since this is your desire: let us return to Flexibulus;
nothing is sweeter to me than his discourse, nothing
more sagacious than his counsels, nothing more weighty
than his precepts, or more holy. So by this foretaste
of himself which he has provided me, the thirst has
been stimulated and increased in a wonderful degree, to
draw further from that sweet fountain of wisdom. Those
who describe the earth tell us that the streams are of
wonderful formation and nature; some inebriate, others
take away drunkenness; some send stupor, others sleep. I
have experienced that this fountain has the property of
making a man of a brute, a useful person of a wastrel,
and of a man an angel.
_Bud._ Might I not be able also to draw something from
this fountain, though it be with the tip of my lips?
_Grym._ Why shouldst thou not? I will show you the house
where he dwells.
_Bud._ Another time! But do thou, whilst we are walking
along (or let us sit down, if you like), tell me
something of his precepts, those which thou considerest
to be his best and most potent.
_The Precepts_
_Grym._ I will gladly recall them to memory as far as I
am able if it will give you pleasure and be of use. First
of all he taught me that no one ought to think highly
of himself, but moderately or, more truly, humbly; that
this was the solid and special foundation of the best
education, and truly of society. Hence to exercise all
diligence to cultivate the mind, and to adorn it with
the knowledge of things by the knowledge and exercise of
virtue. Otherwise, that a man is not a man but as cattle.
That one should be interested in sacred matters and
regard them with the greatest attention and reverence.
Whatsoever on those matters you either hear, or see, to
regard it as great, wonder-moving, and as things which
surpass your power of comprehension. That you should
frequently commend yourself to Christ in prayers, have
your hope and all your trust placed in Him. That you
should show yourself obedient to parents, serve them,
minister to them and, as each one has power, be good
and useful to them. That we should honour and love the
teacher even as the parent, not of our body but (what is
greater) of our mind. That we should revere the priests
of the Lord, and show ourselves attentive to their
teaching, since they are to us in place of the Apostles
and even of the Lord Himself. That we should stand up
before the old, uncovering our heads, and attentively
listen to them, from whom, through their long experience
of life, wisdom may be gathered. That we should honour
magistrates, and that when they order anything we should
listen to what they say—since God has committed us to
their care. That we should look for, admire, honour,
and wish all good to, men of great ability, of great
learning, and to honest men, and seek the friendship
and intimacy of those from whom so great fruits can be
obtained, and that we attend to it especially that we
turn out like them. And in the last place, that reverence
is due to those who are in places of dignity, and
therefore it should be given freely and gladly. What do
you say as to these precepts?
_Bud._ So far as I can form a judgment regarding them,
they are taken out from some rich storehouse of wisdom.
But tell me if many people do not come to honour, who
don’t deserve it, _e.g._, priests who don’t act in
accordance with so great a title, depraved magistrates,
and foolish and delirious old men? What is the opinion of
Flexibulus of these? Are they to be honoured as greatly
as the more capable men?
_Grym._ Flexibulus knew very well that there are many
such, but he did not allow that those of my age could
judge in matters of this kind. We had not yet obtained
such insight and wisdom, that we could judge with regard
to them. That forming of opinion in these matters must
be left over to wise men, and to those who are placed in
authority over us.
_Bud._ Therein he was right, as it seems to me.
_Grym._ He used to add: that a youth ought not to be
slow in baring his head, in bending his knee, nor in
calling any one by his most honoured titles, nor remiss
in pleasant and modest discourse. Nor does it become him
to speak much amongst his elders or superiors. For it
would not otherwise agree with the reverence due from
him. Silent himself, he should listen to them, and drink
in wisdom from them, knowledge of varied kinds, and a
correct and ready method of speaking. The shortest way
to knowledge is diligence in listening. It is the part
of a prudent and thoughtful man to form right judgments
about things, and in every instance of that about which
he clearly knows. Therefore a youth ought not to be
tolerated, who speaks hastily and judges hastily, nor
one who is inclined to asserting and deciding hastily;
that he ought to be reluctant to argue and judge on even
small and slight questions of any kind, or, at any rate,
rather timid, _i.e._, conscious of his own ignorance. But
if this is true in slight matters, what shall we say of
literature, of the branches of knowledge? of the laws of
the country, of rites, of the customs and institutions
of our ancestors? Concerning these, Flexibulus said, it
was not permissible in the youth to urge an opinion or
to dispute or to call in question; not to cavil, nor to
demand the grounds, but quietly and modestly, to obey
them. He supported his opinion by the authority of Plato,
a man of great wisdom.
_Bud._ But if the laws are depraved in their morality,
unjust, tyrannical?
_Grym._ As to this Flexibulus expressed himself as he
had done with regard to old men. “I know full well,”
said he, “there are many customs in the state which are
not suitable, that whilst some laws are sacred, some
are unjust, but you are unskilled, inexperienced in the
affairs of life, how should you form an opinion? Not as
yet have you reached that stage in erudition, in the
experience of things, that you should be able to decide.
Perchance, such is your ignorance or licence of mind, you
would judge those laws to be unjust which are established
most righteously and with great wisdom. But who could
render manifest those laws which should be abrogated
without inquiring, discussing, and deciding on points
one by one? For this, you are not yet capable.”
_Bud._ That is clearly so. Go on to other points.
III. _Epilogue_
_Grym._ No ornament is more becoming or pleasing in the
youth than modesty. Nothing is more offensive and hateful
than impudence. There is great danger to our age from
anger. By it we are snatched to disgraceful actions, of
which afterwards we are most keenly ashamed. And so we
must struggle eagerly against it, until it is entirely
overcome, lest it overcome us. The leisurely man, badly
occupied, is a stone, a beast; a well-occupied man is in
truth a man. Men, by doing nothing, learn to do evil.
Food and drink must be measured by the natural desire of
hunger and thirst, not by gluttony, and not by brute-lust
of stuffing the body. What can be more loathsome to be
said than that a man wages war on his own body by eating
and drinking, which strip him of his humanity, and hand
him over to the beasts, or make him even as it were a log
of wood. The expression of the face and the whole body
show in what manner the mind within is trained. But from
the whole exterior appearance, no mirror of the mind is
more certain than the eyes, and so it is fitting that
they should be sedate and quiet, not elated nor dejected,
neither mobile nor stiff, and that the face itself
should not be drawn into severity or ferocity, but into
a cheerful and affable cast. Sordidness and obscenity
should be far absent from clothing, nurture, intercourse,
and speech. Our speech should be neither arrogant nor
marked by fear, nor (would he have it by turns) abject
and effeminate, but simple and by no means captious;
not twisted to misleading interpretations, for if that
happens, nothing can be safely spoken, and a noble nature
in a man is broken, if his speech is met by foolish and
inane cavils. When we are speaking, the hands should not
be tossed about, nor the head shaken, nor the side bent,
nor the forehead wrinkled, nor the face distorted, nor
the feet shuffling. Nothing is viler than lying, nor is
anything so abhorrent. Intemperance makes us beasts;
lying makes us devils; the truth makes us demigods. Truth
is born of God; lying of the Devil, and nothing is so
harmful for the communion of life. Much more ought the
liar to be shut out from the concourse of men than he who
has committed theft, or he who has beaten another, or he
who has debased the coinage. For what intercourse in the
affairs or business of life or what trustful conversation
can there be with the man, who speaks otherwise than
as he thinks? With other kinds of vices, this may be
possible; but not with lying. Concerning companions and
friendship of youths he said much and to the purpose,
that this was not a matter of slight moment to the
honesty or else the shame of our age, that the manners
of our friends and companions are communicated to us as
if by contagion, and we become almost such as those are,
with whom we have intimate dealings; and therefore in
that matter, there should be exercised great diligence
and care. Nor did he permit us to seek friendships and
intimacies ourselves, but that they should be chosen by
parents or teachers or educators, and he taught that
we should accept them, and honour them as they were
recommended. For parents, in choosing for us, are guided
by reason, whilst we may be seized by some bad desire or
lust of the mind. But if, by any chance, we should find
ourselves in useless or harmful circumstances, then it
behoves us as soon as possible to seek advice from our
superiors, and to lay our cares before them. He said,
from time to time, indeed, very many other weighty and
admirable things, and these things also he explained with
considerable fullness and exactness. But these points
which I have already stated were, on the whole, the most
important on the subject of the right education of youth.
BREDA, IN BRABANT; _the Day of the Visitation of the Holy
Virgin_, 1538.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] From the same _Institution of a Christian Woman_ (Richard Hyrde’s
translation).
[2] J. L. Vives: _Ausgeswählte pädagogische Schriften_. Leipzig.
[3] _De Causis Corruptarum Artium_, book ii.
[4] The _De Disciplinis_ consists of two parts—1. _De Causis
Corruptarum Artium_, in seven books; 2. _De Tradendis Disciplinis_ in
five books.
[5] _Dissertation on Romance and Minstrelsy_, by Joseph Ritson, 1891.
[6] Bömer, _Die Lateinischen Schülergespräche der Humanisten_ (1899),
p. 182.
[7] Vives deals with this question in his _De Tradendis Disciplinis_,
and it is highly probable that Mulcaster had read that book before
he treated on the subject of conferences of parents and teachers.
(_Positions_, p. 284).
[8] It should be remembered, in connection with these dates, that Queen
Mary was eleven years older than Philip. Mary was Philip’s second wife;
his first wife was Mary of Portugal, whom he married in 1543. She died
in 1546.
[9] _See_ p. 174.
[10] This edition is not mentioned by Bömer.
[11] _See_ p. xxvi.
[12] _See_ p. 196–196.
[13] p. 21.
[14] p. 18.
[15] p. 65.
[16] In the eighteenth century, the Nonconformist academies, which are
of the first significance as educational institutions, probably, in
many cases, already associated the stages of elementary, secondary, and
university education in one institution.
[17] The grammar school was called in Latin _Ludus literarius_.
[18] _E.g._, John Northbrooke: _Treatise wherein Dicing, etc., ...
are reproved ... Dialogue-wise_, 1579 (Reprinted by the Shakespeare
Society); Gilbert Walker: _A Manifest Detection of the most Vyle and
Detestable Use of Dice-play_, 1552 (Reprinted by the Percy Society);
and by educational writers, _e.g._, Roger Ascham: _Toxophilus_ (1545),
and Laurence Humphrey: _The Nobles_ (1560). William Horman, headmaster
of Eton College School, in his _Vulgaria_ (in 1519) holds the opinion:
“It is a shame that young gentlemen should lose time at the dice and
tables, cards and hazard.”
[19] As to charts, _e.g._, Sir Thomas Elyot, in the _Gouvernour_
(1531), says: “I cannot tell what more pleasure should happen to a
gentle wit than to behold in his own house (_i.e._, in pictures and
maps) everything that within all the world is contained.”
[20] _See_ p. 95.
[21] Dialogue IX.
[22] Dialogue VIII.
[23] Which J. T. Freigius duly notes is taken from Ovid:
_Metamorphoses_, liber vi., and Vergil: _Eclogues_, vi.
[24] Vives gives an example in Pandulphus (Dialogue IX.).
[25] _De Tradendis Disciplinis_, book iii. chap. 3.
[26] _De Tradendis Disciplinis_, book iii. chap. 3.
[27] _De Tradendis Disciplinis_, book i. chap. 2.
[28] _Mémoire sur la vie et les écrits de J. L. Vives_, p. 87.
[29] _Die lateinischen Schülergespräche der Humanisten_, pp. 163–163.
[30] Pasce animos nostros Christe caritate tua, qui benignitate tua
alis vitas animantium: sancta sint, Domine, haec tua munera nobis
sumentibus, ut tu, qui ea largiris, sanctus es. Amen.
[31] In John Conybeare’s _Collection of Proverbs_ (1580–1580) the
following rendering is given: “One knave will kepe another companye,
one pratteler wille with another, like will to like.” _Letters and
Exercises of John Conybeare_, p. 42. London: Henry Frowde, 1905.
[32] _Audire male._ To have an evil reputation. Lewis and Short aptly
quote from Milton’s _Areopagitica_: “For which England hears ill
abroad.”
[33] On a tombstone. Dr. Bröring quotes from Guicciardini, _Belgicae
Descriptio_, 1635, where an account is given of the tombstone to a
daughter of the Countess Mathilde of Holland in a Cloister near the
Hague.
[34] _Amphora_ is a measure for liquids. It was equal to six gallons
seven pints. The _congius_, in the _Tri-congius_, was a measure of
one-eighth of an _amphora_.
[35] _I.e._ of the nature of bugs.
[36] _Decoxisse_ from _decoquere_—which means both to cook and to
become bankrupt.
[37] Dr. Bröring quotes from Erasmus’s _Adages_, Chil. I. Cent. viii.
Prov. 86, to show that formerly men of obscure birth were termed
_terrae filii_.
[38] _Capitulum lepidissimum_—a term of endearment used by Terence.
[39] Freigius notes that Jubellius Taurea was by far the strongest
horse of the Campanians, whilst Claudius Asellus was a horseman of
equally renowned horsemanship. The steed challenged the rider to a
contest. _See_ Livy, Bk. 3, Decad. 3.
[40] Of the town of Tours, in France.
[41] It is explained by Vives, as a note in the margin, that Curio is
the priest of the parish, commonly called curate.
[42] As Dr. Bröring remarks, “German” is used in the sense of
“brethren.”
[43] With dust in winter and mud in spring, you will reap great grain,
Camillus. Macrobius, _Satur._ v. 20; cf. Vergil, _Georgics_, i. 101.
[44] Happy is the man in his heart, and approaching to the happiness
of the gods themselves, whom glory does not agitate, dazzling with its
lying gloss, nor the evil allurements of haughty luxury, but who lets
the days pass peacefully by and silently, and with the labour of the
poor man wins the peace of the blameless life.
[45] _I.e._, shop packing-paper.
[46] But dispatch now, don’t put off to future hours. Who does not do a
thing to-day may be less able to do it to-morrow.
[47] Let words run, the hand is quicker than they; not as yet has the
tongue done its work until the right hand has accomplished its task.
[48] Is this always the order of the day, then? Here is full morning
coming through the window-shutters, and making the narrow crevices look
larger with the light; yet we go on snoring, enough to carry off the
fumes of that unmanageable Falernian.—(Conington’s Translation.)
[49] Arise, already the baker sells breakfast to boys. On every side,
already, the birds announce the dawn by their chirping.
[50]
“Such days, I trow, at the infancy of earth,
Shone forth, and kept the tenor of their birth;
True spring was that, the world was bent on spring,
And eastern breezes check’d their wintry wing:
While cattle drank new light, and man was shown,
A race of iron from a land of stone;
Then savage beasts were launch’d upon the grove,
And constellations on the heaven above;
Nor could young Nature have achieved the birth,
Unless a period of repose so sweet
Had come to pass, betwixt the cold and heat,
And heaven’s indulgence greeted the new earth.”
R. D. Blackmore’s Translation.
[51] As did Columella, _i.e._, _pruna cereola_. Pliny calls them
_cerina_.
[52] Freigius’s note: _Insularius_ is equivalent to French _concierge_.
[53] Livy, book i.
[54] Book v. cap. 4, de Cimone; Ovid, _Fasti_, book ii.
[55] _I.e._, the beggar in the house of Ulysses at Ithaca. See Martial,
5, 41, 9.
[56] _Georgics_, i. 392. The oil (of lamps is seen) to sparkle and
crumbling fungus to form.
[57] Sleep, the rest of things, sleep, most gracious of the gods, peace
of the mind, whom anxiety shuns, thou who soothest the weary bodies
from their hard duties and restorest them for their labour.
[58] This is a mark of refinement and seemly in one who is cultured—not
to be ignorant of the names of the utensils that are in daily use in
the house.
[59] _Athen._ 12. That he was the first to set the Romans the example
of luxury in all things.
[60] That Apicius exceeded all men in prodigality.
[61] Cooking vessel with feet for coals.
[62] I am not willing to be Caesar, to march through the Britons and to
suffer Scythian frosts.
[63] So says Aelius Spartianus in _Life of Hadrian Florus_ as quoted by
Freigius. See _Crinitus_, book 15, cap. 5.
[64] How often the cook seeks pepper and wine for the breakfasts of the
Fabii to smack of the simple beet.
[65] And heavily used to hang on his arm a bowl with a worn-out handle.
[66] Tell me why does the lettuce, which used to finish off the meals
of our ancestors, now begin _our_ meals?
[67] When I, the Lucanian sausage, come, daughter of the swine of
Picenum, then will the crown be given gladly to the snowy pottage.
[68] As he passed by one day, Diogenes, who was washing vegetables,
scoffed at him and said: “If you had learnt to live on these, you would
not frequent the courts of kings;” and he said: “If you knew how to
associate with your fellow men, you would not be washing vegetables.”
[69] _See_ Cicero, _De Oratore_, iii. (near the end); Quintilian, i.
10; Gellius, _Noctes Atticae_, i. 11.
[70] _Graculus_ is a jackdaw. Aesop has a story of the jackdaw with
borrowed plumes. Juvenal iii. 78 refers to the _Graeculus_, the Roman
attempting to play the Greek.
[71] A red colouring matter.
[72] On what has been set and is set before us, may Christ deign to
give his blessing.
[73] Even with three guests, each seems to me to have a different
taste, each requiring quite different foods with his quite different
palate. HORACE, _Epistles_, ii. 2, 61, 62.
[74] _Georgics_, i. 57.
[75] We should give little to pleasure, as its due; but all the more to
health. CATO, _Disticha de Moribus_, ii. 28.
[76] _See_ Varro, _De re rustica_, III. vi. 6.
[77] We render thanks to Thee, Father, who has provided so many things
for the enjoyment of men: Grant that, by Thy good-will, we may come to
the feast of Thy Blessedness.
[78] For getting well from the bite of dog at night, take from the
dog’s hair your remedy.
[79] Boys play, and play, also, youth and age. Play is the wit,
seriousness, and wisdom of old age. Also human life, what is it but
trifling and empty fable, when virtue is not its sole guiding principle?
[80] Viz., _The Antiochian; or, The Beard-hater_.
[81] _I.e._, the small town of the Parisians.
[82] Vives uses the Roman formula for the passing of laws: “_Velitis,
Quirites, jubeatis._” The response of acceptance being: “_Uti rogas._”
[83] Dr. Bröring renders _glabella_, “the space between the eyebrows.”
_Glabellus_ is derived from _glaber_, the root of which is γλαφ—cf.
_scalpo_, to hollow out—_i.e._, smooth, without hair (Lewis and Short).
[84] _See_ _Valerius Maximus_, book vi. chap. vi.
INDEX
[_Large Roman numerals refer to the number of the
Dialogue; small Roman numerals refer to the pages of the
Introduction; Arabic numerals refer to the pages of the
text._]
A B C tablet, 18
Academy, the, xxxix.
Agonotheta, 106
Alarum-clock, 116
Anneus, a teacher, xliii., 204
Apparel, court, 163
Architriclinus (feast-master), 30
Aristotle, 36, 47, 102, 147
Ascham, Roger, xli.
Atlantides, 98
Bacchus, 151, 156
Baldus, 106
Banquet, 126, 132
“Baptising” wine, 139
Bardus, 107
Bartolus, 106
Batalarii, 102, 103, 106
Beer, 92, 141
Beggar, 43
Bird, the teacher, 89
Birds, different kinds of, 144
Blacksmith, 82
Boatmen, the scum of the sea, 59
Boccaccio, 96
Bömer, Dr., xxii.
Book-gluer, 114
Books, 179
Boorish youth, 52
Boulogne, 56
Bread, different kinds of, 134
Breakfast, 8, 27
Bruges, 33, 34
Budaeus (William Budé), vii.
Buffoons, 170
Busts of authors in library, 105
Candles, 110
Card-playing, XXI.
Catharine of Aragon, xv., xvi., xxviii., 96
_Catholicon, The_, 105
Cato’s distichs quoted, 137
Caryatides, 98
Cervent, Clara, mother of Vives’ wife, xi.
Chancellor, the, 167
Characteristics of the _Dialogues_, xxxvii.
Charts or maps, 186
Cheese, 12, 145
Cherries, buying of, 17;
cherry-stones as stakes, 23
Child, and rattle, 53
Chrysostom, homilies of, 151
_Chytropus_, 120
Cicero, 113;
_Tusculanae Questiones_, 42, 114
Circe, cup of, 170
Clock, 81; mechanical, 82
Clothes, 84 _sqq._
Comb, 4;
ivory, 85
Constable, the, 165
“Cooking” accounts, 50
Cook-shop, 118
Copies, writing, 74
Copper-knobs on books, 113
Counsellors of the king, 166
Courtiers of the king, 167
Cuckoo, the, 46
Cups, 31, 51, 128
Dauphin, the, 165
Dead men can speak, 178
Deafness, 42
de Croy, Cardinal, Vives’ pupil, xii.
Dedication of Vives’ _School Dialogues_, xxi.
Delights of Sight, 88;
of Hearing, 89;
of Smell, 89;
of Taste, 89;
of Touch, 90
Demosthenes, 113
Dialectic, 102
Dice-player, Curius the, 44
Dignitaries of the court, 165
Dilia, river, 83
Dining-room, 96, 128
Diogenes, 125, 136
Discovery of the New World, 95
Disease of thirst, 161
Disputing, 20
Dog, 7, 15, 41, 44
Door-angels, 94
Drama, and the _Dialogues_, xxxvii.
Drawing lots, 189
Dressing, 2 _sqq._
Drinking, 27, 28, 30, 45;
water, 28, 42;
wine, 28, 42;
beer, 31
Drivers, the scum of the earth, 59
Drunkenness, xlvi., XVIII.;
effects of, 160
Dullard, John, xi.
Dürer, Albrecht, 210
Dury, John, and the Academy, xl.
Earth, the, a fruitful mother, 53
Eating, 27
Education, XXIV.;
noble, 233
Elegance of clothes as well as words, 47
Elyot, Sir Thomas, xxxv., xli.
Erasmus, vii., xi.
_Exercitatio_, the Latin title for the _Dialogues_, vii.
Fish, different kinds of, 143
“Flat” wine, 139
Flea, 83, 115
Fleming, 33;
without a knife, 33
Florus quoted, 122
Foods, 37, VII., 92, XV.
Freigius, J. T., editor of _Dialogues_, xxxiv., li.
Frenchmen, 104
Friendships arranged for children by parents, 242
Fruits, 135 _sqq._
Games, xli.;
ball, 2;
dice-playing, 2, 13, 23;
nuts, 22;
odd and even, 22;
draughts, 24;
playing-cards, 24;
tennis, 202
Genders, number of, 35
German, 120
Geometry, 16
Getting up, 1
Godelina of Flanders, 96
Goldfinch, 127
Good, the real, 228 _sqq._
Governing, art of, 177
Grace before meat, 33, 131;
after meat, 38, 148
Grammar, 2, 35, 102
Grammarians, asses, 119, 120
Greek in the _Dialogues_, xxxv.
Greetings, morning, 6
Griselda, 96
Guest, school-boy, 32
Helen, 97
Holiday from school, 56
Holocolax, 165
Home and school life, xxiii.
Homer, 97
Horace quoted, 53, 135
Horses, and their trappings, IX.
Host, a kindly, 153
Hour-bells, 40
Hours of teaching, 103
House, the new, 93;
keeper, 32
Housteville, Aegidius de, xxxvi.
Hugutio, 105
Hunter, Mannius the, 44
Ink, 72
Inscriptions in houses, 97
Intemperance, 241
Isocrates quoted, 177
Joannius, Honoratus, learned man of Valencia, 205
Joviality, the gate of drunkenness, 161
Jugglers, 170
Keeper of Archives, the, 167
King, the, 165;
the palace of the, 163
Kitchen, the, XV., 31;
maid, 31
Ladies’ quarters in the court, 169
Lapinius, Euphrosynus, xxxvi.
Latin speaking, xxx., 34
Laws of play, xliii., 206–9
Lebrija (or Nebrissensis), Antonio de, x., 65
Lecture-room, 65
Letter-carrier, 51, 70
Letters, 18, 21
Library, school, 105
Licentiates, 103
Lie-telling, 13
Life, a journey, 179
Literature out of the class-room, 188
Litigants of the king’s court, 167
Livy, lost decads, 211
Logic, 2
Louvain, inhabitants of (Lovanians), 47
Lover, the, 48
Lucretia, picture of, 95
_Ludus literarius_, a playing with letters, the Latin for a school, 19
Lunch, 27
Lutetia (Paris), 199
Lying, 241
Lyons, 116