GRAPHICE by Aristotle is generally taken for the Art of Drawing any thing whatsoever with the Pen or Pencil , and was reckon'd among the Chiefest of those his {αβγδ} , or Generous Practices of Youth ; as rendring them so many ways Serviceable to their Country , and Profitable to themselves .

Of incredible Service and Advantage it would be to our Smiths of all sorts , Masons , Bricklayers , Carpenters , Joyners , Carvers , Turners , Embroiderers , Tapestry-Workers , Silversmiths , Jewellers , nay to all our Handicrafts in general .

For shew most of these Workmen abovesaid a Draft of what you would have done , their want of Skill in Drawing renders it almost useless to them .

For Example , Should an Engineer invent a Machin and Draw it in all its Parts , with its Views per Front and Sides , the whole in Perspective , a Ground-Plot thereof , with a Scale annex'd thereto , with what Difficulty do they work , and the Projector must be always by or all will be Marr'd ; whereas could our Handicrafts and Mechanicks Draw , a Man might send his Work from a Hundred Miles distance , Drawn as abovesaid , and be satisfied it would be perform'd to his Mind and according to his Directions .

By what has been said I would not have it thought , that none of our Handicrafts and Mechanicks can Draw , for some do of my own knowledge very well : Which Qualification hath made them the most excellent of all others ; for the Best Drafts-Man will be the Best Artist in what Art soever .

The Design of this School is to have a constant Nursery or Breed of Youths proper for Artificers ; for as two , three or more , Wise , Rich and Artful Citizens , make it not a Wise , Rich and Artful City or Country , but the general Bent , Genius and Inclination , and the greater part of them so Qualified .

For Proof of what hath been said , discourse with the meanest of all our Handicrafts , tho he cannot Draw yet will endeavour to chalk out after his fashion , your Meaning and his ; knowing by pure instinct , that all the Rhetorick in the World cannot convince like a Drawing .

What an Honour would it not be for our Workmen and Handicrafts , and Satisfaction to the Employer , when he comes to bespeak any thing of them Qualified with Drawing ; to see them Sketch out as fast as you speak , with a Pen or Pencil , what you Would have done , and be sure to please you even bef●re a Stroak be struck therein ; and this would prevent an Error which the unskill'd in Drawing often commit , in asking extravagantly too much sometimes and as often too little ; by drawing they would compute the Charge to a tittle .

If Parents sent their Children to Drawing as customarily as they do to Latin and Writing , it being altogether as useful to them , they would soon find the Advantage themselves and their Children would reap thereby .

For a Master would take a Servant Qualified with Drawing , with half the Mony and be a Gainer thereby ; for the Boy would come to Work in half the time , and both be assur'd the Master of a Servant for his turn , and the Boy of being a Master of his Calling ; and not serve Seven Years as many do , to little or no purpose .

Neither would our Handicrafts and Mechanicks alone be advantaged hereby ; it is an Accomplishment for Noblemen and Gentlemen , Scholars , all Students in Art or Nature ; Generals , Engineers , Mathematicians , Surveyors , Surgeons and an infinity of others .

How defective are the best Historical Accounts of Animals , as Birds , Beasts , Fishes , Insects , Plants , Descriptions of Countries , Cities , Castles , Manners , Habits , Customs , &c. without Drawings or Sculptures ; being little more useful than a Demonstration of Euclid would be without a Scheme .

The greatest Master of Words cannot describe in the Verbosest manner any Object , as Beast , Bird or Insect ( if never seen before ) so as to make it be known when seen , which Drawing performs infallibly and with few Stroaks .

I shall only add , what Veneration and Esteem the Artists of this kind have met with in the World ; The Profession hereof being admitted into th● first Place among the Liberal Arts , and throughout Greece taught only to the Children of Noblemen , and forbidden to their Servants and Slaves . Of no less account was it among the Romans , since one of the most Noble Families in Rome , the Fabii , thought themselves much Honour'd by the Surname of Pictor . Claudius , Titus the Son of Vespasian , the two Antonines , and divers other Emperors and Princes were excellent in this Art ; as were also in these later times many of the greatest Princes of Europe ; Francis I. King of France ; Margaret Queen of Navarre ; Emanuel Duke of Savoy , with many others .

To Conclude , Speaking of France ; The Prodigious height that Nation is arriv'd to in this present Age in most Arts , may be attributed to the Publick Academies and Schools , Erected at the King's own Charge for Drawing , Painting , &c. which hath produc'd such plenty of Artists of most kinds .