Lad may have
as much Learning in a private as in a public Education.« »And with Submission,«
answered Joseph, »he may get as much Vice, witness several Country Gentlemen,
who were educated within five Miles of their own Houses, and are as wicked as if
they had known the World from their Infancy. I remember when I was in the
Stable, if a young Horse was vicious in his Nature, no Correction would make him
otherwise; I take it to be equally the same among Men: if a Boy be of a
mischievous wicked Inclination, no School, tho' ever so private, will ever make
him good; on the contrary, if he be of a righteous Temper, you may trust him to
London, or wherever else you please, he will be in no danger of being corrupted.
Besides, I have often heard my Master say, that the Discipline practised in
public Schools was much better than that in private.« - »You talk like a
Jackanapes,« says Adams, »and so did your Master. Discipline indeed! because one
Man scourges twenty or thirty Boys more in a Morning than another, is he
therefore a better Disciplinarian? I do presume to confer in this Point with all
who have taught from Chiron's time to this Day; and, if I was Master of six Boys
only, I would preserve as good Discipline amongst them as the Master of the
greatest School in the World. I say nothing, young Man; remember, I say nothing;
but if Sir Thomas himself had been educated nearer home, and under the Tuition
of somebody, remember, I name nobody, it might have been better for him - but
his Father must institute him in the Knowledge of the World. Nemo mortalium
omnibus horis sapit.« Joseph seeing him run on in this manner asked pardon many
times, assuring him he had no Intention to offend. »I believe you had not,
Child,« said he, »and I am not angry with you: but for maintaining good
Discipline in a School; for this, -« And then he ran on as before, named all the
Masters who are recorded in old Books, and preferred himself to them all. Indeed
if this good Man had an Enthusiasm, or what the Vulgar call a Blind-side, it was
this: He thought a Schoolmaster the greatest Character in the World, and himself
the greatest of all Schoolmasters, neither of which Points he would have given
up to Alexander the Great at the Head of his Army.
    Adams continued his Subject till they