The consequence was that Oswald's education progressed at a speed that
would, in these more rigid days, be deemed impossible. He was intensely
interested in the work, and even his martial exercises were, for the
time, secondary to it in his thoughts. He felt so deeply grateful to
his instructor that, even if he had struck him, he would have cared but
little. In those days rough knocks were readily given, and the idea
that there was anything objectionable, in a boy being struck, had never
been entertained by anyone. Wives were beaten not uncommonly, servants
frequently; and from the highest to the lowest, corporal punishment was
regarded as the only way to ensure the carrying out of orders.
Oswald was slower in learning to write down the letters than he was to
read them. His hands were so accustomed to the rein, the bow, and the
sword that they bungled over the work of forming letters. Nevertheless,
by the time the Percys returned, three months and a half after his
arrival at the castle, he could both read and write short and simple
words; and as these formed a large proportion of English speech, at the
time, he had made a considerable step in the path of learning, and the
monk was highly pleased with his pupil.
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