CONTENTS.

PART I.

THE Introduction

Chap. I.

General rules for the improvement of know-

ledge
Chap. II. Five methods of improving, described and com-
pared, viz. observation, reading, instruction by lectures,
conversation, and study, with their several advantages
and defects

Chap. III.
mind

Of observation, either by the senses or the

Chap. IV. Of reading and books, with directions relating

Chap. V. The judgment of books, both approbation and

Chap. VI. Of living instructions and lectures, of teachers

and learners

45

Chap. VII. Of learning a language, particularly the Latin 61
b

Page

Chap. VIII. Of inquiring into the sense and meaning of

69

any writer or speaker, whether human or divine
Chap. IX. Of conversation and profiting by it, and of per-

sons fit or unfit for free converse

Chap. X. Of disputes, and general rules relating to them.
Chap. XI. Of Socratical disputation, by question and an-

102

Chap. XII. Of forensic disputes, in courts of justice or pub-
lic assemblies
Chap. XIII. Of academic or scholastic disputes, and the
rules of them, and how far they may be useful
Chap. XIV. Of study, or meditation, and the final deter-
mination of things by our own judgment

Chap. XV. Of fixing the attention

104

. 114

125

. 128

Chap. XVI. Of enlarging the capacity of the mind
Chap. XVII.
Of the memory, and the improvement

thereof
Chap. XVIII. Of determining a question; several cautions
about it; of reason and revelation; of argument and
ridicule; of assent only in proportion to evidence, &c. . 166
Chap. XIX. Of inquiring into causes and effects
Chap. XX. Of the sciences, and their use in particular pro-

Chap. I. Methods of teaching, and reading lectures
Chap. II. Of an instructive style

Chap. VII. Of writing books for the public

Chap. VIII. Of writing and reading controversies

A discourse on the education of children

Remnants of time employed in prose and verse, &c. &c.

265

. 269

. 275

359

THE

IMPROVEMENT

OF

THE MIND.

THE FIRST PART.

DIRECTIONS FOR THE ATTAINMENT OF USEFUL KNOW

LEDGE.

INTRODUCTION.

NO man is obliged to learn and know every thing; this can neither be sought nor required, for it is utterly impossible: yet all persons are under some obligation to improve their own understanding; otherwise it will be a barren desert, or a forest overgrown with weeds and brambles. Universal ignorance or infinite errors will overspread the mind, which is utterly neglected, and lies without any cultivation.

Skill in the sciences is indeed the business and profession but of a small part of mankind; but there are many others placed in such an exalted rank in the world, as allows them much leisure and large opportunities to cultivate their reason, and to beautify and enrich their minds with various knowledge. Even the lower orders of men have particular callings in life, wherein they ought to acquire a just degree of skill; and this is not to be done well without thinking and reasoning about them.

B