Third, that he never change his trencher twise;
Fourth, that he use all common courtesies;
Sit bare at meales, and one half rise and wait:
Last, that he never his young maister beat;
But he must aske his mother to define
How manie jerks she would his breech should line.
All these observ'd, he could contented be,
To give five markes, and winter liverie."[95:B]
From the description of the character of the country clerical tutor, it is an easy transition to that of the rural pedagogue or schoolmaster, a personage of not less consequence in the days of Elizabeth, than in the present period. He frequently combined, indeed, in the sixteenth century, the reputation of a conjuror with that of a schoolmaster, and
accordingly in the Comedy of Errors, Pinch, in the dramatis personæ, is described as "a schoolmaster, and a conjuror," and the following not very amiable portrait of his person is given towards the conclusion of the play:—