The other functionary charged with Philip's education was Don Juan de Zuñiga, commendador mayor of Castile. He taught his pupil to fence, to ride, to take his part at the tilts and tourneys, and, in short, to excel in the chivalrous exercises familiar to cavaliers of his time. He encouraged Philip to invigorate his constitution by the hardy pleasures of the chase, to which, however, he was but little addicted as he advanced in years. But, besides these personal accomplishments, no one was better qualified than Zuñiga to instruct his people in the duties belonging to his royal station. He was a man of ancient family, and had passed much of his life in courts. But he had none of the duplicity or of the suppleness which often marks the character of the courtier. He possessed too high a sentiment of honor to allow him to trifle with truth. He spoke his mind plainly, too plainly sometimes for the taste of his pupil. Charles, who understood the character of Zuñiga, wrote to his son to honor and to cherish him. "If he deals plainly with you," he said, "it is for the love he bears you. If he were to flatter you, and be only solicitous of ministering to your wishes, he would be like all the rest of the world, and you would have no one near to tell you the truth;--and a worse thing cannot happen to any man, old or young; but most of all to the young, from their want of experience to discern truth from error." The wise emperor, who knew how rarely it is that truth is permitted to find its way to royal ears, set a just value on the man who had the courage to speak it.[17] Under the influence of these teachers, and, still more, of the circumstances in which he was placed,--the most potent teachers of all,--Philip grew in years, and slowly unfolded the peculiar qualities of his disposition. He seemed cautious and reserved in his demeanor, and slow of speech; yet what he said had a character of thought beyond his age. At no time did he discover that buoyancy of spirit, or was he betrayed into those sallies of temper, which belong to a bold and adventurous, and often to a generous nature. His deportment was marked by a seriousness that to some might seem to savor of melancholy. He was self-possessed, so that even as a boy he was rarely off his guard.[18]