ind,
he esteems those of the heart far beyond them, and looks upon the others
as of no value without them. In the same chapter from whence I took the
preceding words, he declares, he should never have a good opinion of a
child, who placed his study in occasioning laughter, by mimicking the
behaviour, mien, and faults of others; and he presently gives an
admirable reason for it: "A child," says he, "cannot be truly ingenuous,
in my opinion, unless he be good and virtuous; otherwise, I should
rather choose to have him dull and heavy, than of a bad disposition."
_Non dubit spem bonoe indolis, qui hoc initandi studio petit, ut
rideatur. Nam probus quoque imprimus erit ille vere ingeniosus:
alioquinon pejus duxerim tardi esse ingenii, quam mali._

He displays to us all these talents in the eldest of his two children,
whose character he draws, and whose death he laments in so eloquent and
pathetic a strain, in the beautiful preface to his sixth book. I shall
beg leave to insert here a small extract of it, which will not be
useless to the boys, as they will find it a model which suits well with
their age and condition.

Alter having mentioned his younger son, who died at five years old, and
described the graces and beauties of his countenance, the prettiness of
his expression, the vivacity of his understanding, which began to shine
through the veil of childhood: "I had still left me," says he, "my son
Quintillian, in whom I placed all my pleasure and all my hopes, and
comfort enough I might have found in him; for, having now entered into
his tenth year, he did not produce only blossoms like his younger
brother, but fruits already formed, and beyond the power of
disappointment.--I have much experience; but I never saw in any child, I
do not say only so many excellent dispositions for the sciences, nor so
much taste, as his masters know, but so much probity, sweetness, good
nature, gentleness, and inclination to please and oblige, as I discerned
in him."

"Besides this, he had all the advantages of nature, a charming voice, a
pleasing countenance, and a surprising facility in pronouncing well the
two languages, as if he had been equally born for both of them.

"But all this was no more than hopes. I set a greater value upon his
admirable virtues, his equality of temper, his resolution, the courage
with which he bore up against fear and pain; for, how were his
physicians astonished at his patience under a distemper of eight m