SCHOOLMASTE AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES STATE NORMAL SCHOOL THE SCHOOLMASTER IN COMEDY AND SATIRE ARRANGED AND EDITED FOR THE SPECIAL USE OF TEACHERS' READING CIRCLES AND ROUND TABLES NEW YORK- -.-CINCINNATI.:. CHICAGO AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY COPYBIGHT, 1894, BY AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY. BCH. IN COM. printed be B. 8. 3Barne0 & Company Hew JJorh, TO. S. H. 5 INTRODUCTION Two of the three humorists who are reckoned greatest in the literature of the world have left to us pictures of education which have passed into proverb. The greatest of dramatists devoted to the portrayal of an academy one of his brightest and happiest comedies. Of Pope's incomparable satire, the book which is distinguished as The Greater Duriciad is devoted to educational shams. Colman the Younger is still preserved from oblivion through the humorous delineation of educational absurdities in one of his dramas. The greatest and most pop- ular of novel writers, whose works exert an inestimable influ- ence in favor of reforms, owes his reputation largely to his satirical pictures of school life. The most popular English playwright of the past generation, and his contemporary, the favorite painter of manners among the dramatists of France, have both chosen teachers and pupils for the subjects of merry plays. A favorite German writer of to-day has been most happy in a character study of a German gymnasium. There is a potent moral force in humor and satire; and there are few stronger influences than these that can be brought to bear on the training of teachers and the improvement of sys- tems of education. Moreover, the rank of the authors to whom reference has been made, and of others as well, seems to ren- der it especially desirable that teachers shall become acquainted with their style, and with their place in literature. 3 4 IX TROD UCTION For this reason, and because of the favor with which The Schoolmaster in Literature has been received, the publishers offer this book as a companion volume, in the belief that it will be found a source of pleasure and of profit to teachers and to the general reader. With the satirical and humorous selections have been incor- porated some other extracts from modern classics, which have been greatly admired for their beauty and for their elevated tone. Among these are pen-pictures from the first of the great Russian novelists Gogol and from such other nota- ble authors as Fdnelon, Maria Edgeworth, Nathaniel Parker Willis, and Arnaud Berquin, " The Friend of the Children"; also a sketch from a representative American educator of the present time. . The selections from Rabelais and Fe"nelon are revisions of old and standard English versions. The translations from Berquin, Scribe, Gogol, and Eckstein are original and new, having been prepared expressly for this volume. The render- ing of " The Visit to the Cell " is by the late Hanf ord Skinner, and represents the last literary work of a gentleman of rare scholarship and promise. In order to adapt the volume especially to the needs of Reading Circles and Round Tables, and of individual students of literature and education, the book is divided into parts, corresponding to the months of the school year, and is furnished with outlines, pedagogical notes, and suggestive questions for reviews and examinations. CONTENTS PAGE Francois Rabelais 9 The Education of Gargantua and Pantagruel 12 Roger Ascham, the Father of English Schoolmasters . 34 Ascham and his Pupils 36 William Shakspeare 45 King Ferdinand's Academy 48 Fe'nelon 73 Telfimaque and Mentor. . 76 Jonathan Swift, the Great Irish Dean 101 The Academy at Lagado 103 Alexander Pope . . . . . . . .' . . 129 The Greater Dunciad . . .131 Arnaud Berquin, the Friend of the Children . . .151 Fashionable Education 162 Colman the Younger 179 Dick Dowlas and his Tutor 181 Maria Edgeworth 216 The Dame School Holiday 218 Eugene Scribe 259 The Two Preceptors 260 Nathaniel Parker Willis 289 The Scholar of Thebet Ben Khorat . . . . . . .290 Charles Dickens 301 The Gradgrind System of Education 303 6 6 CONTENTS PAGE Gogol, the Father of Russian Novelists 381 Tentetnikof and his Teachers 383 John Godfrey Saxe 410 Progress 411 Thomas William Robertson 421 School . 422 Charles William Bardeen . . . . . . . .453 The Norway Free High School 464 D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson .493 School Dreams at Dunedin 494 Ernst Eckstein 620 The Visit to the Cell . . . .621 Outlines and Notes for Reading Circle Work . . .539 Questions 688 RABELAIS ASCHAM THE SCHOOLMASTER IN COMEDY AND SATIRE FRANQOIS RABELAIS EVERYBODY has heard of Don Quix'ote, 1 the hero of a famous Spanish story which has been translated into all the languages of the modern world. Every one has laughed at the poor man who became crazed by reading romances, and, imagining himself a knight of the old time, went about fighting windmills and killing sheep, all the while believing that he was performing prodigies of valor. Cervan'tes, the author of this burlesque, performed a great service to society. It has been said that he "laughed chivalry out of Europe." Monarchs and statesmen have often found the shafts of ridicule more formidable than hostile armies. So with chivalry, that system of government and society which had included much that was absurd with much that was heroic, and which had outlived its usefulness. It yielded to the satire of Don Quixote and disappeared. In much the same way the great French humorist Rabelais (rab'lay') rendered a service to mankind by portraying the absurdities of the educa- ^ tion and government of his time. Much of his work is now deemed wholly ^. unfit for general reading. Often its coarseness is shocking and disgusting. v It is a matter of surprise to the unlearned that a work so foul at times in its ^s| language was ever permitted to exist. It must be judged historically by the good it has accomplished and by the standard of its day, which was very ^ different from that which now obtains among the cultured nations. And so judged, we cannot regret that it was written. While we hide its indecencies in a just oblivion, we may even now enjoy a perusal of much that it con- tains. Had the work been written in any other way, it probably would never have exerted a potent influence for reform. Presumably it would have been forgotten within a few years, if, indeed, it would have attracted any considerable attention at all. 1 Many persons imitate the Spanish pronunciation of this word. It is better to pronounce it according to English analogy. We have derived from it the genuine English words quixotic and quixotism. 9 10 FRANQOIS RABELAIS Fra^ois (frahn-swah') Rabelais was born about the year 1495, at the village of Chinon (shin-on'), in Touraine, France, where his birthplace is still pointed out to sight-seers. He was educated for the priesthood, and took orders in the church. Leaving the Benedictines without permission, he studied medicine at Montpellier, where there is still shown a doctor's gown which he wore, though much of it has been cut away in fragments by relic-hunting students. He practiced medicine at Lyons. All this time he was pursuing profound studies in Latin and Greek. At Lyons, Rabelais wrote a story of a giant whom he called Gargan'tua. In 1534, he published a sequel, portraying the life of the giant's son, Pantag'ruel. He continued to add to the story until 1552, when he completed a fourth book of Pantag- ruel. He tardily obtained from the Pope a pardon for his abandonment of the priesthood. Afterward he continued to practice medicine, and, later, he served again as a priest. He died in 1553. Rabelais wrote a number of books of a scientific character. He edited works on medicine, and published an annual almanac for seventeen years. Van Laun says of him : " Let it be well understood, . . . Rabelais was in his writings coarse, though never prurient ; 1 but in private life he was there is, at least, nothing to the contrary a -respectable and outwardly moral man, a consistent Catholic, who preserved the respect of his supe- riors." Rabelais is reckoned one of the four greatest prose writers of the six- teenth century, and one of the three greatest humorists of all literature. It is not easy to estimate the influence of his great work upon society, and especially upon education in all the ages succeeding him. Probably much of the advancement which we enjoy to-day in the school world is owing to the fact that he set others to thinking and acting for the reformation of the old school system, and for the bringing in of a better, happier, and more fruitful era in the training of children. . Rabelais is intensely, villainously, obtrusively coarse. Strange fact, but none the less true, that this very coarseness of humor and illustration obtained for him immunity from persecution, and secured for his flagella- tions a currency which the most refined and decorous wit, the most polished scholarship, would never have gained for them. In his admirable chapter on the education of Gargantua, he unfolds to us his own simple and rational 1 An important distinction. An author may give expression to lewd thoughts, and lead the imagination to riot in impure fancies, while he employs only the most polished phrases. On the other hand, honest purpose and worthy thoughts may be expressed in language disfigured by coarseness. Byron and Gibbon are prurient, at times, without being coarse. Burns, like Rabelais, is sometimes coarse, while not prurient. Of the two, prurience is far more harmful than coarseness, in its influence on the mind- FRANCOIS RABELAIS 11 plan for the development of a human being from the uncorrupted elements of humanity. The mind and the body are cultivated side by side, without preference or forcing. The faculties and instincts of the child and the youth are allowed free play ; the moral and physical qualities are expanded by a healthy and well-directed exercise. No hour of the day was without its due provision of recreation, of relaxation, or of appointed study. HENRY VAN LAUN. Who has not heard of the giant Grangousier (grahn-goo-se-a') and of his wife Gargamelle', and of their son Gargantua. The latter cries, on coming into the world, " Drink I Drink ! " and gives proof of an extraordinary in- telligence. His happy endowments, however, are scarcely developed by his teachers, Tubal Holofer'nes and Jobelin Bride (zhobe-lan' bre-day') ; and Grangousier, dissatisfied with his son's progress, complains to his friend, the Viceroy of Papeligosse, who brings to him the page Eude'mon, "so neat, so trim, so handsome in his behavior, that he had the resemblance of a little angel, more than of a human creature." Eudemon speaks so well in Latin to Grangousier, that he decides to give to his son, for his preceptor, Ponoc'rates, the teacher of the learned page, and sends them all three to Paris, to see what were the studies of the youths of France. Gargantua enters Paris on his enormous mare, carries away the bells from Notre Dame (cathedral), fastens them to the neck of his horse, and returns them to the Parisians only after a learned harangue of Master Jano'tus de Bragmar'do. Meantime occurs the most important part of the work of Rabelais, the education of Gargantua, which the masters of the old school and the system of Ponocrates give him. Rabelais wishes that his pupil shall cultivate his body as well as his mind, and busies him with physical as well as mental exercises. Probably this system suggested some points to Montaigne for his Institution of Children, and to Rousseau for his. iZmile (a-meel'). The son of Gargantua and of Badebec has many adventures which we cannot mention here. We note only some incidents of the Pantagruel. First, the criticism of the macaronic 1 language of some writers of the period, indicated by the speech the Limosin 2 scholar, who comes from " the inclyte, and celebrate Academy, which is vocitated Lutetia. ' Where, 1 1 Macaronic words are formed by the addition of terminations of one lan- guage to roots of another language. Macaronic compositions, written in bur- lesque, contain, generally, genuine words from both languages, interspersed among the hybrid compounds. 2 Limosin, or Limousin (pronounced le-moo-san'), refers to an ancient divi- sion of France, from which the pedantic student is supposed to have come. 8 The substance of the quotation is as follows : " the nourishing, lively, and celebrated resort of the learned which is called Lute'tia (the Latin name for 12 FRANCOIS RAHELA1S says he, 'we transfretate the Sequan at the dilucal and crepuscul ; we deam- bulate by the compiles and quadrives of the ttrfc ; we despumate the taft'ai verbocination : and, like verisimilarie amorabons, we captat the benevolence of the omnijugal, omniform, and omnigenal feminine sex.' " We remark always that, in spite of their excellent ideas, the three educators, Rabelais, Montaigne, and Rousseau (roo-so') have not a suffi- ciently practical system, since the education which they give to their pupil can be given only by a particular preceptor, and cannot be applied to classes of students. 1 ALCEE FORTIER. THE EDUCATION OF GAKGANTUA AND PANTAGRUEL I. How GARGANTUA WAS TAUGHT LATIN BY A SOPHISTEB The good man Grangousier was ravished with admiration, considering the high reach and marvelous understanding of his son Gargantua, and said to his governesses : "Philip, King of Macedon, knew the great wit of his son Alexander by his skillful managing of a horse ; for his horse Buceph'alus was so fierce and unruly that none durst adventure to ride him, after that he had given to his riders such devilish falls, breaking the neck of this man, the other man's leg, brain- ing one, and cracking another's jawbone. This being consid- ered by Alexander, one day in the Hippodrome (which was a place appointed for the breaking and managing of great horses) he perceived that the fury of the horse proceeded merely from the fear he had of his own shadow ; whereupon, getting on his back, he ran him against the sun, so that the shadow fell behind, Paris). Where we cross the Se'quana (the Latin name for the Seine) at the dawn and in the evening ; we walk away by the crossings and passages of the city ; we throw out shouts from the lungs ; and, like true lovers, we win the favor of the feminine sex, of whatever condition, appearance, or birth." 1 This is the most general criticism passed upon the system of education portrayed by Rabelais. If the system were generally followed, the number of instructors would have to be increased enormously, and few men of the popula- tion would be left to engage in other professions. EDUCATION OF GAEGANTUA AND PANTAGRUEL 13 and by that means tamed the horse and brought him to his hand. Whereby his father, perceiving his marvelous capacity and divine insight, caused him most carefully to be instructed by Aristotle, who at that time was highly renowned above all the philosophers of Greece. After the same manner I tell you that by this only discourse, which now I have here had before you with my son Gargantua, I know that his understanding doth participate of some divinity; and that if he be well taught and have that education which is fitting, he will attain to a supreme degree of wisdom. Therefore will I commit him to some learned man, to have him indoctrinated according to his capacity, and will spare no cost." Presently they appointed for him a great sophister-doctor, called Master Tubal Holofernes, 1 who taught him his A B C so well that he could say it by heart backwards ; and about this he was five years and three months. 2 Then read he to him Donat, 3 Le Fac'et, Theod'olet, and Alan'us, In Parab'olis. About this he was thirteen years, six months, and two weeks. But you must remark that in the meantime he did learn to write in Gothic characters, and that he wrote all his books, for the art of printing was not then in use ; and did ordinarily carry a great pen and inkhorn, weigh- ing above seven thousand quintals, the pen-case whereof was as big and as long as the great pillar of Enay ; and the horn was hanged to it in great iron chains, it being of the wideness to hold a ton of merchandise. After that was read unto him, the book De Mo'dis Signifi- can'di^ with the Commentaries of Hurtbise, of Fasquin, of Tropditeux, of Gaulhault, of John Calf, of Billonio, of Berlin- 1 The name Holofernes is taken from The Book of Judith in the Apocrypha. The original Holofernes was a detestable tyrant. 2 Gargantua was a long time learning the alphabet. Evidently his instructors did not employ improved methods of teaching. Rabelais appears to have seen clearly the fruitlessness of the old-time school regime. 8 Here follow some forgotten old Latin books, utterly unsuited to the needs of youths. 4 The book De Modis Significandi was a treatise on modes of expression. 14 FRANCOIS RABELAIS guandus, and a rabble of others; and herein he spent more than eighteen years and eleven months, and was so well versed therein that, to try masteries in school disputes with his fellow pupils, he would recite it by heart backwards ; and did some- times prove on his fingers' ends to his mother that De Modis Significandi non erat sciential Then was read to him the Compost, on which he spent sixteen years and two months. And at that very time, which was in the year 1420, his Pre- ceptor died. Afterwards he got an old coughing fellow to teach him, named Master Jobelin Bride", who read unto him, Hugu'tio, 2 Heb'rard, Gre'cism, the Doc'trinal, the Pars, the Quid est, the Supplementum, Marmotretus, de Moribus in Mensa Servandis, Seneca de Quattuor Virtutibus Cardinalibus, Passaventus cum Commento, and Dormi Secure, for the holidays, and other stuff ; by reading whereof he became as wise as any we ever since baked in an oven. II. How GARGANTUA WAS PUT UNDER OTHER SCHOOLMASTERS At last his father perceived that indeed he studied hard, and that, although he spent all his time therein, yet for all that he did profit nothing ; but, which, is worse, grew thereby a fool, a sot, a dolt, and blockhead ; whereof making a heavy com- plaint to Don Philip of Marays, Viceroy of Papeligosse, he found that it were better for his son to learn nothing at all than to be taught such like books, under such schoolmasters, because their knowledge was nothing but all trifle, and their wisdom foppery, serving only to bastardize good and noble spirits, and to corrupt the whole flower of youth. "That it is so," said he, " any young boy of this time who hath only studied two years, if he have not a better judgment, a better discourse, and that expressed in better terms than your 1 That De Modis Signiflcandi was not science. 2 Here follow more old Latin books, to satirize the courses of study in the time of Rabelais. EDUCATION OF GAEGANTUA AND PANTAGRUEL 15 son, with a completer carriage and civility to all manner of persons, account me forever hereafter a very clounch, and a bacon-slicer of Brene." This pleased Grangousier very well, and he commanded that it should be done. At night, at supper, the said Don Philip brought in a young page of his, of Ville-gouges, called Eudemon, so neat, so trim, so handsome in his apparel, so spruce, with his hair in so good order, and so sweet and comely in his behavior, that he had the resemblance of a little angel more than of a human crea- ture. Then he said to Grangousier: " Do you see this young boy ? He is not as yet full twelve years old ; let us try (if you like) what difference there is betwixt the knowledge of the useless dunces of old time and the young lads that are now." The trial pleased Grangousier, and he commanded the page to begin. Then Eudemon, asking leave of the Viceroy, his master, so to do, with his cap in his hand, a clear and open countenance, beautiful and ruddy lips, his eyes steady, and his looks fixed upon Gargantua with a youthful modesty, standing up straight on his feet, began to commend him, first, for his virtue and good manners ; secondly, for his knowledge ; thirdly, for his nobility ; fourthly, for his bodily accomplish- ments ; and in the fifth place, most sweetly exhorted him to rev- erence his father with all due observancy, who was so careful to have him well brought up. In the end, he prayed him that he would vouchsafe to admit him amongst the least of his servants ; for he desired at that time no other favor of Heaven, but that he might do to him some grateful and acceptable service. All this was delivered by him with such proper gestures, such distinct pronunciation, so pleasant a delivery, in such ex- quisite, fine terms, and in so good Latin, that he seemed rather a Grac'chus, a Cic'ero, an jEmil'ius of the time past, than a youth of his age. But all the countenance that Gargantua kept was, that he fell to crying like a cow, and cast down his face, 16 FRANQOIS RABELAIS hiding it with his cap, nor could they possibly draw one word from him. Whereat his father was so grievously vexed that he would have killed Master Jobelin, but the said Don Philip withheld him from it by fair persuasion, so that at length he pacified his wrath. Then Grangousier commanded that he should be paid his wages, that they could whittle him up soundly, sophister- like, and then give him to all the devils. "At least," said he, "to-day shall it not cost him much to his host if by chance he should die as drunk as an English- man." Master Jobelin being gone out of the house, Grangousier consulted with the Viceroy what schoolmaster they should choose for him, and it was betwixt them resolved that Ponoc- rates, the tutor of Eudemon, should have the charge, and that they should go all together to Paris, to know what was the study of the young men of France at that time. III. How GARGANTUA WAS INSTRUCTED BY PONOCRATES, AND IN SUCH SORT DISCIPLINATED THAT HE LOST NOT ONE HOUR OF THE DAY When Ponocrates knew Gargantua's vicious manner of liv- ing, he resolved to bring him up in another way ; but for a while bore with him, considering that nature cannot endure a sudden change without great violence. Therefore, to begin his work the better, he requested a learned physician of that time, called Master Theodore, seriously to perpend, if it were possible, how to bring Gargantua unto a better course. The said physician purged him canonically with Anticyrian helle- bore, 1 by which medicine he cleansed all that foulness and per- verse habit of his brain. By this means, also, Ponocrates made him forget all that lie had learned under his ancient preceptors, 1 Hellebore (from Anticyria) is used medicinally as a purgative. The word is here employed in a figurative sense. EDUCATION OF GARGANTUA AND PANTAGRUEL 17 as Timotheus did to his scholars who had been instructed under other musicians. To do this the better, they brought him into the company of learned men, which stirred in him an emulation and desire to whet his wit and improve his parts, and to bend his study another way, so as that the world might have a value for him. And afterwards he put himself into such a road that he lost not any one hour in the day, but employed all his time in learn- ing and honest knowledge. Gargantua awaked about four o'clock in the morning. Whilst they were in rubbing of him, there was read unto him some chapter of the Holy Scriptures aloud and clearly, with a pronunciation fit for the matter ; and hereunto was appointed a young page, born in Basche", named Anagnos'tes. According to the purpose and argument of that lesson, he oftentimes gave himself to worship, adore, pray, and send up his supplications to that good God whose word did show His majesty and mar- velous judgment. 1 Then his master repeated what had been read, expounding unto him the most obscure and difficult points. In returning, they considered the face of the sky, if it were such as they had observed it the night before, and into what Signs the sun was entering, as also the moon, for that day. This done, he was appareled, combed, curled, trimmed, and perfumed, during which time they repeated to him the les- sons of the day before ; and he himself said them by heart, and upon them would ground some practical cases concerning the estate of man, which he would prosecute sometimes two or three hours ; but ordinarily they ceased as soon as he was fully clothed. Then for three good hours he had a lecture read unto him ; this done, they went forth, still conferring on the substance of the lecture, either unto a field 2 near the University, called the 1 The author intends no burlesque in his description of the youth's morning devotions, nor, indeed, in the descriptions which follow in the account of the day's employments. 2 Rabelais was a firm believer in the physical training of youths. 8CH. IN COM. 2 18 FRANQOIS RABELAIS Brack, or unto the meadows, where they played at the ball, tennis, and at the trigon, most gallantly exercising their bodies, as before they had done their minds. All their play was but in liberty, for they left off when they pleased, and that was commonly when they did sweat over all their body or were otherwise weary. Then were they very well wiped and rubbed, shifted their shirts, and, walking soberly, went to see if dinner was ready. Whilst they stayed for that, they did clearly and eloquently pronounce some sentences that they had retained of the lecture. In the meantime, Master Appetite came, and then very orderly sat they down at table. At the beginning of the meal there was read some pleasant history of the warlike actions of former times, until he had taken a glass of wine. Then (if they thought good) they continued reading, or began to discourse merrily together, speaking first of the virtue, propriety, efficacy, and nature of all that was served in at the table ; of bread, of wine, of water, of salt, of fleshes, fishes, fruits, herbs, roots, and of their dressing ; by means whereof he learned, in a little time, all the passages appropriate for this 1 that were to be found in Plin'y, Athense'us, Dioscor'ides, Julius Pol'lux, Ga'len, Por'- phyry, Op'pien, Polyb'ius, Heliodo'rus, Aristo'tle, E'lian, and others. Whilst they talked of these things many times, to be more certain, they caused the very books to be brought to the table. And so well and perfectly did he in his memory retain the things above said, that in those days there was not a physician that knew half so much as he did. Afterwards they conferred of the lessons read in the morning ; and ending their repast with some conserve or marmalade of quinces, he picked his teeth with mastic tooth-pickers, washed his hands and eyes with fair, fresh water, and gave thanks unto God in some neat livinn, made in the praise of the Divine bounty and munificence. 1 Rabelais does not discourage an acquaintance with extracts from classic authors. What he holds up to ridicule is the over-loading of the mind with laborious detail. EDUCATION OF GARGANTUA AND PANTAGRUEL 19 This done, they brought in cards ; not to play, but to learn a thousand petty tricks and new inventions, which were all grounded upon arithmetic. By this means he fell in love with that numerical science ; and every day, after dinner and supper, he passed his time in it as pleasantly as he was wont to do at cards and dice ; so that, at last, he understood so well both the theory and practical part thereof, that Tunstal, the Englishman, who had written very largely to that purpose, confessed that, verily, in com- parison of him, he understood no more High Dutch. And not only in that, but in the other mathematical sciences, as geometry, astronomy, and music. For, in waiting on the concoction and attending the digestion of his food, they made a thousand pretty instruments and geometrical figures, and did in some measure practice the astronomical canons. After this they recreated themselves with singing musically, in four or five parts, 1 or upon a set theme or ground at random as it best pleased them; in matter of musical instruments he learned to play upon the flute, the virginals, the harp, the flute with nine holes, the viol, and the sackbut. This hour thus spent, and digestion finished, he then betook himself to his principal study for three hours together or more, as well to repeat his morning lectures, as to proceed in the book he had in hand, as also to write handsomely, to draw and form the antique and Roman letters. This being done, they went abroad, and with them a young gentleman of Touraine named the Esquire Gymnast, who taught him the art of riding. Changing, then, his clothes, he rode a Naples courser, a Dutch stallion, a Spanish genet, a barded or trapped steed, then a light fleet horse which he gave a hundred races, made him do the high leaps, bound- ing in the air, free the ditch with a skip, leap over a stile or pail, turn short in a ring, both to the right and left hand. 1 Rabelais appreciated the value of a musical education. The value of music in the home and in the school is not likely to be overestimated. 20 FRANCOIS RABELAIS There he broke not his lance; for it is the greatest foolery in the world to say, " I have broken ten lances at tilt, or in fight ; ' ' a carpenter can do even as much: but it is a glorious and praiseworthy action, with one lance to break and overthrow ten enemies; therefore with a sharp, stiff, strong, and well-steeled lance would he usually force up a door, pierce a harness, beat down a tree, carry away the ring, lift up a cuirassier saddle, with the mail coat and gauntlet. All this he did in complete armor, from head to foot. 1 As for the prancing flourishes and smacking displays for the better cherishing of the horse commonly used in riding, none did them better than he. The great vaulter of Ferrara was but an ape compared to him. He was singularly skillful in leaping nimbly from one horse to another without putting foot to ground, and these horses were called desultories ; he could likewise, from either side, with a lance in his hand, leap on horseback without stirrups, and rule the horse at his pleasure without a bridle, for such things are useful in military engage- ments. Another day he exercised the battle-ax, which he so dexterously wielded both in the nimble, strong, and smooth management of that weapon, and in all the feats practiceable by it, that he passed knight of arms in the field, and at all essays. Then tossed he the pike, played with the two-handed sword, with the back-sword, with the Spanish tuck, the dagger, poniard, armed or unarmed, with a buckler, with a cloak, with a target. Then would he hunt the hart, the roebuck, the bear, the fallow deer, the wild boar, the hare, the pheasant, the par- tridge, and the bustard. He played at the balloon, and made it bound in the air, both with fist and foot. He wrestled, ran, jumped, not at three steps and a leap, nor at the hare's leap, nor yet at the almanes ; 2 ".for," said Gym- 1 Greater value was attached to feats of personal prowess in the old time than at the present day. 2 A jumping or dancing exercise, borrowed from the Germans. EDUCATION OF GARGANTUA AND PANTAGRUEL 21 nasy, "these jumps are altogether unprofitable for the wars, and of no use; " but at* one leap he would skip over a ditch, spring over a hedge, mount six paces upon a wall, ramp and grapple after this fashion up against a window, of the full height of a lance. He did swim in deep waters on his belly, on his back, side- ways, with all his body, with his feet only, with one hand in the air, wherein he held a book, crossing thus the breadth of the River Seine without wetting it, and dragged along his cloak with his teeth, as did Julius Caesar; J then, with the help of one hand, he entered forcibly into a boat, from whence he cast himself again headlong into the water, sounded the depths, hollowed the rocks, and plunged into the pits and gulfs. Then turned he the boat about, governed it, 2 led it swiftly or slowly, with the stream and against the stream, stopped it in its course, guided it with one hand, and with the other laid hard about him with a huge great oar, hoisted the sail, hied up along the mast by the shrouds, ran upon the edge of the decks, set the compass in order, tackled the bowlines and steered the helm. Coming out of the water, he ran furiously up against a hill, and with the same alacrity and swiftness ran down again; he climbed up trees like a cat, and leaped from one to the other like a squirrel ; he did pull down the great boughs and branches like another Mi'lo; then with two sharp, well-steeled daggers and two tried bodkins, would he run up by the wall to the very top of a house, like a rat; then suddenly come down from the top to the bottom, with such an even composition of members that by the fall he would catch no harm. He did cast the dart, throw the bar, put the stone, practice the javelin, the boar-spear, or partisan, and the halbert; he 1 Caesar saved himself from capture at Alexandria by swimming. Unwilling to cast away a manuscript of his writings, which he had with him, he held it out of the water with one hand, and swam with one arm. 2 Evidently Rabelais regarded swimming and boating as an important part ol the physical education of a youth. 22 FRANCOIS RABELAIS broke the strongest bows in drawing, bended against his breast the greatest crossbows of steel, took iiis aim by the eye with the hand-gun, and shot well, traversed and planted the cannon, shot at targets, at flying pigeons from below upwards, from above downwards, then before him, sideways, and behind him like the Par'thians. They tied a cable rope to the top of a high tower, by one end whereof, hanging near the ground, he wrought himself with his hands to the very top ; then upon the same track came down so sturdily and firm that they could not, on a plain meadow, have run with more assurance. They set up a great pole, fixed upon two trees. There he would hang by his hands, and with them alone, his feet touching at nothing, would go back and forth along the aforesaid rope, with so great swiftness that hardly could one overtake him with running; and then, to exercise his breast and lungs, he would shout like all the devils. I heard him once call Eudemon from St. Victor's gate to Montmartre; Stentor had never such a voice at the siege of Troy. Then, for the strengthening of his nerves or sinews, they made him two great sows of lead, each of them weighing eight thousand and seven hundred quintals, which they called alteres; those he took up from the ground, in each hand one, then lifted them up over his head, and held them without stirring, three quarters of an hour or more, which was an inimitable force. He fought at barriers with the stoutest and most vigorous champions; and when it came to the cope, he stood so sturdily on his feet that he abandoned himself to the strongest, in case they could remove him from his place, as Milo was wont to do of old; in whose imitation, likewise, he held a pomegranate in his hand, to give it unto him that could take it from him. The time being thus bestowed, and himself rubbed, cleansed, wiped, and refreshed with other clothes, he returned fair and softly, and, passing through certain meadows or other grassy places, beheld the trees and plants, comparing them with EDUCATION OF GARGANTUA AND PANTAGRUEL 23 what is written of them in the books 1 of the ancients, such as The'ophrast, Dioscor'ides, Mari'nus, Plin'y, Nican'der, Ma'cer, and Ga'len, and carried home to the house great handfuls of them, whereof a young page called Rhizotomos had charge; together with the little mattocks, pickaxes, grubbing hooks, hoes, pruning knives, and other instruments requisite for gardening. Being come to their lodging whilst supper was making ready, they repeated certain passages of that which had been read, and then seated themselves at table. Here remark that his dinner was sober and thrifty, for he did then eat only to prevent the gnawings of his stomach; but his supper was copious and large, for he took then as much as was fit to maintain and nourish him; which, indeed, is the true diet prescribed by the art of good and sound physic, although a rabble of logger- headed physicians, nuzzled in the brabbling shop of sophisters, counsel the contrary. 2 During that repast was continued the lesson read at dinner, as long as they thought good; the rest was spent in good discourse, learned and profitable. After they had given thanks, he set himself to sing vocally and play upon harmonious instruments, or otherwise passed his time at some pretty sports, made with cards or dice, or in practicing the feats of legerdemain, with cups and balls. There they stayed some nights in frolicking thus, and mak- ing themselves merry till it was time to go to bed; and on other nights they would go make visits unto learned men, or to such as had been travelers in strange and remote coun- tries. When it was full night, before they retired themselves, they went unto the most open place of the house to see the face of 1 Rabelais saw the importance of studying the plants themselves, and was not satisfied with mere " book" botany. 2 Rabelais thus holds that the principal meal of the day the real dinner should be eaten at the close of the day, and this in opposition to the physicians of his time. This practice is almost universal in large cities at the present day, and is growing in favor everywhere. 24 FRANQOIS RABELAIS the sky, and there beheld the comets, if any were, as likewise the figures, situations, aspects, opposition, and conjunctions of both fixed stars and planets. Then with his master did he briefly recapitulate, after the manner of the Pythago'reans, that which he had read, seen, learned, done, and understood, in the whole course of that day. Then prayed they unto God the Creator, falling down before Him, and strengthening their faith towards Him, and glorify- ing Him for His boundless bounty; and giving thanks to Him for the time that was past, they recommended themselves to His Divine clemency for the future, which being done, they went to bed and betook themselves to their repose. IV. How GARGANTUA SPENT HIS TIME IN RAINY WEATHER If it happened that the weather was anything cloudy, foul, and rainy, all the forenoon was employed as before specified, according to custom, with this difference only, that they had a good clear fire lighted, to correct the distempers of the air; but after dinner, instead of their wonted exercitations, they did abide within, and, by way of amusement, did recreate themselves in bottling of hay, in cleaving and sawing of wood, and in threshing sheaves of corn at the barn. Then they studied the art of painting or carving, or brought into use the antique (ancient) play of Tables, as Leon'icus has written of it and as our good friend Las'caris playeth at it. In playing, they examined the passages of ancient authors wherein the said play is mentioned, or any metaphor drawn from it. They went likewise to see the drawing of metals l or the casting of great ordnance; how the lapidaries did work, as also the goldsmiths, and cutters of precious stones; 1 Rabelais appreciated the value of a knowledge of the useful arts and an acquaintance with the various forms of industry of his time, as a part of a lib- eral education. Such knowledge had been looked upon with contempt by young gentlemen of fortune. EDUCATION OF GARGANTUA AND PANTAGRUEL 25 nor did they omit to visit the alchemists, money-coiners, upholsterers, weavers, velvet-workers, watchmakers, looking- glass framers, printers, organists, dyers, and other such kind of artificers, and, everywhere giving them somewhat to drink, did learn and consider the industry and invention of the trade. They went also to hear the public lectures, the solemn com- mencements, the repetitions, the acclamations, the pleadings of the lawyers, and sermons of evangelical preachers. He went through the halls and places appointed for fencing, and there played against the masters themselves at all weapons, and showed them by experience that he knew as much in it as (yea more than) they; and instead of simpling, they visited the shops of druggists, herbalists, and apothecaries, and dili- gently considered the fruits, roots, leaves, gums, seeds, the grease and ointments of some foreign parts, as also how they adulterate them (i,e. all the said drugs). He went to see the jugglers, tumblers, mountebanks, and quacksalvers, and considered their cunning, their shifts, their somersaults, and smooth tongue, especially of those of Chauny, in Picardy, who are naturally great praters, and will banter and lie as fast as a dog can trot. Being returned home, they did eat at supper more soberly than at other times; and meats more desiccative and extenu- ating, to the end that the intemperate moisture of the air, com- municated to the body by a necessary confinity, might by this means be corrected, and that they might not receive any prej- udice for want of their ordinary bodily exercise. Thus was Gargantua governed and kept on in this course of education, from day to day profiting, as you understand such a young man of his age and good sense so kept to his exercise may well do ; which, although at the beginning it seemed difficult, became a little after so sweet, so easy, and so delightful, that it seemed rather the recreation of a King than the study of a scholar. Nevertheless Ponocrates, to divert him from his vehement 26 FRANCOIS RABELAIS tension of the spirits, thought fit once in a month, 1 upon some fair and clear day, to go out in the city betimes in the morn- ing, either towards Gentilly or Boulogne, or to Montrouge or Charentonbridge, or to Vanves or St. Cloud, and there spend all the day long in making the greatest cheer that could be devised, sporting, making merry, drinking healths, playing, singing, dancing, tumbling in some fair meadow, unnestling of sparrows, taking of quails, and fishing for frogs and crabs. But although that day was passed without books or lecture, yet was it not spent without profit; for in the said meadows they usually repeated certain pleasant verses of Ver'gil's Agri- culture, of He'siod, and of Poli'tian's Husbandry, would set abroach some witty Latin epigrams, then immediately turned them into roundelays and songs in the French language. In their feasting they would sometimes separate the water from the wine that was therewith mixed, as Ca'to teacheth De Re Rustica; and Pliny, with an ivy cup, could wash the wine in a basin full of water, then take it out again with a funnel as pure as ever. They made the water go from one glass to another, and contrived a thousand little automatic engines. V. A LETTER FROM GARGANTUA TO HIS SON PANTAGRUEL That which I now write unto thee is not so much that thou shouldst live in this virtuous course, as that thou shouldst rejoice in so living, and, having lived, cheer up thyself with the like resolution in time to come. To the prosecution and accomplishment of which enterprise and generous undertak- ing, thou mayst easily remember how that I have spared noth- ing, but have so helped thee as if I had had no other treasure in this world but to see thee once in my life completely well- 1 Rabelais was a believer in frequent and short vacations. The " drinking healths" which he recommends was the universal custom of his time, and, doubtless, he was unconscious of any impropriety in this diversion. EDUCATION OF GARGANTUA AND PANTAGRUEL 27 bred and accomplished, as well in virtue, honesty, and valor, as in all liberal knoAvledge and civility ; and so to leave thee after my death, as a mirror, representing the person of me thy father ; and if not so excellent, and such indeed as I do wish th'ee, yet such in desire. But although my deceased father, of happy memory, Gran- gousier, had bent his best endeavors to make me profit in all perfection and political knowledge, and that my labor and study was fully correspondent to, yea, went beyond, his desire, nevertheless, as thou mayst well understand, the time then was not so proper and fit for learning as it is at present, neither had I plenty of such good masters as thou hast had ; for that time was darksome, obscured with clouds of igno- rance, and savoring a little of the infelicity and calamity of the Goths, who had, wherever they set footing, destroyed all good literature, which in my age hath by the Divine goodness been restored unto its former light and dignity, and that with such amendment and increase of knowledge that now hardly should I be admitted upon to the first form of the little gram- mar-school boys. I say I, who in my youthful days was (and that justly) reputed the most learned of that age. Which I do not speak in vain boasting, although I might lawfully do it in writing unto thee, by the authority of Marcus Tul'lius in his book of Old Age, and the sentence of Plutarch in the book entitled How a Man may raise himself without Envy, but to give thee an emulous encouragement to strive yet farther. Now it is l that the minds of men are qualified with all manner of discipline, and the old sciences revived, which for many ages were extinct ; now it is that the learned languages are to their pristine purity restored viz. Greek (without which a man may be ashamed to account himself a scholar), Hebrew, Arabic, Chaldean, and Latin. Printing, likewise, is 1 Gargantua wishes to impress upon his son the great advantages which the invention of printing had brought, and the responsibility of those who, having these advantages, do not improve them. 28 FRANCOIS BASEL AI8 now in use, so elegant, and so correct, that better cannot be imagined, although it was fou 1 out in my time but by divine inspiration ; as, by a diabolic; suggestion, on the other side, was the invention of ordna] ;e. All the world is full of knowing men, of most learned 3hoolmasters, and vast libraries ; and it appears to me as a tn h that neither in Plato's time, nor Cicero's, nor Papin'ian's, rhere was ever such conveniency for studying, as we see at this day there is. Nor must any adventure henceforward to come in public or represent himself in company that hath not been pretty well polished in the shop of Minerva. I see robbers, hangmen, freebooters, tap- sters, hostlers, and such like, of the very rubbish of the people, more learned now than the doctors and preachers were in my time. What shall I say? The very women and children have aspired to this praise and celestial manna of good learning ; yet so it is, that at the age I am now of, I have been con- strained to learn the Greek tongue, which I contemned not like Cato, but had not the leisure in my younger years to attend the study of it. And I take much delight in the read- ing of Plutarch's morals, the pleasant dialogues of Plato, the monuments of Pausa'nias, and the antiquities of Athenoe'us, whilst I wait the hour wherein God, my Creator, shall call me, and command me to depart from this earth and transitory pilgrimage. Wherefore, my son, I admonish thee to employ thy youth to profit as well as thou canst, both in thy studies and in virtue. Thou art at Paris, where the laudable examples of many brave men may stir up thy mind to many gallant actions ; and hast, likewise, for thy tutor the learned Episte'- mon, who by his lively and vocal documents may instruct thee in the arts and sciences. I intend, and will have it so, that thou learn the languages perfectly. First of all, the Greek, as Quintil'ian will have it ; secondly, the Latin ; and then the Hebrew, for the Holy Scrip- tures' sake. And then the Chaldee and Arabic likewise. And that thou frame thy style in Greek, in imitation of Plato ; and . rt fttu EDUCATION OF GARGANTUA^Am) PANTAGBUEL 29 for the Latin, after Cicero. Let there be no history which thou shalt not have ready in thy memory ; and to help thee therein, the books of cosmography will be very conducible. Of the liberal arts of geometry, arithmetic, and music, I gave thee some taste when thou wert yet little, and not above five or six years old ; proceed further in them and learn the re- mainder if thou canst. As for astronomy, study all the rules thereof ; let pass, nevertheless, the divining and judicial astrol- ogy, and the art of Lullius, as being nothing else but plain cheats and vanities. As for the civil law, of that I would have thee to know the texts by heart, and then to confer them with philosophy. 1 Now in the matter of the knowledge of the works of nature, I would have thee to study that exactly ; so that there be no sea, river, or fountain of which thou dost not know the fishes ;