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General Education

Sir Peabody:     As all are aware, the sexes and various classes require different educations.  What is suitable for a boy is not suitable for a girl and what is necessary for the nobility is not always a demand on the gentry. 

Lady Befuddled:     Yes, this I know.  And having set it out, I will tell you, for my son Thomas I intend fully to raise him as a nobleman.  For although we are of the gentry, Thomas is first born and will inherit our property and land.  This inheritance gives him the opportunity to rise above his current station.⁷

Sir Peabody:     And once there he will have certain responsibilities and authority.  With this authority it is essential that he be aware of the required education for the nobility in addition to the gentry.  Likewise, since it is possible he will be marrying into either class, it is important he be fully aware of the requirements and demands placed on his future bride.  Taking a look at James Nelson’s An Essay on the Government of Children⁷, the different requirements for men and women are easily discerned.

Additionally, Lady Befuddled, although slightly off the current course of conversation, I would like to recommend to you never to push Thomas too hard or demand that he do his work.  If you insist Thomas read such and such many pages a day or overflow his senses with too many mathematic formula he will lose all desire for education and wish only to play.  However, if you work to give study a non-obligatory aura, Thomas will view it as pleasure and, without the insistence of another, move himself to excel⁵.  All children like to read when it is not demanded.