At once I had;
For fault but small, or none at all,
It came to pass thus beat I was,
See, Udall, see, the mercy of thee
To me, poor lad.
The result of the Eton system was, that many boys ran away from the school to escape a beating, a circumstance which led Ascham to compose his “Schoolmaster,” wherein, like Sir J. Elyot, he pleads for a more humane treatment of young scholars.
[347] Erasmus, de Pueris instituendis. Mr. Seebohm questions the fact of Colet being the “theologian” here referred to.
[348] Exercita Spiritualia. Regulæ ad sentiendum vere cum Ecclesia.
[349] Hall.
[350] Ep. 871.