Chapter 8

¶ Whyle they be compelled in the declinynge of nownes and verbes to can by roote in howe manye cases, moodes and tenses one worde is put: as muse in the genetiue and datiue singuler, the nominatiue and vocatiue plurel? Legeris of legor, and of legerim, and legero? What a beatyng is th[en] in the schole, wh[en] chyldren be axed these thynges? ¶ Some light teachers to boast their lerynge are wonte of purpose to make these thynges somewhat harder. Whyche faute maketh the beginnynges almost of all sciences in doute, and paynfull, specially in logicke. And if you shewe them a better waye, they answere they were brought vp after thys fashion, and wyll not suffer that anye chyldren shulde be in better case, then they them selues were when they were chyldren. All difficultye eyther therefore muste be auoided, whyche is not necessarye, or that is vsed oute of tyme. It is made softe and easy, that is done wh[en] it shuld be. But when tyme is, that of necessitie an harde doute muste be learned, than a cunnynge teacher of a childe shall studye as muche as he may to folowe the good and frendlye Phisicians, [Sidenote: A good schol master in teachyng, muste folow a phisicion in medicines.] whych whan they shalt gyue a bytter medicyne do anoyut, as Lucrecius faith, the brimmes of their cuppes with honye, that the chylde entised by pleasure of the swetenes shuld not feare the wholesome bytternes, or else put suger into y^e medicine it selfe, or some other swete sauoryng thynge. Yea they wyl not be knowen that it is a medicine, for the only imaginacion sometyme maketh vs quake for feare. Finally thys tediousenes is sone ouercome, if things be taught them not to much at once, but by lytle and litle, and at sundrie times. Howebeit we ought not to distrust to much chyldrens strength, if perhaps they muste take some paines. A chyld is not myghty in strength of bodye, but he is stronge to continue, and in abilitie strong inough. He is not myghty as a bull, but he is strong as an emet. [Sidenote: Note the sentence.] In some thinges a flye passeth an elephant. Euerye thyng is mighty in that, to the whyche nature hathe made hym. Do we not se tender chyldren r[un]ne merueylouse swyftlye all the daye long, and feele no werinesse. What is the cause? Because playe is fitte for that age, and they imagine it a playe and no labour. And in euerye thynge the gretest part of payne is imaginacion, whych somtyme maketh vs feele harme, when there is no harme at all. Therefore seynge that the prouidence of nature hath taken awaye imaginacion of laboure from chyldren, And howe muche they lacke in strengthe, so muche they be holpen in thys part, that is, that they feele not labour, It shal be the masters parte, as we sayde before, to put away the same by as many wayes as he can, and of purpose to make a playe of it. ¶ There be also certen kindes of sportes meete for chyldren, wherwyth theyr earnest studye must somwhat be eased after they be come to that, they muste lerne those higher thynges whyche can not be perceiued wythoute diligence and laboure: as are the handling of Themes, to turne latine into Greeke, or greeke into latine, or to learne cosmographie wythout booke. But moste of all shall profite, if the chylde accustume to loue and reuerence hys master, to loue and make muche of learnyng, to feare rebuke, and delyght in prayse. [Sidenote: The last obieccion touching the profit of y^e chyld in his young yeres.] There remayneth one doute, wonte to be obiected by those whych saye: The profite that the chylde getteth in those thre or foure yeres to be so lytle, that it is not worthe the laboure, eyther to take so muche payne in teachynge, or bestowe so much coste. And these in dede seme vnto me, not so muche to care for to profite the chyldren, as for the sparyng of theyr money, or the teachers labour. But I wyl saye he is no father, whyche when the matter is of teaching his child, taketh so greate care for expenses. Also it is a folyshe pitie, to thintent the master shuld saue his labour, to make his sonne lose certen yeres. I graunt it to be true indede y^t Fabius sayth, y^t more good is done in .i. yere after, then in these .iii. or .iiii. why shuld we set light by this litle y^t is won in a thyng far more precious. Let vs graunt that it is but a very lytle, yet were it better the chylde to do it, then eyther nothyng at al, or lerne somewhat that after muste be vnlerned. Wyth what businesse shall that age be better occupied as sone as he beginneth to speake, whiche in no wyse can be vnoccupied? Also how lytle soeuer it be that the former age doth bringe, yet shal the chylde lerne greater thynges, euen in the same yeres, when smaller shuld haue ben lerned, if he had not lerned them before. Thys sayth Fabius, euery yere furthered and increased profiteth to a great summe and as much tyme as is taken before in the infancie, is gotten to the elder age. It nedeth not to rehearse that in those first yeres certen thinges be easely lerned, which be more hard to be lerned wh[en] we be elder. For it is very easely lerned, that is lerned in time conueniente. Let vs graunt that they be small and litle thynges, so we confesse them to be necessarye. Yet to me in deede it semeth not so litle a furtheraunce to lerning to haue gotten though not a perfit knowledge, yet at the least waye a taste of bothe the tongues, besydes so many vocables and names of thinges, and finally to haue begun to be able to reade and write prõptly. It greueth vs not in thinges much more vile, to gette all the vauntage we can, be it neuer so lytle. A diligente marchaunt setteth not light bi winning of a farthing, thinkyng thus in hys mynde: it is in dede of it selfe but a litle, but it groweth to a summe, and a litle often put to a lytle, wyll quyckelye make a great heape. The Smithes ryse before daye, to wyn as it were parte of the day. Husband men vpon the holy daye do some thynges at home, to make an ende of more worke the other dayes. And do we regarde as nothyng the losse of .iiii. yeres in oure chyldren, when there is nothyng more costly then tyme, nor no possession better th[en] lerning? It is neuer lerned tymely inoughe that neuer is ended. For we muste euer learne as longe as we lyue. ¶ And in other thyngs the lucre that is loste by slackenes, maye be recouered by diligence. Time wh[en] it is once flowen awaye (and it flyeth awaye very quickely) may be called againe by no inchauntmentes. For the poets do trifle whyche tell of a fountayne, wherby olde men do as it were waxe yong agayne: and the phisicions deceiue you, whych promise a gay floryshyng youth to old men thorowe a certeyn folishe fyft essence I wote not what. Here therfore we ought to be verye sparyng, because the losse of tyme may by no meanes be recouered. Beside this the fyrst part of our lyfe is co[un]ted to be best, and therfore shuld be bestowed more warelye. Hesiodus aloweth not sparynge, neyther at the hyest, nor at the lowest, because when the tunne is full it semeth to hasty, and to late when it is spente: and therefore byddeth vs spare in the myddes. But of tyme we muste nowher cast away the sparing, and if we shuld spare when the tunne is ful for thys cause that wyne is best in the myddest, then shulde we most of all saue our yonge yeres, because it is the best parte of the life, if you exercise it, but yet y^t goeth swyftest awaye. The husbande manne if he be anye thynge diligente, wyll not suffer anye parte of hys lande to lye vacante, and that that is not meete to brynge forthe corne, he setteth it eyther wyth yonge graffes, or leaueth it to pasture, or storeth it wyth potte hearbes. And shall we suffer the beste parte of our lyfe to passe awaye wyth oute all fruite of lerning? Newe falowed ground must be preuented wyth some fruitfull thynge, leste beynge vntylled, it brynge forthe of it selfe naughty cockle. For needes muste it brynge forthe somewhat. Lykewyse the tender mynde of the infante, except it bee strayghte wayes occupyed wyth fruitefull teachynges, it wyl be ouercoued wyth vyce. An earthen potte wyll keepe longe the sauoure of the liquore that it is fyrste seasoned wyth, and it wyll be long or it go out. But as for an earthen vessell beynge newe and emptye, you maye keepe it for what liquore ye wyll.

¶ The mynde eyther bryngeth forth good fruite, if you caste into it good seede, or if ye regard it not, it is fylled wyth naughtines, whych afterwardes must be pulled vp. And not a litle hath he wonne whyche hathe escaped the losse, neyther hathe he brought small helpe to vertue, whiche hath excluded vyce. But what nede many wordes? Wylt thou see howe muche it auayleth, whether one be brought vp in learnynge or not? Beholde how excellently lerned in the olde tyme men were in their youth, and how in oure daies they that be aged be hable to do nothyng in studie? [Sidenote: Ouide.] Ouide beyng a verye yonge man wrot hys verses of loue. What olde man is hable to do lyke? [Sidenote: Lucane.] What maner of man Lucane was in hys youth hys workes declare. Howe came thys? Because that beynge but .vi. moneths old he was brought to Rome, & strayght waie deliuered to be taught of two the best gramarians, Palemõ, and Cornutus. [Sidenote: Bassus.] Hys companions in studye were Salcius Bassus, and Aulus Persius: [Sidenote: Persius.] that one excellente in historye, that other in a Satyre.

Doubtles hereof cam that most perfite knoweledge that he had in all the seuen sciences, & his so marueylous eloquence, that in verse he was both an excellente oratoure, & also a Poet. In thys our time ther wãteth not exemples of good bringing vp (although thei be veri few) & y^t as wel in wom[en] as m[en]. Politiã praised y^e wit of y^e maid[en] Cassãdra. ¶ And what is more marueylous thã Vrsinus a childe of .xii. yeres olde? for the rem[em]braunce of him, he also in a very eligãte epistle put in eternall memorye. How fewe men shal you nowe fynd, whiche at one time be able to endite two epistles to so manye notaries, that the s[en]tence in euerye one do agree, and that there shoulde happen no inconueniente speache. That chylde did it in fyue epistles & gaue the argumentes w^tout any study, & was not prepared afore hãd to do it. Some men when they se these things, thinking that thei passe al mens strength, ascribe it to witchcraft. It is done in dede by witchcrafte, but it is an effectual encha[un]ting, to be set in time to a learned, good, and vigilant master. It is a stronge medicine to learne the best things of learned men, and emonge the learned.

[Sidenote: Alexander.] By such wytchcrafte Alexander the greate, whan he was a yonge man, besides eloquence, was perfit in al the parts of Philosophie, and except the loue of warres, & swetenes to raygne had quite raught away his inclinaciõ, he might haue bene counted the chiefe among the beste Philosophers. By the same meanes Caius Cesar beinge but a yonge man, was so eloquent & wel sene in the mathematical sciences. So well sene also were many Emperors: Marcus Tullius, also Virgil, and Horace in their lusty youth were so excellent in learninge and Eloquence, all bycause they were strayght waye in their tender age learned of their parentes & nourses the elegancy of the tonges, and of the beste maisters the liberal sciences: as Poetry, Rhetorique, Histories, the knowledge of antiquities, Arithmetique, Geographye, Philosophye, moral and political. And what do we I praye you? wee kepe our children at home till they be past fourtene or fiftene yere old, and whan they be corrupted wyth idlenes, ryot, & delicatenes, with muche worke at the laste we sende them to the cõmen scholes. There to further y^e matter wel, they taste a little grammer: after, whan they can declyne words, & ioyne the adiectiue and the substãtiue togither, they haue learned al the grammer, and thã be set to that troubled Logike, wher they must forget againe if they haue learned to speake anie thynge well. But more vnhappye was the tyme whan I was a child whiche al to vexed the youth with modes of signifiinge, and other folyshe questions, & teching nothinge els then to speake folishelye. Verely those masters bicause they wold not be thought to teach folish thinges, darckened grammer wyth difficulties of Logike and Metaphisike: euen for this verelye, that afterwardes they shold returne backwardelye to learne grammer, whã they were olde, which we see happeneth nowe to some diuines that be wyser, that after so manye hye degrees and all their titles, wherby they maye be ignoraunte in nothing, they be faine to come againe to those bookes, which are wonte to be reade vnto children. I blame th[em] not, for it is better to lerne late then neuer, that thing which is necessary to be knowen.

Good Lorde what a world was that, whan wyth greate boastynge Iohn Garlandes verses wer read to yonge men, and that with longe and painefull commentaries? whã a greate parte of tyme was consumed in folyshe verses, in saying th[em] to other, repetynge them, and hearynge theim agayne? whan Florista and Florius were learned without booke? for as for Alexander, I thynke him worthye to be receiued amonge the meaner sorte. Moreouer howe muche tyme was loste in Sophistrye, and in the superfluous mases of Logyke? And bicause I will not be to longe, howe troublesomelye were all sciences taughte? howe paynefully? whiles euerye reader to auaunce him selfe, wolde euen straighte waye in the begynninge stuffe in the hardest thynges of all, and sometyme verye folyshe thyngs to. For a thyng is not therfore goodly bycause it is harde, as to stand a far of, and to caste a mustarde seede thorowe a nedles eye & misse not, it is hard in dede, but yet it is a verye trifle: and to vndo a payre of tariers, it is much worke, but yet a vayne and idle subilltye.

Adde here vnto, that oftentymes these thynges be taught of vnlearned men, and that is worse, of lewd learned men, somtyme also of sluggardes and vnthriftes, which more regarde takynge of money thã the profite of their scholers. Whã the commune bryngynge vp is suche, yet do wee maruayle that fewe be perfitly learned before they be old. [Sidenote: Nota.] The beste parte of oure lyfe is loste wyth idlenes, with vices, wherewith whan we be infected, we giue a litle parte of our tyme to studies, and a greate parte to feastes and plaies. And to an yll matter is taken as euil a craftes manne, either teachynge that is folyshe, or that whiche must be vnlearned againe. And after this we make our excuse that the age is weake, the wyt not yet apte to learne, the profite to be verye small, and manye other thinges, whan in dede the fault is to be ascribed to euill brynginge vp. I wil not trouble you any l[en]ger, onelie wil I speake to your wisdome whyche is in other thynges verye sharpe and quycke of syght. [Sidenote: A goodli brief rehearsall of the thinges before spok[en].] Consider howe deare a possession youre sonne is, howe diuerse a thynge it is and a matter of muche worke to come by learnynge, and how noble also the same is, what a redines is in all childrens wyttes to learne, what agilitie is in the mynd of mã howe easily those thynges be learned whyche be beste and agreable to nature, inespeciallye if they be taught of learned and gentle maisters by the waye of playe: further how fast those thynges abide with vs, wherew^t we season fyrste of all the emptye and rude myndes, whiche selfe thynges an elder age perceyueth boeth more hardelye, and soner forgetteth: Beside thys how dear and the losse neuer recouered, tyme is, howe much it auayleth to begin in seasõ, and to learne euery thyng whan it shold be, how much continuaunce is able to do, & howe greately the heape that Hesiodus speaketh of, doeth increase by puttinge to little and litle, how swiftly the time flieth away, how youth wyll alwayes be occupied, & howe vnapte olde age is to be taught: If thou consyder these thynges thou wilt neuer suffer that thi litle child shoulde passe away (I wil not say) seuen yere, but not so much as thre dayes, in the whiche he maye be eyther prepared or in- structed to learnynge though the profit be neuer so litle.

FINIS.

¶ Impryn- ted at London by Iohn Day, dwellinge ouer Aldersgate, beneth saint Martyns. And are to be sold at his shop by the litle conduit in Chepesyde at the sygne of the Resurrec- tion.

Cum priuilegio ad imprimendum solum. Per septennium.

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_Paragraphs_

Some paragraph breaks in this e-text are conjectural. The printed book had the following kinds of breaks:

--conventional paragraph with indented first line --unambiguous paragraph with non-indented first line --ambiguous paragraph: previous line ends with blank space, but the space is not large enough to contain the first syllable of the following line --sentence break corresponds to line break: this happens randomly in any printed book, and only becomes ambiguous when the book also has non-indented paragraphs

In this e-text, the second type of paragraph is marked with a pilcrow ¶. The third type has a pilcrow ¶ but no paragraph break. The fourth type is not marked.

_Errors and Inconsistencies_ (Noted by Transcriber)

Unless otherwise noted, spelling and punctuation are unchanged.

Spelling:

The pattern of initial "v", non-initial "u" is followed consistently. The spelling "they" is more common than "thei". The form "then" is normally used for both "then" and "than"; "than" is rare. The most common spelling is "wyll", but "wyl", "wil" and "will" also occur.

Word Division:

Line-end hyphens were completely arbitrary; words split at line break were hyphenated about two-thirds of the time. The presence or absence of a hyphen has not been noted. Hyphenless words at line-end were joined or separated depending on behavior elsewhere in the text:

Always one word (re-joined at line break): som(e)what, without, afterward(e)s Usually one word: often()times, what()so()euer One or two words: an()other Usually two words: it/him/my.. self/selues; shal()be; straight()way Always two words: here to

Roman Numerals:

Numbers were printed with leading and following .period. When the number came at the beginning or end of a line, the "outer" period was sometimes omitted. These have been silently supplied for consistency.

Notes:

what soeuer is tolde in the oracion be shewed him in a table. [_in context, "table" looks like an error for either "tale" or "fable", but it means picture (Latin _tabula_)_] the grekes says dracontes in the genitiue case [_Latin _draco, draconis_; Greek +drakôn, drakontos+_]

Errors:

what plante wyll bee as the owener or [or or] They lerne to loke fierslie, the learne to loue the swearde [_text unchanged: "the" error for "they/thei"?_] What thynke ye then is to be looked for [is to de] a yonge man behauinge hym selfe [behaninge] Straight waye the colt of a lusty courage [Sraight] so be there also of sciences. [_text has "sci-/cences" at line break_] were not made by Hesiodus. [_final . missing_] thought it to be of Hesiodus doing. [_final . missing_] And h[en]ce we ought [hece] things y^t be naught. [_final . missing_] Nowe is thys theyr onlye care [_one printing has "thyer"_] dayntines hathe perswaded vs to comune this office [_one printing has "commit"_] more easelye by feare, that one brought vp [_text unchanged: "that" error for "then/than"?_] hym to whome he committed the chyefe rule of hys colledge, surnamed of the thynge [_text unchanged_] theyr seruauntes, and their threatnynges, [threatnynges,,] After suche daynties, they exercysed suche lozdelynes. [_text unchanged: "z" may be intended for some other letter_] When the sicknes of the body was somewhat put away [sickens] these things be alowed of suche as haue [suche is] But if he be of hye degre [_"if" invisible in one printing_] I wil braule no more [wll] fayries, witches, nightmares wood men and gyauntes [_punctuation unchanged_] that so in manner they myghte eate vp their letters [_final "t" in "that" invisible_] of laboure from chyldren, And howe muche [_punctuation unchanged_] they feele not labour, It shal be the masters parte [_punctuation unchanged_] a thyng far more precious. Let vs [_text has "preci-//Let" at page break; "ous" supplied from catchword_] it wyl be ouercoued wyth vyce [_text unchanged: error for "overcouered"?_]

End of Project Gutenberg's The Education of Children, by Desiderius Erasmus