Many Reasons prove the Necessity of good Education for People of this Class. In a Society of Men, suppose a Coffee-house, we see a promiscuous Croud of Gentlemen and Men of Trade; in an Assembly of Women, we see mixed with the Gentry, not only the Wife of the Merchant, but that of the Brewer, the Distiller, the Druggist, and the Draper; and it is highly necessary that these should have such Education, and their Manners so regulated, as will make them fit Company for those. But there are more weighty Reasons yet. Every Man conversant in Life, must have observed, not only the many calamitous Falls from high to low; but also the frequent Progressions from low to high; and where these Advancements are the Fruits of honest Industry, I rejoice with them in their Success. A Citizen grown rich by Trade, resolves to approach to the Gentry; and his first Advance is usually to the Center of the Town. Here for a while he sits down, and with sweet Content enjoys the Fruit of his past Labours; but perhaps it is only for a while; the Heart of Man is restless, and he burns to taste the Manners of the Court: thus he flies to St. _James_’s _Square_, _Grosvenor Square_, _Berkley Square_, or one of the surrounding Streets; thus the Son gets a Post, and the Daughter marries a Lord; and thus the next Generation or two reaches the Summit of Grandeur and Honour. If things are so, and daily Experience proves they are, is it not highly necessary to set out with a good Education? most certainly. Still it should be a suitable one. A Man of Trade may be qualified to keep his Betters Company, without vainly aspiring to be like them; for that would be rendering him unfit for the very Trade he is engaged in. Every Man may and ought to look forward; but if every Man anxiously dwells on future Greatness, and continually dreams of Posts, Titles, and Palaces, it is the certain Way never to reach them: for tho’ the Advancements just pointed out are, I think, literally true, yet are the Instances but few in comparison with the whole. Therefore the Business of Parents is, to give their Children first a just Sense of their present Station; then to guide their Education, and regulate their Manners accordingly; that done, leave the rest to Providence. I hope this Reasoning upon the close Connection of Gentry and Trade is clear and express; and proves what I advanced, that they are not to be wholly separated. Whence it appears, that the Education both of Boys and Girls of this Class must in general be like that of the preceding. Still some Judgment, Prudence, and Self-knowledge are necessary to guide Parents herein.