rickster, I recommend ye to the _Royal-Exchange_ and the Court End of
the Town; and if you would write a Poem in imitation of _Rochester_,
you need only go to the Hundreds of _Drury_, and you'll be
sufficiently furnish'd with laudable Themes.

But Converse at home falls infinitely short of Conversation abroad,
and the Advantages attending Travelling are so very great, that they
are not to be express'd; this finishes Education in the most effectual
manner, and enables a Man to speak and write on all Occasions with a
Grace and Perfection, no other way to be attain'd. The Travels of a
young Gentleman have not only the effect of transplation of
Vegetables, in respect to the encrease of Stature, but also the
Consequence of the most beautiful Pruning. How much the Gentlemen of
_Scotland_ owe their Capacities to Travelling, is very obvious, there
being no Person of Quality in that Kingdom but expends the greatest
part of his Fortune in other Countries, to reap the Benefit of it in
personal Accomplishments; and a greater Commendation than this to the
_Scots_ is, the bestowing the best of Literature upon all manner of
Youth educated amongst them.

Whilst the Men of Quality here very often neglect giving their
Children the common and necessary Learning, and too frequently entrust
their Education with lazy, ignorant, and incogitant Tutors, not to
mention the Supineness of Schoolmasters in general throughout
_England_; the _North-Britains_ labour in this Particular
indefatigably, as they are very sensible that Learning is the greatest
Honour of their Country, and the ancient _Britains_ come so near the
_Scots_, that amongst the common Persons, in some Parts of _Wales_,
you may meet with a Ploughman that speaks tollerable Latin, and a
Mason, like the famous _Ben Johnson_, with his _Horace_ and a Trowel.

The want of a generous Education is an irretrieveable Misfortune, and
the Negligence of an Inspector of the Literature of Youth ought to be
unpardonable; how many Persons of Distinction have curs'd their aged
Parents for not bestowing on them a liberal Education? And how many of
the Commonalty have regretted the mispending of the precious Time of
Youth? A Man arriv'd to Maturity has the Mortification of observing an
Inferior in Circumstances superior in Literature, and wants the
Satisfaction of giving a tollerable Reason for any Thing he says or
does, or in any respect to judge of the Excellency of others; and, in
my Opinion, a g