her he intended manifestly the more forward of the
Jews," &c. But, whether it would edify you or not, he goes on, in
effect, to say, I do not propose to provide you with edification in
that kind. "These uses have been so ably set forth in so many good
sermons upon the Prodigal Son that I shall turn aside from them at
present, and content myself with some reflections upon that fatal
passion which led him--and so many thousands after the example--to
gather all he had together and take his journey into a far country."
In other words, "I propose to make the parable a peg whereon to hang
a few observations on (what does the reader suppose?) the practice of
sending young men upon the Grand Tour, accompanied by a 'bear-leader,'
and herein of the various kinds of bear-leaders, and the services
which they do, and do not, render to their charges; with a few words
on society in Continental cities, and a true view of 'letters of
introduction.'" That is literally the substance of the remainder
of the sermon. And thus pleasantly does the preacher play with his
curious subject:

"But you will send an able pilot with your son--a scholar. If
wisdom can speak in no other tongue but Greek or Latin, you do
well; or if mathematics will make a man a gentleman, or natural
philosophy but teach him to make a bow, he may be of some service
in introducing your son into good societies, and supporting him in
them when he had done. But the upshot will be generally this, that
on the most pressing occasions of addresses, if he is not a mere man
of reading, the unhappy youth will have the tutor to carry, and not
the tutor to carry him. But (let us say) you will avoid this extreme;
he shall be escorted by one who knows the world, not only from
books but from his own experience; a man who has been employed
on such services, and thrice 'made the tour of Europe with success'--that
is, without breaking his own or his pupil's neck; for if he is
such as my eyes have seen, some broken Swiss _valet de chambre_, some
general undertaker, who will perform the journey in so many months,
'if God permit,' much knowledge will not accrue. Some profit, at
least: he will learn the amount to a halfpenny of every stage from
Calais to Rome; he will be carried to the best inns, instructed where
there is the best wine, and sup a livre cheaper than if the youth had
been left to make the tour and the bargain himself. Look at our
govern