4i4 
as foon as he took poffeffion of his ma- 
ternal dominions, he difplayed a magni- 
ficence almoft incontiftent with the fmall- 
nefs of his income. His court, though 
naturally lefs numerous than thofe of 
‘Turin and Naples, could rival both in 
elegance and brilliancy. His army, con- 
fitting of no more than two regiments, 
was reckoned to be the moft elegant troops 
in Europe. His life-guards and fervants 
were on the fame footing with the power- 
ful monarchs of the Houfe of Bourbon. 
To his liberal fpirit it is owing that the 
Opera-houfe in Parma fhould be, next to 
Naples and Milan, the largeft theatre in 
Italy, and fuperior to any in the quality 
of the materials and in the elegance of its 
form. ~The beautiful and elegant gar- 
den of Colorno, although lefs large than 
many villas in Rome and Florence, had 
no rival in tafte and architeéture, and was 
jufily called the Marly of Italy; and to 
complete his munificence, he was the firft 
who fet to the Italian princes the example 
of appointing at court a Poet Laureat, 
by calling to Parma the celebrated Abbé 
Frugoni, who upon his part could juftly 
fay, in one of his odes : 
Sono in Parma, ove ho Ia forte 
Di fervir la regal corte, 
Che in due principi rinferra 
Quanto v’é di grande in terra! 
It was certainly an important advan- 
tage for the Infant Don Ferdinando to be 
fon of fuch afather. There was a pro- 
fpeé& that his education fhould be as liberal 
and generous as that of any prince in Eu- 
rope: and really he was, in this refpect, 
the moft fortunate Prince in this century, 
and fome might ftill make it a queftion, 
whether any (except Alexander the Great) 
had ever fuch a preceptor! He was 
{carcely feven years of age when he was 
entrufted to the infiruétions of the Abbé 
Etienne Bonnot de Condillac, the greateft 
-metaphyfician of his age, and the only 
man who had repaired the honour of the 
continent, which, until his time, had no 
ore to oppofe to Locke. We fhall men- 
tion foon after,-that the young Prince 
was rathér unfortunate under the direction 
of Mr. de Condillac. But when we con- 
fider that this great philofopher availed 
himfelf of the opportunity to publifh 
his excellent Cours d’ Etudes, a work which 
has, perhaps, made inthe human mind 
a greater revolution than any of the kind, 
we cannot help thinking that the Princes 
of Parma are, by fuch an eleétion, en- 
titled to the higheft gratitude from all 
ynankinds 
Memoirs of the Duke of Parma. - 
[June r 
We have from Condillae himfelf fome 
very interefting notices on the difpofitions 
in the mind and the heart of his pupil, as 
well as upon the method which he adopted 
for his education. Although thefe no- 
tices are fcattered through feveral parts 
of his works, we fhall combine them 
here in due order; as we are convinced 
that they will give a better idea of the 
education and character of the young 
Prince, than any account of our own. 
‘* Tt is,’ fays the philofopher, ‘‘ @ preju- 
dice in all children to believe that things 
have always been what they are at prefent 
my pupil, therefore, fuppofed that man- 
ners, cuftoms, opinions and arts, had al- 
ways been the fame; upon being made fen- 
fible of the variations, he foon became cu- 
rious to know what they had been in their 
origin and progrefs. He occupied him- 
felf with fuch difquifitions when he 
ftudied with me, and in the very time of 
his recreations he made it an amufement 
to imitate the induftry of the primitive 
men, and to treat the progrefs of the arts 
as diverftons for his infancy. It was at 
that time Mr. Keralio gave him a fhort 
courfe of agriculture, in the garden con- 
tiguous to his apartment. My pupil © 
ploughed his field, fewed corn, and reaped 
his harveft; foon after he fewed other 
grains, and planted trees of feveral kinds. 
—< We charge young children with 
being incapable of realoning, only becaufe 
we do not know how to place ourfelves 
within their reach: our ignorance is the 
true caufe of their incapacity. Being 
convinced of this truth, I thought that 
my pupil would eafily underftand me, if, 
by inducing him to reflect on fome ideas 
which were familiar to him, I could make 
him remark by what feries of reafonings 
he had acquired them. For ‘the purpofe 
of carrying my plan into execution, I felt I 
ought to approximate to my pupil—TI ought 
to be a child rather than an inftrudior. 
I allowed him to play, and I played with 
him ; and in the mean while I made him 
remark every thing -he did, and by what 
means he had Jearned todo it. My pupil 
was by this means acquainted with the 
mechanifm of his underitanding: he un- 
derftood the generation of his ideas : hefaw 
the rife and progrefs of his habits. After 
fetting him to refle&t on the infancy of 
mankind, i thought the hifiory of it would 
prove curious and eafy to him. The 
work of Goguet, publifhed fome months 
before, was the beft book for my purpote. 
The time being now arrived when civil focie- 
ties, fecure of their fubfiltence, fought for 
greater conveniency and enjoyments of life, 
ws 
_ 
