CHAP. I. Of the Education of a Prince.

MAN is the weakest of Living Creatures, and the most diffi­cult to be brought up; especially a Prince, though he seems to have all advantages [Page 2]on his side. He is made by his Creator of matter no less frail than the Clown, both born in­firm and naked; but the Prince is received with acclamations of Joy, bravely lodged, wrapt up in warm Cloaths, with great care, compass'd in with Skreens and Hangings, a Nurse provided to give him suck, skilful Women to swaddle, rock, and carry him, with Phy­sicians to over-see his and his Nurses health; all strive who shall do him service. The poor little Clown makes his first entry to the World in a Cottage, where there is scarce room enough to shut the Doors, or the Window, o [...] to kindle a smoaky fire with green Wood; he is wrapt, not according to his need, but after [Page 3]his Mothers ability; who, as soon as she riseth from Child­bed, returns to her work, and carries the Child with her, to gleaning or weeding; where it lieth on the ground exposed to all the Injuries of the Air. Who would believ but that this tender infant-creature should perish immediately, and that the Prince would come on and thrive apace, being so tender­ly look'd to? Yet Experience shews, that for the most part, the little Cottager runs alone at the years end, and the Prince can hardly stand alone at the end of two. Of which the reason may be, that all which happens to the one, serves to make him stronger; and to the other, to make him a little weakling. The Prince is so [Page 4]well tended, that the smallest things offend him; the open­ing of a door makes him catch cold, a little noise wakes him in a fright: the other is so us'd to the Wind, Rain, and Sun, that nothing makes him Rheumatick; he sleeps better on a Turf when it thunders, than the Prince in his soft warm Cradle, in the greatest silence. The great advantage of the little Rustick is, That his Mother is his Nurse, who loves him with a Natural Affection; her Milk is not so apt to be troubled as that of the Prince's Nurse; for she leads an inno­cent country life, without ambi­tion or covetousness; feeds soberly with a merry heart, and hath no need of Clysters, or Cassia to refresh her: But [Page 5]the Prince's Nurse being mer­cenary, her End is her own Interest; as soon as she comes to Court, she changes her Diet and her Manners, grows fat with good Chear, and proud with the Gifts and Courtings of Great Persons, and becomes insupportable to those that serve with her; half the time she is either angry or frighted; for the Great Ones & the Phy­sicians give her a thousand alarms; one while her Milk is too hot, another time too cold, or not plentiful enough; and many times they dry up her Milk with fear.

But let us endeavour to find a Nurse for our Prince young and healthful, of a sweet and pleasant Humour; one that hath seen the World a little, [Page 6]that the presence of Great Persons may not disturb her: Let her not be angred nor frighted, let her Diet be sober, and though somewhat mended from what she had at home, yet as near it as may be: Let there not be too many Women to serve with her, lest that bring wrangling and confusion. Of so many Heads you shall scarce find two of the same opinion; and among so many, some may be careless, and en­danger to put a Leg or an Arm out of Joynt: in great Houses many are defective in their Limbs and Stature, it may be, because they run more ha­zards than others do. A Prince standing in more need of strength than any of his Sub­jects, for whom he often ought [Page 7]wake when they sleep, and their welfare depending much upon his Health and Life, he ought to be so bred, that he may be more robust, hardy and patient than any of his Subjects, if it were possible: for which end much of that usual tender­ness of their breeding which makes them delicate, wilful, and impatient, ought to be abated.

CHAP. II. Of preparing a Prince to Good Habits in his first Infancy.

ALthough Man be a rea­sonable Creature, he is more led by Sense than Reason in his first years; he is then much like to other Animals, who incline to sensible things; and desireth pleasant objects that rejoyce his sight and please his taste, shrinking from all things unpleasant to his Senses: It were to go against the Crea­tors order to make a Child to reason before the Organs are disposed for it; yet in the first [Page 9]four or five years of his age, he may be framed to such Habits as will be dispositions for him to entertain good Counsel and right Reason when he is capable of it: For in that age a Child may with little pains be made tractable and obedient: yes, if one begin soon enough to teach him Obedience, and inure him to it, before he be capable so much as to ask why he must obey: for I dissent very much from them who think it ungenerous to bring him to obedience who is born to command, for all Princes ought to obey Reason, else both They and their Subjects are miserable: and Princes shall never so well learn to obey Reason, unless their na­tural infant-stubbornness be [Page 10]broken to Tractableness, be­fore they are capable of the Counsels of Reason. A Child of two years old may easily be bowed any way by fear of some light pain, or hope of some lit­tle pleasure; and he must be used to be denied some things that he would have; for at that Age the Passion and the Will have the supremacie of the Soul; and therefore that is the Age when they should be taught to be ruled.

As soon as the Buds of Rea­son begin to disclose, the Seeds of Truth and Goodness in-born to the Soyl of Mans Nature, ought to be carefully, yet gent­ly stirred; that he may be sensible of his Maker and his Judge, to whom all Soveraigns are accountable, and of whom [Page 11]depends their good or ill-being. Then, when he is so young, he may with little pains be made Generous, Meek, Liberal, Temperate; and above all things to love Godliness and Justice. But then take heed lest any come near him that spoil your Husbandry, and sow Darnel among your Wheat: Let it be the aim of all that converse with him to better his Mind as near as may be.

Some are better born than others; in some Children you may observe a natural Gene­rosity and Disdain of base things; an inclination to High and Noble Actions, an aptness in their Understandings to be instructed, a tractableness for Morality. Others are born with a base Soul, obstinately [Page 12]bruitish, slow to apprehend, and not to be brought to Obe­dience but by Severity: Yet the best born have their Origi­nal-sinful Inclinations, which if they be not moderated by wholesome Instruction, and the work of Grace, (which must be craved of God by instant Prayer) the most vigorous and generous Natures will serve but to make men more emi­nent in Vices.

Although the Complexions be different in Children, and that according to that diversity they should be differently dealt with, yet there are certain han­dles to take hold of those little Souls. Almost all Children are Shamefac'd, Fearful, Curi­ous and Credulous: By these four handles we may with Dis­cretion [Page 13]take hold of, and bring the Childs Soul to our end. But as we find in him four Helps or Dispositions to Vir­tue, we observe also four Hin­derances to fight with: for a Child is naturally Proud, Wil­ful, a Lyar, and Intemperate.

CHAP. III. Of Shamefac'dness.

I Intend not to treat of the Nature and Causes of this Passion, of which Philosophers have spoken: nor of the lasting effects of the same, which extend to the last years of a mans life. We pretend onely to speak of so much of it as will serve to begin the education of a Prince till he be seven years old. This innocent passion be­gins to appear in Children about the second year of their Age, and it increaseth with their Knowledge, as they grow [Page 15]more able to discern Honest from Dishonest. They begin to be ashamed of their Naked­ness, and hide themselves to do their natural Necessities, and give over their Wilfulness at the sight of some grave Person. Shamefac'dness is a weak and maimed remainder of Inno­cence; it is the Guardian of Modesty and all Virtues: for generally Shame ariseth out of an apprehension of any thing that may breed Infamy; and is often purer in Infancy than in riper Age: It is a Passion so delicate and slender, that there is nothing more easie to cor­rupt, and may soon degenerate into Impudence, its contrary; and being once out of a tender Soul, it cannot be recall'd: for Impudence which doth suc­ceed [Page 16]it, is headstrong, and so over-mastereth Reason, that one can hardly see in the Child any trace of Shame. It must therefore be our business to manage that Passion with so much industry, that it 'scape not from us, since without Shamefac'dness we can neither well begin nor set forward our Design.

What is superfluous in it, must be cut off. Some Chil­dren are excessively shamefac'd even of good things, they dare not speak, nor do any hand­some Exercise before such as they respect, or are not accu­stomed to see. But now, least cutting off Superfluities we should pull Shamefac'dness up by the Roots, and with it the Neighbouring Virtues, Humi­lity [Page 17]and Modesty, the want of which would do more hurt than the Excess of Bashfulness, which will decrease in time; we ought rather to cherish Bashfulness, than check it se­verely; if our Prince be bash­ful in his Childhood, he will be the more mild, graceful and acceptable in Conversation when he comes to ripe years: If in his tender Age he blush a little when he must speak, or do some Exercise before Stran­gers, it will give to the Com­pany a good presage of a Vir­tuous Disposition. If his over-Bashfulness make him Rude and Unmannerly, the Cure of it ought not to be undertaken with reproachful Terms, after the ordinary way; for Fear never brings Confidence; and [Page 18]he that was whipp'd to day for being bashful, will be more bashful to morrow. The more bashful the Child is, the more gently deal with him; make as though you saw it not; reproach him not for it, but by little and little use him to speak and do his Exercises before good Company; and by de­grees, as his Body is brought to Exercises, and his Mind to Reasonings, he will get Assu­rance.

Value not the little Pleasure that Childish Prattle gives; but aim at a higher end, and remember that a shamefac'd, fearful, silent, and considering Child, is a slow Soil that yields a rich after-crop: Whereas on the contrary, it is often seen that these little witty Sparks [Page 19]that will entertain and delight great Companies with their prattling, give afterward no great occasions to Historians to speak of them. But some like not expectations, they had ra­ther eat green Apricots than stay till the Sun hath ripened them: If their Children answer not their pleasure, they check and discourage them, or for­bear to talk with them; and with their impatience lose the Advantages wherewith Nature had furnished them, preferring a little present Pastime before a future solid Content. Nei­ther can they have their little ends what violence soever they use; the Temper of Nature will not alter: A Child that is naturally too bashful, may be made to do what he is com­manded [Page 20]by fear or punishment, but it will look constrained and ungentle, and his bashfulness may degenerate into baseness; for whereas the shamefac'dness of a Child in speaking or doing, comes from a fear of doing ill; a most excellent Disposition which must never be rooted out, but be made more intelligent by gentle and patient teaching: That Root of Goodness is pluck'd up when the Child is forced to do what he conceiveth to be amiss, and he is brought to conceive that Good and Evil are indiffe­rent. But if you cherish Shamefac'dness, and teach him withal what is truly shameful, and what is laudable, he will blush when he hath a mind to tell a lie, or do an undecent [Page 21]action, and be chearful when he may do that which may get him praise; of which Chil­dren are great Lovers. Bash­fulness will be a gentle Bridle to hold him within the Limits of his Duty.

Sometimes Obstinacy takes the name of Bashfulness, when a Child resists a reasonable Command feigning he is asha­med to do it; whereas it is Impudence that makes him seemingly bashful, but indeed obstinate: for if he were ashamed indeed, he durst not be disobedient; it is Wilfulness that makes him disobey; a Weed that must be rooted out. Every Judicious Person may discern it from bashfulness, the Child having not wit enough to hide his pride & perversness.

There is a kind of bastard-shame ordinary in Youths o [...] great Birth, who having been brought up in Godliness and Moderation, coming to fre­quent debauch'd Company are seiz'd with a pernicious shame, which with-holds them from saying or doing any good thing in their presence, and a [...] last brings them to imitate thei [...] Vices, as, to drink withou [...] thirst, to speak lasciviously though they understand no [...] what they say, to play grea [...] Game, though they covet no [...] Money, and to swear, fo [...] which they know no more rea­son than they of whom they learn'd it. All these they do at the first not without pain [...] and some remorse of Consci­ence; but by this soft compli­ance [Page 23]they soon become like those they imitate, or worse. Therefore we must (with all our power) use our Prince not to be ashamed in such Occur­rences, but boldly to refuse whatsoever is dishonest or hurtful; of this ill shamefac'd­ness Plutarch speaks much and pertinently in his Morals, whi­ther we refer the curious Rea­der.

CHAP. IV. Of Fear.

NOT to speak of that Fear which possesseth base and effeminate persons, and produceth so many strange Effects in their Bodies and Minds; but onely of this Pas­sion before it grow wild and be corrupted; we will endea­vour to shew how it may be useful, if we can wisely govern it. Fear is in the Soul of Man a natural Prudence, aiming at the preservation of his Being: It is a wary, considering and foreseeing Passion: As soon as [Page 25]it knows the danger, it becomes sensible of it, and retires from it. A Child is most govern'd by fear in the first years of his life; for though we bend and turn him, as well by Promises as Threatnings; yet Fear is the chief-spring of all his actions: for either he fears punishment, or fears to lose the recompence promised to his Obedience; it is like the Stern, whereby to turn him any way according to need or occasion. By it he is wrought to all Virtue, and turned from Vice: Self-love is so natural, that every Child will forbear that which will bring him pain, or deprive him of some pleasure. Yet (may some say) we see most Chil­dren run headlong into danger of Fire and Water, handle [Page 26]Knives that cut them, and if they be not look'd to, eat things that cause their death, and dai­ly do things forbidden on pain of Whipping. But all that comes out of ignorance; did the Child know that the fire burns, he would have no mind to grasp it; in that Infancy he apprehends onely the outside of things; light and gay colours chear up his sight; and he hath a mind to touch any thing that shines: he understands not why they will not let him take the Candle by the flame, which he sees to be finer than that part by which others hold it: but if once he burn himself, he will no more have any mind to come near it; and so from any thing that hurts him once he will retire. That Children [Page 27]often do things forbidden, is by reason of the great diversity of their actions, their motions are so quick & so witless, that they have effected what their fancy sets them on, before they consi­der what inconveniences may follow; besides they are so oft pardoned their faults, that they hope to be so once more. But there is no Child unless he be a fool, that will go about to do any thing, if beforehand he be sure he shall be punish'd for it; if he do, it is because he hopes to 'scape either by deny­ing the deed, or by asking par­don, or by the mediation of some that are fond of him.

This then is without doubt, that Fear is a Gift of the Crea­tor, given to every Animal, to keep it self from danger, and [Page 28]to prevent whatsoever may hurt it; that passion, being wisely governed and fortified with Reason, will work it self into Prudence & Foresight, and may in time make one of the best parts of the Politicks of the Prince, if he have light enough in his understanding to discern that which is indeed danger­ous, from that which hath only an appearance of danger.

It must be acknowledged that the advantages which re­main in Humane Nature after it was dis-figured by sin, are so weak and imperfect, that if it hath some light dispositions to Virtue, it hath such inclina­tions to Vice, that it falls as ea­sily into it as a stone rolls down­ward, and cannot be raised a­gain to the right use, but by the [Page 29]singular blessing of God, and much labour of Humane Pru­dence. All Passions innocent by Nature, may become Vir­tuous or Vicious, as they are guided.

Fear, which we have set down as a good disposition, will dege­nerate into base-mindedness and idleness; If the Child be not well guided, it will make him so cowardly as to fear eve­ry thing, and so idle as to shun generous Actions, though his judgment tells him they are good and honest: wherefore there is need of a great measure of discretion so to manage that passion of Fear, as to frame our Prince thereby to be tract­able, respectful, obedient hark­ning to Counsel; and withal, to cherish his Generosity so, that [Page 30]he be free, open, jovial, of a good meen, having nothing constrained either in Body or Mind.

Before all things, let him learn to fear God with a fear grounded upon so much know­ledge as his Age is capable of; Let him be taught to know and love him as his Maker, his Re­deemer, his Father and Bene­factor: to fear to offend him, because he punisheth the wick­ed, and hateth Lyars, (a Vice natural to Children) and loveth such as fear him, and makes them increase in all blessings. From the same spring will pro­ceed his Respect & Obedience to his Father and Mother, which must be printed in him with great care. It is a wise Caveat for those that are born to com­mand, [Page 31]That he shall never command well, that hath not well learned to obey. Let that fear of his Parents be so seasoned with Love, that he be affraid to offend them, not for fear of blows, as Slaves or Hirelings; but, through the apprehension of being less be­loved of them, and of being deprived of their Caresses and little Gifts.

It is a great Error in some Parents to be afraid to shew their love to their Children, for fear of spoiling them; all Fathers would have their Chil­dren to fear them, but that fear will be servile, if by de­monstrations of their love they make not their Children to love them again. There is also a contrary Error, to be over­fond [Page 32]of Children, which is the Disease of soft effeminate minds: such Parents by satis­fying all the desires of their Children, without the distin­ction of Good and Evil, do but feed the Child's sensuality with their own. True fatherly and motherly affection aims at some better end than to make their Children their fools to make them sport, and to that end to please the Child though in ill things: Wise Parents will labour, without ceasing, to strengthen the reasonable part of a Childs Soul, to make him a Lover of Equity and Hone­sty, and to weaken the bruitish and sensual part, which will soon master Reason, if the Child be suffered to follow his appetite. They will endea­vour [Page 33]so to work upon his ten­der mind, susceptible of all im­pressions, that he may become Judicious, Generous, a Lover of Godliness and Righteous­ness, Meek, Liberal, Tempe­rate in all things, Obedient to his Parents. To that end the Parents must so get their Childs love by cherishing him, that there be need of no other Pro­mises to make the Child love Virtue, than to tell him, if he do so his Father will love him; and of no other threats to keep him from Vice, than to tell him, that thereby he shall lose his Fathers love: and the like of his Mother, whose wisdom must confute the ordinary re­proach, that the Mothers fond­ness spoils all the virtue which the Fathers and Tutors Instru­ctions [Page 34]labour to plant in their Childrens Souls: make the Child believe that there is no other way to keep in his Fa­ther's and Mother's favour, than to be obedient and good: if he chance to commit some fault in their presence, and they tell him they will love him no more, and bid him go out of their sight, it will be a sharper correction than if they had bea­ten him. If it please the Mo­ther to inform her self daily of the Child's Governess, how he hath behaved himself, she may by the entertainment she gives him, when he is brought to her, either incourage him, or keep him in awe. It is not good to keep Children in as much fear when they do well, as when they do ill: some tremble in [Page 35]the presence of their Parents for fear, not daring to speak, or scarce to stir: this breeds a pernicious fear in them, which maimeth all their Faculties: when they are about any good or indifferent action, how shall the Childs Wit spread out it self, if it be always fetter'd by awe? How shall the Child learn to reason, if he be never asked Questions, and have not the liberty to speak his little Thoughts, and to clear those difficulties that are framed in his Childish Head? Some will say, A Prince's Child has those by him that are paid to reason with him. Yet it were not amiss for the Parents to see whether they be faithful Sow­ers, and whether the soil be such as will bring a good Crop. [Page 36]But admit we were well assu­red of the fidelity of the Tea­chers, and of the Child's apt­ness to conceive, and memory to retain: yet we should de­sire that a Prince who is not born to converse onely with School masters, should also learn to speak with great per­sons, and to be abash'd at no­thing but at doing ill.

I put among the things he should not be afraid of, many petty things which Children are chidden for, as fouling his Coat, durtying his Apron, lo­fing his Handkerchief, or his Gloves, breaking or losing such Toys as he plays with, or gi­ving them to whom he please; all these things deserve not se­vere reproof; for such matters his Attendants must not lose [Page 37]their Cred't with him, or take away his Liberty: his little mind cannot order all things right. Take care that he speak no lye, or ill word, that his Passion commit nothing that is cruel or unjust, and that he come to his Exercises in due time; for the rest, let him play his fill, and not be hamper'd in any of his Actions; if he dirty himself, trouble not his Joy for that, but change his Linnen as oft as there is need; if he grieve for having lost or broken any Toy, let another be bought. Let not him that is born to Command, be awed with ser­vile fear; let him fear to do evil, and nothing else.

Let him still have something to dispose according to his own fancy, some Money, and the [Page 38]Toyes he plays with, that so his nature may be known, whether he be prodigal or sparing, cru­el or merciful, that he may be taught to keep the virtuous mean, between the vitious ex­treams: how can one observe the seeds of Virtue or Vice in him, if he be constrained so that he dare not produce him­self? and if he have nothing whereof he may dispose with­out leave? This inclination in point of giving or sparing, be­ing once observed, he may be taught that to win Friends is a great point of Husbandry in a Prince: and that he must oblige many, and not give all to one Favourite. Let not fear then be used, but to hinder him from some naughty Custom and vi­tious Excess, and not to curb [Page 39]his innocent Sports and Acti­ons, or to abate his Liveliness or Mirth, of which Mirth his wise Directors must make use, to bring the Exercises of his Childhood by way of Play: away with those sad words, Go study your Lesson, or learn your Catechism; rather say, Let us go play, and see if such an one can tell what Letter this is, and then how to put the Letters together; let us try which of these two Boys can answer best to two Questions of the Catechism, and then lay a Wager that we shall say it bet­ter than either of them; when we are weary of this exercise we will cast up a little reckon­ing, or have a Violin, and learn to make a Leg: all this with­out any use of fear, for if the [Page 40]Child be not delighted with what is said to him, it makes no impression in his Wit; to which end, you must always leave off before the Child be weary and fret; and praise him still, though he have said little to the purpose, that he be not afraid to come to it again: for if he be dull or heavy, it will not better his Wit to check him, or threaten to punish him if he learn no better; on the contrary, if fear be added to natural slowness, all is lost; there is no more good to be done till that fear be driven away, which makes the under­standing a troubled Water, and Confidence restored, which is the Mother of Tran­quillity. If excess of fear be hurtful to the Faculties of the [Page 41]Mind, it is no less to the Abili­ties and Exercises of the Body. He that is check'd or reviled for not dancing well, for not ha­ving a good posture, and not making a good Leg; shall hardly ever have a good Meen; he may learn the cadences of a Violin, but it will look so stu­died and constrained, that it will not be pleasing at all; if he have a natural Grace, with little pain he will be brought to do his Exercises handsomely; but if he have not, chiding and taunting will not help it; it will be better to take no notice of it, onely tell him, that if he would go a little more upright, and lean a little more to the other side, he would be then a Gallant indeed: if with such winning and sweet words he be [Page 42]often told of his faults, it will be a wonder if he get not a good fashion, at least he will not have that timerous and con­strained behaviour which is so unhandsom in a Great Person; for a graceful Garb proceeds (for the most part) from confi­dence, and some good opini­on of ones self.

Before we conclude this dis­course of Fear, which should supply the place of Reason in the first three or four years of his life, we will give a Caveat that the Child be kept in fear with some visible sensible thing, as the Rod; but never fright a Child with unknown things, as many do, who to still their Children will knock at their Beds Head, counter­feit some Voice, or come in [Page 43]some disguise to take them a­way. This is a dangerous Method, it dulls Children, and makes them afraid of their shadows at Noon-day.

CHAP. V. Of Curiosity.

THe first act of Reason in a Child is his seeking of knowledge through Curiosity, which is like the hunger of the Understanding; as the new-born-Babe thirsts after the brest for his preservation, for the same cause the new-hatched Reason thirsteth after Truth, which is the food of the Mind. As one may give a Child Poy­son instead of Milk, so one may give to the infant-understand­ing Falshood instead of Truth: which is a fault too ordinary, to feed the tender minds of [Page 45]Children (hungry of know­ledge) with blind tales, and fill their imaginations with Grotescoes and Chymera's, wherewith their young Under­standings being once seasoned, get a deep dye of Folly, which they keep long, sometimes all their life. Those are the hope­fullest Children which are most curious, and most inquisitive; if to their Questions you re­turn wrong Informations, you cannot justifie the wrong you do them for your sport, by say­ing they are not yet capable of understanding the true Cau­ses of things. For they can make you no Question, upon which you may not make them some true Answer, though they be not capable as yet of the whole Truth of what they ask. [Page 46]Certainly, a great care should be taken of the first things that are put into a Child's mind; and what Persons are talking with them; the best Wit is best cheap, though the entertain­ment be above the ordinary rate; Wit sows it self, and much Wisdom is learn'd by rote; if such cannot be had, let the Attendants be limited to talk to the Prince chearfully about the care of his Person; and if they are allow'd to tell him stories, let them be onely such as are of good Instruction, appointed by the Governess, no sensless Tales: Children love Histories, we must be wise Husbands of that Inclination, to cast in their tender minds the foundation of true and ne­cessary Knowledge: For the [Page 47]knowledge of all Goodness, and that of mans Duty and Happiness is grounded in Hi­story; with that necessary Hi­story; the Child shall be as much delighted as with Fables. Tell him that God made the World in six days; what he created the first day, what the second, &c. and how he rest­ed the seventh day; how God framed man of earth, and blew the Spirit of Life into his No­strils; how he laid him asleep, and took one of his Ribs, and made him a Wife out of it: What a fine Garden they lived in, and how happy they might have been, if they had obeyed God their Maker: How Adam and Eve disobeyed God, and by doing what he forbad them, they became unhappy, and [Page 48]their Posterity sinful and unfor­tunate: how God sent a great Flood that drowned them all, but Noah and his Family saved in the Ark. Tell him the Hi­stories of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob: the pleasant Adven­tures of Joseph, of Moses, of David, of Daniel; the more holy History of our Savi­our's Birth, Life, Death, and Resurrection. These he will hear with delight, and remem­ber with facility: and by them get saving Instruction before they be aware. With the like ease he may learn the History of England, and of the Neigh­bouring States, and many Re­lations of Great and Good Men, and of Gods Judgments upon the Wicked.

Let us settle Truth and [Page 49]Goodness in our Prince while he is yet tractable, curious and credulous: let us not lose that opportunity to print that first, which should stay last, and which is profitable and necessary in all ages of life; Saving Truth is never better re­ceived than by little Children, before malice have perverted them, before unruly Passions have got the dominion over Reason; that is the right sea­son to plant the love of God, and sow the seeds of his fear in innocent Souls. Our Lord Jesus loved this innocent Age, when he took the little Chil­dren in his Arms, and blessed them, and when he said, Un­less you become like little Chil­dren, you cannot be my Disci­ples: It were happy, if leaving [Page 50]the imprudence of Children as we grow, we kept still their innocency. The Doctrine of Salvation is clear, and sinks ea­sily into a tender Soul, if one know how to pour it drop by drop, according to the capacity of the Child, and no more at once than he can digest with pleasure and profit.

Let the Prince above all things get a reverend conceipt of Gods Wisdom, Goodness, and Justice: All which may be presented to him in fami­liar and particular Instances; because Children are not capa­ble to conceive Universals. Tell him it was God that made that Sun, that Moon, these Stars, the Trees of this Walk, that fine Horse; it is God that makes these Cherry-Trees to [Page 51]bear Cherries, and that Vine to bear Grapes: it is God that heal'd your Nurse of her sick­ness, and help'd such a Servant of yours from hurt, when his Horse threw him down; it is God that gives you a good Fa­ther and Mother, your Food, your Cloaths, and all the good and pretty things that you de­light in; it is God that disco­vered such a Murther, and brought the Murtherer to the Gallows. Let all occasions be used to fill our Prince's Mind with God, and to make him practise with ease, this Precept, which comprehends all Duties, and brings all Feli­cities, In all thy ways acknow­ledge God, Prov. 5.6.

Prayers and Catechism he should learn by heart, but nei­ther [Page 52]of them long; I like not trying to the uttermost what a Child's Memory can bear: I fear it might dull his reasoning and discoursive Faculties; which in that age, hath need to be awakened and fashioned. Make him consider the beauties of Nature, the marvels of the Sun, which sends light and fer­tility to the World, the great­ness of the Sea and Land, and the great number of Animals that live in the Earth, in the Water, and in the Air. The World is full of matter of In­struction and Delight.

From Works of Nature lead our Prince to the Works of Grace: he should know in ge­neral that God created man Just and Good; but man, be­lieving the Devil's word, be­came [Page 53]wicked, and Gods ene­my: whereupon the good God sent his Son into the world to make peace between God and Man; that this Son of God our good Saviour suffered that death which we deserve, and so bought us again to make us Gods Children, and Heirs of his Kingdom, of surpassing Wealth, Beauty, Peace, and Joy for ever; that, for it we are bound to love God with all our heart and Soul, and seek to please him in all things; & that we cannot enter into that fine Kingdom, if we do not all that he commands us; and that those that refuse to do as God bids them, are cast away into Hell, where all Gods Enemies are punish'd for ever. Thus we may see that the richest and [Page 54]best part of Divinity may be understood by the simplest: it is food fit for little Children, for grown Men, and for decre­pit Age. The curiosity of a young Prince should be enter­tain'd with the knowledge both of natural and artificial things, such as are not above the capa­city of his age: Let him be told where the several Metals are found, & how they are wrought, whence come the several Rari­ties and precious Things which he seeth; how Glass is made, how Bells are cast, how Books are printed: Especially let a Prince be taught the Inventions that belong to War, to make him martial; instead of Girlish Babies, let it be his play to rank little men of Tin, or purer Me­tal, in Battle-array, and let such [Page 55]as are skilful in the Art of War teach him; soon after let him have some little Boys of his age to be exercis'd by him; and the disobedient to be punish'd in his little Jurisdiction; let him have little Forts, some­times to assault, sometimes to defend, and learn in his play to make War in earnest. For other Pastimes and Exercises, whether of Body or Mind, re­fuse him nothing that may in­nocently satisfie his curiosity: yet keep him still in obedience to his Directors, that he be not suffered to exceed the bounds of Reason and Modesty.

CHAP. VI. Of Credulity.

BY Curiosity a Child de­sires Knowledge, by Cre­dulity he receives it; it were in vain to thirst for Knowledge, if there were not an aptness to receive it: Credulity feeds on all that is set before it, without distinction of Good and Evil: Darnel as well as Wheat: and makes both to sprout and grow; we will then consider our young Prince as a matter capable of any form: as a vessel that may receive a precious Liquor, or mortal poyson: what it first re­ceiveth, [Page 57]will give a taste to all that is poured in after: if false­hood come first, it will so cor­rupt the faculty, that it will ne­ver after be so proper to re­ceive Truth; although it should be cleansed and carefully rin­sed, there will a smack still remain.

Let us labour faithfully to sow good Seed in this field be­fore it be fore-stall'd with bad stuff; let us take all the advan­tage of of his innocent Credu­lity, to frame him to Piety and Goodness, Justice and Genero­sity: Let us season him with the fundamental Truth of Re­ligion, of which we spake in the Chapter before, and with the easie Grounds of Virtue and Nobleness, those especi­ally which most concern his [Page 58]Quality; Train up a Child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it, Prov. 22.6.

CHAP. VII. Of natural vicious Inclinations, in Children, and first of Pride.

WE have observed hi­therto some inclina­tions in Children which may be wrought to Goodness by good Education; the same for want of good care may turn to Vices and several Diseases of the Mind: If then that which is best in the Childs Nature, may turn to evil, being left to it self, what is to be expected of the furious in-born Passions which are prints of the Image of the [Page 60]Devil? And who is free of them? Who can find a man that is not proud, and conse­quently wedded to his own opinions? That is not intem­perate in the use of necessary things, and greedy in getting the unnecessary and superflu­ous? That is not a Lyar in his words, and in his very actions? These and other vicious Incli­nations, more prone to run to excess in a high fortune, are kept low by the low breeding and bodily labour of the inferi­our sort; but in Children of great birth, bred accordingly, they put themselves forth with great flattery. Therefore there is more need in Children of high condition to oppose the corruption of Nature, and with strong and wise endeavours to [Page 61]subject Passion to the Empire of Reason, and plant in young minds Humility, Docility, Fi­delity, Justice, the love of Truth and Temperance.

The first vicious Enormity to be encountred, is Pride, which is an excess of Self-love, that doth so fore-stall the judg­ment of those tender Souls, with satisfaction of themselves, that they are hardly brought to a sence of their ignorance and natural wants, of which be­fore they be made sensible, they are incapable of instruction and counsel: it is very hard to make a perfect cure of an he­reditary disease, which the Patient feeleth not, but huggs it with all his strength; and besides, pride is fed by so much respect both of Attendants and [Page 62]Visitants, as if all were hired to puff him up. Labour we then above all things to let our Prince know that he hath a Great Master, to whom he is no less subject than the least of his Servants, and whom he must fear as the Witness and the Judge of his Actions and Affections. Let him learn that God his Maker made him and his Foot-boy of the same stuff; that Christ his Saviour hath shed as much Blood for the redemption of the one, as of the other; that he is a Prince onely as long as he li­veth, that after his death his Body will turn to dust as those of other men, and that his Soul shall then keep rank among other Souls, not accor­ding to his birth and condition [Page 63]in this world, but according to his Goodness.

And that Pride and Self-love may afford a Remedy against themselves, let the Prince be made sensible that the more he is humble and meek towards all men, the more they will love and respect him, and have a high esteem of him, but if he be surly and haughty, he will be despised even of those that stand bare before him: an humble affability is a kind of liberality whereby a Child gives all that is in his power, salutes to those that salute him, thanks to those that serve and assist him, smiles and kindness to all: and if he get not those Habits of Courtesie and Gen­tleness in his Childhood, he will hardly get them afterward: for [Page 64]the elder he grows, the stron­ger will his passions be, and the less will any dare to tell him of his faults.

I do not hold it a good course against Pride, to conceal from a young Prince what he is, as Henry the Fourth of France was bred in his Infancy: which though it succeeded well with his witty and compliant nature, yet would not perhaps have the like effect with a Soul of cour­ser metal. He that is igno­rant of his Birth, and comes to know it to be greater than he thought, may be astonish'd, and out of countenance, troub­led with his new Titles. A new course of Education, and new Precepts, would make him lose what he had got by the old through the perple­xity [Page 65]of his mind. Let him learn as soon as he is able to apprehend it, to frame his mind and conversation according to his degree. Let him learn that because he is a Prince he must be humble; if he be born to be a King, he is born to be a great Servant, and that he had need to subdue those by humility and kindness, that must be one day subject to his Authority.

CHAP. VIII. Of Wilfulness.

WIlfulness is the ordinary effect of Pride, a very proud man is always very wil­ful: for he loves himself so much, and his own conceipts, that he will not part from them, though he find others better; many have no other reason to maintain what they have once said, than because they have said it; and to follow a course, than because they have begun it, from whence ariseth the un­doing of most proud men. But when Wilfulness keeps Court in a Prince's head, and is armed [Page 67]with Authority, it produceth dreadful effects; it hath no ears, and breaks all that resist­eth it, and chuseth rather to sink the Ship, than to stoop the sails. But that passion, so tough when it is old, is easie to be bowed in Children, if it be taken in hand with prudence; for though it be a blustering and bawling passion, it is weak and cowardly, shame will ap­pease it, and fear will awe it; and if he can but be made be­lieve he hath what he would have, he is satisfied.

According to the humour of those that have the Education of the Child, the obstinate may become tractable, and the tra­ctable obstinate: if the Dire­ctor be of a soft spirit, that yields to an obstinate Child in [Page 68]all things, his wilfulness wi [...] get such a head, that it will n [...] be driven away from the [...] without great violence: and [...] those that are about the Chi [...] be of a wilful humour them­selves, and bend themselve sadly against the Childs opini [...] ­trety, wrangling with him f [...] every thing, and not yieldin [...] to him in any, they will mak [...] the Child wilful, if he was no [...] before, or had but little incli­nation to it; for Vices, as wel as Virtues, grow strong by ex­ercise; Dispute & Contestation is the Delight of Obstinacy.

The first and most ordinary fault is fond tenderness, which spoils many Children; those little Creatures are wilful chief­ly, because they have not the use of Reason, and are govern­ed [Page 69]by Sense in the first years, [...]eing very eager after all things [...]hat they fancy pleasant, with­ [...]ut distinction of profitable: [...]herefore persons of age are set [...]bout them to supply the want [...]f Reason, who know what is [...]ood for Children, & let them [...]ave that only, without respect [...]o their appetites: but soft ser­ [...]ile minds, to whom sometimes [...]he Government of high-born Children is committed, seem [...]o be without Reason them­selves, and to have no motion [...]ut after the Childs fancy, whose slaves they are: instead of governing him, when the Prince is wilful, mutinous, and disobedient, then they flatter him, beat another Child before him, and give him sweetmeats, or some other fine thing, when [Page 70]he should have a good Rod, that which is necessary for hi [...] health or instruction, is no [...] done because my little Maste [...] would not: Such leave a hard task to the grave Tutors tha [...] shall come after them; fo [...] who can finish a work we [...] that hath been so ill begun? What good can one do with such a Child as hath been made wilful with all the industry tha [...] flattery can invent? The vvay to master such a hardned vvil­fulness are too violent, and no [...] to be used to a Prince, vvho ought to brought up vvith much freedom. All is the [...] to begin betimes, before Wil­fulness hath got the Command in the Prince's Head, from the very vveaning of the Child use him to be ruled, sometimes to [Page 71]be denied things that he would have, make him restore things that he hath taken from ano­ther, cause him to take what is given him, not what he cries for, let him get nothing by his anger and eagerness. This way a Child will be used be­fore it be two years old, to do any thing that is desired, with­out resistance; and to suffer any thing to be done that is ne­cessary for his good and educa­tion: make a discreet use of his shamefac'dness, of his fear, and of his desire to get praise, Wilfulness will never appear; and go not out of the good Rules which you have once set down, for Wilfulness is a bold undertaker, where it sees no danger; if it be yielded un­to to day, to morrow it will [Page 72]go further, and still get strength: in the beginning it is cowardly, and advanceth with fear till it finds resistance, and then draws back, and comes no more in sight while the difficulty lasteth, and that the Child seeth that it depends on such a person as va­rieth not from his Resolutions. Let all fondness be banish'd from the Education of a Child; these little people know how to master fondness, they know all the weak sides of it, and under the shelter of fondness they will grow wilful and perverse, given to their pleasure, and not to be ruled.

The opposite humour to fondness, which is imperious­ness, contention, and contradi­ction, is yet more dangerous than fondness; a wilful Dire­ctor [Page 73]will make a wilful Child. If you cross a Child in small things too much, he will learn to counter check your checking, and to be contentious, and fur­nish'd with cutting terms: With the froward thou wilt learn frowardness. Let no contenti­ous person be about him; let none be suffered to dispute with him, or before him; Let the Child see no other face of manners but that of Affability and Complaisance. One can hardly imagine what harm is done a Child by wrangling be­fore him: That will make a greater impression in his tender mind, than all the good Art used to teach him Civility and Meekness. For that end, the Child should not be opposed in trifles, but when he is set on [Page 74]them wilfully and sharply, if you will make him tractable, you must not lose your credit with him for a small matter; by giving way to his childish fancies (which time will wear away) you may discover the nature of the Child, and know by what part of his mind you may get the best handles to take and lead him.

If he be at any time in a very wilful fit (as the best Children will have some) he must be corrected for it, but not till the fit be over, and in cold blood; especially if that ill humour take him in company; if then he will not do what is desired, insist no longer upon it; but when he is out of his cross hu­mour, and retired, then in a cool temper correct him, so [Page 75]may ye another time with a word or a look keep him in obedience before Strangers. But Remedies of Severity should be very sparingly used to a Prince, onely when there is no other course left; Gene­rosity must be cherish'd in him, that so there may be little use of Severity. I recommend again, that from his Weaning all good Endeavours be used to make him tractable.

CHAP. IX. Of Lying.

LYing being a servile and cowardly Vice, odious in all persons, is most ugly in a Prince: who, besides his Na­ture, should bear in his Dig­nity the Image of God, the God of Truth. A Prince's word is considered as the Publique Faith, and ought to be sacred, as firm as an Oath; that Vice being too natural to all Chil­dren, ought to be weeded with all possible industry out of the nature of an infant-Prince: the rather, because the Court, in which he is to be brought up, [Page 77]is the Rendezvous of Lyars, and the School of Dissimula­tion, in which he will learn too soon to speak contrary to that he thinks. The ordinary lying of Children is an excess of fear and shame, when the Child hath done something for which he fears punishment, he will deny the Deed, and lay it to another. That lye of excuse is as natural to Children as self­love: wherein they are many times confirmed by their foolish Waiters, who seeing the Child ashamed, tell him it was not he that did it, but such a one present, who must be beaten, and he hugged: So they teach him to lye on the like occasions; yea, they teach him calumny and cruel Tyran­ny, to make the innocent smart [Page 78]for his errours, and his pleasure.

That the Child may have no occasion to shelter himself by lying excuses, he must not be chid for all the Toys he breaks, and all the Aprons he fouls: a wise Governess must invite him to confess that it was he that broke such a Looking Glass, or tore such a book; and then, upon his ingenuous confession, praise him for not telling a lie, and give him some fine thing: nothing that a Child spoils can be so precious as Truth and In­genuity, those rich Jewels wherewith a noble Soul should be adorned. Age will wear out that gamesome bustling and breaking or spoyling what comes to his hand, for which yet he may be gently reproved: but age will confirm and [Page 79]strengthen Lying, if the Child being terrified for those Chil­dish Disorders, be forced to lie to excuse himself. Children will sometimes in their talk come out with little untruths, which are rather the issue of a luxuri­ant Brain, than of a lying Dis­position; these fancies should be heeded, rather to espie their inclination, than to rebuke them much, or impose them si­lence: For since such fancies are working in their brains, they were as good speak them as think them: age will amend that; and a wise Director, when he seeth time, will help to prune the over - shooting of those wild Twigs: the best way is to fill his Head with Truth and Goodness.

Of wilful lying, the Child [Page 80]should not be suffered to speak the least word, whether it be for excuse or otherwise, and in that point a most strict severity ought to be used: especially if it be a contrived lie to work harm to another; let lying be represented to the Child so unhandsome and so base, that he may abhor it: the way for that, will be to furnish his Me­mory with instances of Great Men, who by lying and break­ing their Faith have incurred infamy, and wrought their own ruine: or if any Youth that serveth him be taken in a lye, condemn him before the Prince to be whipt: for Exam­ples are more taking than Pre­cepts, especially with Chil­dren.

CHAP. X. Of Intemperance.

THe Nurses Milk breeds in the Child a Disposi­tion to sobriety, for while he hath no other food but the brest, he is not intemperate; either for variety or quantity: that disposition ought to be well managed when he is to be fed with other meat and drink: and if be grow intemperate in that infancy, it will not be his but his Keepers fault. By So­briety he shall be confirmed in his health, and the faculties of his mind will be lively, vigo­rous, and clear. Let him eat for necessity not pleasure, good [Page 82]plain Diet, fitting for his Age and Complexion: Let his Un­derstanding be instructed be­fore his Palate, and when his Understanding begins to a­wake, never promise him Jun­kets as the Reward of his Obe­dience, but Honour and Praise, which he should be made to love. Use him not to variety in his Diet, one kind of meat well chosen is enough at once, or two at most; variety will but provoke him to eat and drink more than he should; it is not good to give them Comfits or Preserves, or to use them to eat at all times of the day, or without measure; it rots their teeth, and spoils their digestion; they get a hard belly, and strong breath, and grow ten­der and froward: the like ef­fects [Page 83]may be wrought by eating too many delicates at their Fa­thers Table. The fear of this perswaded Henry King of Na­varre, Grandfather to Henry the Great King of France, to bring him up secretly in the Country, so to secure him from the Education of the Court; which fell out so happily, that he grew one of the hardiest men of his time.

The Noble Families in France breed their Children to great Sobriety and Obedience, gi­ving them dry Bread to their Breakfast, and nothing to eat and drink but at Meals, not suf­fering them so much as to know Sweet-meats. Hence comes the great difference between the Nobility and the People, the [Page 84]Nobles are much taller, better shaped, and better fashioned; of so great importance it is to begin well.

CHAP. XI. How the Persons about an Infant-Prince ought to be qualified.

THe greatest part of the breeding of a Child, be he of high or low birth, till he be seven years old, falls alvvays to the share of Women; for although a vvise man ought to be appointed to be near an In­fant-Prince vvhen he dravveth nigh that Age; yet Women being the Waiters for his Bo­dily Necessities, vvith vvhom therefore he must converse more than vvith his Gover­nours, [Page 86]they vvill have the prin­cipal influence on his mind; and the ordinary business of a Nursery being less for the in­spection of men, the Female Waiters must and ought to be ruled by a Governess, not a Governour.

One of the greatest Diffi­culties then that I find in the Childs Breeding, is in the choice of those Women-Servants that dress and undress him, have the charge of his Linnen and Cloaths, vvait on him at his Dinner, and Supper, and Break­fast, and attend him especially vvhen he hath some indisposi­tion: for upon those Womens humours & manners, the Child vvill frame his, vvhatsoever be endeavoured to the contrary. Novv vvhere shall vve find [Page 87]Nursery-maids that can either speak wisely, or hold their tongues? that are not foolish, envious, and contentious? fil­ling a Nursery with Factions? that will not give him in secret, things forbidden, to win his love? that will not fright him, to make him hold his peace when he crieth? that will not distract his mind with Tales of Hobgoblins and Fairies? that will not make his Virtue to con­sist in not fouling the Room which they must make clean? Can a Prince by such a conver­sation fill his mind with Noble Notions? And will not their talk and behaviour engross all the thoughts of the Child? To prevent these dangers, is a mat­ter of great difficulty; since Women must be about his per­son, [Page 88]the Governess must have the choice of them, and her prudence will chuse the wisest she can get, such as are not of the lowest condition, but have some breeding: if they be ig­norant, at least let them not be talkative; but such as know their own ignorance; meek, quiet, obedient to the Gover­ness, and pleasant with the Child, every one keeping their due distance; not to utter any of their follies before the Child, and speak to him onely of such things as their place requires. And whereas no instruction can be given to a Prince of that age above their Understanding: let the Governess command them to order their behaviour and discourse with him accor­dingly, and charge them not to [Page 89]say or do any thing to or before the Child, that shall be contra­ry to her Rules; let no Youths come near his person, but such as are at years of discretion, modest, and well-bred.

That there may be Peace and Order in serving the young Prince, it is very fit, yea neces­sary that the Governess have the choosing & disposing of all Servants under her: otherwise she shall never be able to rule them if she cannot place and displace them: nor can she give a good account of her charge. Those that buy such places will be apt to be mala­pert, more than deserving per­sons that are freely chosen by the Governess, whom they know they must obey, and by whom they may be kept or [Page 90]turn'd out, according to their good or ill deserving and beha­viour; thus there will be no strife in the Nursery, but who shall do the best service in their place; and there will be a qui­et obedience about the Prince.

CHAP. XII. Of the Governess.

THe main business of the Governess being about the breeding of the Prince, I wish for one endowed with singular Piety and Virtue, that Virtue especially which before God is of great Price, the Or­nament of a meek and quiet Spirit. Let her be Judicious and Prudent, of a grave and [Page 92]and gracious behaviour, indu­strious, compliant, and patient, and withal of a wholesome se­verity and resolution: inflexi­ble to any thing but Reason; a Lady of an even humour and well-poised temper, without odness of Melancholy or Pride: one that needs not force her self to be cheerful and complaisant with her charge; for that way Children must be won. I wish the Governess neither too young, nor too old; for the young have not the vigour to make themselves respected, and the very old have lost it, and are come round to Child­hood again.

Let the understanding of the Governess be stored with good and useful knowledge, not with much School-Learning, for [Page 93]thereby some have gotten a haughty Genius which cannot stoop, and is destitute of the Virtues of Conversation: none are more unfit for the Educa­tion of Children: for we have need of one that will sympa­thize with Childish Weakness. Let our Governess above all things have that Learning which makes one wise to Sal­vation, well read in History, for that is the Mistress of Life; let her understand that which she undertakes, having learned the skill of educating a Child, by her experience at home. As you vvould not commit the young Prince's health to a Phy­sician that never practised, though he be never so learned in the Theory of Physick, no more ought a Woman except [Page 94]of very good parts, be admit­ted to educate a Prince, if she has not learned that skill by ex­perience. Seek among good Families what Children well bred may thank their Mothers for it: it will be an encourage­ment to a Prince to say, The Lady that hath bred these Chil­dren, shall breed mine. As King James said by the Lord Harrington's Lady, whom he chose to be Governess to his Daughter the Queen of Bohe­mia, when the first saw the be­haviour of the Countess of Bed­ford, Daughter to that Lady. One that hath never try'd it, and hath a good vvit, may frame Rules vvhich will be hard to put in practice; there is need of a long conversation with these little People, before one [Page 95]can knovv all their vveaknesses, and all their childish Crafts; vvhy they are froward, and how to vvin them: Such as have not been used to them, are amazed to find so much difficulty: ha­ving perhaps figured nothing but pastime to themselves, they vvill admire the diversities of childrens fancies, their shrevvd turns and vvilfulness, if they have not had a particular ac­quaintance vvith some, in or­der to govern them; some may think to make a Child vvise all at once, and to lash out Chil­dishness vvith a good Rod; vvhich yet, vvill not avvay till the arrival of Age: when they have in vain tried that way, they will find that violence makes the Child violent, and that Children must be won [Page 96]by a yielding dexterity. O the education of Children is a work of great patience! A La­dy not well stored of that pro­vision should not undertake the work; especially when she is to deal with other mens chil­dren of high Quality, for they shall meet with as many Advi­ces as there are Heads about the Prince; a Governess had need of much prudence to se­lect the best. Let her be true to this general end, to tend the Temporal and Spiritual Good of the young Prince with sin­cerity and a good Conscience, especially to plant piety and ge­nerous virtue in his heart, vigo­rously removing all that op­pose, or neglect their part in that design: faithfully guard­ing all approaches to the place [Page 97]she is trusted with, not suffering to enter at the mouth, eyes, or ears of the Child any thing that may annoy his Body or Soul: justifying by her freedom in checking his Inclinations to any vice, that it is not to keep his love to her self, that she dis­countenanceth those Flatterers that would cherish them, if any such there be; and that her en­deavours to get the Prince's love, is not to advance her fa­mily, but to make him suscep­tible of her Good Coun­sels.

For that good end it is ne­cessary that she get the Child's love as much as is possible, and it will sooner be gotten by gen­tleness seasoned with a little aw, than by too much fondness. Let her keep it in her power, in [Page 98]the Nursery, to give him or deny him that which most plea­seth him, according as he be­haveth himself; so he will en­deavour to follow her Orders, to please her: That is almost the onely way of severity to be used to an Infant-Prince: whose Generosity must be che­rish'd. He must be made sen­sible of Honour as the greatest Reward, and Dishonour as the greatest Punishment. Blows are for Inferiours: after he is six years old, or if ever there be an absolute necessity to come to that Remedy, it is pro­per to the Parents to use it, the fear of whose Displeasure ought to be deeply planted in the Child's Mind; and let it be the highest threatning used to him, That they shall be told [Page 99]of his perversness, and then they will love him no more.

Let her not go about to make the Child wise to soon, by dulling the edge of his Joy, which is the best spring of his mind for wisdom to work up­on: let him have his Belly full of play, and be encouraged to spread all the faculties of his Body and Mind: After he is weary of playing and running, he will be easily perswaded to some more useful exercises: or if he be used to delightful Sto­ries, when he hath run himself out of breath, he will sit down, and desire you to tell him a tale: A judicious person will know how to make use of these little resting times, to instruct the Child; for being wearied with running, he will be atten­tive; [Page 100]and if you mingle profi­table things with pleasant, he will remember what you say to him: Then is the time to let him hear the Evangelical Hi­story of the Birth, Life, Death, and Resurrection of Christ, and other Histories of Scrip­ture, necessary to be known, as being the grounds of Religion, which may be instill'd into him in a pleasing way; he will be delighted to hear what fine things the wise men of the East gave to the Child Jesus; how wicked Herod was to kill the poor little Babes of Bethlehem; how happy those Children were whom Christ took in his arms, and blessed them; and tell him that Christ will do as much to him, if he be a good Child, say his Prayers, and obey [Page 101]his Parents, and those who by their Authority are set over him. But if when the Child is in that humour to hear sto­ries, you be too grave with him, and feason not your Dis­course with some pleasant thing suitable to his age, he will leave you, and call on a Chambermaid to tell him a tale; but let the Governess look well to whom she allows that liberty, lest another pull down what she builds.

After the Governess hath taken good order with the Ser­vants behaviour and discourses before the Prince, she shall have more dangers to over­come from strangers that come to visit him, whom in civility you can hardly restrain from speaking what they list; if you [Page 102]fear these strangers have made some ill impression in the Child's Mind, the Governess must have the prudence and the goodness to labour to heal it. Many Flatterers will strive to come near the Prince, and hu­mour him, and spoil him for their own advantage, the Go­verness must make bold to keep them out; that at the end of her Government, which I suppose to be about the time he is se­ven years old, she may deliver him untainted from the evil Opinions and Customs of the wicked World. Let no Chil­dren be admitted to play with the young Prince; he shall learn nothing but Childishness of them; and if they have but vulgar breeding, he shall get of them the Vices of their Edu­cation, [Page 103]and the fond Tales they have learned of their Maids at home: They that will have their Children to become men of understanding betimes, must make them converse with Men, not with Children.

CHAP. XIII. Of the Rudiments of the young Prince's Instruction.

Although the Child be not put from a Governess to a Governour before he be se­ven years old, we must not leave him so long before he learn his Latin, a Language necessary for great Princes to know, to receive Embassies, and enter­tain Forreign Intelligences. The Emperour Charles V. who had the Spanish, the French, and the German Tongues, was much afflicted and angry with himself for neglecting to learn [Page 105]Latin when he was under Tu­tors, whereby he was put to the need of an Interpreter in all Addresses made to him in that Language; neither would we have our Prince incapable of the benefit and delight which is got by Latin Authors; Latin is the Key to a great treasure of useful Knowledge, even of that which is proper to a Prince. But I am far from advising that he spend the best of his young years to learn a Grammar and a Syntaxis; they are things, not words, which must accomplish a Prince; and these things are so many, and so necessary to be known, that I would have a Prince not to be troubled with much Grammar-Learning after he is seven years old; but it is not [Page 106]hard so to make him learn La­tin before that time, that he shall need onely a little exer­cise to preserve what he hath got.

I say it is as easie to make a Prince, or any Child to learn Latin with his Mother-Tongue, as for all the Chil­dren of Flanders and Brabant to learn French as soon as Dutch, and many of them learn Spanish besides. I would then have a German or Dutch­man, one that speaks Latin rea­dily and purely (and there are many such in their Universi­ties) employ'd to wait on the Prince, before he can speak, and let him never speak any word to him but Latin; by that conversation the Child, be­fore he be seven years old shall [Page 107]speak as pure Latin, and as rea­dily as that Servant; if he have two such Servants it will be bet­ter. Let him learn to read a Latin Book as soon as an Eng­lish; after that, Latin will be familiar to him all the days of his Life, having with great ease escaped the horrible tedi­ousness of Grammar-Schools. With such Servants he may likewise learn many good things in sport, and in talk get the Grounds of History, the Mistress of Life. A great help to make the Child love and learn History, is, to let him have Pictures of great Persons, and Maps of Countries and Ci­ties: These Pictures will give occasions to his learned Ser­vants to tell him many things which he must know of the [Page 108]business of the World; there are few notable Histories of Antiquities which are not re­presented in Prints and Hang­ings; these Images being ex­pounded to him, will make a lasting print in his imagination. A King (now flourishing) play'd in his Childhood with Cards, where the several Prin­ces and States of the World were figured; whereby he learned betimes to know the World, in which he is now such a principal Actor.

If the Child have a good Memory, you may use it; make him learn by heart a few profitable things; I say a few, for if you over-stretch his Me­mory, you confine his Judg­ment and Imagination to a les­ser compass, these three being [Page 109]like three Rooms on one Floor, the wideness of the one makes the two other narrower. Imi­tate the wisdom of Gardiners, who will not suffer their young Grafts to be charged with much Fruit.

Before, and after all, let there be a principal endeavour to plant piety in the Childs tender Soul, that he may know, love, and fear his Maker and Re­deemer, and put all his hope and confidence in him, and not in his dignity of Prince, his Friends and Wealth: that he may have betimes a Preserva­tive against the corruption of the wicked World; by whose temptations a Prince is more assaulted than any of his Infe­riours: If there be any Vice sprouting in his wicked nature, [Page 110]let it be weeded out with all care.

Besides that Wilfulness and Libertinism which is natural to all Children, there is in some a natural niggardliness, covetous­ness, dogged pride, love of none but themselves, and cruelty to man and beast: These Vices are hard to be overcome, and without a singular Work of the Grace of God, and an In­dustrious Care to bend these crooked young Twigs to the contrary, they will grow worse and worse, being products of the tenacious temper of Melan­choly; but most ill nature may be overcome by the pow­er of Grace and good Educa­tion.

This Discourse made for an Infant-Prince in his Mothers [Page 111]Court, may (for the most part of it) serve for all Children, especially for those of Noble condition: The Parents that have not the means to keep a Governess, may make advan­tage of their want, by taking the Government of their Chil­dren in their own hands: the Mother shall have that benefit of not being a Princess, that she may nurse her Child with her own Brest, which is more natural, more pleasing to God, and best for the Child: There­by the Mother shall love the Child the better, and be better acquainted with his Inclina­tions.

It is ordinary that the Father is so employ'd abroad about other businesses, and the Mo­ther so busie at home to guide [Page 112]her Houshold, that they al­low to themselves no time to tend that principal business, the breeding of their Children, lea­ving that to some ill bred Wo­men, who sometimes impart to them much folly: Will such Parents labour to get Goods, and neglect to make their Children good, to whom they must leave them? They may be sure their Children will pu­nish them for that neglect. Be­cause the Parents have not cur­bed in their Infancy, that Wil­fulness, and insatiate childish Greediness, that will have all things, and yet is content with nothing; the children will grow intemperate and inconti­nent men, slaves to their un­tame desires, and will lavish in luxury and drunkenness all [Page 113]that their Parents have saved for them with much care and labour: The more you love your children, and desire to be gentle with them all your life, the more be ye earnest so to break their obstinacy betimes, and the violence of their passi­ons, that Temperance, Meek­ness, and Obedience become natural to them: Many by lo­ving their Children too much at the first, have hated them at the last.

Let the Women that serve the Children speak plain, and good English; if they stut, or speak too fast, the Children will imitate them; it is not to be expected that persons of low breeding have much of Virtu­ous Qualities of the Civil World; but at least let them [Page 114]not be froward, but of a good nature, quiet and modest; for be ye sure that all that is done about Children with noise and high words, will make a deeper impression in their soft mould, than all the good instructions you can give them. When the Children are come to an age to learn by heart, force them not to it; for if you do, they will hate Learning: but entice them with praise and lit­tle Rewards; But in your Praise and Rewards you must use Mediocrity; for if you praise them too much, you will make them proud; if you re­ward them too often, you will make them mercenary: but shew them much love, and win them to do out of love what you bid them. I know that [Page 115]Children will learn but little without fear, and that a Rod is a necessary impliment of a School; but I consider now Children in the age before they go to School; which age yet, must not lie untill'd, but ought to be husbanded with some easie Learning, and with much gentleness; and the lear­ning wherewith their tender Souls ought to be first seasoned, is that which will make them wise to salvation; if you see them free to learn, overcharge them not with great tasks, lest you spend their spirits, and ex­haust their natural moisture, make them drie and weak in their Bodies, and dull in their intellectuals.

The breeding of Girls till se­ven years of age, needs not be [Page 116]much different from that of Boys, but that their Wilful­ness and Obstinacy ought yet to be more abated than that of Male Children; and that for two Reasons: The one, that the Virtue wherein the Repu­tation of Women most consist­eth, is Chastity; for which they have need betime to bear a strict hand over their passions, and indulge very little to their desires; the other reason is, that they are to be ruled by the will of another, for which they shall be unfit if they be suffered to be self-willed. Let pains be taken with Girls to make the vulgar saying false, What is a Woman but her Will? Many Parents take a clean contrary course, breeding their Daugh­ters more indulgently than their [Page 117]Sons; whereby some become vain and wanton, proud Mi­stresses and peevish Wives. St. Peter knew what was most needful and becoming to that Sex, when he recommended unto them The Ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which be­fore God is of great price.

Let the Parents love to their Children be coupled with fear, when they consider that they are God's Trustees of those precious Depositums, and that they shall be called to account how they have fitted them for the Service of God, their King, and their Coun­trey. Let Parents be to their Children such Exam­ples of Piety, Temperance, Meekness, and Charity, and [Page 118]Uprightness, that they may leave them the Inheritance of their Virtues; and that Goodness and the Blessing of God be entailed on their Fa­milies.