defign.
Euph. — I always thought that fome order was neceffary to attain any ufeful degree of knowledge; that hafte and confuflon begat a conceited ignorance •, that to make our advances fure, they mould be gradual, and thofe Dial. L3 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 37 points firft learned, which might caft a light on what was to follow.
Alc— So long as learning was to be obtained only by that flow, formal courfe of ftudy, few of the better fort knew much of it; but now it is grown an amufement, our young gentry and nobility imbibe it infenfibly, amidft their diverfions, and make a confiderable progrefs.