EDUCATION. 



POIET. I am sorry to say I think the 

 system carried too far in England. God 

 forbid that any useful light should be extin- 

 guished ! Let persons who wish for educa- 

 tion receive it; but it appears to me that, 

 in the great cities in England, it is, as it 

 were, forced upon the population ; and that 

 sciences, which the lower classes can only 

 very superficially acquire, are presented to 

 them; in consequence of which they often 

 become idle and conceited, and above their 

 usual laborious occupations. The unripe 

 fruit of the tree of knowledge is, I believe, 

 always bitter or sour; and scepticism and 

 discontent sickness of the mind are often 

 the results of devouring it. 



HAL.Surely you cannot have a more 

 religious, moral, or more improved popula- 

 tion than that of Scotland ? 



POIET. Precisely so. In Scotland, edu- 

 cation is not forced upon the people it is 

 sought for, and it is connected with their 

 forms of faith, acquired in the bosoms of 

 their families, and generally pursued with a 

 distinct object of prudence or interest : nor 



