ignorant as the child, what to say properly and fitly to the matter. Two schoolmasters have set forth in print, either of them a book of such kind of Latin, Horman and Whittington. A child shall learn of the better of them, that which another day, if he be wise and come to judgement, he must be fain to unlearn again. There is a way, touched in the first book of Cicero de Oratore, which, wisely brought into schools, truly taught, and constantly used, would not only take wholly away this butcherly fear in making of Latin, but would also with ease and pleasure, and in short time, as I know by good experience, work a true choice and placing of words, a right ordering of sentences, an easy understanding of the tongue, a readiness to speak, a facility to write, a true judgement both of his own and other men's doings, what tongue soever he doth use. The way is this. After the three concordances learned, as I touched before, let the master read unto him the Epistles of Cicero, gathered together, and chosen out by Sturmius, for the capacity of children. First, let him teach the child cheerfully and plainly the cause and matter of the letter; then, let him construe it into English so oft, as the child may easily carry away the understanding of it; lastly, parse it over perfectly. This done thus, let the child, by and by, both construe and parse it over again; so that it may appear, that the child doubteth in nothing that his master taught him before. After this, the child must take a paper book, and sitting in some place, where no man shall prompt him, by himself, let him translate into English his former lesson. Then showing it to his master, let the master take from him his Latin book, and * I have formerly seen Mr. Horman's book, who was master of Eton school. The book itself could be of no great use, for, as I remember, it was only a collection of single sentences, without order or method, put into Latin. The passage here referred to, is in Tully's first book de Orat, p. 92. edit. Gron. "Postea mihi placuit, eoque sum usus adolescens, ut summorum oratorum Græcas orationes explicarem. Quibus lectis hoc assequebar, ut, cum ea, quæ legerem Græce, Latine redderem, non solum optimis verbis uterer, et tamen usitatis, sed etiam exprimerem quædam verba imitando, quæ nova nostris essent, dummodo essent idonea." pausing an hour at the least, then let the child translate his own English into Latin again in another paper book. When the child bringeth it turned into Latin, the master must compare it with Tully's book, and lay them both together; and where the child doth well, either in choosing or true placing Tully's words, let the master praise him, and say, Here you do well." For, I assure you, there is no such whetstone to sharpen a good wit, and encourage a will to learning, as is praise. But if the child miss, either in forgetting a word, or in changing a good with a worse, or misordering the sentence, I would not have the master either frown or chide with him, if the child have done his diligence, and used no truantship therein. For I know by good experience, that a child shall take more profit of two faults gently warned of, than of four things rightly hit: for then the master shall have good occasion to say unto him; "Tully would have used such a word, not this: Tully would have placed this word here, not there; would have used this case, this number, this person, this degree, this gender: he would have used this mood, this tense, this simple, rather than this compound; this adverb here, not there: he would have ended the sentence with this verb, not with that noun or participle," &c. In these few lines I have wrapped up the most tedious part of grammar; and also the ground of almost all the rules that are so busily taught by the master, and so hardly learned by the scholar, in all common schools; which, after this sort, the master shall teach without all error, and the scholar shall learn without great pain; the master being led by so sure a guide, and the scholar being brought into so plain and easy a way. And therefore we do not contemn rules, but we gladly teach rules; and teach them more plainly, sensibly, and orderly, than they be commonly taught in common schools. For when the master shall compare Tully's book with the scholar's translation, let the master, at the first, lead and teach his scholar to join the rules of his grammar book with the examples of his present lesson, until the scholar by himself be able to fetch out of his grammar every rule for every example; so as the grammar book be ever in the scholar's hand, and also used of him as a dictionary for every present use. This is a lively and perfect way of teaching of rules; where the common way used in common schools, to read the grammar alone by itself, is tedious for the master, hard for the scholar, cold and uncomfortable for them both. Let your scholar be never afraid to ask you any doubt, but use discreetly the best allurements you can to encourage him to the same; lest his overmuch fearing of you drive him to seek some misorderly shift; as to seek to be helped by some other book, or to be prompted by some other scholar; and so go about to beguile you much, and himself more. With this way of good understanding the matter, plain construing, diligent parsing, daily translating, cheerful admonishing, and heedful amending of faults, never leaving behind just praise for well doing, I would have the scholar brought up withal, till he had read and translated over the first book of Epistles chosen out by Sturmius, with a good piece of a comedy of Terence also. All this while, by mine advice, the child shall use to speak no Latin: for, as Cicero saith in like matter, with like words, Loquendo, male loqui discunt: and that excellent learned man G. Budæus, in his Greek commentaries, sore complaineth, that when he began to learn the Latin tongue, use of speaking Latin at the table and elsewhere unadvisedly, did bring him to such an evil choice of words, to such a crooked framing of sentences, that no one thing did hurt or hinder him more, all the days of his life afterward, both for readiness in speaking, and also good judgement in writing. In very deed, if children were brought up in such a house, or such a school, where the Latin tongue were properly and perfectly spoken, as Tib. and Cai. Gracchi were brought up in their mother Cornelia's house; surely then the daily use of speaking were the best and readiest way to learn the Latin tongue. But now, commonly in the best schools in England, for words, right choice is smally regarded, true propriety wholly neglected, confusion is brought in, barbarousness is bred up so in young wits, as afterward they be not only marred for speaking, but also corrupted in judge * “ Magni interest, quos quisque audiat quotidie domi, quibuscum loquatur à puero; quemadmodum patres, pædagogi, matres etiam loquantur. Legimus epistolas Cornelia, matris Gracchorum: apparet filios non tam in gremio educatos, quam in sermone matris." Cic. de claris Orat. p. 181. So p. 154 of the same book: "Fuit Gracchus diligentia Corneliæ matris à puero doctus, et Græcis literis eruditus." ་ ment, as with much ado, or never at all, they be brought to the right frame again. Yet all men covet to have their children speak Latin: and so do I very earnestly too. We both have one purpose: we agree in desire, we wish one end: but we differ somewhat in order and way, that leadeth rightly to that end. Other would have them speak at all adventures; and, so they be speaking, to speak, the master careth not, the scholar knoweth not, what. This is to seem, and not to be; except it be, to be bold without shame, rash without skill, full of words without wit. I wish to have them speak so, as it may well appear, that the brain doth govern the tongue, and that reason leadeth forth the talk. +Socrates's doctrine is true in Plato, and well marked, and truly uttered by Horace in Arte Poetica, "That, wheresoever knowledge doth accompany the wit, there best utterance doth always await upon the tongue." For good understanding must first be bred in the child, which being nourished with skill, and use of writing (as I will teach more largely hereafter) is the only way to bring him to judgement and readiness in speaking; and that in far shorter time (if he follow constantly the trade of this little lesson) than he shall do, by common teaching of the common schools in England. *Here it is plain, Mr. Ascham had Tully in his view. "Plerique in hoc vocem modò, neque eam scienter, et vires exercent suas, et linguæ celeritatem incitant, verborumque frequentia delectantur. In quo fallit eos, quod audierunt, Dicendo homines, ut dicant, efficere solere. Verè enim etiam illud dicitur, Perverse dicere, homines perverse dicendo facillime consequi. Quamobrem in istis ipsis exercitationibus, etsi utile est, etiam subitò sæpe dicere, tamen illud utilius sumpto spatio ad cogitandum, paratius atque accuratius dicere. Caput autem est, quod (ut verè dicam) minime facimus (est enim magni laboris, quem plerique fugimus) quam plurimùm scribere." Cicero de Orat. lib. 1. p. 92. + This doctrine of Socrates here mentioned, Crassus seems modestly to contradict, in Tully's first book de Orat. calling it rather probable, than true. "Atque illud est probabilius, neque tamen verum, quod Socrates dicere solebat, Omnes in eo quod scirent, satis esse eloquentes." The verses in Horace, which he commends, are well known: "Scribendi rectè, sapere est et principium, et fons. But to go forward; As you perceive your scholar to go better and better on away, first, with understanding his lesson more quickly, with parsing more readily, with translating more speedily and perfectly than he was wont; after, give him longer lessons to translate; and withal, begin to teach him, both in nouns and verbs, what is proprium, and what is translatum; what synonymum, what diversum; which be contraria, and which be most notable phrases, in all his lec Your scholar then must have the third paper book; in the which, after he hath done his double translation, let him write, after this sort, four of these forenamed six, diligently marked out of every lesson. *This is Tully's expression; which I therefore mention, because I have known some question "the authority of it. Cie. lib. 1. Offic. "Relinquunt enim, et abjiciunt obedientiam, nec rationi parent." And near the end of the same book; "Non illa omnia relinquat, atque abjiciat?" The allusion seems to be, A soldier quitting his post, and casting away his arms. |