Roger Ascham Toxophilus 1545

of. #j00tfit3. 155

yat a' pore fhomaker hath fo much wit, yat he will pre-
pare no inflrument for his fcience neither knyfe nor
aule, nor nothing els whiche is not very fitte for him :
the common wealthe can be content to take at a fonde
fathers hande, the rifraffe of the worlde, to make thofe
inflrumentes of, wherwithal fhe fhoulde worke ye
hieft matters vnder heauen. And furely an aule of
lead is not fo vnprofitable in a fhomakers fhop, as
an vnfit minifler,made of groffe metal, is vnfemely in ye
common welth. Fathers in olde time among ye noble
Perfians might not do with theyr children as they
thought good, but as the iudgement of the common
wealth al wayes thought beft. This fault of fathers
bringeth many a blot with it, to the great deformitie of
the common wealthe: and here furely I can prayfe
gentlewomen which haue alwayes at hande theyr
glaffes, to fe if any thinge be amiffe, and fo will
amende it, yet the common wealth hauing ye glaffe of
knowlege in euery mans hand, doth fe fuch vncumlines
in it: and yet winketh at it. This faulte and many
fucht- lyke, myght be fone wyped awaye, yf fathers
woulde bellow their children on yat thing alwayes,
whervnto nature hath ordeined them mofte apte and
fit. For if youth be grafted flreyght, and not a wrye,
the hole common, welth wil flonfh therafter. Whan
this is done, than mufle euery man beginne to be more
ready to amende hym felfe, than to checke an other,
meafuryng their matters with that wife prouerbe of
Apollo, Knowe thy felfe: that is to faye, learne to
knowe what thou arte able, fitte, and apt vnto, and
folowe that

This thinge fhulde be bothe cumlie to the common
wealthe, and moofb profitable for euery one, as doth
appere very well in all wife mennes deades, and
fpecially to turne to our communication agayne in
ihootynge, where wife archers haue alwayes theyr
inflrumentes fit for theyr ftrength, and wayte euer-"
more fuche tyme and wether, as is moft agreable to
their gere. Therfore if the wether be to fore, and
ynfit for your fhootynge, leaue of for that claye, and