Verelye to lyue according to reason, and for that is
called a reasonable creature, and diuided frõ those
that cã not speake And what is most destrucciõ to mã?
Folyshenes. He wyll therfore be taught nothyng soner
then vertue, and abhorre from nothynge sooner then
folyshenesse, if so be the diligence of the parentes
wyll incontinent set aworke the nature whyle it is
emty. But we here meruelous complantes of the common
people, howe readye the nature of chyldrẽ is to fal to
vyce, & how hard it is to drawe them to the loue of
honesty. They accuse nature wrongfullye. The greatest
parte of thys euyll is thorowe oure owne faute, whyche
mar the wittes w^t vyces, before we teache them
vertues. And it is no maruell if we haue them not
verye apte to learne honestye, seyng they are nowe
already taught to myschiefe. And who is ignoraunt,
that the labour to vnteache, is both harder, and also
goth before teachyng. Also the common sorte of men do
amysse in thys pointe thre maner of wayes: eyther
because they vtterlye neglecte the bryngynge vp of
chyldren, or because they begynne to fashion their
myndes to knoweledge to late, or because they putte
them to those men of whome they maye learne that that
muste be vnlerned agayne. Wee haue shewed those fyrst
maner of men vnworthi to be called fathers, and that
they very litle differ from suche as sette theyr
infantes out abrode to be destroyed, and that they
oughte worthely to be punyshed by the lawe, which doth
prescribe this also diligentlye by what meanes
chyldren shuld be brought vp, & afterwards youth. The
second sorte be very manye, wyth whom nowe I specially
entend to striue. The thyrd doth amysse two wayes,
partly thorowe ignoraunce, partly thorowe retchlesnes.
And syth it is a rare thynge and a shame to be
ignoraunte to whome thou shuldest put oute thy horse,
or thy grounde to be kepte, howe muche more shamefull
is it not to knowe whom thou shuldeste put thy chylde
in truste wythal, beynge the dearest part of thy
possessions? Ther thou beginnest to lerne that, that
thou canst not skyll well of thy selfe, thou axest
counsell of the beste seene: here thou thynkeste it
maketh no matter to whom thou committest thy sonne.
Thou assignest to thy seruantes, eueri man his office
that is metest for hym. Thou tryest whom thou mayest
make ouersear of thy husbandrie, whome to appoint to
the kitchen, and who shulde ouersee thy housholde. And
it there be any good for nothynge, a slug, a dulhead,
a foole, a waster, to hym we cõmit oure childe to be
taught: and that thynge whych requireth the cunningest
man of all, is put to y^e worst of our seruauntes.
What is vntoward, if here menne haue not an vntoward
mind? Ther be some whych for theyr couetous mynd be
afeard to hyre a good master, and geue more to an
horskeper then a teacher of the chyld. And yet for al
that they spare no costly feastes, nyght & day thei
playe at dice, and bestowe moch vpon houndes & fooles.
In thys thynge onely they be sparers and nigardes,
for whose cause sparinge in other thynges myght be
excused. I wold ther wer fewer whych bestowe more vpon
a rotten whore, then vpon bringyng vp of their chylde.
Nothyng sayth the Satir writer stãdeth the father in
lesse cost then the sonne. Peraduenture it wyll not be
much amisse here to speake of y^e day dyet, which
longe ago was muche spokẽ of in y^e name of Crates.
They report it after thys fashion. Alow to thy coke
.x. poũd, to thy physicion a grote, to thy flatterer
.v. talẽts, to thy coũseller smoke, to thy harlot a
talent, to thy philosospher .iii. halfpẽs. What
lacketh to this preposterous count, but to put to it
y^t the teacher haue .iii. farthings: Howbeit I thinke
y^t the master is meant vnder y^e name of philosopher.
Whẽ one that was riche in money, but nedy of wit axed
Aristippus what wages he wold axe for teching his son,
& he answered .v.C. grotes. You axe quod he to great a
sũme: for w^t this much money a man maye bye a
seruaunte. ¶ Then the philosopher very properly againe:
but now, quod he, for one thou shalt haue two: a sonne
mete to do the seruice, and a philosopher to teache
thy sonne. Further if a man shulde bee axed, whether
he wold haue hys onlye sonne dead to wynne an hundred
horses, if he had any crumme of wysedome, he wold
answer (I thinke:) in no wyse. Whi geuest thou then
more for thi horse? why is he more diligẽtly takẽ hede
to then thy sonne? why geuest thou more for a fole,
then for the bringyng vp of thy chylde? Be frugall and
sparynge in other thynges, in thys poynt to be
thryfty, is no sparynge but a madnes. There be other
agayn that take good heede in chosyng a master, but
that is at the desyre of their friendes. They lette
passe a meete and cunninge man to teache chyldren, and
take one that can no skyll, for none other cause, but
that he is set forwardes at the desyres of their
friendes. Thou mad man, what meanest thou? In saylynge
thou regardest not the affeccion of thẽ y^t speake
good wordes for a man, but thou setteste hym to the
helme, whych can beste skyll to gouerne the shyp: in
the sonne, whẽ not only he hymself is in ieopardy, but
the father and mother and all the housholde, yea and
the common wealth it selfe, wylte thou not vse like
iudgement? Thy horse is sicke, whether wilt thou sende
for a leche at the good word of thy friend, or for his
cũning in lechcraft. What? Is thy sonne of lesse price
vnto the then thi horse? Yea settest thou lesse by thy
selfe then by thy horse? This beyng a foule thynge in
meane citizens, how much more shamefull is it in great
menne? At one supper a dashynge agaynst the mischeuous
rocke of dice, and so hauynge shypwrake, thei lose two
hundred poũd, and yet they saye they be at coste, if
vpon theyr son they bestowe aboue .xx. pounde. No man
can geue nature, eyther to himselfe, or to other:
howbeit in this poynte also the diligẽce of the
parẽtes helpeth much. The fyrst poynt is, that a mã
chose to hym selfe a wyfe that is good, come of a good
kynred, and well broughte vp, also of an healthfull
bodie. For seyng the kynred of the body and mynde is
very straytlye knytte, it can not be but that the one
thynge eyther muste be holpen or hurte of the other.
The nexte is, that when the husbande dothe hys duetye
to get chyldren, he do it neither beyng moued wyth
anger, nor yet drunken, for these affeccions go into
the chylde by a secrete infeccion. A certen
philosopher seemed to haue marked that thyng properly,
whyche seynge a yonge man behauinge hym selfe not
verye soberlie, it is meruell quod he, but if thy
father begat the whẽ he was dronke. Verily I thynke
this also maketh greatli to the matter, if the mother
at all times, but specially at y^e time of concepcion
and byrthe, haue her mynde free from all crimes, and
be of a good cõscience. For ther can be nothyng eyther
more quiet or more merye then such a mynd. The thyrd
point is y^t the mother noryshe with her own brestes
her infãt, or if ther hap any necessitie that it maye
not so be, let be chosẽ a nurse, of a wholsome body,
of pure mylke, good condicions, nether drunkẽ, not
brauler, nor lecherous. For the vices that be takẽ
euen in y^e very beginninges of lyfe, both of the
bodye and of the mynd, abyde fast vntyl we be olde.
Some men also write y^t it skilleth muche who be his
sucking felowes & who be his playfelowes. Fourthlye
that in due season he be set to a chosen scholemaster
alowed by all mens witnes, and many waies tryed. You
must be diligẽt in chosyng, and after go thorowe with
it. Homer disaloweth wher many beare rule: and after
the olde prouerbe of the grekes. The multitude of
captaines dyd lose Caria. And the oftẽ chaunginge of
physicions hath destroyed manye. There is nothynge
more vnprofitable, then often to chaunge y^e master.
For by that meanes the web of Penelopes is wouẽ and
vnwouen. But I haue knowen childrẽ, whych before they
wer .xii. yere old, had more thẽ .xii. masters, and
that thorowe the rechelesnesse of their parẽtes. And
yet after this is done must the parẽtes be diligẽt.
They shall take heede bothe to the master & to the
sonne, neither shall they so caste away al care from
thẽ as they are wonte to laye all the charge of the
doughter vpon the spouse, but the father shall
oftentyme looke vpon them, and marke whether he
profite, remembrynge those thynges whych the olde men
spake both sagely and wittely, that the forehead is
set before the hynder part of the head: and that
nothyng sooner fatteth the horse then the masters eye,
nor that no dunge maketh the ground more fruitfull
then the masters footyng. I speake of yonge ons. For
as for the elders it is meete sometyme that they be
sente far out of oure syght, whiche thing as it were a
graffing, is inespecially wont to tame yonge mens
wyttes. Emonge the excellent vertues of Paulus
Emilius, this also is praised, that as oftẽ as he
might for his busines in the cõmon welth he wolde be
at the exercises of hys sõnes. And Plinie the nepheu
was contente nowe and then to go into the schole for
his friendes sonnes sake, whom he had taken vpon him
to brynge vp in good learnynge. ¶ Furthermore, that that
wee haue spoken of nature is not to be vnderstand one
wayes. For there is a nature of a common kinde, as the
nature of a man in to vse reason. But ther is a nature
peculier, eyther to hym or him, that properly belõgeth
either to thys man or that, as if a man wolde saye
some menne to be borne to disciplines mathematical
some to diuinitie, some to rethorike some to poetrie,
and some to war. So myghtely disposed they be and
pulled to these studies, that by no meanes they canne
be discoraged from them, or so greatly they abhor
them, that they wyl sooner go into the fyre, then
apply their mynde to a science that they hate. I knewe
one familierlye whych was verye well seene both in
greke and latin, and well learned in all liberall
sciences, when an archbyshop by whõ he was found, had
sende hither by hys letters, that he shulde begynne to
heare the readers of the lawe agaynst hys nature.
After he had cõplayned of this to me (for we laye both
together) I exhorted hym to be ruled by his patron,
saying that it wold wexe more easily, that at the
beginning was harde, and that at the least waye he
shulde geue some part of hys tyme to that study. After
he had brought oute certen places wonderfull folyshe,
which yet those professours halfe goddes dyd teache
their hearers wyth greate authoritie, I answered, he
shuld set light by them, & take out that whyche they
taught well: and after I had preased vpon hym wyth
many argumentes, I am quod he so minded, that as often
as I turne my selfe to these studies, me thinketh a
swerde runneth thorowe my hert. Menne that bee thus
naturallye borne, I thynke they be not to bee
compelled against their nature, lest after the common
saying we shuld leade an Oxe to wreastlynge, or an
Asse to the harpe. Peraduenture of this inclinacion
you may perceiue certen markes in lytle ons. There be
that can pronosticate such thynges by the houre of hys
birthe, to whose iudgemente howe muche ought to be
geuen, I leaue it to euerye mans estimacion. It wolde
yet muche profite to haue espyed the same assoone as
can be, because we learne those thynges most easelie,
to the which nature hath made vs. I thinke it not a
very vayne thing to coniecture by y^e figure of the
face and the behaueour of the rest of the bodie, what
disposicion a man is of. Certes Aristotle so greate a
philosopher vouchsaued to put oute a booke of
phisiognonomye verye cunnynge and well laboured. As
saylyng is more pleasaunt when wee haue borne the wynd
and the tyde, so be we soner taught those things to
the whych we be inclined by redines of wyt. Virgyll
hath shewed markes wherby a man may know an oxe good
for y^e plough, or a cowe meete for generacion &
encrease of cattell. Beste is y^t oxe that looketh
grimly. He techeth by what tokẽs you may espie a yong
colt mete for iusting. Straight waye the colt of a
lusty courage trãpleth garlic in the fieldes .&c. for
you know the verses. They are deceyued whyche beleue
that nature hathe geuen vnto man no markes, whereby
hys disposiciõ maye bee gathered, and they do amisse,
that do not marke them thar be geuen. Albeit in my
iudgemente there is scante anye discipline, but that
the wyt of man is apt to lerne it, if we continue in
preceptes and exercise. For what may not a man learne,
when an Eliphant maye be taught to walke vpõ a corde,
a bear to daunse, and an asse to playe the foole. As
nature therefore is in no mannes owne hande, so wee
haue taught wherin by some meanes we maye helpe
nature. But good orderynge and exercise is altogether
of our own witte and diligence. How much the waye to
teach doth helpe, thys specially declareth, that we se
daylye, burdens to be lyft vp by engins and arte,
whiche otherwyse coulde bee moued by no strength. ¶ And
how greatly exercise auaileth that notable saying of
the old wise man, inespeciallye proueth, that he
ascribeth all thynges to diligence and study. But
labour, say they, is not meete for a tender age, &
what readines to lerne can be in children whych yet
scarse knowe that they are men: I wyll answere to
bothe these thinges in few wordes. How agreeth it that
that age shulde bee counted vnmeete for learnynge,
whych is nowe apte to learne good maners? But as there
be rudimentes of verture, so be there also of
sciences. Philosophy hath his infancie, hys youthe,
and rype age. An horsecolt, which forthwyth sheweth
his gentle kynd, is not straight way forced wyth the
bytte to cary on his backe an armed manne, but wyth
easy exercises he learneth the fashion of warre.
The calfe that is appoynted to the plowghe, is not
strayght wayes laden wyth werye yockes, nor prycked
wyth sharpe godes, but as Virgyl hath elegantlye
taught: Fyrst they knyt aboute his necke circles made
of tender twygges, and after when his free necke hathe
bene accustumed to do seruice, they make rounde hoopes
mete, & when they be wrythẽ, ioyne a payre of meete
ons together, and so cause the yonge heyfers to gooe
forwardes, and often tymes they make them to draw an
empty cart, and sleightly go awaye, but afterwards
they set on a great heauy axeltree of beeche, and make
them to draw a great plough beame of yrõ. Plowmen can
skyll howe to handell oxen in youthe, and attemper
their exercises after their strength muche more
diligently ought this to be done in bringing vp our
children. Furthermore the prouidẽce of nature hath
geuen vnto litle ons a certen mete habilitte. An
infant is not yet meete to whome thou shuldest reade
y^e offices of Cicero, or the Ethickes of Aristotle,
or the moral bokes of Seneca or Plutarche, or the
epistles of Paule, I confesse, but yet if he do any
thyng vncomly at the table, he is monyshed, and when
he is monyshed, he fashioneth hym selfe to do as he is
taught. He is brought into the temple, he lerneth to
bowe his kne, to holde hys handes manerly, to put of
hys cap, and to fashion all the behaueour of hys bodie
to worshyp God, he is cõmaunded to holde hys peace
when misteries be in doyng, and to turne hys eyes to
the alter. These rudimentes of modestye and vertue the
childe lerneth before he can speake, which because
they sticke fast vntil he be elder, they profit
somwhat to true religiõ. There is no differẽce to a
chyld when he is first borne, betwene his parẽntes &
straungers. Anon after he learneth to knowe his
mother, & after his father. He learneth by litle &
litle to reuerẽce thẽ, he learneth to obey them, & to
loue thẽ. He vnlerneth to be angrye, to be auẽged,
& when he is biddẽ kysse thẽ that he is ãgry withal,
he doth it, & vnlerneth to bable out of measure. He
lerneth to rise vp, & geue reuerence to an old mã, &
to put of his cap at y^e image of the crucifix. Thei
that thinke y^t these lytle rudimẽtes help nothing to
vertue, in my mind be greatly deceiued, A certẽ yonge
man whẽ he was rebuked of Plato because he had plaied
at dice cõplained y^t he was so bitterly chiddẽ, for
so litle harme. Thẽ quod Plato, although it be but
smal hurt to play at dice, yet is it great hurt to vse
it. As it is therefore a greate euyll to accustume thy
selfe to euyl, so to vse thy selfe to small good
thynges is a greate good. And that tender age is so
muche the more apte to learne these thyngs, because of
it selfe it is plyaunt vnto all fashions, because it
is not yet occupyed wyth vyce, and is glad to folowe,
if you shewe it to do any thinge. And as cõmonlye it
accustumeth it selfe to vyce, or euer it vnderstand
what vyce is, so wyth lyke easynes maye it be
accustumed to vertue. And it is beste to vse best
thinges euen at the fyrst. That fashion wyll endure
longe, to the which you make the empty and tender
mynde. Horace wrote that if you thruste oute nature
wyth a forke, yet wyll it styll come againe. He wrot
it and that very truly, but he wrote it of an olde
tre. Therefore the wise husband man wil straight waye
fashion the plante after that maner whyche he wyll
haue tarye for euer when it is a tree. It wyll soone
turne in to nature, that you powre in fyrste of all.
Claye if it be to moyste wyl not kepe the fashion that
is prynted in it: the waxe may be so softe that
nothynge can bee made of it. But scarse is there any
age so tender that is not able to receyue learnyng. No
age sayth Seneca, is to late to learne: whether that
be true or no I wot not, surely elderly age is very
harde to learne some thyngs. This is doutles, that no
age is so yonge but it is apte to be taught,
inespecially those thynges vnto the whych nature hathe
made vs, for as I sayd: for thys purpose she hath
geuen a certen peculier desyre of folowyng, that what
so euer they haue herde or seene, they desyre to do
the lyke, and reioyse when they thynke they can do any
thyng: a man wolde saye they wer apes. And of thys
ryseth the fyrste coniecture of their wyt and aptnes
to be taughte. Therefore assone as the man chyld is
borne, anone he is apte to lerne maners. After whẽ he
hath begon to speake, he is mete to be taught letters.
Of what thynge regarde is fyrste to be had, a readines
by & by is geuen to lerne it. For learnyng although it
haue infinite commodities, yet excepte it wayte vpon
vertue, it bryngeth more harme then good. Worthilye
was refused of wyse menne theire sentence, which
thought that children vnder seuen yere olde shulde not
be set to lernyng: and of thys sayinge many beleued
Hesiodus to be the author, albeit Aristophanes the
gramarian sayd, that those morall preceptes in the
whych worke it was written, were not made by Hesiodus.
Yet nedes must be some excellẽt wryter, which put
forth such a booke that euen learned menne thought it
to be of Hesiodus doing. But in case it were Hesiodus,
without doute yet no mans authoritie oughte to be of
suche force vnto vs, that we shulde not folowe the
better if it be shewed vs. Howebeit who soeuer wer of
thys mynd, they meant not thys, that all thys time
vntyll seuen yeres shulde bee quite voyde of teachyng,
but that before that tyme chyldren shulde not bee
troubled wyth the laboure of studies, in the whych
certeine tediousnes muste bee deuoured, as of cannyng
wythout booke, sayinge the lesson agayn, and wyth
wrytinge it, for scant maye a man fynde anye that
hathe so apte a wytte to bee taught, so tractable and
that so wil folowe, whyche wyll accustume it selfe to
these thynges wythout prickyng forward. Chrisippus
apoynted thre yeres to the nourses, not that in the
meane space there shuld be no teachynge of manners,
and speach, but that the infante shulde be prepared by
fayr meanes to lern vertue and letters, ether of the
nurses, or of the parentes, whose maners wythout
peraduẽture do help very much to the good fashionynge
of chyldren. And because the fyrste teachyng of
chyldren is, to speake playnly and wythout faute, in
this afore tyme the nourses and the parentes helpe not
a lytle. Thys begynnyng, not only very muche profiteth
to eloquẽce, but also to iudgement, and to the
knowledge of all disciplines: for the ignoraunce of
tonges, eyther hath marred all the sciences, or
greatly hurt thẽ, euẽ diuinitie it selfe also,
phisicke & law. The eloquence of the Gracchians was
muche merueyled at in tyme paste, but for the most
they myghte thanke theyr mother Cornelia for it,
as Tullie iudgeth. It apeareth sayth he, that the
chyldren wer not so much brought vp in the mothers
lappe, as in the mothers cõmunicacion. So theyr fyrste
scholyng was to them the mothers lap. Lelia also
expressed in her goodly talke the eloquence of her
father Caius. And what marueile. While she was yet
yonge she was dyed wyth her fathers communicacion,
euen when she was borne in his armes. The same
happened to the two sisters, Mucia and Licinia, neeces
vnto Caius. Specially is praysed the elegaunce of
Licinia in speakyng, whiche was the daughter of Lucius
Crassus, one Scipios wyfe as I weene. What nedes many
words? All the house and all the kynred euen to the
nepheus, and their cosyns dyd often expresse elegance
of their fore fathers in artificiall and cunnyng
speakyng. The daughter of Quintus Hortencius so
expressed her fathers eloquence, that ther was longe
ago an oracion of hers to se, that she made before the
officers called Triumuiri, not only (as Fabius sayth)
to the prayse of womankynd. To speake without faut no
litle helpe brynge also the nourses, tutors, and
playefelowes. For as touching the tonges, so great is
the readines of that age to learne them, that within a
few monethes a chylde of Germany maye learne Frenche,
and that whyle he dothe other thinges also: neyther
dothe that thynge come euer better to passe then in
rude and verye yonge yeres. And if this come to passe
in a barbarous and vnruled tonge, whych wryteth other
wyse then it speaketh, and the whych hathe hys
schriches and wordes scarse of a man, howe muche more
easely wyl it be done in the Greeke or Latine tonge?
Kyng Mithridates is read to haue perfitly knowen
.xxii. tonges, so that he could plead the lawe to
euery nacion in their owne tonges wythoute anye
interpreter. ¶ Themistocles within a yeres space lerned
perfitely the Persians tong because he wolde the
better cõmen wyth the kyng. If sũwhat old age can do
that, what is to be hoped for of a chylde? And all
this businesse standeth specially in two thynges,
memorye and imitacion. We haue shewed before alredy
that there is a certein naturall greate desyre in
chyldren to folowe other, and very wyse men wryte that
memorie in chyldren is verye sure in holdinge faste:
and if we distrust there authoritie, experience it
selfe wyll proue it vnto vs. Those thynges that we
haue seene beying chyldren, they so abide in our
mindes, as thou we had sene them yesterdaie. Thinges
that we read today whẽ we be old, wythin two daies
after if we read thẽ agayn they seme newe vnto vs.
Furthermore howe fewe haue we seene whych haue had
good successe in lernynge the tonges when they were
olde? And if some haue wel spedde them in knowledge,
yet the right sound and pronunciacion hath chaunsed
either to none, or to very few. For rare examples be
no common rules. Neyther for thys muste we call
chyldren to lerne the tonges after sixtene yere olde,
because that the elder Cato lerned latine, and Greeke,
when he was thre score and ten yeres olde. But Cato of
Vtica muche better lerned then the other and more
eloquent, when he was a chylde was continuallye wyth
hys master Sarpedo. And hẽce we ought so much the more
to take heede, because that yonge age led rather by
sense then iudgemẽt, wyll assone or peraduenture soner
lerne leudnes & things y^t be naught. Yea we forget
soner good thinges thẽ naught. Gentile philosophers
espyed that, & merueyled at it, and could not search
out the cause, whiche christẽ philosophers haue shewed
vnto vs: which telleth y^t this redines to mischiefe
is setteled in vs of Adam the first father of mãkind.
Thys thynge as it can not be false, so is it very
true, that the greateste parte of this euyll cõmeth of
leude and naughty bryngyng vp, inespeciallye of tender
youthe, whyche is plyeable to euerye thynge.