1702. 'For a good child will always learn quickly.' This was a proverbial expression, and may be found in the Proverbs of Hending, st. 9:—
'Me may lere a sely fode [one may teach a good child]
That is euer toward gode
With a lutel lore;
Yef me nul [if one will not] him forther teche,
Thenne is [his] herte wol areche
Forte lerne more.
Sely chyld is sone ylered; Quoth Hendyng.'
1704. stant, stands, is. Tyrwhitt says—'we have an account of the very early piety of this Saint in his lesson; Breviarium Romanum, vi. Decemb.—Cuius uiri sanctitas quanta futura esset, iam ab incunabulis apparuit. Nam infans, cum reliquas dies lac nutricis frequens sugeret, quarta et sexta feria (i. e. on Wednesdays and Fridays) semel duntaxat, idque uesperi, sugebat.' Besides, St. Nicholas was the patron of schoolboys, and the festival of the 'boy-bishop' was often held on his day (Dec. 6); Rock, Church of our Fathers, iii. 2. 215.