ordinarie so where it lighteth it giues vs the gaze and bides all beginninges but that which is to soone bycause God hath prouided that strength in nature wherby he entendes no exception in nurture for that which is in nature Such spirites there be and such bodies they haue if they will and may so keepe them with orderly regard which is extreme hard vnto them For that oftimes they will not do so but distemper their bodies with disordinate doinges when pleasures haue possessed them and rashenesse is their ruler Oftimes they maie not thorough varietie and weight of important affaires which commaundeth them too farre in some kinde of calling But where so euer they light or what so euer waye they take they shewe what they be and alwaye proue either the verie best or the most beastly For there can scantly be any meane in those constitutions which are so notably framed and so rarely endued And therefore those parentes which haue such children must take great heede of them as the tippes of euill if they chuse that waye or the toppes of good if they minde that is best For the middle and most moderate wittes which commonly supplie eche corner in eche countrey and serue most assaies some ordinary meane will serue to order them but where extraordinarie pointes begin to appeare there common order is not commonly enough This is my opinion concerning the time when the child shall begin to learne which I do restraine to the strength of witte and hardnes of body the one for to receiue learning the other not to refuse labour and therfore I conclude thus that the parent himselfe ought in reason to be more then halfe a iudge of the entrie to schooling as being best acquainted with the particular circunstance of his owne child Yet I do not allow him to be an absolute iudge without some counsell vnlesse he be a very rare father and well able to be both a rule to himselfe and a paterne to others Bycause most where men be most blinded where they should see best I meane in their owne such a tyrant is affectioÌ„ when she hath wonne the field vnder the conducte of nature and so imperious is nature when she is disposed to make affection her deputie But now for so much as in setting our child to schoole we consider the strength of his bodie no lesse then we do the quicknesse of his witte it should seeme that our traine ought to be double and to be applyed to both the partes that the body may aswell be preserued in his best as the minde instructed in that which is his best that the one may still be able to aunswere the other well in all their common executions As for the training vp of the minde the waye is well beaten bycause it is generally entreated on in euery booke and beareth the honour and title of learning But for the bettering of the body is there not any meane to maintaine it in health and cheifly in the student whose trade treads it downe Yes surely A very naturall and a healthfull course there is to be kept in exercise wherby all the naturall functions of the body be excellently furthered and the body made fit for all his best functions And therfore parentes and maisters ought to take such a waie euen from the beginning as the childes diet neither stuffe the bodye nor choke the conceit which it lightly doeth when it is to much crammed That his garmentes which oftimes burden the bodie with weight sometimes weaken it with warmth neither faint it with heat nor freese it with cold That the exercise of the body still accompanie and assist the exercise of the minde to make a dry strong hard and therfore a long lasting body and by the fauour therof to haue an actiue sharp wise and therwith all a well learned soule If long life be the childes blessing for honoring his parentes why should not the parentes then which looke for that honour all that in them lyeth forsee in youth that their children may haue some hope of that benefit to ensue in their age which cannot take effect vnlesse the thing be begon in their youth Which if it be not by times looked vnto they afterwardes become vncapable of long life and so not to â—nioye the reward of their honour for any thing that their parentes helpe to it though God will be true and perfourme that he promiseth how so euer men hault in doing of their duetie And yet tempting is pernicious where the meane to hit right is laid so manifest and the childes honour to his parentes beginnes at obedience in his infancie which they ought to reward with good qualities for honour and may worke them like waxe bycause they do obey This negligence of the parentes for not doing that which in power they might and in duetie they ought giues contempt in the children some colour of iustice to make their requitall with dishonour in their age were it not that the Christian religion doth forbid reuenge which in presidentes of prophanisme we finde allowed where both curtesie to such parentes as failed in education of their children is countercharged by lawe and dissolute parentes by entreating ill are well entertained of their neglected children the vnfortunate childreÌ„ much moaned for their chaunce that they came to so ill an ende and the vndiscrete parentes more rated for their charge which they looked so ill to wherby themselues did seeme to haue forced such an ende The minde wilbe stirring bycause it stirres the body and some good meane will make it to furnish very well so the choice be well made wherin the order well laid wherby and both well kept wherwith it shalbe thought best trained The body which lodgeth a restlesse minde by his owne reste is betrayed to the commoÌ„ murtherers of a multitude of scholers which be vnholesome and superfluous humors needelesse and noysom excrementes ill to feele within good to send abroad Neither is it enough to saye that children wilbe stirring alwaie of themselues and that therefore they neede not any so great a care for exercising their bodies For if by causing them learne so and sitting still in schooles we did not force them from their ingenerate heat and naturall stirring to an vnnaturall stilnesse then their owne stirring without restraint might seeme to serue their tourne without more adoe But stilnesse more then ordinarie must haue stirring more then ordinarie and the still breding of ill humours which stuffe vp the body for want of stirring must he so handled as it want no stilling to send them away Wherfore as stilnesse hath her direction by order in schooles so must stirring be directed by well appointed exercise And as quiet sitting helpes ill humors to breede and burden the bodie so must much stirring make a waie to discharge the one and to disburden the other Both which helpes as I most earnestly require at the parent and maisters hand so I meane my selfe to
our coniectures be great though not without exception What kinde of witte I like best for my countrey as most proper to be the instrument for learning it shall appeare herafter But for the first question of the two it seemeth to me verie plaine that all children be not be set to schoole but onely such as for naturall wittes and sufficient maintenance either of their naturall parentes or ciuill patrones shall be honestly and wel supported in their study till the common weale minding to vse their seruice appoint their prouision not in hast for neede but at leasure with choice Chapter 37. The meanes to restraine the ouerflowing multitude of scholers The cause why euerie one desireth to haue his childe learned and yet must yelde ouer his owne desire to the disposition of his countrie That necessitie and choyce be the best restrayners That necessitie restrayneth by lacke and lawe Why it may be admitted that all may write read that can but no further What is to be thought of the speaking and vnderstanding of Latine and in what degree of learning that is That considering our time the state of religion in our time lawe must needes helpe this restraint with the answere to such obiections as are made to the contrary That in choice of wittes which must deale with learning that wit is fittest for our state which answereth best the monarchie and how such a wit is to be knowne That choice is to helpe in scholing in admission into colledges in proceeding to degrees in preferring to liuinges where the right and wrong of all the foure pointes be handled at full IN the last title we haue concluded that there must be a restraint and that all may not passe on to learning which throng thitherward bycause of the inconueniences which may ensue by want of preferment for such a multitude and by defeating other trades of their necessarie trauellours Our next labour therefore must be how to handle this restraint that the tide ouerflow not the common with to great a spring of bookish people if ye crie come who will or ring out all in Euerie one desireth to haue his childe learned the reason is for that how hardly soeuer either fortune frowne or casualtie chastice yet learning hath some strength to shore vp the person bycause it is incorporate in the person till the soule dislodge neither lyeth it so open for mischaunce to mangle in any degree as forren and fortunes patrimonie doth But though euerie parent be thus affected toward his owne child as nature leades him to wish his owne best yet for all that euerie parent must beare in memorie that he is more bound to his country then to his child as his child must renounce him in countermatch with his countrie And that country which claymeth this prerogatiue of the father aboue the child and of the child aboue the father as it maintained the father eare he was a father and will maintaine the child when he is without a father so generally it prouideth for all as it doth require a dutie aboue all And therefore parentes in disposing of their children may vpon good warrant surrender their interest to the generall consideration of their common countrie and thinke that it is not best to haue their children bookish notwithstanding their owne desire be it neuer so earnestly bent if their countrie say either they shall serue in this trade without the booke or if shee say I may not allow any more booke men without my to much trouble I pray thee good parēt haue pacience and appoint some other course for thy childe there be many good meanes to liue by besides the booke and I wilbe thy childes friend if thou wilt fit in some order for me This verie consideration of the countrie vttered with so milde a speach spoken by her that is able to performe it may moue the reasonable parent to yealde to her desire as best as she can tell the headstrong in plaine termes that he shall yeelde perforce if he will not by entreatie For priuate affection though supported by reason of strength whatsoeuer must either voluntarily bend or forcibly breake when the common good yeeldeth to the contrary side Seeing therefore the disposition of wittes according to the proportion of ech state is resigned ouer to the countrie and she sayth all may not be set to schole bycause ech trade must be furnished to performe all duties belōging to all parts it falleth out in this case of restraint which bridles desire that two speciall groundes are to be considered which strip away excessiue number necessitie and choice the one perforce the other by your leaue As for necessitie when the parent is ouer charged with defect in circumstance though desire carie him on it then restraineth most and lesseneth this number when desire would encrease it and straines to the contrary You would haue your childe learned but your purse will not streatch your remedy is pacience deuise some other way wherein your abilitie will serue You are not able to spare him from your elbow for your neede and learning must haue leysure a scholers booke must be his onely busines without forreine lettes you may be bold of your owne let booking alone for such as can entend it from being called away by domesticall affaires and necessarie busines For the scholers name will not be a cypher-like subiect as he is termed of leasure so must he haue it And they that cannot spare their children so must forebare their scholing by the olde Persian ordinance bycause leasure is the foregoer to liberall profession necessitie compelleth and bastardeth the conceit a venym to learning whom freedom should direct You haue no schole neare you and you cannot pay for teaching further of let your owne trade content you keepe your childe at home Your childe is weake tymbred let scholing alone make play his physician and health his midle end Which way soeuer neede driues you perforce that way must ye trot if he will not amble and bid Will thinke that well He that gouerneth all seeth what is your best your selfe may be missled either by ignorance in choice or affectiō in blood In these and the like cases lacke is the leader which way soeuer she straineth Whereby if the restrained childe cannot get the skil to write read I lamēt that lacke bycause I haue allowed him somuch before vpon some reasonable perswasiō euen for necessary dealings For these two pointes concerne euery man neare bycause they submit themselues to euerie mans seruice yea in his basest busines secretest affaires I dare not venture to allow so many the latin tungue nor any other language vnlesse it be in cases where their trades be knowne and those toungues be founde to be necessarie for them For all the feare is though it be more then feare where it still falleth out so least hauing such benefits of schole they will not be content with the state which
the like kinde as well as one inconuenience draweth on his like traine But these be the maine as I conceiue at the first blush obedience to superiours and superioritie freindlynesse and fellowship toward companions and equalles substance to deserue well and winne it desire to auoide ill and flie it What duetie either towardes God or man either in publike or priuate societie in any either hie or low kinde of life is there whervnto God hath not seemed in nature to haue framed and fashioned this so toward a youth and therefore to haue appointed him for the vse of learning to be ruled by his betters and to rule his inferiours nothing offensiue nor vnpleasant to any Many such wittes there be and at them must choice first begin And as those be the best and first to be chosen in whom there is so rare metall so the second or third after these be vnworthy the refusall in whom the same qualities do appeare though not in the same but in some meaner degree For wheras great ill is oft in place and proues the generall foe to that which would be better there meane good if it may haue place will be generall freind to preferre the better as euen this second mediocritie if it may be had as choice will finde it out will proue verie freindly to set forward all good Now these properties and signes appeare in some verie soone in some verie late yea oftimes when they are least looked for as either iudgement in yeares or experience in dealinges do frame the parties The plat for the monarchicall learner being alwaye reseant in the chusers head concerning the propertie of his witte and appearance towardes proofe the rest is to be bestowed vpon the consideration of learning and towardnesse in children generally wherof these wittes be still both the first best frutes where to stay or how farre to proceede in the ascent of learning Whether he be riche or poore that makes no matter and is already decided whether he be quicke or slow therein is somwhat and requireth good regard Wherfore when sufficient abilitie in circunstances bids open the schoole dore the admission and continuance be generall till vpon some proofe the maister whom I make the first chuser of the finest and the first clipper of the refuse begin to finde and be able to discerne where abilitie is to go on forward and where naturall weaknesse biddes remoue by times For if negligence worke weaknesse that is an other disease and requires an other medecine to heale it withall Now when the maister hath spied the strength or infirmitie in nature as by lightsomnesse or heauinesse in learning by easinesse or hardnesse in retaining by comparing of contrarie or the like wittes he shall easely sound both then as his delite wilbe to haue the toward continue so must his desire be how to procure the diuerting and remouing of the duller and lesse toward to some other course more agreeing with their naturall thē learning is wherin they are like to go forward verie litle though their fortune be to go to schoole very long but here two considerations are to be had neither to soone to seeke their diuerting till some good ripenesse in time though with some great paines to the teacher in the meane time wish them to be weined from booking neither yet before their bodies be of strēgth to abide the paines of some more laborious prenticeship For it may so proue that those wittes which at the first were found to be exceeding hard and blunt may soften and proue sharp in time shew a finer edge though that be not to be made a generall caution to couer dullardes with all For the naturall dulnesse will disclose it selfe generally in all pointes that concerne memorie and conceit that dulnesse which will once breake out sharp will shew it selfe by glaunces as a clowdy day vseth which will proue faire when all shrews haue dined Wherefore peremptorie iudgement to soone may proue perillous to some and againe he that is fit for nothing else for the tendernesse of his bodie may abide in the schoole a litle while longer where though he do but litle good yet he may be sure to take litle harme Moreouer if the parentes abilitie be such as he may and his desire such as he will maintaine his child at schoole till he grow to some yeares though he grow to small learning the maister must haue pacience and measure his paines by the parentes purse where he knowes there is plentie and not by the childes profit which he seeth will be small Wherein yet he must impart his opinion continually with the parent both for his duetie sake and for auoiding of displeasure But in the meaner sorte the case altereth for that as a good witte in a poore child deserues direct punishment if by negligence he for slow the obtaining of learning which is the patrimonie to wittie pouertie so a dull witte in that degree would not be dalyed with all to long but be furthered to some trade which is the fairest portion to the slow witted poore Now bycause the maister to whose iudgement I commend the choice is no absolute potentate in our common weale to dispose of wittes and to sorte mens children as he liketh best but in nature of a counsellour to ioine with the parent if he will be aduised therfore to haue this thing perfectly accomplished I wish the parentes maisters to be freindly acquainted domestically familiar And though some parentes neede no counsell as some maisters can giue but litle yet the wise parent will heare and can iudge and the skilfull maister can iudge and should be heard Where neither of these be neither skill in the teacher to tell it nor will in the parente to heare it and lesse affection to follow it the poore child is wrung to the worse in the meane while and the parent receiues small comfort in conclusion This course for the maister to keepe in iudging of his scholer and the parent to follow in bestowing of his child according to his wit continueth so long as the child shalbe either vnder maistership in schole or tutorship in colledge During the which time a great number may be verie wisely and fitly bestowed vnlearned trades sufficiently appointed the proceding in letters reserued to them to whom for wit iudgemēt they seeme naturally vowed and finally the whole common weale in euery braunch well furnished with number the nūber it selfe discharged of to much Bycause this tyme vnder the maisters gouermēt is the time wherin youth is to be bestowed by forraine direction for afterward in a more daungerous age and a more ieoperdouse time they grow on to their owne choice and these vnfitnesses in nature or frailtes in maners being not foreseene to may cause the friendes forthinke it and the parties sore rue it And though the maister shall not allway haue his counsell followed in this case yet if he do signifie
to vnhappinesse and needeth no beating for not being nought And therfore we must content our selues with that which we haue and in our countrey which is not so absolute in our children which be no Socraticall saintes in our learning which will not proue voluntarie if the child playe voluntarie we must vse correctiò awe though more in some then some bycause in illnesse there be steps as in excellencie oddes Wherof there is no better argument then that which this verie place offereth not for the soldiars saying which so commēdeth awe bycause his authoritie is to campishe though he that brought him in and platted the best prince were himselfe no foole but for mine owne collection For if one neede not to beat children to haue them do ill whervnto they are prone we must needes then beat ' them for not doing wel where nature is corrupt Onelesse we meete with one that will runne as swift vphill against nature to do that which is good as we all runne downe bancke with the swinge of nature to do that which is ill Which when I finde I will honour him as I do none though I do oft beare with some in whome there appeareth but some shew of such a one If vnder doing well ye comprehend not learning ye must needes comprise vertue and make her meane violence against all both heauenly Diuinitie and earthly Philosophie with whom all vertues be voluntarie when reason is in ruffe but not in children euen for compassing of the best effectes whom custome and traine must now and then force foreward to be ready for reason when she maketh her entrie which requireth some yeares For howsoeuer religion wisedome duetie and reasonable consideration do worke in riper age sure if awe be absent in the younger yeares it will not be well And who can tell what euen he that vnder lawe is most obsequious and ciuill would of him selfe proue if lawe which emportes awe would leaue him at libertie Chapter 15. Of holding the breath THough all men can tell what a singular benefit breathing is whervnder the vse of our life is comprehended yet they can best tell which haue it most at commaundement For as they liue with others in societie of common dealinges so they can execute any thing by the bodie farre better then others whether it be politike in the towne or warlike in the fielde And all exercises haue this ende most peculiar and proper by helping the naturall heat to digest the good nurriture and to auoide the offall thorough out the whole bodie Which what is it els but to set the breathing at most libertie being best discharged of impediment let And as the libertie of breathing maketh the soldiar to abide in fight long the runner to continue his race long the daunser to endure his labour long and so forth in the rest which must either haue breath at their will or els shrinke in the midest so the restraint and binding of the breath euen where it is most at will for else it could not abide the restraint hath his commoditie by waye of exercise to assist our health Now in breathing there be three thinges to be considered the taking in the letting out and the holding in of the breath wherof euerie one hath his priuate office to great effect in the vpholding of health and maintaining of life For when we take in our breath by the working of the lungues thorough such passages as be appointed for the vse of breathing we conueigh and fetch in aire into the roomy and large places of the bulke to coole the harte and fine the spirites When we let out our breath by those same passages by which we tooke it in we discharge the hart of a certaine smoky substance engendred in it which is conueyed thence thorough the same hollow and roomie places of the bulke When we hold and kepe in our breath which is of iudgement not of such neede as the other two and done vpon cause to helpe nature therby we must neither fetch aire inward nor sende those smokie excrementes outwarde bycause the belly and breast muscles and such fleshy partes as be about the ribbes being violently and vehemently strained stretched do for the time as it were mure vp and stop the passage This keeping in of the breath by reason of the straine offered to those partes and heating of the bowells is therfore heeld for one of the vehement exercises as it is also a postparatiue called before apotherapeutike bycause after maine stirringes it helpeth to expell those residences which lynger within the bodie as being lothe to depart and furthereth those that are in good waye and make hast to be gone They that vsed this exercise by waye of traine to health did it in two sortes for either they strayted onely those muskles which appertaine to the breast and bulke and let those be at libertie which belong to the midrife and belly that the excrementes might haue the readier waye downward being once forced on or they strayned both all the partes and all their muscles at one time that the bowelles also which are beneth the midrife might enioye the benefit of the exercise and be as ready to discharge as the other to driue downe But for the better and more daungerlesse performing therof they were wont to swadle the chest the ribbes and the belly Bycause the holding of ones breath vnaduisedly with to much strayning causeth ruptures and diuers other infirmities in the interiour vesselles of the bodie Their meaning was hereby sometime to strengthen the inward and naturall heat being encreased by exercise sometime to helpe the breathing partes sometime to discharge the breast and bellie of needlesse burden For the breath being so violently strayted when it findeth issue forceth his owne passage and caryeth with him some finish and thinne excrement either driuing it before if it lye in his waye or drawing it with him if he catch it by the waye Being of it selfe such a strainer and expeller it is good for to open the pipes to fine the skinne to driue out moysture from vnder the skinne to warme to strengthen to scoure the spirituall and breathing partes to make the places of receit more roomy to encrease strength in labour to helpe the eare in listening to remoue coldnes or inflations from the entrailles to stay the hikup and the cowgh which commeth of some cold distemperature in the windepipes to remedie the colick the weaknesse of stomacke the want or difficultie of breath So that all those ought to esteeme of it which haue their breathing and spirituall partes either cold or weake or cloyed with excrementes or whose bodies can either with much adoe or with none at all expell and ridde superfluous humours or that be cumbred with much gaping yawning with resolution or weaknesse of the toungue or any vocalle instrument If it were to be perceiued by no waye els verie children let vs see that holding of
it was in a small riuer and reskue at hand Scoena the centurion scaped he was neare both shippe and shoar Nay Caesar himselfe saued him selfe from drowning and helde his lettres vp drie in the one hand A signe of courage and cunning as that man had enough but his shippes were at hand and it is not writen that either he swamme alone or any long waye But of all daungers to drowne there is least in the sea where the swimming is best for the salt water as it is thicker then the fresh so it beareth vp the bodie better that it may fleet with lesse labour The swimming in salt water is very good to remoue the headache to open the stuffed nosethrilles and therby to helpe the smelling It is a good remedie for dropsies scabbes and scurfes small pockes leprosies falling awaye of either legge or any other parte for such as prosper not so as they would though they eate as they wishe for ill stomackes liuers miltes and corrupt constitutions Yet all swimming must needes be ill for the head considering the continuall exhalation which ascendeth still from the water into the head Swimming in hoat waters softeneth that which is hardened warmeth that which is cooled nimbleth the iointes which are benummed thinneth the skinne which is thickned and yet it troubleth the head weakneth the bodie disperseth humours but dissolueth them not Swimming in cold water doth strengthen the naturall heat bycause it beates it in it maketh verie good and quick digestion it breaketh superfluous humours it warmeth the inward partes yet long tarying in it hurtes the sineues and takes awaye the hearing Thus much concerning swimming which can neither do children harme in learning if the maister be wise nor the common weale but good being once learned if either priuate daunger or publike attempt do bid them auenture For he that oweth a life to his countrey if he die on lande he doeth his duetie and if he drowne in water his duetie is not drowned Chapter 24. Of Riding IF any wilbe so wilfull as to denie Riding to be an exercise and that a great one and fittest also for greatest personages set him either vpon a trotting iade to iounse him thoroughly or vpon a lame hakney to make him exercise his feete when his courser failes him In all times in all countries among all degrees of people it hath euer bene taken for a great a worthy and a gentlemanly exercise Though Aristophanes his testimonie were naught against honest Socrates yet it is good to proue that riding was a gentlemanly traine euen among the principles of education in Athens And Virgile in the legacie sent to Latinus describeth the same traine in the Romain children which sayeth he exercised themselues on horsebacke before the towne And Horace accuseth the young gentleman in his time as not able to hange on a horse But to deale with stories either Greeke or Latin for the Romain or other nations exercise in riding in a matter of such store were more then needeles The Romains had their whole citie diuided into partialities by reason of the foure factions of those exercising horsemē Who of the foure colours which they vsed Russet White Greene and Blew were named Russati Albati Prasini Veneti For the warres how great a traine riding is I would no countrey had tried nor had cause to complaine nor the subdued people to be sorofull though the conquerour do vant himselfe of his valiantnesse on horsebacke For health it must needes be of some great moment or els why do the Physicians seeme to make so much of it They saye that generally it encreaseth naturall heat and that it purgeth superfluities as that to the contrarie it is naught for any sicke bodie or that hath taken Physicke hard before or that is troubled with infection or inflammation of the kidneies They vse to deuide it into fiue kindes Slow quicke trotting ambling and posting Of Slow riding they write that it wearieth the grines very sore that it hurteth the buttokes and legges by hanging downe to long and that yet it heateth not much that it hindreth getting of children and breadeth aches and lamenesse Of quicke riding they saye that of all exercises it shaketh the bodie most and that yet it is good for the head ache comming of a cold cause for the falling euill for deafnesse for the stomack for yeaxing or hikup for clearing and quickning the instrumentes of sense for dropsies for thickning of thinne shankes which was found true in Germanicus Caesar nephew to Tiberius the Emperour which so helped his spindle shankes Againe quick riding is naught for the bulke for a weake bladder which must forebeare all exercises when it hath any exulceration for the Ischiatica bycause the hippes are to much heated and weakned by the vehementnesse of the motion Whervpon the humours which are styrred rest there and either breede new or augment olde aches Of trotting it is said euen as we see that it shaketh the bodie to violently that it causeth encreaseth marueilous aches that it offendes the head the necke the shoulders the hippes disquieteth all the entrailes beyond all measure And though it may somewhat helpe the digestion of meate and raw humours loose the belly prouoke vrine driue the stone or grauell from the kidneyes downward yet it is better forborne for greater euilles then borne with for some sorie small good Ambling as it exerciseth least so it anoyeth least and yet loseth it the bellie As for posting though it come last in reading it will be first in riding though for making such hast it harme eche part of the bodie specially the bulke the lungues the bowells generally the kidneyes as what doth it not allway anoy and oftimes either breake or put out of ioynt by falles or straines It warmes paires the body to sore therfore abateth grossenes though a grosse man be ill either to ride post himselfe or for a iade to beare It infecteth the head it dulleth the senses especially the sight euen til it make his eyes that posteth to run with water not to remember the death of his friendes but to thinke how sore his saddle shakes him and the ayer bites him Chapter 25. Of Hunting HVnting is a copious argument for a poeticall humour to discours of whether in verse with Homer or in prose with Heliodorus Dian would be alleged as so auoyding Cupide Hippolytus would be vsed in commendation of continence and what would not poëtrie bring in to auaunce it whose musicke being solitarie and woddishe must needes be nay is very well acquainted with the chace If poets should faint the Persians would fight both for riding and hunting so that if patrocinie were in question we neede not to enquire they would offer them selues from all countries and of all languages But we need not either for praise or for profe to vse forraine aduocats For hunting hath alway caried a great credit both for exercising the bodie
seeke and saue it if a teacher deale thus earnestly as me thinke I do now he may deserue pardon as I hope I shall haue considering his end to him selfe ward is delite to his charge is their profit to his countrie is soūd stuffe sent from him And can he be but grieued to see the effect so disorderly defeated wherunto with infinite toile with incōparable care with incredible paines he did so orderly proceed I take it very tollerable for any that hath charge of nūber multitude to be carefull for their good not only in priuate gouernmēt but also in publike protectiō so farre as either the honestie of the cause or the dutie to magistrate will maintaine his attēpt As truely in learning learned executiōs me thinke it concerneth all men to be very carefull bycause the thing tucheth themselues so neare in age and theirs so much in youth For the third part which consisteth in auauncement to liuinges as it is commonly handled by the highest in state and eldest in yeares which haue best skill to iudge least neede to be misled so it needes least precept bycause the misse there is mostwhat without amendes being made by great warrant and the hitting right is the blessed fortune of ech kinde of state when value is in place whence there is no appeale but pleasure in the perfit pitie in imperfection the common good eitheir caried to ruine by intrusion of insufficiencie or strongly supported by sufficient staie Repulse here is a miserable stripp that insufficiencie should be fuffered to growe vp so high and not be hewed downe before And some great iniurie is offered to the bestowers of prefermentes that they are made obiectes to the dāger of insufficiēt boldnes which ought to be cut of by sufficiēt modestie who pretēdeth the claime to be her owne of dutie and to whom the patrones would rediliest yeild if they could discerne were not abused by the worthy themselues which lend the vnworthy the worth of their countenance to deceiue the disposers and to beguile their owne selues But blind bayard if he haue any burdē that is worth the taking downe bestowing somwhere else wilbe farre bolder thē a better horse so farre from shame as he will not shrinke to offer himselfe to the richest sadle being in deede no better then a blinde iade and seeking to occupie the stawle where Bucephalus the braue horse of duety ought to stand And in this case of preferrement store is lightely the greatest enemie to the best choice bycause in number no condition wilbe offered which will not be admitted though some do refuse The preuenting of all or most of these inconueniences I do take to be in the right sorting of wittes at the first when learning shall be left to them alone whom nature doth allow by euident signes and such sent awaye to some other trades as are made to that ende Wherby the sorters are to haue thankes in the ende of both the parties which finding themselues fitted in the best kinde of their naturall calling must of necessitie honour them which vsed such foresight in their first bestowing Thus much haue I marked in clipping of of that multitude which oppresseth learning with too too many as too too many wheresoeuer they be ouercharge the soile in all professions For the matter wheron to liue iustly and truly being within compasse and the men which must liue vpon it being still without ende must not desire of maintenaunce specially if it be ioyned with a porte wring a number to the wall to get wheron to liue I neede pinch no particular where the generall is so sore gauled Marke but those professions and occupations which be most cloyed vp with number whether they be bookish or not and waye the poorer sort wheron at the last the pinching doth light though it passe many handes before if to great a multitude making to great a state do not proue a shrew then am I deceyued so that it were good there were stripping vsed and that be time in yonger yeares For youth being let go forward vpon hope chekt with dispaire while it rometh without purueyaunce makes marueilous a doe before it will die And if no miserable shift will serue at home verie defection to the foe and common enemie will send them abrode to seeke for that which in such a case they are sure to finde Wherefore as countenaunce in the ouerflowing number which findeth place in a state doth infect extremely by seeking out vnlawfull and corrosiue maintenaunce so roming in the vnbestowed offaull which findes no place in a state doth festure fellonly by seeking to shake it with most rebellious enterprises Chapter 38. That young maidens are to be set to learning which is proued by the custome of our countrey by our duetie towardes them by their naturall abilities and by the worthy effectes of such as haue bene well trained The ende whervnto their educatiō serueth which is the cause why how much they learne Which of them are to learne when they are to begin to learne What and how much they may learne Of whom and where they ought to be taught WHen I did appoint the persons which were to receiue the benefit of education I did not exclude young maidens and therefore seing I made them one braunche of my diuision I must of force say somwhat more of them A thing perhaps which some will thinke might wel enough haue bene past ouer with silence as not belonging to my purpose which professe the education of boyes and the generall traine in that kinde But seeing I begin so low as the first Elementarie wherin we see that young maidens be ordinarily trained how could I seeme not to see them being so apparently taught And to proue that they are to be trained I finde foure speciall reasons wherof any one much more all may perswade any their most aduersarie much more me which am for them with toothe and naile The first is the manner and custome of my countrey which allowing them to learne wil be lothe to be contraried by any of her countreymen The second is the duetie which we owe vnto them whereby we are charged in conscience not to leaue them lame in that which is for them The third is their owne towardnesse which God by nature would neuer haue giuen them to remaine idle or to small purpose The fourth is the excellent effectes in that sex when they haue had the helpe of good bringing vp which commendeth the cause of such excellencie and wisheth vs to cherishe that tree whose frute is both so pleasaunt in taste and so profitable in triall What can be said more our countrey doth allow it our duetie doth enforce it their aptnesse calls for it their excellencie commandes it and dare priuate conceit once seeme to withstand where so great and so rare circunstances do so earnestly commende But for the better vnderstanding of these foure reasons I
will examine euerie of them somwhat nearer as inducers to the truth ear I deale with the traine For the first If I should seeme to enforce any noueltie I might seeme ridiculous and neuer se that thing take place which I tender so much but considering the custome of my countrie hath deliuered me of that care which hath made the maidens traine her owne approued trauell what absurditie am I in to say that is true which my countrie dare auow and daily doth trie I set not yong maidens to publike grammer scholes a thing not vsed in my countrie I send them not to the vniuersities hauing no president thereof in my countrie I allow them learning with distinction in degrees with difference of their calling with respect to their endes wherefore they learne wherein my countrie confirmeth my opinion We see yong maidens be taught to read and write and can do both with praise we heare them sing and playe and both passing well we know that they learne the best and finest of our learned languages to the admiration of all men For the daiely spoken toungues and of best reputation in our time who so shall denie that they may not compare euen with our kinde in the best degree they will claime no other combate then to talke with him in that verie tongue who shall seeke to taint them for it These things our country doth stand to these qualities their parentes procure them as either oportunitie of circunstance will serue or their owne power wil extend vnto or their daughters towardnesse doth offer hope to be preferred by for singularitie of endowment either in mariage or some other meane Nay do we not see in our country some of that sex so excellently well trained and so rarely qualified either for the toungues themselues or for the matter in the toungues as they may be opposed by way of comparison if not preferred as beyond comparison euen to the best Romaine or Greekish paragōnes be they neuer so much praised to the Germaine or French gentlewymen by late writers so wel liked to the Italian ladies who dare write themselues and deserue fame for so doing whose excellencie is so geason as they be rather wonders to gaze at then presidentes to follow And is that to be called in question which we both dayly see in many and wonder at in some I dare be bould therefore to admit yong maidens to learne seeing my countrie giues me leaue and her custome standes for me For the second point The duetie which we owe them doth straitly commaund vs to see them well brought vp For what be young maidens in respect of our sex Are they not the seminary of our succession the naturall frye from whence we are to chuse our naturall next and most necessarie freindes The very selfe same creatures which were made for our comfort the onely good to garnish our alonenesse the nearest companions in our weale or wo the peculiar and priuiest partakers in all our fortunes borne for vs to life bound to vs till death And can we in conscience but carefully thinke of them which are so many wayes linked vnto vs Is it either nothing or but some small thing to haue our childrens mothers well furnished in minde well strengthened in bodie which desire by them to maintaine our succession or is it not their good to be so well garnished which good being defeated in them by our indiligence of whom they are to haue it doth it not charge vs with breache of duetie bycause they haue it not They are committed commended vnto vs as pupilles vnto tutours as bodies vnto heades nay as bodies vnto soules so that if we tender not their education duetifully they maye vrge that against vs if at any time either by their owne right or by our default they winne the vpper roome and make vs stand bare head or be bolder with vs to They that write of the vse of our bodies do greatly blame such parentes as suffer not their children to vse the left hand as well as the right bycause therby they weaken their strength and the vse of their limmes and can we be without blame who seeke not to strengthen that which was once taken from vs and yet taryeth with vs as a part of vs still knowing it to be the weaker Or is there any better meane to strengthen their minde then that knowledge of God of religion of ciuil of domesticall dueties which we haue by our traine and ought not to denie them being comprised in bookes and is to be compassed in youth That some exercise of bodie ought to be vsed some ordinarie stirring ought to be enioyned some prouision for priuate and peculiar trainers ought to be made not onely the ladies of Lacedaemon will sweare but all the world will sooth if they do but wey that it is to much to weaken our owne selues by not strengthning their side That cunning poet for iudgement in matter and great philosopher for secrecie in nature our well knowen Virgill saw in a goodly horse that was offered vnto Augustus Caesar an infirmitie vnperceaued by either looker on or any of his stable which came as he said by some weaknes in the damme and was confessed to be true Galene the whole familie of Physicians ripping vp our infirmities which be not to be auoided placeth the seminarie and originall engraffed in nature as our greatest and nearest foes And therfore to be preuented by the parentes thorough considerate traine the best and fairest meane to better weake nature so that of duety they are to be cared for And what care in duetie is greater then this in traine Their naturall towardnesse which was my third reason doth most manifestly call vpon vs to see them well brought vp If nature haue giuen them abilities to proue excellent in their kinde and yet thereby in no point to let their most laudable dueties in mariage and matche but rather to bewtifie them with most singular ornamentes are not we to be cōdemned of extreme vnnaturallnes if we gay not that by discipline which is giuen them by nature That naturally they are so richely endowed all Philosophie is full no Diuinitie denyes Plato and his Academikes say that all vertues be indifferent nay all one in man and woman sauing that they be more strong and more durable in men weaker and more variable in wymen Xeno his Stoikes though they esteeme the ods betwene man and woman naturally to be as great as the difference betwene an heauenly and an earthly creature which Plato did not making them both of one mould yet they graunt them equalitie and samenesse in vertue though they deliuer the strength and constancie ouer vnto men as properly belonging vnto that side Aristotle and his Peripatetikes confessing them both to be of one kinde though to different vses in nature according to those differences in condition appointeth them differences in vertue and yet wherin they agree
publicke place where they may easily be seene red and to leaue as litle vncertaine or vntoucht which the parent ought to know and whereupon misliking may arise as is possible For if at the first entry the parent condiscend to those orders which he seeth so that he cannot afterward plead eitheir ignorāce or disallowing he is not to take offence if his childe be forced vnto them when he will not follow according to that fourme which he himselfe did confirme by his owne cōsent And yet when all is done the glosse will wring the text Wherefore the maner of teaching the ascent in fourmes the times of admission the preuention to haue fourmes equall the bookes for learning and all those thinges which be incident vnto that vniformitie wherof I spake being already knowen to be ratified by authoritie as I trust it shalbe or if not yet the same order in the same degrees being set downe which the maister priuately according to his owne skill entendes to kepe it shalbe very good to take away matter of iarre betwene the parentes and the maister in the same table publickly to be seene and shewed to the parentes when they bring their child first to schoole besides all that which I haue generally touched to set downe also in plaine and flat termes what houres he will kepe by cause there is great consideration in that what to haue fixed and perpetuall and wherein to giue place to particular occasions as there be very many why all children cannot kepe all houres though the schoole houres must still be certaine and discretiō must be the determiner Againe what occasions he will vse to let them go to play which be now very many and very needefull while ordinary exercises be not as ordinarily admitted as ordinarie schooling is ordinarily allowed and such other thinges as the schoole shall seeme necessarily to require For a certaintie resolueth and preuentes douting But he must cheifly touch what punishment he will vse and how much for euery kinde of fault that shall seeme punishable by the rod. For the rod may no more be spared in schooles then the sworde may in the Princes hand By the rod I meane correction and awe if that sceptre be thought to fearfull for boyes which our time deuised not but receiued it from auncientie I will not striue with any man for it so he leaue vs some meane which in a multitude maye worke obedience For the priuate what soeuer parentes say my ladie birchely will be a gest at home or else parentes shall not haue their willes And if in men great misses deserue and receiue great punishment sure children may not escape in some qualitie of punishment which in quantitie of vnhappinesse will match some men And if parentes were as carefull to examine the causes of beating as they are nothing curious to be offended without cause for beating themselues might gaine a great deale more to their childrens good and their children lease nothing by their parentes assurance But commonly in such cases rashnesse hath her recompence the errour being then spied when the harme is incurable and repentance without redresse Terme it as ye list beate not you saye for learning but for lewdnesse Sure to beate him for learning which is willing enough to learne whē his witte will not serue were more then frantike and vnder the name of not learning to hide and shrowd all faultes and offenses were more then foolish and what would that childe be without beating which with it can hardly be reclaimed in whom onely lewdnesse is the let and capacitie is at will The ende of our shooles is learning if it faile by negligence punish negligence if by other voluntarie default punish the default Spare learning so that still the refuge must be to the maisters discretion both for manners and for learning whom I would wish to set downe as much in certaintie as he can at the beginning and to leaue as litle as he may to the childes report who will alway leane and sway to much to his owne side and beare away the bell euen against the best maister cheifly if his mother be either his counsellour or his attourney or the father vnconstant and without iudgement The maister therfore must haue in his table a catalogue of schoole faultes beginning at the commandementes for swearing for disobedience for lying for false witnesse for picking and so thorough out then to the meaner heresies trewantry absence tardies and so forth Such a thing Xenophon seemes to meane in rekening vp the faultes which the Persian vsed to punish though he limit not the penaltie what nor how much Which in all these I wish our maister to set downe with the number of stripes also immutable though not many Wherin the maister is to take good heed that the fault may be confessed if it may be without force and the boye conuicted by verdit of his fellowes and that very euidently For otherwise children will wrangle amaine and affection at home hath credulitie beyond crye which makes the boye dare what reason dare not If any of their fellowes be appointed monitours as such helpes of Lieutenauncie must be had where the maister cannot alwaye be present himselfe and take them napping they wil pretend spite or some priuate displeasure in most manifest knauerie And if ye correcte as your Lieutenant must haue credit if you meane to keepe state that must go home to proue beating without cause If the maister differre execution that delaie will enstruct them to deuise some starting hole and that also if it be not heard in schoole wilbe heard at home To tell tales out of schoole is now as commonly vsed to the worst as in the old world it was high treason to do it at all There be as many prety stratagemes and deuises which boyes will vse to saue themselues and as pleasaunt to heare as any apopthegme in either Plutarch AElianus or Erasmus The maister therefore must be very circumspecte and leaue no shew or countenaunce of impunitie deserued where desert biddes pay It were some losse of time in learning to spend any in beating if it did not seeme a gaine that soundeth towardes good and seekes amendement of manners It is passing hard to reclaime a boye in whom long impunitie hath graffed a carelesse securitie or rather some deepe insolencie and yet freindes will haue it so and beating may not be for discouraging the boye though repentaunce be in rearward It is also not good after any correctiō to let childrē grate somwhat to long of their late greife for feare of to greate stomaking onlesse the parentes be wise and stedfast with whom if a cunning and a discrete maister ioyne that childe is most fortunate which hath such parentes and that scholer most happie which hath light on such a maister But certainly it is most true let plausibilitie in speach vse all her excusing and blanching colours that she can that the round maister which
can vse the rod discretely though he displease some which thinke all punishment vndiscrete if it tuch their owne doth perfourme his duetie best and still shall bring vp the best scholers As no maister of any stuffe shall do but well where the parentes like that at home which the maister doth at schoole and if they do mislike any thing will rather impart their greife and displeasure with the maister priuately to amend it then moane their child openly to marre that way more then they shall make any way The same faultes must be faultes at home which be faultes at schoole and receiue the like reward in both the places to worke the childes good by both meanes correction as the cause shall offer commendacion as neede shall require They that write most for gentlenesse in traine reserue place for the rod and we that vse the terme of seueritie recommend curtesie to the maisters discretion Here is the oddes they will seeme to be curteous in termes and yet the force of the matter makes them cōfesse the neede of the rod we vse sharp termes and yet yeilde to curtesie more then euen the verie patrones of curtesie do for all their curifauour Wherin we haue more reason to harp on the harder stringe for the trueth of the matter then they to touch but the softer so to please the person seeing they conspire with vs in the last conclusion that both correction and curtesie be referred to discretion Curtesie goeth before and ought to guide the discourse when reason is obeyed which is very seldome but the corruptnesse in nature the penalties in lawe courage to enflame desire to entice and so many euilles assailing one good do enforce me to build my discourse vpon feare and leaue curtesie to consideration as the bare one reason of reason obeyed a thing still wished but seldome wel willed doth cause some curteous conceit not much acquainted with the kinde of gouernment vpon some plausible liking to make curtesie the outside and keepe canuase for the lyning but euer still for the last staffe to make discretion the refuge Wherin we agree though I priuately chide him and saye why dissemble ye Vnder hand he aunswereth me I lend the world some wordes but I will witnesse with you I do not speake against discrete correction but against hastinesse and crueltie Sir I know none that will either set correction or curtesie at to much libertie but with distinction vpon whom they be both to be exercised neither yet any that will praise cruelty and all those that write of this argument whether Philosophers or others allow of punishment though they differ in the kinde And it is said in the best common weale not that no punishmēt is to be vsed but that such an excellent naturall witte as is made out of the finest mould would not be enforced bycause in deede it needes not neither will I offer feare where I finde such a one neither but in such a common weale shall I finde such a one And yet in our corrupt states we light sometime vpon one that were worthy to be a dweller in a farre better And I will rather venture vpon the note of a sharp maister to make a boye learne that which may afterward do him seruice yea though he be vnwilling for the time and very negligent then that he shall lacke the thing which maye do him seruice when age commeth on bycause I would not make him learne for the vaine shadow of a curteous maister It is slauish sayeth Socrates to be bet It is slauish then to deserue beating sayeth the same Socrates If Socrates his free nature be not found sure Socrates his slauish courage must be cudgelled euen by Socrates his owne confession For neither is punishment denied for slaues neither curtesie for free natures This by the waye neither Socrates nor Plato be so directly carefull in that place for a good maister in this kinde as the place required though they point the learner And in deed where they had Censores to ouersee the generall traine both for one age other there needed no greate precept this waye If parentes might not do this neither children attempt that then were maisters disburdened If all thinges were set in stay by publike prouision priuate care were then mightily discharged But Socrates findes a good scholer which in naturall relation inferreth a good maister And yet Philippe of Macedonie had a thousand considerations in his person moe then that he was Alexanders father and it is not enough to name the man onelesse ye do note the cause why with all and in what respect ye name him A wise maister which must be a speciall caueat in prouision wil helpe all either by preuenting that faultes be not committed or by well vsing when soeuer they fall out and without exception must haue both correction and curtesie committed vnto him beyond any appeal Xenophon maketh Cyrus be beaten of his maister euen where he makes him the paterne of the best Prince as Tullie sayeth and mindes not the trueth of the storie but the perfitnesse of his deuise being him selfe very milde as it appeareth still in his iourney from Assyria after the death of Cyrus the younger For a soule there could not be one lesse seruile then he which was pictured out beyond exception for impunitie there could not be more hope then in a Prince enheritour and that is more set forth for a paterne to Princes And yet this Princes child in the absolutenesse of deuise was beaten by his deuise which could not deuise any good traine exempt from beating beinge yet the second ornament of Socrates his schoole The case was thus and a matter of the Persian learning A long boye had a short coate and a short boye had a long one The long boye tooke awaye the short boyes coate and gaue him his both were fit But yet there arose a question about it Cyrus was made iudge as iustice was the Persian grammer He gaue sentence that either should haue that which fitted him His maister bette him for his sentence bycause the question was not of fitnesse but of right wherein eche should haue his owne His not learning and errour by ignorance was the fault wherfore he was punished And who soeuer shall marke the thing well shall finde that not learning where there is witte to learne buildeth vpon idlenesse vnwilling to take paines vpon presumption that he shall carie it awaye free and in the ende vpon contempt of them from whom he learned to contemne where he should haue reuerenced Slight considerations make no artificiall anatomies and therfore will smart bycause they spie not the subtilities of creeping diseases It is easie for negligence in scholers to pretend crueltie in maisters where fauour beyond rime lendes credit beyond reason But in such choice of maisters where crueltie maye easily be auoided nay in such helpe by Magistrate where it may be suppressed and in such wealth of