Page:History of england froude.djvu/594

572 worthy, sound, upright man, of the true English mettle.

There were several children. The Reformer was born about 1490, some five years after the usurper Richard had been killed at Bosworth. Bosworth beingno great distance from Thurcaston, Latimer the father is likely to have been present in the battle, on one side or the other—the right side in those times it was no easy matter to choose—but he became a good servant of the new Government and the little Hugh, when a boy of seven years old, helped to buckle on his armour for him, 'when he went to Blackheath field.' Being a soldier himself, the old gentleman was careful to give his sons, whatever else he gave them, a sound soldier's training. 'He was diligent,' says Latimer, 'to teach me to shoot with the bow: he taught me how to draw, how to lay my body in the bow—not to draw with strength of arm, as other nations do, but with the strength of the body. I had my bows bought me according to my age and strength; as I increased in these, my bows were made bigger and bigger.' Under this education, and in the wholesome atmosphere of the farmhouse, the boy prospered well; and by and by, showing signs of promise, he was sent to school. When he was fourteen, the promises so far having been fulfilled, his father transferred him to Cambridge.