The Education of Children
Desiderius Erasmus
Desiderius Erasmus
The Education of Children
If thou wilt harken vnto me, or rather to Chrisippus, the sharpeste witted of Philosophers, yu shalte prouide yt thyne infante and yonge babe be forthewyth instructed in good learnyng, whylest hys wyt is yet voyde from tares and vices, whilest his age is tender and tractable, and his mind flexible and ready to folowe euery thyng, and also wyl kepe fast good lessons and preceptes. For we remбєЅber nothynge so well when we be olde, as those thynges yt we learne in yonge yeres. Diuision of yt confutaciГµ Care not thou for those fooles wordes which chatter that thys age, partly is not hable inough to receiue discipline, & partlye vnmete to abyde the labours of studies. For fyrst, the beginninges of learning, stГЈd specially by memorie, which as I sayd, in yГµg ones is very holdfast. Secondly because nature hath made vs to knowledge the study of yt thynge can not be to hasty, wherof ye author of al thyng her self hath graffed in vs ye seedes. Beside this some thinges be necessary to be knowбєЅ whбєЅ we be sЕ©what elder, which by a certбєЅ peculier readines of nature, ye tender age perceiueth both much more quickly, & also more esily thбєЅ doth ye elder, as ye first beginnings of letters, ye knowledge of tГµges, tales & fabels of poetes. Finallye, why shulde yt age be thought vnmete to lerning, which is apt to lerne maners? Or what other thinge shuld chyldrбєЅ do rather whбєЅ they be more able to speake, seyng nedes thei muste do sumwhat? How much more profite is it yt age to sporte in letters, then in trifles? Thou wilt say yt it is but of litle value yt is done in those fyrste yeres. Why is it dispised as a smal thing, which is necessary to a very greate matter? And why is yt lucre, be it neuer so litle, yet a lucre, dispised of purpose? Now if you oftбєЅ put a lytle to a litle, there riseth a greate heape. Herewith cГµsider this also, if beyng an infant he lerne smaller thinges, he shalt lerne greter, growynge vpwardes in those yeres, in which those smaller shuld haue ben lerned. Finally whyle he doth these thinges, at ye least he shal be kept frГµ those fautes, wherwt we se comбєЅly yt age to be infected. For nothynge doth better occupy ye whole mynd of man, thбєЅ studies. Verely this lucre ought not to be set light bi. But if we shuld graЕ©te that by these labours ye strength of ye body is sumwhat diminished; yet thinke I this losse well recГµpensed by winnynge of wyt. For the minde by moderate labours is made more quicke, & lustye. And if ther be any ieopardy in this pointe, it may be auoyded by our diligбєЅce. You must haue for this tender age a teacher to enter it by fayre meanes, & not discorage it by foule. And ther be also some things both plesaЕ©t to be knowen, & as it wer sibbe to childrбєЅs wittes, whiche to lerne is rather a play thбєЅ a labour. Howbeit childehod is not so weake which euбєЅ for thys is ye more mete to take paynes & labour, because they fele not what labour is. Therfore if thou wylte remember how far vnworthy he is to be counted a mГЈ which is void of learning, and how stirring the life of man is, how slypper youth is to myschiefe, and mans age howe it desyreth to be occupied, how baren olde age is, and further how few come vnto it, thou wylt not suffer thy yong babe in the whych thou shalte lyue styll as it were borne agayne, to let go any parte of hys tyme vnoccupied, in the whych any thynge maye be gotten that eyther maye do muche good to all ye whole lyfe afterwardes, or kepe it awaye from hurtes, and mischiefes.
The selfe same matter enlarged by copye
After the longe despayred fruitfulnes of thy wyfe, I hearsay thou art made a father, and that wyth a man chylde, whyche sheweth in it selfe a meruelous towardnes, and euen to be lyke the parentes: and that if so be we maye by such markes t the fast holdyng bryers of vices. В¶ Yea rather euбєЅ now loke about for some man, as of maners pure & vncorrupt, so also wel learned: & into his lap deliuer your litle chyld, as it wer to a nurse of hys tбєЅder mi