for whatever
may be said of a great genius, and natural endowments, there is
certainly no real distinction between the _soul_ of the man of _wit_
and the _ideot_; and that disproportion, which we are apt to behold
with so much wonder, is only in fact occasioned by some or other of
those innumerable and hidden accidents, which from our first coming
into the world, in a more or less degree, have, an effect upon the
organs of sense; and they being the sole canals through which the
spirit shews itself, according as they happen to be extended,
contracted, or obstructed, the man must infallibly appear.

CHAP. II.

Contains some proofs by what swift degrees the passions gain an
ascendant over the mind, and grow up in proportion with our reason.

Natura had no sooner quitted the nursery, than he was put under the
direction of the school, to which at first he was every day conducted
either by a man or maid-servant; but when thought big enough to be
trusted alone, would frequently play the truant, for which he
generally received the discipline necessary on such occasions.--He
took his learning notwithstanding as well as could be expected;--he
had read the testament through at five years old, about seven was put
into Latin, and began the rudiments of Greek before he had attained
the age of nine.

As his understanding increased, the passions became stronger in
proportion: and here is to be observed the wonderful wisdom of nature,
or rather of the Great Author of nature, in the formation of the human
system, that the passions given to us, especially those of the worst
sort, are, for the most part, such opposites, that the one is a
sufficient check upon the other.--The _pride_ of treating those
beneath us with contempt, is restrained by the _fear_ of meeting the
same usage from those above us.--A _sordid covetousness_ is controlled
by _ostentation_.--_Sloth_ is roused by _ambition_, and so of the
rest.--I have been told that when Natura, by the enticements of his
companions, and his own eagerness to pursue the sports suitable to his
years, had been drawn in to neglect his studies, he had often ran home
on a sudden, and denied himself both food and sleep, till he had not
only finished the task assigned him by his school-master, but also
exceeded what was expected from him, instigated by the ambition of
praise, and hope of being removed to a higher form.--But at other
times again his love of play has rendered him tota