StNicholas [serial] . but nevertaxed for speech, or, as Sir Henry Sidney putsit in a very noble letter to his son Philip, thentwelve years old, rather be rebuked of lightfellows for maiden-like shamefacedness, thanof your sad friends for pert boldness. Tell nountruth; no, not in trifles, he goes on; therecannot be a greater reproach to a gentlemanthan to be accounted a liar. An Elizabethan boy was not likely to be ababbler, and, in truth, silence seems to have Vol. XXVII.—26-27. practise tilts and tournaments, hear sweetdiscourse, converse with noblemen ; he will bethe more ready to go out in
StNicholas [serial] . but nevertaxed for speech, or, as Sir Henry Sidney putsit in a very noble letter to his son Philip, thentwelve years old, rather be rebuked of lightfellows for maiden-like shamefacedness, thanof your sad friends for pert boldness. Tell nountruth; no, not in trifles, he goes on; therecannot be a greater reproach to a gentlemanthan to be accounted a liar. An Elizabethan boy was not likely to be ababbler, and, in truth, silence seems to have Vol. XXVII.—26-27. practise tilts and tournaments, hear sweetdiscourse, converse with noblemen ; he will bethe more ready to go out in the world andtake his place with other men. The carefully guarded boyhood was soonover, and they were marvelously young whenthey sprang from the quiet and seclusion ofchildhood into the glow and dazzle of thatwondrous age—those noble Elizabethans whowere soldier and sailor, courtier and councilor,in turn; taking time now and then to write amask or a group of sonnets, or to give a help- 202 ELIZABETHAN BOYS. [ stories of steadfast resistance, unflinching bravery, and patriotism. (see page 204.) ing hand to some struggling genius—to Spenseror that promising actor-manager Will Shak-spere, perhaps. Francis Bacon entered Cam-bridge at twelve, so did Lord Southampton(Shaksperes friend and patron); Spenser wentat sixteen; Philip Sidney was sent to Oxfordat thirteen, from there went to Cambridge, traveled and won golden opinions from allmen before he was eighteen, and was sent onan important embassy at twenty-two. GeorgeHerbert, who was an Elizabethan for the firstten years of his life, went to Cambridge atfifteen, having spent much of his childhoodin a sweet content under the eye and care of 1900.] ELIZABETHAN BOYS. 203 his prudent mother, and the tuition of a chap-lain or tutor. The mothers and tutors and grammar-schools did good work, whether their pupilswere sent to the universities, or sped awayto the military academies of the times inFlanders or Ireland, or took ship a
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